one of the driest reads ive ever tried picking up

This is a highly detailed history of horror, as it posits. I mostly enjoyed the analysis and comparison to our real life fears being reflected in the horror stories of that particular time period. The chapters are super long and could’ve used more subheadings in my opinion. I also wonder if it would’ve been easier and potentially better to focus on a narrower scope of history so as to be able to go deeper into certain time periods. Some parts were very slow and a bit difficult to get through, but overall I’m glad I read it.

4.5 stars! 
I wanted to have a good non-fiction audiobook to sink my teeth into and happened upon this by accident. I figured that it would be the perfect listen for October, and I'm very glad I picked it up! Dauber did extensive research on the full spectrum of horror - ranging from early horror folklore to Poe to King, all the way to horror movie and videogame franchises of today. I really enjoyed not only hearing more about some of my all-time favorite books, movies, and games but seeing how their origins can be traced back to various sources and how even original works can be linked to early horror concepts. I never really thought about it, but horror really can be used as a way to mark certain periods in history and the horror stories that are popular at any given time can indicate some of the societal issues or controversial topics that are important during that time. The only thing I didn't like is how long the chapters were - I think that there was so much material, that the author could have cut some of it to make it more digestible. But otherwise, this was fascinating!