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Danse Macabre
"Danse Macabre" is a unique combination of fantasy and autobiography, of classic horror writing honed to an unforgettable edge; an analysis of horror, terror and the supernatural in films, television and books by the bestselling master of the genre — Stephen King.
Ranging across the whole spectrum of horror in popular culture and going back to the seminal classics of Count Dracula and Frankenstein, Stephen King describes in his ideas how horror works on many levels, and how he brings it to bear in his own inimitable novels.
Ranging across the whole spectrum of horror in popular culture and going back to the seminal classics of Count Dracula and Frankenstein, Stephen King describes in his ideas how horror works on many levels, and how he brings it to bear in his own inimitable novels.
Hardcover
First published April 20, 1981
1442 people are currently reading
30886 people want to read
About the author
Stephen King
2,393 books888k followersStephen Edwin King was born the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his father left them when Stephen was two, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of them. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.
Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.
He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.
Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.
Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.
He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.
Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,530 reviews
February 21, 2021
What lies closer than to watch the King himself, in his young, wild, completely wasted, and high as hell years, dissect the mechanisms and history of terror, despair, and all our other, beloved story element.
I don´t get two of the criticisms of this work, the first one that King writes too long and wordy, what is the same as if one is saying that the sea is too wet, it just doesn´t count. The second one is similar, too much info dump and dry, technical information about the history, development, and state of horror fiction in a nonfiction book which, wait, is exactly the same, although some could have really be shortened. Don´t order fish if you hate it and say that the cook is not good, it´s your fault.
Better go with the readers who highly appreciate this work, just as his masterpiece On writing, if they have a special interest in the progress of creative writing or the history of terror in culture and literature.
Of course, close to any nonfiction could profit from slimming and adding fewer hard facts for the general readers and audiences, maybe offering many extra info or links in the addendum, and authors talking about themselves and their autobiographical experiences is often a boring and unnecessary expansion of the work because they don´t know how to write suspenseful about themselves, but it´s the King we are talking about here, we watch the show because we want to absorb any grain of content he secludes. Sounds wrong, however, I am too lazy to edit.
Besides, he is throwing Big history and macro socio economical evolution between the lines in the classical Hold my coffee, not beer anymore for Mr. King, mentality, while he is sharply analyzing, mining, and producing pure gold for readers interested in the topic or, even more, aspiring authors wanting to better understand their genre. An extra for them might be to take the idea to analyze the market, nowadays games, movies, and literature, look what has worked, what is underrepresented, which style, length, genre, subgenre, new crossover hybrid, etc. the audience might like and bam, in your bank account. Many of the coolest, most successful, and freshest hits in Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and horror might have grown out this idea of simply making a personal, sophisticated market study.
A wiki walk can be as refreshing to the mind as a walk through nature in this completely overrated real life outside books:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danse_M...
I don´t get two of the criticisms of this work, the first one that King writes too long and wordy, what is the same as if one is saying that the sea is too wet, it just doesn´t count. The second one is similar, too much info dump and dry, technical information about the history, development, and state of horror fiction in a nonfiction book which, wait, is exactly the same, although some could have really be shortened. Don´t order fish if you hate it and say that the cook is not good, it´s your fault.
Better go with the readers who highly appreciate this work, just as his masterpiece On writing, if they have a special interest in the progress of creative writing or the history of terror in culture and literature.
Of course, close to any nonfiction could profit from slimming and adding fewer hard facts for the general readers and audiences, maybe offering many extra info or links in the addendum, and authors talking about themselves and their autobiographical experiences is often a boring and unnecessary expansion of the work because they don´t know how to write suspenseful about themselves, but it´s the King we are talking about here, we watch the show because we want to absorb any grain of content he secludes. Sounds wrong, however, I am too lazy to edit.
Besides, he is throwing Big history and macro socio economical evolution between the lines in the classical Hold my coffee, not beer anymore for Mr. King, mentality, while he is sharply analyzing, mining, and producing pure gold for readers interested in the topic or, even more, aspiring authors wanting to better understand their genre. An extra for them might be to take the idea to analyze the market, nowadays games, movies, and literature, look what has worked, what is underrepresented, which style, length, genre, subgenre, new crossover hybrid, etc. the audience might like and bam, in your bank account. Many of the coolest, most successful, and freshest hits in Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and horror might have grown out this idea of simply making a personal, sophisticated market study.
A wiki walk can be as refreshing to the mind as a walk through nature in this completely overrated real life outside books:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danse_M...
August 12, 2022
King's insightful look at the modern horror genre across books, film, TV and American culture. The book is quite interesting in the way King, with his own voice and humour breaks down the horror genre in easy to read chunks. It reads well as an information and opinion portal, but it lacks a heart. I've read this twice now and despite the interesting issues and insights written about, I feel like I need a message, some call to action? It feels defensive and like a book trying to hard to legitimise something that shouldn't need legitimising in itself? 6 out of 12.
2017 read; 2005 read
2017 read; 2005 read
December 16, 2015
This is what my copy looks like after finishing:
There was so much inside that head that I just wanted to remember, or come back to, or... just highlight. I could have done all of that on my nook, and it would have been easier. Simpler, less restricted as to what I could fit onto the post-it, but... I dunno. This way just felt right to me.
There were a lot of references to books that I hadn't read yet, and these sections I tried to skim so that I could get the idea without the spoilers, but that wasn't always possible. I do hate spoilers, but I can't hold it against King too much, I knew that was a possibility when I picked this up. One doesn't read an examination of the horror genre without expecting examples... and I'm just NOT that well read to think that I would've read every book he might have mentioned. Not by a loooooooong shot.
But the books that I have read, I now have a new and deeper appreciation for. King sees things in such a different way than I do, and so getting his perspective is fascinating.
Highly recommend reading this.
PS. Support your local used book stores! :D
There was so much inside that head that I just wanted to remember, or come back to, or... just highlight. I could have done all of that on my nook, and it would have been easier. Simpler, less restricted as to what I could fit onto the post-it, but... I dunno. This way just felt right to me.
There were a lot of references to books that I hadn't read yet, and these sections I tried to skim so that I could get the idea without the spoilers, but that wasn't always possible. I do hate spoilers, but I can't hold it against King too much, I knew that was a possibility when I picked this up. One doesn't read an examination of the horror genre without expecting examples... and I'm just NOT that well read to think that I would've read every book he might have mentioned. Not by a loooooooong shot.
But the books that I have read, I now have a new and deeper appreciation for. King sees things in such a different way than I do, and so getting his perspective is fascinating.
Highly recommend reading this.
PS. Support your local used book stores! :D
April 28, 2020
Wow, what a massive book written by the Godfather of horror himself in the early 80s. You hear about all the inspiration he had: Weird Tales, E.C. Comics, Tales from the Crypt, some sci-fi movies. Then Stephen King talks about Lovecraft, The House Next Door, Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, Ghost Story, Ramsey Campbell, Leiber, Matheson, Romero, the best pulp horror ever (Sucking Pit), James Herbert, Twilight Zone, Rod Serling, Ray Bradbury, to name but a few. This is a rollercoaster ride through horror from 1950 to 80 with all the books, movies and series to concentrate on. Besides this discussion Stephen King also refers to his early novels Carrie, Shining, The Stand, Salem's Lot and gives great background information why he integrated certain motifs/scenes, what interests him and what were his influences. Absolutely liked this book and all the horror stuff it mentions. I read and am still reading many of them as I was a youth in the 80s. This is the door of perception to modern horror. Must-read for every fan of horror!
November 3, 2016
Danse Macabre is Stephen King covering the horror genre, in TV, film, radio, and text, from roughly 1950-1980. I'd been meaning to read this for a long time. The Kindle price was the clincher.
I don't really know what to say about this one. It was pretty middle of the road. Stephen King writes about three decades of the horror genre in various media. I thought some of the subjects were interesting, namely the movies and the books, many of which I'll have my eye out for. His insights on the nature of horror and why we like it so much were thought-provoking. However...
Okay, I'm a big Stephen King fan and think he's a great writer, even though he cranks out a best-seller as often as I pay my car insurance. He can be a bit wordy at times. With his prose, I don't notice it so much. With non-fiction, holy hell did I notice!
The Shrinking Man and The Haunting of Hill House were both barely longer than novellas but King drones on about them for twenty pages apiece! The autobiographical bits were way more interesting to me than some of the movies and books he wrote about. I have trouble giving a shit what Stephen King thinks about obscure B-movies made a couple decades before I was born that would seem hokey by today's standards.
Longwindedness aside, I did find the book informative and it added things to my watch list. Also, King shat on John Saul a few times. Was Saul the James Patterson of Horror in his day? Will my life have an unfillable void in it if I never read John Saul (or James Patterson)? Things to ponder.
You know what's not as fun as reading horror fiction or watching horror movies? Reading about what someone else thinks about them for one hundred pages too many! Three out of five stars.
I don't really know what to say about this one. It was pretty middle of the road. Stephen King writes about three decades of the horror genre in various media. I thought some of the subjects were interesting, namely the movies and the books, many of which I'll have my eye out for. His insights on the nature of horror and why we like it so much were thought-provoking. However...
