Monday, January 15, 2007

Danse Macabre by Stephen King

The book is dated—more than two decades old. Which would have been okay if Danse Macabre were a work of fiction but it’s not. It’s a forgotten tome written by Stephen King (an industry in himself or so the joke goes) about the horror genre in the past thirty years. Even as he promises readers not to bore them with too much literary analysis, half of the time he is doing just that. But don’t get me wrong, Danse Macabre is a fascinating and interesting read especially for horror buffs. It’s a glorified movie/reading list but it’s an excellent list (complete with explanation and summary) nonetheless. The only weakness is the fact that since it was published in the early 80’s, it’s missing out on a lot of contemporary horror, from the likes of The Blair Witch Project to Ring. Still, reading it in modern times is insightful and saves you the time of having to track down semi-obscure videos and novels thanks to the convenience of the Internet.

Rating: 3.5/5

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