The Book of Lists: Horror

by Amy Wallace, Del Howison (Editor), Scott Bradley (Editor)

The phenomenally popular Book of Lists series has sold millions of copies from coast to coast, enthralling trivia aficionados with fascinating infobits about simply everything! Now the latest edition turns an evil eye toward the strange, the blood-curdling, and the macabre with spine-tingling fun facts from the dark side of entertainment. Chock-full of creepy information from the netherworlds of movies, TV, literature, video games, comic books, and graphic novels, The Book of Lists: Horror offers a blood-feast of forbidden knowledge that horror fans are hungry to devour, including:

Stephen King's Ten Favorite Horror Novels or Short Stories—learn what scares the master!
Top Six Grossing Horror Movies of All Time in the United States— which big shocks translated into big bucks?
Top Ten Horror-Themed Rock 'n' Roll Songs—maybe it is devil's music' after all!
And much, much more!

Drawing on its authors' extensive knowledge and contributions from the (living) legends and greatest names in the horror and dark fantasy genres, The Book of Lists: Horror is a scream—an irresistible compendium of all things mysterious, terrifying, and gory . . . and so entertaining, it's scary!

Genres: Horror, Nonfiction, Reference, Books About Books, Media Tie In, Trivia, Humor

410 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Amy Wallace was an American author. She was the daughter of authors Irving Wallace and Sylvia Wallace and sister of historian David Wallechinsky.

Reviews

[Trin · Rating 3 out of 5]

An assemblage of lists and essays-in-the-form-of-lists about horror movies, horror books, and horror in a variety of other formats. I’m not a huge horror fan, but I still got a kick out of this book. The humorous lists were unsurprisingly my favorites—top honors definitely go to Vince Churchill’s “Wow, the Black Guy Lived!”—and there were some good reading recommendations to be gleaned from the books section as well. However, there were far too many lists that were basically, “Hey, Here Are My Favorite Examples of the Horror Genre. You Know. In Case You Care, Since I’m Vaguely Connected With the Horror Industry and Whatnot.” Also, reading an essay about Eli Roth’s favorite examples of cinematic genital mutilation in which he pauses to complain that the horror genre is too often falsely accused of being misogynistic? That makes me want to do something pretty horrific to him.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed in this book. It's mainly just lists of the top 10 horror movies or top 10 horror books recommended by famous authors or directors. The music section is very, very small. I thought there might be a lot of songs with horror themes that could have been included in this book but there's just opera (okay, but. . . .) and classical (okay, but. . . .) and only one rock list of 10 rock horror songs. That disappointed me.

Most of the lists weren't fun. It's been ages since I read the original Book of Lists but I remember it being a really fun book. I was always reading in and referring to it when I was in high school.

I expected more. More crazy, fun, interesting, "I didn't know that" lists. A couple of these lists fit that bill, but not most of them. At least I now have lists of some horror books I've missed to add them to my Goodreads "to-read" list. I also learned the invunche story line from Constantine the TV show came from Swamp Thing and I saw that Scott Derrickson got mentioned once for "Exorcism of Emily Rose".

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Things I wanted from this book: A list of horror novels I ought to read.

What I received from this book: 60% lists about movies, 15% lists about television shows, 10% lists about music (wut?), and 15% lists about books (10% of which were about what horror authors thought of the movie adaptations of their books).

On the one hand, I did get a list of books (ten of them); on the other hand, I spent a lot of time reading about movies I'll never want to see. (Some of the list writers were a bit too excited about the level of graphic violence in the movies.) Had this been more then 99 cents, I'd be even more annoyed than I am with this book.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect bathroom book, this entertaining collection is both interesting and insightful. Sure to send you looking for many obscure movies and books.

[Trudi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cool, very funny...this comprehensive, sometimes off-the-wall, book of lists is chock full of mainstream horror and hard-to-find cult classics and a must read for the horror addict (and dedicated listmaker nerds like myself). I had an absolute ball perusing these colorful lists, compiled by some of the biggest names in the genre, including Stephen King (who lists his 10 favourite horror novels / short stories of all time). You will be inspired, intrigued, and amazed and have a helluva good time along the way. You will also never lack for a good movie or book idea ever again. For the horror novice, this deluge of lists is a baptism by fire of everything the genre has to offer, from the good, the bad, the ugly ... and the Italian ;-) Trivia buffs will rejoice!

My only criticism is that the book does not have a Table of Contents (or an index) for each list, so you can end up doing a lot of flipping pages to find the ones you want again. Other than that, dig in and enjoy!

[Robert Adam Gilmour · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not surprising but the section on films was just too long. What I found helpful were lists of atypical horror books, music, Karl Edward Wagner's lists of great horror books and Thomas Ligotti's list of poets.

It was quite fun at times but could have been so much better.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weakest of the Book of Lists entries.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

An all-around fun read! Only a few entries I wasn’t that into which is impressive for a 400+ page book of lists. Learned about a lot of films and books I need to add to my watch/read lists. 4.5 but I rounded up.

[Nick LeBlanc · Rating 4 out of 5]

The type of book that internet culture killed. There used to be stuff like this, The Bathroom Reader, The Straight Dope—all the type of stuff we now just scroll through our phones for. I found this in a Free Little Library and had a really great time slowly flipping through the different sections over the course of a few months. Got some good recs and some laughs/interesting material. It was nice to not be staring at a screen.

Read on paperback.