Okay, I'm a big Stephen King fan and think he's a great writer, even though he cranks out a best-seller as often as I pay my car insurance. He can be a bit wordy at times. With his prose, I don't notice it so much. With non-fiction, holy hell did I notice!
The Shrinking Man and The Haunting of Hill House were both barely longer than novellas but King drones on about them for twenty pages apiece! The autobiographical bits were way more interesting to me than some of the movies and books he wrote about. I have trouble giving a shit what Stephen King thinks about obscure B-movies made a couple decades before I was born that would seem hokey by today's standards.
Longwindedness aside, I did find the book informative and it added things to my watch list. Also, King shat on John Saul a few times. Was Saul the James Patterson of Horror in his day? Will my life have an unfillable void in it if I never read John Saul (or James Patterson)? Things to ponder.
You know what's not as fun as reading horror fiction or watching horror movies? Reading about what someone else thinks about them for one hundred pages too many! Three out of five stars.
November 19, 2024
"We fall from womb to tomb, from one blackness and toward another, remembering little of the one and knowing nothing of the other."
A non-fiction book that focuses on horror fiction throughout movies, film, television and radio, and what is it about the genre that captivates so many horror enthusiasts.
The Master of Horror discussing the genre of horror?? Sign me up! This was admittedly better than I expected - I expected a stuffy essay that would be a chore to read at times. Luckily, this wasn't really the case at all. I'm a huge fan of when King talks directly to his Constant Reader, whether it be in his introductions or his afterwords, or even in On Writing. He has such a knack of pulling you in and making it feel like it's just you and him, chilling, sharing a coffee while he divulges all his thoughts and opinions. Just me and King sharing a caramel square.
The huge downside of Danse Macabre is that it is outdated - this was released in 1981, of course. There's been a plethora of horror movies and books since then! In the edition I read there were two updated forewords where King talks about some of the more recent horror movies. He has a HUGE love for The Blair Witch which I really enjoyed reading about. I would love if he decided to release an updated version where he covers all the important horror books or movies in the last 30 years or so, because he clearly still has an avid passion for both, as evident on his twitter.
Be prewarned - King is spoilerific in here. He is dropping spoilers like there's no tomorrow. But don't worry, if you've a firm background knowledge in horror then you should be fine. However, there were some instances in which I had to skip entire chunks because he was discussing a few books that are still on my TBR, books like Ghost Story by Peter Straub, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury etc. But I have made a note of the books he covered that I haven't read yet so that I can come back to those relevant sections in Danse Macabre when I do get around to them! I loved his deep analysis of books like The Haunting of Hill House and why it worked. I loved how he had quotes and excerpts from a lot of these authors discussing their relevant works and the horror genre itself.
One of the most boring parts of the book, for me anyway, is when he talks about radio and television. Over the years I have caught up on, and intend to catch up on, a lot of horror books and movies from the past, however I have pretty much zero knowledge regarding horror on the radio or television from back in the day. But these were only covered in about two chapters or so, so it's not too boring for long.
Dispersed throughout are a lot of King's own experiences with horror and little anecdotes about his life, which I really enjoyed. He talks about how Lovecraft was the one who first got him into serious fantasy-horror fiction (I approve), and he has a fun little story about a young Joe Hill that had me laughing out loud. He also made a lot of Lord of the Rings references which I particularly enjoyed...
So, yes! Overall this was a pretty good read. But I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to someone unless they really were a fan of the horror genre. Fingers crossed that King provides an updated version at some point!! 3 and a half 5 stars for this one!
Reread 2024 #kingfromthebeginning 2.5 stars
A non-fiction book that focuses on horror fiction throughout movies, film, television and radio, and what is it about the genre that captivates so many horror enthusiasts.
The Master of Horror discussing the genre of horror?? Sign me up! This was admittedly better than I expected - I expected a stuffy essay that would be a chore to read at times. Luckily, this wasn't really the case at all. I'm a huge fan of when King talks directly to his Constant Reader, whether it be in his introductions or his afterwords, or even in On Writing. He has such a knack of pulling you in and making it feel like it's just you and him, chilling, sharing a coffee while he divulges all his thoughts and opinions. Just me and King sharing a caramel square.
The huge downside of Danse Macabre is that it is outdated - this was released in 1981, of course. There's been a plethora of horror movies and books since then! In the edition I read there were two updated forewords where King talks about some of the more recent horror movies. He has a HUGE love for The Blair Witch which I really enjoyed reading about. I would love if he decided to release an updated version where he covers all the important horror books or movies in the last 30 years or so, because he clearly still has an avid passion for both, as evident on his twitter.
Be prewarned - King is spoilerific in here. He is dropping spoilers like there's no tomorrow. But don't worry, if you've a firm background knowledge in horror then you should be fine. However, there were some instances in which I had to skip entire chunks because he was discussing a few books that are still on my TBR, books like Ghost Story by Peter Straub, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury etc. But I have made a note of the books he covered that I haven't read yet so that I can come back to those relevant sections in Danse Macabre when I do get around to them! I loved his deep analysis of books like The Haunting of Hill House and why it worked. I loved how he had quotes and excerpts from a lot of these authors discussing their relevant works and the horror genre itself.
One of the most boring parts of the book, for me anyway, is when he talks about radio and television. Over the years I have caught up on, and intend to catch up on, a lot of horror books and movies from the past, however I have pretty much zero knowledge regarding horror on the radio or television from back in the day. But these were only covered in about two chapters or so, so it's not too boring for long.
Dispersed throughout are a lot of King's own experiences with horror and little anecdotes about his life, which I really enjoyed. He talks about how Lovecraft was the one who first got him into serious fantasy-horror fiction (I approve), and he has a fun little story about a young Joe Hill that had me laughing out loud. He also made a lot of Lord of the Rings references which I particularly enjoyed...
So, yes! Overall this was a pretty good read. But I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to someone unless they really were a fan of the horror genre. Fingers crossed that King provides an updated version at some point!! 3 and a half 5 stars for this one!
Reread 2024 #kingfromthebeginning 2.5 stars
December 27, 2019
3 stars if you are a casual King fan
4 stars for being a very decent dissertation on the horror genre (remembering that it was released in the early 80s, so any horror between then and now is missing)
I have been in the middle of rereading King’s books in chronological order – mostly on audiobook. This is the first one in order that I got to that I had never even read before! This one I did not do on audio. I have actually had a paperback copy of this for decades and it is quite beat up. In fact, on the cover it says it is by the co-author of The Talisman.
Danse Macabre is an extended book and movie report. If King had done this as a master’s thesis, I would not have been surprised. With that in mind, unless you are really into the history of the horror genre, really enjoy non-fiction, or are a King completist, I don’t think there is a reason to give this one a try. If you are a casual or occasional King reader, it is likely that this book will bore you despite the fact that he does interject some King charm and anecdotal humor from time to time.
Now, even though I did use the word “bore” in the previous paragraph, if this sort of book is your thing and you are passionate about the horror genre, I think you will enjoy this book quite a bit. It is well written and researched. There are lots of different books and movies discussed so you might find yourself wanting to hunt them down to read and watch as you go along. There were a few parts that drug on a bit - since he is a novelist, his chapters on novels felt a bit longer than they needed to be.
A thought I had while reading this is that he released it when he was less than a decade into his career. I was only about 3 years old when it came out so I don’t know what the feeling was on King at the time, he only had 7 novels out, and had not yet been revealed as Richard Bachman. The reason I point this out is he definitely presents himself as an expert on the topic and pulls no punches when he his describing something he does not like. With how we feel about King now we would probably think “Why, of course, he is THE KING, and THE KING has spoken”. But back then I wonder if people were more like, “I know he has had a few successful books and movies, but who does this guy think he is?”
In summary – a great book for hardcore horror and King fans. Not really necessary for those casual in either of these areas.
4 stars for being a very decent dissertation on the horror genre (remembering that it was released in the early 80s, so any horror between then and now is missing)
I have been in the middle of rereading King’s books in chronological order – mostly on audiobook. This is the first one in order that I got to that I had never even read before! This one I did not do on audio. I have actually had a paperback copy of this for decades and it is quite beat up. In fact, on the cover it says it is by the co-author of The Talisman.
Danse Macabre is an extended book and movie report. If King had done this as a master’s thesis, I would not have been surprised. With that in mind, unless you are really into the history of the horror genre, really enjoy non-fiction, or are a King completist, I don’t think there is a reason to give this one a try. If you are a casual or occasional King reader, it is likely that this book will bore you despite the fact that he does interject some King charm and anecdotal humor from time to time.
Now, even though I did use the word “bore” in the previous paragraph, if this sort of book is your thing and you are passionate about the horror genre, I think you will enjoy this book quite a bit. It is well written and researched. There are lots of different books and movies discussed so you might find yourself wanting to hunt them down to read and watch as you go along. There were a few parts that drug on a bit - since he is a novelist, his chapters on novels felt a bit longer than they needed to be.
A thought I had while reading this is that he released it when he was less than a decade into his career. I was only about 3 years old when it came out so I don’t know what the feeling was on King at the time, he only had 7 novels out, and had not yet been revealed as Richard Bachman. The reason I point this out is he definitely presents himself as an expert on the topic and pulls no punches when he his describing something he does not like. With how we feel about King now we would probably think “Why, of course, he is THE KING, and THE KING has spoken”. But back then I wonder if people were more like, “I know he has had a few successful books and movies, but who does this guy think he is?”
