Haunted: On Ghosts, Witches, Vampires, Zombies, and Other Monsters of the Natural and Supernatural Worlds

by Leo Braudy

An award-winning scholar and author charts four hundred years of monsters and how they reflect the culture that created them

Leo Braudy, a finalist for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, has won accolades for revealing the complex and constantly shifting history behind seemingly unchanging ideas of fame, war, and masculinity.
 
Continuing his interest in the history of emotion, this book explores how fear has been shaped into images of monsters and monstrosity. From the Protestant Reformation to contemporary horror films and fiction, he explores four major the monster from nature (King Kong), the created monster (Frankenstein), the monster from within (Mr. Hyde), and the monster from the past (Dracula). Drawing upon deep historical and literary research, Braudy discusses the lasting presence of fearful imaginings in an age of scientific progress, viewing the detective genre as a rational riposte to the irrational world of the monstrous. Haunted is a compelling and incisive work by a writer at the height of his powers.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Horror, Paranormal, Cultural, Mythology, Vampires

306 pages, Hardcover

First published October 25, 2016

About the author

Leo Braudy is among America's leading cultural historians and film critics. He currently is University Professor and Leo S. Bing Chair in English and American Literature at the University of Southern California. He lives in Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Cait · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When I read non-fiction, it usually tends to be by authors like Mary Roach, Deborah Blum, or Jon Krakauer. I guess I gravitate toward a more narrative, conversational, or pop science type of NF. I love learning new things, but at the same time I have that all too human need to be entertaaaaained. You know, teach me but don't make it so obvious that that's what you're doing. Especially when I've just spent the past 3 years of my life reading nothing but textbooks. So what the hell was I doing requesting this book from net galley? The title is what really caught my attention, but at the same time I knew that this book would be much more academic than my usual NF fare. How compelling could it really be? Turns out, VERY.

History, theology, philosophy, art, literature, mythology, film, music, language, anthropology, psychology, science (seriously, I could go on) - they are all studied in depth here as they relate to the horror genre and its ghosts, monsters, ghouls, and various other entities that go bump in the night. Meticulously researched and cohesively structured, Haunted is an historical treasure trove of information that, while somewhat dry in parts, consistently fascinated me and kept me turning pages as if I were reading a novel. I especially loved the chapter on the created monster and the in depth analysis and discussion of Shelley's Frankenstein. I want to reread it, as well as The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde with the new perspective and insight gained from this book. I also have a ton of books I'm now dying to read for the first time, from The Castle of Otranto to The Monk to Carmilla to 'Salem's Lot. I would love to get a paper copy of this book when it comes out to use as a supplement for all of my creepy reading and tv/film viewing.

Bottom line: an intellectual and entertaining study of the horror genre that is well worth the read.

[Killian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is truly one of those "it's not you, it's me" cases. The description of this book is SO interesting, right?! Exploring how human fears have created various monsters through the centuries, and explaining why those fears and monsters still exist today. Freaking fascinating stuff.

But I am not as smart as this book is. Not by a long shot. Nor am I at all, in the slightest interested in philosophy to the depth that is presented here, especially the religious sort. And there is a lot more religious philosophy here than was advertised. Had I known that before hand, I would never have requested this book. It bores me to the point that I had to be careful about when I tried to read this book. Directly after drinking a cup of coffee was best so I could stay awake.

All that isn't to say that this isn't a worthwhile book, and that's why I'm giving it 3 stars, even though I couldn't finish the damn thing (I kept trying to read the Frankenstein chapter for a week before finally throwing in the towel). This book is SO well researched! And the author gives tons of details and facts to back up every point he makes, even coming at it from various angles just to make his evidence clearer. Just judging it by that metric, it's a 5 star book all day. But for me, I just can't do it.

I'm a dirty pleb who needs her non-fiction written in a more journalistic style, and I fully own that. Yale Press comes out with so many amazingly interesting titles, I'm just sad that this one wasn't at all meant for me. If you are interested in deep philosophical discussions drawing from all kinds of sources, and making links that were previously unexplored, you will LOVE this book. Seriously. However, if you quickly bore of that kind of thing because you see the world in black and white terms which makes it hard to care about shades of gray... Maybe not so much.

