Lost in the Dark: A World History of Horror Films by Brad Weisman
Aficionados of the horror film will probably have a slew of books on the subject on their shelves already (hopefully, including this writer’s British Gothic Cinema!), but for those seeking a concise one-volume history of the genre, Lost in the Dark: A World History of Horror Films by Brad Weisman should do the trick nicely. Even if no new ground is broken, Weisman is strong on Hammer films; to the horror of the prudish, the most seductive (and most commercially successful) purveyor of unabashed gruesomeness and eroticism was, of course, the bijou-sized Hammer Films studios, nestling in genteel Bray just outside London. And while the studio’s then-sensational products initially inspired loathing of passionate intensity in mainstream critics and commentators, such disapproval was counterpointed by massive commercial success. Hammer and its precursors (and successors) are covered with intelligence and enthusiasm here.
Lost in the Dark: A World History of Horror Films by Brad Weisman is published by University Press of Mississippi