In summary – a great book for hardcore horror and King fans. Not really necessary for those casual in either of these areas.
January 13, 2025
I could read a phonebook-length tome of King’s assessment of the horror genre. (For the kids; a phonebook was not the first e-reader, but a thick physical book in which you could look up landline phone numbers back when we used to call one another [landlines are…oh, forget it]).
Conversely, I have not been able to make it through one of his political tweets.
Conversely, I have not been able to make it through one of his political tweets.
November 28, 2018
I’ve been patiently parsing my way through a lot of the early works of Stephen King lately. I think “The Stand” is next in order of publication, but that’s a tall order to tackle, so I might put it off until early next year. In the meantime, I picked up a battered paperback copy of King’s long-form essay on the horror artform itself, “Danse Macabre.” Originally published in 1981, King wrote this book at the urging of his then-editor at the time, Bill Thompson, who told him it would be a good idea to do a genre study in the hopes that it would answer a bunch of commonly asked questions from fans and interviewers. I remember reading it not long after it first came out, and the material has aged reasonably well despite the fact that it’s now 37 years out of date. There have been a couple of revisions since the initial publication, and King added a “forenote” to a 2010 revision entitled “What’s Scary?”
So, here is the caveat right off of the bat: younger fans are going to have a hell of a time with the pop cultural references that King uses to illustrate his thesis. He was current up to 1980, but let’s face it, a hell of a lot has happened in the horror genre since then. You won’t see the name Clive Barker in these pages. You won’t see any references to “The Walking Dead.” No Poppy Z. Brite. Even Anne Rice gets the short stick seeing as “Interview With The Vampire” still seemed like a shiny new toy in the field at the time. You won’t even get any Freddy Krueger action, and the “Nightmare On Elm Street” franchise now seems rather quaint in the harsh light of 2018. And I wonder like hell how King would have contrasted the original movie version of “The Thing” with John Carpenter’s truly horrifying remake.
But despite that feeling that the expiration date has long passed on this book, it still has some value to anyone interested in the idea that horror fiction is more than just cheap thrills. King uses “Danse Macabre” to argue that horror is in fact a legitimate art form that has has a place in the cultural canon beyond that of a curious oddity that’s only fit for people who can’t handle “real” literature. And “Danse Macabre” also does another important thing: it establishes Stephen King’s bona fides as a serious genre figure. King often suffers from “popular author syndrome,” that curious malady that infects writers who appeal to a mass audience. There is a certain subset of fandom that tends to equate popularity with vapidity, as if widespread appeal is somehow an arbiter of a lesser quality. And maybe sometimes that’s true to some degree. Some writers DO water down their work in an attempt to reach a larger demographic. But let me tell you this, King isn’t one of them. He has written some of the most classic genre stories and novels to ever grace a bookshelf, and he has never diluted his product in order to score easy bestseller points.
The best way to approach “Danse Macabre” is to put the pop cultural references mostly to the side and instead focus on King’s well developed ideas regarding the subconscious roots of horror and why it appeals to a certain subset of the populace. Stephen King is a smart guy, and he has been a teacher and a lecturer at various times in his career. Readers with a good eye and an even better memory will realize that some of the material here has been recycled, a fact that King freely admits in his afterword. That doesn’t change the fact that King makes some really interesting observations on the idea of the horror as a genre deserving of respect. And in all fairness, a lot of the books that King cites are older works that still have a revered place in the catalog of fantastic fiction. The sections on television and the movies have aged less well, but it’s fun to remember just how Good (“Twilight Zone,” “Outer Limits,” Hammer horror flicks) or Bad (“Kolchak, The Night Stalker,” “Plan 9 From Outer Space”) the visual medium was as seen from the vantage point of 1980. One of the best things about “Danse Macabre” is that it’s a reminder of just how good (and obscure) a television series like “Thriller” was. Readers today DO have the advantage of YouTube, where reruns of these old television series and a number of movies that King talks about can be easily found.
I’m certainly not going to spoil the ideas that King presents. Suffice it to say that he makes some very valid arguments about the psychological nature of the horror phenomenon, and he does so with style and panache and a clear passion for his material. Starting with the basics, fairy tales, King takes us through a whirlwind tour of the dark arts, covering radio shows, television, movies, and books on his way to explaining the enduring popularity of horror. My favorite section of the book is where King decides to take an autobiographical detour through some of his own experiences as a aficionado of the eerie. I’m not going to steal any of the man’s thunder when I tell you that there really WAS a Marsten House in the town that King grew up in. All of this just serves to reinforce the fact that Stephen King is a reliable narrator on our journey of darkness. He is as entrenched as anyone in the great Family Tree of horror fandom, and he comes by it honestly and without shame. Face it, King just happened to be lucky enough to have enough of that mysterious rocket fuel that we call “talent” that he was able to distill his love and knowledge of the form into a VERY profitable career as a writer.
I don’t think that I discovered anything new between these pages. I have enough memory of reading the book in my teens that none of it really felt new to me. I did appreciate the section on television because it did remind me of the long-lost “Thriller” series. And you would be a fool if you did not check out a few of those old “Dark Shadows” shows out on the trusty interwebbings. If you’ve never read “Danse Macabre” before, though, then you need to. Used copies are a dime a dozen and if you’re really into it you can go and find the original hardback printing for a reasonable enough price. It’s an overlooked and fairly obscure part of the King oeuvre, but it’s well worth seeking out for its insight into how the young Stephen King approached his writing within the framework of horror fiction as a whole.
One last thing….I have had quite a few people mention to me that King is on record as really hating Stanley Kubrick’s movie version of “The Shining.” That may be a case of revisionist history on King’s part. He seems mostly ambivalent about the whole thing in “Danse Macabre.” He has a mild criticism of Kubrick taking “The Shining” “backwards to the sound stage,” but overall he is fairly complimentary to Kubrick’s legacy as a director of true vision. In speaking of the movie version of “The Shining” on page 115, King states that “Kubrick is a director who shows an almost exquisite sensitivity to the nuances of light and shadow.” Not exactly a scathing condemnation of the film, at least not in THIS venue.
Ultimately “Danse Macabre” is really only necessary for superfans and/or King completionists, but it’s still a fun read, even as outdated as it is. Pick it to pieces with an open mind.
So, here is the caveat right off of the bat: younger fans are going to have a hell of a time with the pop cultural references that King uses to illustrate his thesis. He was current up to 1980, but let’s face it, a hell of a lot has happened in the horror genre since then. You won’t see the name Clive Barker in these pages. You won’t see any references to “The Walking Dead.” No Poppy Z. Brite. Even Anne Rice gets the short stick seeing as “Interview With The Vampire” still seemed like a shiny new toy in the field at the time. You won’t even get any Freddy Krueger action, and the “Nightmare On Elm Street” franchise now seems rather quaint in the harsh light of 2018. And I wonder like hell how King would have contrasted the original movie version of “The Thing” with John Carpenter’s truly horrifying remake.
But despite that feeling that the expiration date has long passed on this book, it still has some value to anyone interested in the idea that horror fiction is more than just cheap thrills. King uses “Danse Macabre” to argue that horror is in fact a legitimate art form that has has a place in the cultural canon beyond that of a curious oddity that’s only fit for people who can’t handle “real” literature. And “Danse Macabre” also does another important thing: it establishes Stephen King’s bona fides as a serious genre figure. King often suffers from “popular author syndrome,” that curious malady that infects writers who appeal to a mass audience. There is a certain subset of fandom that tends to equate popularity with vapidity, as if widespread appeal is somehow an arbiter of a lesser quality. And maybe sometimes that’s true to some degree. Some writers DO water down their work in an attempt to reach a larger demographic. But let me tell you this, King isn’t one of them. He has written some of the most classic genre stories and novels to ever grace a bookshelf, and he has never diluted his product in order to score easy bestseller points.
The best way to approach “Danse Macabre” is to put the pop cultural references mostly to the side and instead focus on King’s well developed ideas regarding the subconscious roots of horror and why it appeals to a certain subset of the populace. Stephen King is a smart guy, and he has been a teacher and a lecturer at various times in his career. Readers with a good eye and an even better memory will realize that some of the material here has been recycled, a fact that King freely admits in his afterword. That doesn’t change the fact that King makes some really interesting observations on the idea of the horror as a genre deserving of respect. And in all fairness, a lot of the books that King cites are older works that still have a revered place in the catalog of fantastic fiction. The sections on television and the movies have aged less well, but it’s fun to remember just how Good (“Twilight Zone,” “Outer Limits,” Hammer horror flicks) or Bad (“Kolchak, The Night Stalker,” “Plan 9 From Outer Space”) the visual medium was as seen from the vantage point of 1980. One of the best things about “Danse Macabre” is that it’s a reminder of just how good (and obscure) a television series like “Thriller” was. Readers today DO have the advantage of YouTube, where reruns of these old television series and a number of movies that King talks about can be easily found.