Copy courtesy of Yale University Press, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Kathrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy via NetGalley.

Whenever someone asks me what kind of books I want to read more my answer will be non-fictional books. But every time I try to get my hands on something that will keep me interested I'm not that lucky with my choice. For the longest time, I believed that maybe I'm not made for them.
However, every once in a while I come across a book like 'Haunted' and fall in love with it.

The synopsis promised a review of the past culture that shaped a lot of those monsters we know now from TV, movies, and literature. The author did a great job to intertwine historical developments with works of literature (and later cinema). I'm a huge fan of horror stories and classical monsters as some of the most intriguing ideas are rooted in earlier societies and their beliefs.

The book is written in a clear and easy-to-understand language although some parts were a little stiff but I didn't mind much.

I also discovered a whole new set of books I haven't read yet and I look forward to reading them. However, here lies the reason why I settled for four stars instead of 5. As I didn't know all of the discussed books some of the ending as well as the plot twists were spoiled. I guess most of the stories are well-known which is why many people won't be surprised but this was not the case for me.

In the end, I'm really happy that I discovered the book and I hope to read more by the author in the future. I recommend it to those who are a fan of classical literature as well as the horror genre in general.

[Ingrid · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reads like when you write a 2 page paper and realize that it has to be 10 pages, so you just restate your argument five more times to fill space.

[Kinzie · Rating 2 out of 5]

dnf'ed - idk i just struggled to get into it. i loved the concept of the book and may try to read it again sometime

[Todd Stockslager · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review title: Vampires, mummies, and the Holy Ghost

Jimmy Buffet, in one of his lesser known songs, lists these three phenomenon as "the things that terrify me the most." In this academic study of monsters in history, religion, literature, and movies, Leo Braudy includes them among several others in his monstrous taxonomy: monsters of nature (King Kong), created monsters (Frankenstein's creature), the monster within (Dr. Hyde), and the monster from history (Dracula). He also devotes large sections of his argument to religion as a source and competitor to horror, and to detective fiction as a comparison and contrast to horror.

Therein lies the key distraction that kept me from rating Haunted higher. Braudy could have gone one of two directions with this. If the title had indicated that this book was an academic exercise in literary criticism to develop a theoretical construct to serve as the basis for a follow up book focused on the four categories of monster and identifying the key characteristics of each with the many examples of each from books and movies, he would have gotten probably fewer readers in the first instance and one or two additional stars in the second. And the fewer readers of the first book, myself included because I would still be interested in that book, would have given it a more positive review because they understood the premise going in.

One clue to Braudy's own confusion on his intent in Haunted is his introduction of topics with frequent references that the topic will be more fully developed in later chapters. When I see this pattern, it is usually a clue to me that the author is unsure of the true organization of his topic which is reflected in a less optimal sequence of the material leading to those isolated statements and cross references. Another organization issue is that despite the early introduction of the matrix of the four categories, the chapter structure doesn't follow the matrix, so that the reader can lose the thread of the matrix amongst the additional material on religion and detective plots.

Even with these caveats, the topic is a fascinating one, especially as Braudy develops the roots of horror stories in differing patterns of language, culture, and religion. The roots of language related to horror are especially interesting, for example the relationship between the words "grammar" (which was originally a synonym for the archaic word "gramarye" which meant occult), "glamour" (which originally meant enchantment), and "spell", with its double meaning of both the correct order of letters in a word and the verbal formula of a magician or witch (p. 91). Religion also, as Jimmy Buffet's song lyric hints, is a key element of horror, with its recognition of the supernatural, explanation of the possibility of life after death, and definitions of ritual to invoke the gods and otherworldly creatures that in our natural world appear as monsters. Consider, for example the similarities between a 19th century spiritist Seance and a 20th century Pentacostal church service. Braudy spends some time discussing Arthur Conan Doyle, who both created the super-rational detective Sherlock Holmes and was a committed believer in the truth of spiritism, as a link between the realms of religion and horror, and Edgar Alan Poe, who wrote both gothic horror and some of the earliest detective stories, as a link between reason and horror.

