Lost in the Dark: A World History of Horror Film

Two horror films were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2018, and one of them--The Shape of Water--won. Since 1990, the production of horror films has risen exponentially worldwide, and in 2013, horror films earned an estimated $400 million in ticket sales. Horror has long been the most popular film genre, and more horror movies have been made than any other kind. We need them. We need to be scared, to test ourselves, laugh inappropriately, scream, and flinch. We need to get through them and come out, blinking, still in one piece.

Lost in the Dark: A World History of Horror Film is a straightforward history written for the general reader and student that can serve as a comprehensive entry-level reference work. The volume provides a general introduction to the genre, serves as a guidebook to its film highlights, and celebrates its practitioners, trends, and stories. Starting with silent-era horror films and ending with 2020's The Invisible Man, Lost in the Dark looks at decades of horror movies.

Author Brad Weismann covers such topics as the roots of horror in literature and art, monster movies, B-movies, the destruction of the American censorship system, international horror, torture porn, zombies, horror comedies, horror in the new millennium, and critical reception of modern horror. A sweeping survey that doesn't scrimp on details, Lost in the Dark is sure to satisfy both the curious and the completist.

Author: Brad Weismann
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Published: 04/07/2021
Pages: 264
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.86lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9781496833211


Review Citation(s):
Choice 02/01/2022

About the Author
Brad Weismann is an award-winning writer and editor. His work has appeared in such publications as Senses of Cinema, Film International, Backstage, Muso, Parterre, 5280, EnCompass, and in the volume 100 Years of Soviet Cinema. He was selected by the Library of Congress to contribute explanatory essays to its National Recording Registry.