I’m certainly not going to spoil the ideas that King presents. Suffice it to say that he makes some very valid arguments about the psychological nature of the horror phenomenon, and he does so with style and panache and a clear passion for his material. Starting with the basics, fairy tales, King takes us through a whirlwind tour of the dark arts, covering radio shows, television, movies, and books on his way to explaining the enduring popularity of horror. My favorite section of the book is where King decides to take an autobiographical detour through some of his own experiences as a aficionado of the eerie. I’m not going to steal any of the man’s thunder when I tell you that there really WAS a Marsten House in the town that King grew up in. All of this just serves to reinforce the fact that Stephen King is a reliable narrator on our journey of darkness. He is as entrenched as anyone in the great Family Tree of horror fandom, and he comes by it honestly and without shame. Face it, King just happened to be lucky enough to have enough of that mysterious rocket fuel that we call “talent” that he was able to distill his love and knowledge of the form into a VERY profitable career as a writer.
I don’t think that I discovered anything new between these pages. I have enough memory of reading the book in my teens that none of it really felt new to me. I did appreciate the section on television because it did remind me of the long-lost “Thriller” series. And you would be a fool if you did not check out a few of those old “Dark Shadows” shows out on the trusty interwebbings. If you’ve never read “Danse Macabre” before, though, then you need to. Used copies are a dime a dozen and if you’re really into it you can go and find the original hardback printing for a reasonable enough price. It’s an overlooked and fairly obscure part of the King oeuvre, but it’s well worth seeking out for its insight into how the young Stephen King approached his writing within the framework of horror fiction as a whole.
One last thing….I have had quite a few people mention to me that King is on record as really hating Stanley Kubrick’s movie version of “The Shining.” That may be a case of revisionist history on King’s part. He seems mostly ambivalent about the whole thing in “Danse Macabre.” He has a mild criticism of Kubrick taking “The Shining” “backwards to the sound stage,” but overall he is fairly complimentary to Kubrick’s legacy as a director of true vision. In speaking of the movie version of “The Shining” on page 115, King states that “Kubrick is a director who shows an almost exquisite sensitivity to the nuances of light and shadow.” Not exactly a scathing condemnation of the film, at least not in THIS venue.
Ultimately “Danse Macabre” is really only necessary for superfans and/or King completionists, but it’s still a fun read, even as outdated as it is. Pick it to pieces with an open mind.
September 13, 2022
4.5⭐
⚠️ No confundir Danza macabra con La danza de la muerte, posteriormente llamado Apocalipsis.
Este ensayo se divide en tres partes principales: cine y literatura de terror y un último punto en el que King nos cuenta el origen de sus tres primeras novelas.
Me ha gustado mucho y no se me ha hecho para nada aburrido porque parece que estuvieses charlando con el autor cara a cara. No obstante, lo que menos me ha fascinado ha sido 'Ficción de Terror' porque se enrolla bastante. Por lo demás, no tengo nada malo que decir.
.
This essay is divided into three main parts: horror films and literature, and a final point in which King tells us the origin of his first three novels.
I liked it a lot and it was not boring at all because it seems that you were chatting with the author face to face. However, the thing that has fascinated me the least has been 'Horror Fiction' because the descriptions and fragments of the novels that are mentioned abound. Other than that, I have nothing bad to say.
⚠️ No confundir Danza macabra con La danza de la muerte, posteriormente llamado Apocalipsis.
Este ensayo se divide en tres partes principales: cine y literatura de terror y un último punto en el que King nos cuenta el origen de sus tres primeras novelas.
Me ha gustado mucho y no se me ha hecho para nada aburrido porque parece que estuvieses charlando con el autor cara a cara. No obstante, lo que menos me ha fascinado ha sido 'Ficción de Terror' porque se enrolla bastante. Por lo demás, no tengo nada malo que decir.
.
This essay is divided into three main parts: horror films and literature, and a final point in which King tells us the origin of his first three novels.
I liked it a lot and it was not boring at all because it seems that you were chatting with the author face to face. However, the thing that has fascinated me the least has been 'Horror Fiction' because the descriptions and fragments of the novels that are mentioned abound. Other than that, I have nothing bad to say.
December 10, 2025
4 Dexterously Dansing Stars as a resulting average of 5 Back-In-The-Day-Stars + 3 Démodé-Today-Stars.
Published in 1981, this is Stephen King's first foray into nonfiction, at which time his first nine novels (Carrie through The Stand), one novella (The Mist), and one short story collection (Nightshift) had been published under his name as well as four novels under the nom de plume Richard Bachman (Rage, The Long Walk, Roadwork, and The Running Man, published in a 1985 omnibus edition titled The Bachman Books).
King made his first professional story sale (a short story The Glass Floor) to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. He continued to write and sell short stories to magazines for a few years preceeding the publication of his novels. Many of these were later gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In Danse Macabre King delves into the anatomy of the horror genre from 1818 with Mary Shelly's Frankenstein: The 1818 Text through 1979 with Ghost Story by Peter Straub. King does a splendid job sketching the anatomy of horror over this timespan covering chosen popular and obscure works by Harlan Ellison, Shirley Jackson, Ray Bradbury, John Windham, Ramsey Campbell, Richard Matheson, and Jack Finney, just to name a few; with special attention to the "Unholy Trinity" (dubbed by Grady Hendrix in his one of a kind book about books, Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction
): Rosemary's Baby, The Other, and The Exorcist which "spawned a new era in horror fiction."
King takes a cursory look at horror in radio, cursory likely because, "I am the last quarter of the last generation that remembers radio drama as an active force. Radio's real golden age ended around 1950, the year at which this book's casual attempt at media history begins."
Then comes his assessment of horror in film, aka, "the horror movie as junk food." Here he covers, sometimes with just a fleeting thought other times with an indepth dissection, "roughly 100 horror films released during the period 1950-1980, all of which have contributed something valuable to the genre", starting with 1951 "The Thing" (one of the author's asserted faves) through 1980 "The Shining" (another claimed fave!). "The audience finds some kind of relevance in the
film, whether it can be universal like the fear of death, the unknown, or cultural, social, religious
relevance."
"Horror has not fared particularly well on TV, it is very difficult to write a successful horror story in a world which is so full of real horrors." King adequately analyses many of the TV series that kept me intermittently glued to the boob-tube during my later childhood and early teen years: The Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Outer Limits, Tales of the Unexpected, and Tales From the Crypt. Yes, the best in TV series Horror (⊙‿◎)🔪💉🩸⚰️😲!
King closes with the final chapter,
"Chapter X: The Last Waltz- Horror and Morality.
The danse macabre is a waltz with death. With the disguise of semantics carefully removed and laid aside, what those who criticize the tale of horror (or who simply feel uneasy about it and their liking for it) seem to be saying is this: you are selling death and disfigurement and monstrosity; you are trading upon hate and violence, morbidity and loathing; you are just another representative of those forces of chaos which so endanger the world today.
You are, in short, immoral."
What did the author have to say to those critics (and the rest of us who just feel uneasy about it and our liking of it) in 1981? Well, 🤐 this is a spoiler-free review and shall remain such. Do tell, how do you feel about it?
Written almost in a "stream of consciousness" style, I enjoying the semi-autobiographical aspect as well as King's iconic humor and always captivating composition. As a faithful fan of Classic King, this nonfiction anatomy of Horror is as good a read as any Classic King novel!
I, for one would whole heartedly support, purchase, read, and promote a 21st century sequel or supplement to this outstanding analysis of Horror Fiction in books, movies, TV, and maybe change out radio for the internet or another electronic medium of today.
This was my final read in the 2nd Annual Long Books Challenge (LBC), finished with with 2.25hrs to spare 🤸🏼♀️🤸🏼!
Published in 1981, this is Stephen King's first foray into nonfiction, at which time his first nine novels (Carrie through The Stand), one novella (The Mist), and one short story collection (Nightshift) had been published under his name as well as four novels under the nom de plume Richard Bachman (Rage, The Long Walk, Roadwork, and The Running Man, published in a 1985 omnibus edition titled The Bachman Books).
King made his first professional story sale (a short story The Glass Floor) to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. He continued to write and sell short stories to magazines for a few years preceeding the publication of his novels. Many of these were later gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In Danse Macabre King delves into the anatomy of the horror genre from 1818 with Mary Shelly's Frankenstein: The 1818 Text through 1979 with Ghost Story by Peter Straub. King does a splendid job sketching the anatomy of horror over this timespan covering chosen popular and obscure works by Harlan Ellison, Shirley Jackson, Ray Bradbury, John Windham, Ramsey Campbell, Richard Matheson, and Jack Finney, just to name a few; with special attention to the "Unholy Trinity" (dubbed by Grady Hendrix in his one of a kind book about books, Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction
): Rosemary's Baby, The Other, and The Exorcist which "spawned a new era in horror fiction."King takes a cursory look at horror in radio, cursory likely because, "I am the last quarter of the last generation that remembers radio drama as an active force. Radio's real golden age ended around 1950, the year at which this book's casual attempt at media history begins."
Then comes his assessment of horror in film, aka, "the horror movie as junk food." Here he covers, sometimes with just a fleeting thought other times with an indepth dissection, "roughly 100 horror films released during the period 1950-1980, all of which have contributed something valuable to the genre", starting with 1951 "The Thing" (one of the author's asserted faves) through 1980 "The Shining" (another claimed fave!). "The audience finds some kind of relevance in the
film, whether it can be universal like the fear of death, the unknown, or cultural, social, religious
relevance."