So Haunted is a worthy book, just not as well presented or argued as it might have been. I still think I would like better the followup volume where Braudy focuses on applying his taxonomy across the literature and movies of the last 150 years. Mr. Braudy, if you haven't already moved on to another topic, there's an idea for your next project.

[Bill Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

An academic investigation of the persistent monsters in, mostly, American culture. Much of it applies to British culture too, but I'm not sure proper attention was paid to other countries' contributions to the forms and themes. I like this book best when it sticks with historical data and least when it stretches out its interpretive tentacles in speculation. The discussion, a recurrent theme really, about the conflicts of faith -- Catholic vs. Protestant vs. Humanist, etc. -- are quite interesting and the author makes an excellent case for the clash of doctrines and world views still influencing our ideas of what a ghost or a witch is, and what they mean in a social or cultural context. Likewise, the discussion of emergent ideas about the mind and the doppleganger or Dr. J and Mr. H, while not especially original, are fascinating, especially when contemporary texts and sources are cited. I didn't like the chapter on detectives, mostly because it felt grafted Frankenstein-like into the contents, and I didn't much like the concluding chapter, critiques of modernish film horrors that other writers have done better, but on the whole, this volume is a very worthwhile contribution to the quest for what horror means, both as a genre and as part of the "folk culture" of our society.

[William Reichard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a wonderful look at the ways in which our society takes those it cannot control, understand, or kill, and turns them into the monsters that inhabit our films, novels, and dreams. My only complaint is that the critique the book offers is a bit repetitive. The author references a handful of works throughout the book, even though there are ample other sources he could use in his analysis. For me, this limits the scope of the book. The title promises something bigger than the text delivers. There are also a few factual errors in the text, most regarding plot points in a small number of U.S. horror films.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

What lies behind or within the old stories, the stories of slanted shadows and creatures unknown but experienced? Braudy takes you along an evolutionary path to show how monsters from nature are like King Kong, monsters from what humans manufacture are like Frankenstein, monsters from within ourselves are like Mr. Hyde, and monsters from the past are like Dracula. This is the working formula. The rest comes down to storytelling, which to evoke the sensation of being haunted, is about weaving together the cultural terrors that fill your culture. Then you'll see the semblance of the categories above or categories from other old horrors.

Braudy focused on the Reformation and Counter-Reformation era as a catalyst for horror stories we've inherited today in the West. The clash of religious cultures and ideals was mixed with the sensation of the known world being torn apart. Insecurity swelled in the hearts and nothing seemed predictable anymore. A situation like that is the playground for fear.

Braudy shared John Damascene's list of six varieties of fear, which provide nuance in the fears we feel. His list is: shrinking (fear of something about to happen), shame (fear aroused by anticipation of blame), disgrace (fear arising from a "base act" already committed), anxiety (fear of failing or misfortune), consternation (amazement or dismay that hinders or throws into confusion) and panic. The first four are fears generated by reality, while consternation and panic are products of the imagination. (p.28)

The thesis of Braudy's book is that we interpret the fear we feel with the cultural lenses we've inherited. We're nurtured by our societies to name the evils as we've learned to name them. The stories are about such naming. Yet there are at least two types of interactions with horror stories. One type focuses on explaining a horror or potential horror by, in my interpretation, consciously observing the times, subconsciously experiencing one of John Damascene's fears, and then consciously telling a fear-based story that hopes to share of the past's emotion by telling a story that is more than the facts, but elicits similar emotion to the first experience. These stories could have moral goals, as in: don't do what we tried to do.

Another type of interaction is a warrior stance where the participant in the story adventures into the darkness of the story, into the heart of terror, with the hope of coming out victorious. The warrior journeys through the terror and remains alive. This is what's happening in those who love horror movies and fright houses--they're battling the terrors that can be shown them, coming close to the sensation of death itself, all to come out alive on the other side.

