Be Scared of Everything (Horror Essays), Peter Counter
★★★★★
Calling all horror fans who can recite all the Friday the 13th movies, who root for the cosmic forces, who love slasher films, and for those who think Midsommar and Hereditary were about way more than pagan sacrifice.
This is the perfect collection of reflections on the genre and what they mean to people who love the gore, the scares, and the monsters. Also an analysis of post-traumatic stress, togetherness, and recovery.
I find that this slim volume is a great stocking stuffer and go-to birthday gift for horror fans that want a deeper analysis of the genre. I've never read a book that treats the full breadth of the beloved horror genre with such care, appreciation, and self-awareness. Thoroughly enjoyed!
See below for a full list of essays included in this anthology:
Interviews with my Family Ouija Board | Celebration of Life | A World Made of Train Tracks | Please Add Me to Your Zombie Survival Network | Too-Loo | Corporate Personhood | The New Necronomicon | The Shattered Teacup | On the Horror of Comedy | Manufacturing Mephistopheles | Beeps and Boops | Manifest Doom | Five Liters | Fighting Ghosts | 100 Seconds to Midnight | Metaphysical Graffiti | Silent Ruins | Where the Creepypastas Are | Broken Nightmare Telephone | Fear of the Shark | Audient Void, Authorial Void | Extrasensory | On Madness | Cannibal Symposium | Wallpaper | Devil's Nostril | Santa Claus Versus the Smoke Monster | When the Screaming Stops
Summaries of my favorite essays in the bunch:
"The FBI's Basement Office" - After potentially seeing a UFO, the author grapples with what X-Files and ufology teach us about human connection, faith, skepticism, and trust.
"Where the Creepypastas Are" - Analysis of creepy pasta and how the internet world built its own myths that transcend the chat rooms where they originated.
"Cannibal Symposium" - A group of friends discuss the ethical considerations of cannibalism.
Thank you NetGalley for a copy of the book in return for an honest review.