"Horror has not fared particularly well on TV, it is very difficult to write a successful horror story in a world which is so full of real horrors." King adequately analyses many of the TV series that kept me intermittently glued to the boob-tube during my later childhood and early teen years: The Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Outer Limits, Tales of the Unexpected, and Tales From the Crypt. Yes, the best in TV series Horror (⊙‿◎)🔪💉🩸⚰️😲!
King closes with the final chapter,
"Chapter X: The Last Waltz- Horror and Morality.
The danse macabre is a waltz with death. With the disguise of semantics carefully removed and laid aside, what those who criticize the tale of horror (or who simply feel uneasy about it and their liking for it) seem to be saying is this: you are selling death and disfigurement and monstrosity; you are trading upon hate and violence, morbidity and loathing; you are just another representative of those forces of chaos which so endanger the world today.
You are, in short, immoral."
What did the author have to say to those critics (and the rest of us who just feel uneasy about it and our liking of it) in 1981? Well, 🤐 this is a spoiler-free review and shall remain such. Do tell, how do you feel about it?
Written almost in a "stream of consciousness" style, I enjoying the semi-autobiographical aspect as well as King's iconic humor and always captivating composition. As a faithful fan of Classic King, this nonfiction anatomy of Horror is as good a read as any Classic King novel!
I, for one would whole heartedly support, purchase, read, and promote a 21st century sequel or supplement to this outstanding analysis of Horror Fiction in books, movies, TV, and maybe change out radio for the internet or another electronic medium of today.
This was my final read in the 2nd Annual Long Books Challenge (LBC), finished with with 2.25hrs to spare 🤸🏼♀️🤸🏼!
July 9, 2019
Una vista al terror por los ojos y mente de indiscutible rey del terror.
Una lectura curiosa y super interesante que todo seguidor de King debe leer.
Una lectura curiosa y super interesante que todo seguidor de King debe leer.
August 9, 2023
”When you open your mouth, Stevie” my grandfather once said to me in despair “all your guts fall out.”
That grandpa...
Sure, Danse Macabre is a fallen out heap of guts – complete plots of books and movies told and re-told, dated anecdotes, everything you never wanted to know about everything horror, plenty of dad jokes, memories - a big heap of guts. Even though, at this point in my life, it felt like one of those “Best 35 Haunted House Stories You Need to Read Before You Die”, “Ten Books About Docile Clowns”, “Don't Miss These Fifteen Gothic Romances Set in Space” lists you find everywhere, useful only ever for newbies to the genre, there were still some hidden gems to be found in there, in terms of titles to discover, some theoretical meditations, as well as quotes, like the pearl above from Grandpa King.
Despite all, I have to say, I like Stephen King. I don't enjoy his newer books as I used to but he's one of the authors who made me start reading books in the first place when I was a kid and I owe him my sense of justice and the joy of fear, if nothing else. Things like that make you feel attached to an author.
Although I've read this book for my Mount TBR challenge, in which I pledged to read physical copies of older books I own only, I ended up resorting to the audio version because my tired eyes couldn't take the small printed copy I happen to own. And it was a good thing because this book is great to listen to, and would have taken me ages to read properly. Narrator William Dufris did a wonderful job.
That grandpa...
Sure, Danse Macabre is a fallen out heap of guts – complete plots of books and movies told and re-told, dated anecdotes, everything you never wanted to know about everything horror, plenty of dad jokes, memories - a big heap of guts. Even though, at this point in my life, it felt like one of those “Best 35 Haunted House Stories You Need to Read Before You Die”, “Ten Books About Docile Clowns”, “Don't Miss These Fifteen Gothic Romances Set in Space” lists you find everywhere, useful only ever for newbies to the genre, there were still some hidden gems to be found in there, in terms of titles to discover, some theoretical meditations, as well as quotes, like the pearl above from Grandpa King.
Despite all, I have to say, I like Stephen King. I don't enjoy his newer books as I used to but he's one of the authors who made me start reading books in the first place when I was a kid and I owe him my sense of justice and the joy of fear, if nothing else. Things like that make you feel attached to an author.
Although I've read this book for my Mount TBR challenge, in which I pledged to read physical copies of older books I own only, I ended up resorting to the audio version because my tired eyes couldn't take the small printed copy I happen to own. And it was a good thing because this book is great to listen to, and would have taken me ages to read properly. Narrator William Dufris did a wonderful job.
December 22, 2016
A different read from what is normally expected from King, but enjoyable nonetheless.
His ideas about writing and also the mechanisms and origins of the horror genre. I still think about this often when I am reading a horror story. Now that I have read some of his influences like Blackwood and Lovecraft, I think I have a greater appreciation for Danse Macabre.
His ideas about writing and also the mechanisms and origins of the horror genre. I still think about this often when I am reading a horror story. Now that I have read some of his influences like Blackwood and Lovecraft, I think I have a greater appreciation for Danse Macabre.
September 17, 2018
I began buying discount Stephen King hardcovers as a teen. “Danse Macabre” is a serious essay about horror literature and films, from the 1950s to this 1981 publication. This treatise has given me invaluable education. Understand how thorough, organized, and insightful this work is when I say: I am no horror fan! I must have originally been drawn to one of his more ghostly novels. I give 4 stars because drier fact segments resulted in taking 6 months to read this. My 400-page hardcover translates to 800 paperback pages; daunting but this is excellent work.
The very pleasant host rightfully presumes to address horror fans but I didn’t mind being in the minority. I loved the external vantage point and believe my journey was exceptional for it. With knowledge of only a few of the most infamous horror shows, films, and books; I was an utterly blank slate as a pupil! Having no impressions of the titles we analyzed, put me in a rare position of fully gleaning the meaning of Stephen’s examples. I wasn’t reminiscing but learning: there’s a difference between horror and terror, how we scare from culture to culture and decade to decade. Why the entertainment mediums of radio, television and theatre excelled in some eras over others.
Even though horror is not for me, I would like Stephen to know I feel enriched by his explanations of what the appeal is. Fans admit many aspects are cheesy and unlikely but they sift for gems: a moment that is undeniably scary, superb presentation in words or technical artistry, and genuine platforms illuminating our societal positions. There is nothing trite about the implications of horror’s subject matter and our reactions to it. This education about fear and suspense is essential to any author. I felt absolutely enlightened throughout.
The very pleasant host rightfully presumes to address horror fans but I didn’t mind being in the minority. I loved the external vantage point and believe my journey was exceptional for it. With knowledge of only a few of the most infamous horror shows, films, and books; I was an utterly blank slate as a pupil! Having no impressions of the titles we analyzed, put me in a rare position of fully gleaning the meaning of Stephen’s examples. I wasn’t reminiscing but learning: there’s a difference between horror and terror, how we scare from culture to culture and decade to decade. Why the entertainment mediums of radio, television and theatre excelled in some eras over others.
Even though horror is not for me, I would like Stephen to know I feel enriched by his explanations of what the appeal is. Fans admit many aspects are cheesy and unlikely but they sift for gems: a moment that is undeniably scary, superb presentation in words or technical artistry, and genuine platforms illuminating our societal positions. There is nothing trite about the implications of horror’s subject matter and our reactions to it. This education about fear and suspense is essential to any author. I felt absolutely enlightened throughout.
December 26, 2023
In 1981, Danse Macabre was originally published. (Good Lord, that was 40 years ago. I was in High School. Where does the time go?) I remember buying this book with my allowance and poring over the pages. I would have rated it 5 stars back then, but this time around just a little bit less, because it was an over-written treatise on a favored subject. If that's a criticism, consider it a minor one.
The scope encompasses 1950 to 1980, thirty years of horror. The writing was very much as if Grandpa King is sitting on the porch with a cooler full of Medallas (in Puerto Rico our beer of choice) saying "Let me learn you something, Louie. Sometimes I'm going to talk to you straight, and other times I'm going to get didactic and down-right pedagogical but listen because you might just find something important here."
Just imagine, if that's the tone of this thing forty years ago, what would he sound like now with an additional forty years of knowledge? He writes about movies and books he deems essential to a well-rounded horror fandom. I adored him so much back then that the indexes in the back of my well-worn initial copy were highlighted and annotated with dates when I watched or read the recommendations.
(There are two indices in the back of the book. One index is for movies that are historically significant to horror aficionados and the other contains a list of books that are recommended reads for horror fans.) Overall, it is a fascinating read, but you really have to be OK with watching how the sausage gets made, because not everyone is going to be OK with reading it.
The scope encompasses 1950 to 1980, thirty years of horror. The writing was very much as if Grandpa King is sitting on the porch with a cooler full of Medallas (in Puerto Rico our beer of choice) saying "Let me learn you something, Louie. Sometimes I'm going to talk to you straight, and other times I'm going to get didactic and down-right pedagogical but listen because you might just find something important here."
Just imagine, if that's the tone of this thing forty years ago, what would he sound like now with an additional forty years of knowledge? He writes about movies and books he deems essential to a well-rounded horror fandom. I adored him so much back then that the indexes in the back of my well-worn initial copy were highlighted and annotated with dates when I watched or read the recommendations.