[David Layton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leo Braudy's study of the Horror genre takes an encyclopedic race through Western culture. Braudy writes a new historicist account of where the several tropes and themes of horror come from, how they relate to the general Western psyche, and how they have transformed over time. Along the way, he takes a few extended pauses for some explication of key literary works of horror, especially Matthew Lewis's "The Monk," Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," and Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." Mostly, however, the method of the analysis is a history of ideas approach, tracing what ghosts, witches, vampires, and so on represent socially at various points in history. Along the way, Braudy draws a few surprising connections. I found a few flaws with Braudy's approach, but overall think the book makes a good case for why a study of the horror genre generally should not be just another list of how one book influences others. One flaw, to me, was the chapter on detective fiction and film. Try as he might to make the case that the detective is sort of the alter ego of the monster, this chapter read to me as if it were a different book of its own. I also found some of the attempts at a deep historical origin of certain horror tropes to be tenuous at best. This is especially true of his writing about vampires. Here, Braudy notes that most of the 19th-century English-language authors of horror, and of vampires in particular, were Anglo-Irish: Edmond Burke, Sheridan Le Fanu, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker. Instead of taking this observation and using it as a starting point for analysis, he uses this observation as the logical conclusion of a historical chain of events, so that the observation appears about halfway into the chapter. The bulk of the early part of the chapter is a rambling discourse about the history of the Celts and the 19th-century origin of Celtic studies (there was a kind of Celt mania, spurred by the likes of Robert Burns, Tennyson, and so on). This historical account as the explanation of why so many of the writers were Anglo-Irish just does not bear much scrutiny, and the observation itself seems beside the point. Be that as it may, the book overall provides a very good review of the cultural forces that shaped the horror genre when it arrived in the late 1700s, and as it has evolved since then.

[DW · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is composed of eight chapters. The first four about the religious history of horror are fascinating and seem to be well-researched aside from one error and a couple of odd irrelevant comments about modern culture.

But then we get to the fifth chapter about detective fiction. It starts off relevant enough but then wanders so far afield that I thought Braudy had pinched a chapter from Pistols and Petticoats: 175 Years of Lady Detectives in Fact and Fiction. After that he discusses dualism in Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, vampires, and then the impact of the movies, but these chapters feel glossed over and lacking in detail, are often repetitive, and don't seem all that well-researched.

One notable example of this problem is that he mentions in passing the modern spate of movies that involve body switching such as Big, Freaky Friday and Vice Versa, but apparently Braudy did not know that Vice Versa is based on a book originally published in 1882. Maybe if he had known, he might have elaborated on this concept in the chapter about dualism.

So, I found the early chapters interesting, the later chapters not so much, and overall it came across as unfocused, like it was a transcript of a very smart person spouting off about his favorite books and movies without any particular goal in mind.

Unlike other reviewers I didn't find it particularly difficult to read or understand.

I got a free copy from NetGalley.

[Scott Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Audiobook) This work tries to offer an academic explanation as to why we are drawn to monsters and other figures that feature prominently in horror works (literature and movies). The work does jump around form concept to concept, but the focus is usually easy for the reader to follow once the sections begin. Many of the classic figures, from Dracula, to Frankenstein to the Mummy all factor into the discussions, from their literary starts to the appearances in the movies. Braudy looks at the literary history of the characters and then how those figures evolved as times and standards evolved. Later on, Braudy incorporates more modern figures, to include zombies and aliens. Those are mainly movie figures, but Braudy incorporates them into his analysis the same way. It is an interesting look at the horror genre of the arts and plenty of options for movie and book reading. Worth the read, even if it can get a little “academic” at times.