(There are two indices in the back of the book. One index is for movies that are historically significant to horror aficionados and the other contains a list of books that are recommended reads for horror fans.) Overall, it is a fascinating read, but you really have to be OK with watching how the sausage gets made, because not everyone is going to be OK with reading it.
Read
August 2, 2019When the King of Horror writes about the Horror culture then it's a book bound to be perfect.
Um,almost
well, it was, but now it's a bit outdated.
King writes mainly about horror films and books from the 1950's up to the 1970's
Since then it's been more than thirty years and thousands of films and books were released and published since then so; he talks about things in the past.
With the books it's fine, because you can find all these books he recommends still available today. The same can be said for films, but watching films from the 50's-60's is not like reading a book from that time, they don't age as well as the books.
But films with this or the other way can be watched, if you want it.
Horror radio on the other hand is something unknown today.
It stopped being current since the advent of TV, and a whole chapter about horror shows on radio was a bit of a bore.
The same can be said about the archaic TV Shows from the USA, a long chapter about shows I ain't gonna watch.
The same can be said about most of the films, but of course not all of them.
But 72% of the book [334 pages (i-xxviii, 1-128, 282-460) out of 460] is about the archetypes (and their creation) of Horror (Vampire, Frankenstein Monster, Werewolf), Horror fiction in English, King's experience with the horror genre both as a writer and as a reader/viewer, and more.
So this leaves 126 pages for Radio, TV, and Films, which equals 27% of the book.
So, even mathematically this book has more positive elements than negative for me.
But even the negative ones are not exactly that. They were just not that interesting to me, as interesting as the autobiographical sections and the horror book sections.
But I knew about some of them and even watched them and liked them, like:
Radio: Orson Welles - War Of The Worlds - Broadcast (1938)
TV: The Twilight Zone (1959-1964)
Film: The Shining (1980), Nosferatu (1922)
So to sum up this uneven (just like the book) review, I liked it, I recommend it to every King and horror junkie and for me it's 4.5 stars
King even in non-fiction is a storyteller.
Um,almost
well, it was, but now it's a bit outdated.
King writes mainly about horror films and books from the 1950's up to the 1970's
Since then it's been more than thirty years and thousands of films and books were released and published since then so; he talks about things in the past.
With the books it's fine, because you can find all these books he recommends still available today. The same can be said for films, but watching films from the 50's-60's is not like reading a book from that time, they don't age as well as the books.
But films with this or the other way can be watched, if you want it.
Horror radio on the other hand is something unknown today.
It stopped being current since the advent of TV, and a whole chapter about horror shows on radio was a bit of a bore.
The same can be said about the archaic TV Shows from the USA, a long chapter about shows I ain't gonna watch.
The same can be said about most of the films, but of course not all of them.
But 72% of the book [334 pages (i-xxviii, 1-128, 282-460) out of 460] is about the archetypes (and their creation) of Horror (Vampire, Frankenstein Monster, Werewolf), Horror fiction in English, King's experience with the horror genre both as a writer and as a reader/viewer, and more.
So this leaves 126 pages for Radio, TV, and Films, which equals 27% of the book.
So, even mathematically this book has more positive elements than negative for me.
But even the negative ones are not exactly that. They were just not that interesting to me, as interesting as the autobiographical sections and the horror book sections.
But I knew about some of them and even watched them and liked them, like:
Radio: Orson Welles - War Of The Worlds - Broadcast (1938)
TV: The Twilight Zone (1959-1964)
Film: The Shining (1980), Nosferatu (1922)
So to sum up this uneven (just like the book) review, I liked it, I recommend it to every King and horror junkie and for me it's 4.5 stars
King even in non-fiction is a storyteller.
October 4, 2018
I’m kind of in the middle with this one, I thoroughly enjoyed some parts and other parts left me feeling quite bored. One of the things I enjoyed the most is that it felt like King was sitting in my living room and we were just chatting and sharing opinions. It’s like he was talking directly to the reader and it was great. I also really enjoyed the sections on horror books and movies but the sections on radio and television just didn’t capture my attention in the same way. This is definitely a must read for horror fans, although beware of spoilers! I’d also REALLY love to see an updated version of this book but featuring horror from the 90s on!
October 6, 2019
"the work of horror really is a dance—a moving, rhythmic search. And what it’s looking for is the place where you, the viewer or the reader, live at your most primitive level. The work of horror is not interested in the civilized furniture of our lives. Such a work dances through these rooms which we have fitted out one piece at a time, each piece expressing—we hope!—our socially acceptable and pleasantly enlightened character. It is in search of another place, a room which may sometimes resemble the secret den of a Victorian gentleman, sometimes the torture chamber of the Spanish Inquisition . . . but perhaps most frequently and most successfully, the simple and brutally plain hole of a Stone Age cave-dweller. Is horror art? On this second level, the work of horror can be nothing else; it achieves the level of art simply because it is looking for something beyond art, something that predates art: it is looking for what I would call phobic pressure points. The good horror tale will dance its way to the center of your life and find the secret door to the room you believed no one but you knew of—as both Albert Camus and Billy Joel have pointed out. The Stranger makes us nervous . . . but we love to try on his face in secret.”
That is probably an overly lengthy quote which to begin this review with, but King encapsulates inside it what I found so compulsively readable about this non-fiction.
Throughout the book, King moves from boy to man, and along the way introduces the reader to a whole host of horrifying titles, across the boards of all types of media. Many, especially those mentioned at the beginning of this book, I hadn't previously heard of. King provides synopsis (often spoilery) that briefly describe each before dissecting their horrifying genius and how they impacted him over the course of his life.
I found all this to be of immense interest, more so when I was already versed in the media he was discussing, but it was the discussions around these disparate titles that held fast appeal. It is only through the lens of horror media that we got to the heart of horror as a genre, but once done so King provides a startlingly deep insight into why it impacts us so thoroughly and continues to hold society in an equal measure of deep-rooted pleasure and fear.
The whys of horror rather than the titles are where I took most away from this but I also now have notebook pages filled with a such a vast number of movie and book titles that I have a lifetime of horrifying media already planned out ahead for me. And I'm not mad about it one bit.
That is probably an overly lengthy quote which to begin this review with, but King encapsulates inside it what I found so compulsively readable about this non-fiction.
Throughout the book, King moves from boy to man, and along the way introduces the reader to a whole host of horrifying titles, across the boards of all types of media. Many, especially those mentioned at the beginning of this book, I hadn't previously heard of. King provides synopsis (often spoilery) that briefly describe each before dissecting their horrifying genius and how they impacted him over the course of his life.
I found all this to be of immense interest, more so when I was already versed in the media he was discussing, but it was the discussions around these disparate titles that held fast appeal. It is only through the lens of horror media that we got to the heart of horror as a genre, but once done so King provides a startlingly deep insight into why it impacts us so thoroughly and continues to hold society in an equal measure of deep-rooted pleasure and fear.
The whys of horror rather than the titles are where I took most away from this but I also now have notebook pages filled with a such a vast number of movie and book titles that I have a lifetime of horrifying media already planned out ahead for me. And I'm not mad about it one bit.
April 7, 2018
I had wanted this book for years but once I started reading it, it was hard to keep up with. I kept putting it in the side. Yes it's an older book and not up to date with modern movies...but hearing King speak of memories of horror and his views on movies and books of older day seemed like a priceless idea to me.
While some areas are of course interesting, there is so much repeated and off-topic rambling that sneaks in. Ideas are stated but then beaten to death. 20 novels are discussed as majors in Horror Fiction but even that grows a bit repetitive. The movie section is the largest but feels all over the place. I wasn't interested in the TV section as much but will say King perhaps did the best there with staying on point and with the right touch of brevity. King doesn't hold back on his words at the best of times, but discussing the Haunting of Hill House for almost 20 pages is pushing it. He writes in a conversational tone without clear direction and sometimes circles to the same points again; while this isn't supposed to be a structured school essay, it keeps feeling so disorganized and conversational that it crushes enthusiasm.
On the plus side he mentions some greats and brings to mind some that aren't given enough attention. It's clear in an almost humorous way he's not a John Saul fan - did the two have a personal beef, or is he just unapologetic about his feelings of the author?
I enjoyed his musing in "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft". He's good at capturing the magic of reading and story. I highly recommend checking that one out, but this one didn't leave a favorable impression. It works better as a random reference than something to sit and read for entertainment.
While some areas are of course interesting, there is so much repeated and off-topic rambling that sneaks in. Ideas are stated but then beaten to death. 20 novels are discussed as majors in Horror Fiction but even that grows a bit repetitive. The movie section is the largest but feels all over the place. I wasn't interested in the TV section as much but will say King perhaps did the best there with staying on point and with the right touch of brevity. King doesn't hold back on his words at the best of times, but discussing the Haunting of Hill House for almost 20 pages is pushing it. He writes in a conversational tone without clear direction and sometimes circles to the same points again; while this isn't supposed to be a structured school essay, it keeps feeling so disorganized and conversational that it crushes enthusiasm.
On the plus side he mentions some greats and brings to mind some that aren't given enough attention. It's clear in an almost humorous way he's not a John Saul fan - did the two have a personal beef, or is he just unapologetic about his feelings of the author?
I enjoyed his musing in "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft". He's good at capturing the magic of reading and story. I highly recommend checking that one out, but this one didn't leave a favorable impression. It works better as a random reference than something to sit and read for entertainment.
November 29, 2021
It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a book so much. Stephen King's Danse Macabre is a non fiction book about the horror genre between 1950 to 1980. In it he encompasses horror at its foundations in story form before going on to speak about films, radio and books. It is beautiful written in the most engaging ways that leads you as the reader to feel like the author is having a conversation with you. The writing itself is insightful, often hilarious and thought provoking. It is perfect for readers who are looking to learn more about the genre and for authors looking to gain a few tips. I have rated this piece five stars because as a Stephen King fan it appeals heavily to me. His writing style here is much closer to that of his earlier books, including his ability to go off on tangents, to readers who are not the biggest King fans I could see this experience being jarring or even frustrating. If you are a fan though or looking for advice on writing in the genre and wishing for more after reading his other fantastic non fiction book, On Writing, this is for you. The book is peppered with in depth advice into the best approaches to writing in the genre while providing insight into some of King's own work. Like I said the book is like having a conversation with King, were the reader stops reading to have their side of the conversation. With this I found I did not always agree with King's theories, one such being that after Dracula the vampire sub genre had exhausted the theme of sex in its telling. King mentions he chose in his own vampire novel to not include such a theme. However, I disagree and with being in 2019 when you consider books like Twilight and Stackhouse, which play into the theme of desire in the sub genre heavily. My finally point is the book comes with a list of films and books that any fan of the genre would love to spend his time working through. I plan on doing just that. I think it will be interesting to see if I agree with the King of Horror with the books that he believes are the best in the field.
Wish there was more. Oh wait he has another sixty books.
Wish there was more. Oh wait he has another sixty books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 21, 2008
This is my favorite Stephen King book--I've read it considerably more times than any of his other works. I don't think it's any secret what makes this book so enjoyable--it's really what makes all of his books work--his storytelling power. He has such a friendly, compelling narrative voice--it's like he's casually sharing secrets with you, and you can't wait to hear what he has to say next.
It might help to enjoy DANSE MACABRE if you are a horror fiction/film fanatic, but then again, it might just make you one even if you're not--it had that effect on me. I tried to see as many of the films and read as many of the books he discussed as I could. (I don't share his warm feelings for the movie "Prophesy" or Peter Straub's "Ghost Story," but join him in highly recommending Ramsey Campbell's horribly titled "The Doll Who Ate His Mother" and the unforgettable "Dawn of the Dead.") Next I moved on to the list of recommended books and movies at the end, and found most of those very worthwhile as well. If you're borderline compulsive like I am, finding a list like that is probably a bad thing--you can't rest until you've checked everything off it, which would probably take a lifetime. I've worked on it on and off for more than a decade and am not much more than half done. But the quest goes on, for which I must thank Mr. King, and more specifically, this delightful, engaging, illuminating book.
It might help to enjoy DANSE MACABRE if you are a horror fiction/film fanatic, but then again, it might just make you one even if you're not--it had that effect on me. I tried to see as many of the films and read as many of the books he discussed as I could. (I don't share his warm feelings for the movie "Prophesy" or Peter Straub's "Ghost Story," but join him in highly recommending Ramsey Campbell's horribly titled "The Doll Who Ate His Mother" and the unforgettable "Dawn of the Dead.") Next I moved on to the list of recommended books and movies at the end, and found most of those very worthwhile as well. If you're borderline compulsive like I am, finding a list like that is probably a bad thing--you can't rest until you've checked everything off it, which would probably take a lifetime. I've worked on it on and off for more than a decade and am not much more than half done. But the quest goes on, for which I must thank Mr. King, and more specifically, this delightful, engaging, illuminating book.
October 15, 2021
Por todos lados se desprende magia cuando ves a una persona entusiasmada con lo que hace. Supongo que a esas personas le brillan los ojos, su manera de hablar se acelera y no pueden parar de transmitir todas las emociones que le supone encontrar a un semejante que comparta cada una de sus aficiones. Tan solo hay que fijarse en el éxito de las redes sociales para entender que, en cierto modo, todos buscamos a alguien que vea la noche del mismo color con el que nosotros la soñamos.
De ahí que tener entre manos La danza macabra es disponer de un palco con las mejores vistas a ese espectáculo llamado Stephen King.
En este libro, lo que nos ofrece el genio de Maine son sus reflexiones acerca de lo que el género del terror supone para la sociedad. Nos invita a que sintamos esa pasión, a que descubramos que en este mundo lleno de oscuridad, de criaturas siniestras, de sangre, vísceras, temblores y miedo existen las suficientes razones como para sentir el gozo de las sombras. Y lo hace desde la pura pasión, desde ese sentimiento que nos acerca a él al hablarnos en el mismo idioma. De hecho, la manera tan cercana que tiene King para comentar La maldición de Hill House, El enigma de otro mundo, El increíble hombre menguante o Psicosis, por poner cualquier ejemplo, se siente como si estuviese sentado a nuestro lado entusiasmado por poder compartir toda su experiencia, con los móviles apagados y sintiendo el paso de las horas. Y es que, aun sabiendo que su lugar natural sería un atril impartiendo cátedra, King disfruta del género y tiene la sensación que necesita compartir su locura con todos nosotros.
Por eso, lo que encontramos en Danza Macabra es una invitación a una fiesta en donde los invitados somos nosotros, los amantes del terror. A lo largo de sus páginas hace un recorrido por los grandes momentos que marcaron la diferencia en el desarrollo del género, pero centrándonos en su propia experiencia, olvidándose de los recurridos orígenes para hablar de King y su amor por el terror. Su infancia, su adolescencia, las emociones que experimentó al ver determinada película que todos criticaban y que a él le cautivó, los libros que considera fundamentales e innovadores en este siglo y todo tipo de momentos que nos acerca al King más humano que se refleja en nuestros espejos.
Y todo estas estas experiencias las enmarca dentro de la defensa de un género que le ha consagrado como escritor, dotándolo de una importancia y dignidad que regocija a cualquiera de sus lectores. En cada una de sus páginas se percibe ese amor. Un amor que no está tan alejado del que sentimos cada uno de nosotros. Todos formamos parte de ese baile, de esa danza macabra que sigue el ritmo de unos músicos que apostaron por un género que amamos. Y no queremos que esa melodía acabe nunca.
October 13, 2025
Stephen King shares his subjective opinions and ideas about horror media (film, television, and novels mostly) and speculates on the reasons why horror has an adult audience, preceding from the assumption that enjoying scary stories is something most adults abandon at some point.
This was a fun, nonfiction book from King and I enjoyed all the recommendations for books and films I hadn’t seen and the breakdown of some of the ones I’ve already enjoyed.
The television section was the weakest. He didn’t think much of the available horror offerings on television before 1981 and because of this timing, he was too early some great horror television from the ’80s-’00s.
The part I liked best though was his theories on why we like horror.
I related to his notion that imagination is something that can remain for adults and some of us like to feed our imagination in this particular way, with scary stories. I have spoken to friends who declared that they’d lost interest in horror once they “grew up.”
“And whenever I run into someone who expresses a feeling along the lines of, ‘I don’t read fantasy or go to any of those movies; none of it’s real,’ I feel a kind of sympathy. They simply can’t lift the weight of fantasy. The muscles of the imagination have grown too weak.”
I also think it makes a great stress coping mechanism for living in this world.
“...we make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones.”
As a kid, I started watching horror movies and reading the books to be like the "big kids" and take it as a dare or a challenge but a safe one. “To show that we can, that we are not afraid, that we can ride this roller coaster.” Also, because like a roller coaster, it’s fun
Last but not least, it's a safe way to express your dark side.
“The mythic horror movie, like the sick joke, has a dirty job to do. It deliberately appeals to all that is worst in us. It is morbidity unchained, our most base instincts let free, our nastiest fantasies realized . . . and it all happens, fittingly enough, in the dark. For those reasons, good liberals often shy away from horror films. For myself, I like to see the most aggressive of them--Dawn of the Dead, for instance--as lifting a trap door in the civilized forebrain and throwing a basket of raw meat to the hungry alligators swimming around in that subterranean river beneath.
Why bother? Because it keeps them from getting out, man. It keeps them down there and me up here. It was Lennon and McCartney who said that all you need is love, and I would agree with that.
As long as you keep the gators fed.”
This was a fun, nonfiction book from King and I enjoyed all the recommendations for books and films I hadn’t seen and the breakdown of some of the ones I’ve already enjoyed.
The television section was the weakest. He didn’t think much of the available horror offerings on television before 1981 and because of this timing, he was too early some great horror television from the ’80s-’00s.
The part I liked best though was his theories on why we like horror.
I related to his notion that imagination is something that can remain for adults and some of us like to feed our imagination in this particular way, with scary stories. I have spoken to friends who declared that they’d lost interest in horror once they “grew up.”