[Sandy Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found it surprising to have Martin Luther mentioned on page 2 ("the monster was...for Catholics, the diabolical reforms of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and others"). It certainly changed my way of reading this book. The initial third of this book had its accent on religion and fear/hope and horror/good and evil. Braudy reminds us how myth and legend control or at least influence our responses in the real world. In the 17th century modern horror stories were based on real life fears, which were many. When literacy and circulating libraries became more common, there was an increase in fiction. The book contains quite a bit of repetition but all in all, it is an amazing integration of religion, philosophy, psychology, natural science, technology, anthropology, myth, reality, art - both written and visual -to describe our fascination with the supernatural world.

[Amanda Wilkerson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is interesting exploration of horror and its origins. I enjoyed most of it but the chapter on the detective felt very long and out of place to me. I understand the connection he’s making, but the author just goes too far afield in his exploration of this other genre. In comparison, the chapter on the monster from the past (featuring vampires), felt pretty thin. I would love to see the author dive more fully into modern horror and it’s meanings, because his analysis of recent horror is a bit spotty and seemingly random. Why does he discuss Blade Runner so many times, which isn’t really even horror, but literally only mentions the rise of Japanese horror and the popular gore/torture series Saw and Hostel one time? It feels like there’s more to say there about the ways horror has continued to change.

[K.R. Valgaeren · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a dedicated student and writer of horror and the gothic, I have collected and read a legion of books on the subject through the years, most of them being literary histories or collections of essays on the subject. This book, however, is the first that not only attempts, but also succeeds in explaining why we keep writing and reading these stories on a massive scale. The author's theories were real eye openers for me. Gaps in my knowledge were filled by the author looking in beyond literary analysis, and dissecting the essence of the monster also in psychological, sociological, historical and philosophical ways. What he did was simply genious!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love fantasy novels so I thought this non-fiction book would be a good fit for me. Unfortunately, I was not really that interested in the religious background of the various monsters which the author puts rather a lot of emphasis on. This is really just a question of taste and interest and I will probably use "Haunted" in some of my upcoming term papers because it gives an in-depth analysis of some of the most common and popular monsters portrayed in literature.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book did show me that I am terribly negligent in my grasp of horror readings and more modern horror movies, I thought the book was a bit repetitive. Four categories of monsters, detective psychology, a little background insights- all good but I feel those topics just went round and round through the book with little new presented after about the middle of the book. Still, what was offered was good stuff.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book looks at supernatural creatures in literature, and how their portrayal changes based on historical circumstances. The author looks at the period from the Reformation through the present, and shows how different themes in literature resonated with changes in history. Although the author has clearly done a lot of research, the book is very readable, even for a non-expert.

[Mai Khanh · Rating 5 out of 5]

initially, i wanted to give it a 4 cos the chapter about Jekyll and Hyde fell short of my expectations, and it was the one i had been looking forward to the most.
but on second thoughts, it wasn't bad. i just happened to read into such matter a long time.
this book is well written, throughout. it introduces some very interesting interpretations of old materials, interconnected between chapters.

[Daniel Farabaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent cultural history of horror and how what we think impacts how we are scared. The author does a great job looking at historical trends. The book especially shines in describe how the development of film changes the nature of the monster, most notably with Dracula and Frankenstein's monster.

[Lavender · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I can't account for it's writing style, as I kept getting distracted and could not focus (maybe it's just me as a reader), it's definitely an academic approach to analyzing the popular culture of horror, citing lots of examples to explain the trend

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll never think of horror the same way....

[Mark Puckering · Rating 1 out of 5]

Remarkably tedious.

[Brandon Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

My only criticism of this is that I wanted more of it.

[Nikolai · Rating 3 out of 5]

♫ He did the monster mash
It was a graveyard smash ♫

[Elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.85, really interesting history about the creatures and ideas we see around Halloween time. I wanted something to read around spooky season and this was more "hmmm" than "AARRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone deserves a nonfiction book exploring the fusion of their niche interests

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Way too erudite for the casual reader. Not badly written, just heavy.

[noah ✨ hester · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ✨

[Kirsten]

I'll come back to this one -- it's just too dense to read in hardcopy right now, what with the toddler.