“And whenever I run into someone who expresses a feeling along the lines of, ‘I don’t read fantasy or go to any of those movies; none of it’s real,’ I feel a kind of sympathy. They simply can’t lift the weight of fantasy. The muscles of the imagination have grown too weak.”
I also think it makes a great stress coping mechanism for living in this world.
“...we make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones.”
As a kid, I started watching horror movies and reading the books to be like the "big kids" and take it as a dare or a challenge but a safe one. “To show that we can, that we are not afraid, that we can ride this roller coaster.” Also, because like a roller coaster, it’s fun
Last but not least, it's a safe way to express your dark side.
“The mythic horror movie, like the sick joke, has a dirty job to do. It deliberately appeals to all that is worst in us. It is morbidity unchained, our most base instincts let free, our nastiest fantasies realized . . . and it all happens, fittingly enough, in the dark. For those reasons, good liberals often shy away from horror films. For myself, I like to see the most aggressive of them--Dawn of the Dead, for instance--as lifting a trap door in the civilized forebrain and throwing a basket of raw meat to the hungry alligators swimming around in that subterranean river beneath.
Why bother? Because it keeps them from getting out, man. It keeps them down there and me up here. It was Lennon and McCartney who said that all you need is love, and I would agree with that.
As long as you keep the gators fed.”
December 29, 2008
This book is truly nothing more than Stephen King riffing sloppily (as hell) about the "horror genre." There is no pretense of scholarship, and it has a folky tone which makes it quite easy to imagine what it must have been like back in the day when King got a twelve pack of beer in him, had smoked a joint, and done enough lines of coke to get him on a never ending jag about "the deal" with the genre: to put it bluntly, its about as tight as "the blob," it's rambling, and it's also somewhat amusing, for, after, all, who wouldn't have minded getting stoned with "The King" and talking about horror? It's admittedly fun to hear his take on this stuff and he occasionally makes some damn good points and is always opinionated; but, truly, no-one but a diehard King fan will want to read this, or possibly the odd horror fanatic. By no means remotely close to a definitive survey of the genre, this thing is filled with gapingly shocking holes: he doesn't say so much as mention Horace Walpole, Ann Radcliff, Charles Robert Maturin, Matthew Lewis, Arthur Machen, Lord Dunsany, M.R. James, Algernon Blackwood, Ambrose Bierce, Oliver Onions, H.G. Wells, J. Sheridan Le Fanu, William Hope Hodgson, amongst others- namely, the most important writers in the history of horror. And let's not forget that the book is now big time out of date-- a lot has happened since the late 70's. A far superior book, an indispensible one in my opinion, which consists of a series of wonderful essays by writers discussing their favorite "horror" books, is "Horror 100 Best Books" edited by Stephen Jones and Kim Newman, and its sequel "Horror Another 100 Best Books." Final word- fun, not terribly informative but somewhat, for King fans only, a guilty pleasure for people that love horror, like getting stoned with King and having him talk at you for about five or six hours-- a not unpleasant reading experience.
November 3, 2019
Quattro sono i libri che durante la mia adolescenza mi hanno tenuto più compagnia.
• Danse Macabre
• L'orrore soprannaturale in letteratura
• Racconti fantastici del '900
• Racconti fantastici dell'Ottocento .
Li ho letti e riletti e li ho usati come Vademecum per trovare altre letture, altri autori che poi sono finiti tra i miei preferiti.
In epoca pre-Google non sempre era facile, sopratutto quando si preferivano generi che sono sempre stati considerati sotto-generi.
Raramente i consigli di King, di Lovecraft, di Lippi e di Calvino mi hanno deluso!
• Danse Macabre
• L'orrore soprannaturale in letteratura
• Racconti fantastici del '900
• Racconti fantastici dell'Ottocento .
Li ho letti e riletti e li ho usati come Vademecum per trovare altre letture, altri autori che poi sono finiti tra i miei preferiti.
In epoca pre-Google non sempre era facile, sopratutto quando si preferivano generi che sono sempre stati considerati sotto-generi.
Raramente i consigli di King, di Lovecraft, di Lippi e di Calvino mi hanno deluso!
October 19, 2007
When I first picked this up, I had seen the Johnny Depp adaptation of "Secret Window[, Secret Garden]" (the movie cut out the last half of the title) and, though the movie was far from excellent, I realized that there was more to the horror genre and to Stephen King in particular than I had previously thought. This book showed me the light.
Since reading this treatise on the genre, I have started actively seeking out more horror fiction than any other type of fiction and write almost exclusively in the genre. The best part of this book are the appendices in the back with excellent recommendations on books to read (not ONE of the novels I've read from that list have been bad) and the good recommendations on movies to watch (some were not to my liking, but they are a good place to start). Everyone should read this book if they are interested in horror or fantasy.
This book is a MUST for any reader of horror. Tracing the history from, more or less, where HP Lovecraft left off in his essay on Supernatural Literature, Stephen King describes what it means for a novel/story/movie/etc. to be modern horror. From the moderately suspenseful to the obscenely gory, it's all covered ... up to 1980. And yet, it doesn't feel dated. When talking about these books, King not only treats them like classics that have been around for hundreds of years, but also gets the authors/filmakers themselves to describe their work. All of a sudden, Ramsey Campbell is beside us explaining The Doll That Ate Its Mother followed by King's expert summarization (without giving away too much) and analysis.
Even for those who do not enjoy the genre, this book will be illuminating. It's far from scary, after all, it's non-fiction and about as close to a documentary as a book can get, but will lead you to many dark corners that could have you sleeping with the lights on anyway.
Since reading this treatise on the genre, I have started actively seeking out more horror fiction than any other type of fiction and write almost exclusively in the genre. The best part of this book are the appendices in the back with excellent recommendations on books to read (not ONE of the novels I've read from that list have been bad) and the good recommendations on movies to watch (some were not to my liking, but they are a good place to start). Everyone should read this book if they are interested in horror or fantasy.
This book is a MUST for any reader of horror. Tracing the history from, more or less, where HP Lovecraft left off in his essay on Supernatural Literature, Stephen King describes what it means for a novel/story/movie/etc. to be modern horror. From the moderately suspenseful to the obscenely gory, it's all covered ... up to 1980. And yet, it doesn't feel dated. When talking about these books, King not only treats them like classics that have been around for hundreds of years, but also gets the authors/filmakers themselves to describe their work. All of a sudden, Ramsey Campbell is beside us explaining The Doll That Ate Its Mother followed by King's expert summarization (without giving away too much) and analysis.
Even for those who do not enjoy the genre, this book will be illuminating. It's far from scary, after all, it's non-fiction and about as close to a documentary as a book can get, but will lead you to many dark corners that could have you sleeping with the lights on anyway.
December 18, 2023
This is a lengthy survey of the horror genre as it was seen early in the career of its most successful and iconic practitioner and fan. It's partially autobiographical and reflective, partially historical and scholarly, but mostly an honest and concise view of the field from the 1950s up to 1980 as he saw it, from a variety of different viewpoints, as he considered works and creators both as they fit various themes and as they figured in the history of the genre. He includes appendices of influential films and books (and marks which he found the most personally significant), which are wonderful sources of recommendations of worthwhile works to try. For example, the book is dedicated to Robert Bloch, Jorge Luis Borges, Ray Bradbury, Frank Belknap Long, Donald Wandrei, and Manly Wade Wellman, so before the book even starts the reader has a list of some authors to try if they're not already familiar names. Some of the sections may get a bit dry for casual readers at times, but it's a treasure trove of information for seasoned fans as well as for those with a true interest in the subject matter. His discussion of Harlan Ellison in chapter nine is worth the price of the book all on its own.
November 5, 2016
This was a fun read - an impressionistic literary journey through Steve's life and his experiences with horror. I came to know about EC Comics through this book, and I recently located its most terrifying story as endorsed by King (Foul Play) online. Made me sad that I was not born in America: especially before the comics code was implemented.
March 12, 2011
Probably my favorite King book. It gives a lot of insight into Mr. King himself as well as into what he thinks about the writing.
Let me update and expand on this a little. I found (back when I read it) that it gave me a lot of insight (at least I think it did) into Mr. King. (Of course he may be chuckling at that and saying..."so you think. You have fallen into my trap"...just a thought). With biographical sketches, stories from life and tales of his own writing experience it's well worth the freight.
Also at the time I read it I found the list of his favorite books in the back very interesting and spent a lot of time at the library trying to run them down. That was a greater challenge then as I lived in a smaller city and the library didn't have nearly all the books he listed. Since Danse Macabre was written in '81 and it's now 2011, a new list and a follow up book would be of great interest.
So, while I'm not per se a King fan, I liked this book.
Let me update and expand on this a little. I found (back when I read it) that it gave me a lot of insight (at least I think it did) into Mr. King. (Of course he may be chuckling at that and saying..."so you think. You have fallen into my trap"...just a thought). With biographical sketches, stories from life and tales of his own writing experience it's well worth the freight.
Also at the time I read it I found the list of his favorite books in the back very interesting and spent a lot of time at the library trying to run them down. That was a greater challenge then as I lived in a smaller city and the library didn't have nearly all the books he listed. Since Danse Macabre was written in '81 and it's now 2011, a new list and a follow up book would be of great interest.
So, while I'm not per se a King fan, I liked this book.
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