[Jessie (Zombie_likes_cake) · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me, a Horror aficionado and a list junkie, this was pretty much the perfect book to read over Halloween. I wish they would publish something alike every other year so you could have more updated versions with newer entries (this edition is from 2008).
Lists from smaller and bigger names that had some impact in the Horror genre about the genre, you will find contributions from Eli Roth, Ray Bradbury, Stephen King and many more, all concerning very different aspects of the spectrum Horror. The list that had me the most excited was Tim Lebbon's favorite apocalyptic Horror stories, a writer I fell in love with only this year. And there you have the biggest problem, this book will inevitably extend your personal to-read and to-watch list by major proportions. Yet, this book is fun not only for finding 'new' horrors but reading and dis-/agreeing with others' opinions, you will make your own lists in your head. And yes, sometimes you will be shocked to not find certain for you iconic entries (a list of the best Horror theme songs and no mentioning of "Jaws" and "Halloween" can't be taken seriously by me), additionally the list about Horror board games was beyond joking, badly researched and outdated, there are extremely good Horror games out there (I am a hobby gamer, fyi).
Still, this is a fun coffee table-ish book that every fan of the genre should want to flip through. What boggled my enjoyment a little bit though, was that for some lists you had little additional information. What I mean by that: sometimes when people went through their lists they only gave you the title and if you wanted to know more about it you would go and have to ask aunt google, other lists were complete with a little synopsis to each contribution and why it made it on the list. I get that you don't complain to Stephen King that his list is so bare of input but I wished the makers of the book would have stepped up and provided the info. More photos would have been helpful, too, when talking about comic covers, movie posters etc. but that was surely money related.
So I had a few issues, but overall I really, really enjoyed going through it, recommended!

[Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Right away I can say that if you liked trivia, then you will like this book. If you like the horror genre in any form (film, books, tv, music, etc.), then you will like this book as well. Some readers out there may remember the Book of Lists series, and this is a pretty good entry in the series.

The book is arranged into major chapters. There is one chapter each for film, literature, music, miscellaneous trivia, and a little bit of this and that at the end. Personally, I like the literature chapter best, but that may be because I am a literature sort of person. I did find the film chapter pretty interesting as well. It does cover a pretty broad range of films, especially older films that may or not be available nowadays. You may find yourself longing to watch this or that film, or maybe watch again a film you may have enjoyed before.

The lists contain a variety of trivia and items. I do think a small weakness of the book, which is what prevented me from giving it five stars, is that a couple of lists are a stretch. There were a couple of lists of movies that "were not really horror movies but can be viewed as horror" and similar concepts that felt that the editors were just pushing. Those kind of lists just made it feel like the editors were simply pushing in stuff to fill up the book rather than something that was carefully thought out.Aside from those, and those weak lists are few, the content overall is pretty good. The editors do a good job of providing context for the lists in the form of introductory notes, which at times can be as entertaining as the annotated lists. Yes, most of the lists are annotated.

I definitely enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to any fan of the horror genre as well as anyone who just likes reading trivia books. I know there are a few items listed that I may look up to experience later, and for that, I think the book is worth it.

[bernard juozapaitis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as interesting as it could have been

I enjoy a good list or fact book but this one was a bit lacking in interesting topics.the same subjects kept reappearing and most of the recollections a bore

[Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lately, I have been revisiting the old Books of Lists, feeling really nostalgic about their random trivia and fun lists of stuff people liked in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. I was then intrigued to see that this more recent book of lists, The Book of Lists: Horror, has been compiled, and on such an interesting topic, so I quickly acquired it from the library. While it is still chock full of fun stuff about the horror genre, including lists by a variety of “movers and shakers” in the genre, it is a little difficult to compete with the sheer variety available online these days.

More than half of the book is taken up by movie lists, generally along the lines of director’s “top tens,” some more interesting than others though providing some interesting titles I had never heard of before, particularly among the international films. However, this emphasis on movies is still a little bit of a disappointment to someone whose interest is more in literature. In conclusion, while not reaching the heights of past books of lists, The Book of Lists: Horror still provides more than enough to keep the interest of anyone with a passing enjoyment of horror literature, movies, music, and other topics.

[Glen Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book and if it was just list after list of "Bests," then I probably would have put it aside. No this is a wonderful selection of lists from a diverse range of people. The Editors have done a great job in assembling interesting contributors who for most part have something interesting to say about their selections.They include film makers, authors, web geeks, horror fans, academics, specialists, journalists and others from around the globe. It mostly covers film and literature but there are horror related lists relating to music and art as well. A surprising amount of thought has gone into these lists and it makes for an entertaining read. The only frustration is that some of the writing is so passionate that you really wish you could see that movie or read that book straight away. I think what sets this book apart from others is this passion. Personal stories about viewing a certain horror movie for the first time or discovering a novel that scared them silly. The tone is generally humorous and light hearted but surprisingly scholarly and knowledgeable. Yes there are spoilers so tread warily but this is a book I could easily return to in a few years, with a few more books and films under my belt, and enjoy all over again. One for the buffs.

[Geoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is what it says on the title, it is a collection of "best of" lists or similar by different people involved in the horror field. We get contributions by authors King, Braunbeck, Schow, Bradbury, etcetera, and we get lists from the film side of horror like Roth and Craven, as well as others involved in the horror field.

This book tends to favor horror movies in the number of lists, even though there are different sections, one on movies one on literature, etcetera. So there are only so many of these that you can read about my "Top 10 favorite Horror Movies" for example. I really doubt anyone read every single list in this book, as it would be very repetitive but I did go through every page and end up reading at least half of the lists (the ones that interested me).

Anyway this book is bathroom material; pick it up to read a few lists, put it back down, and you're happy. Do I think this is an essential book? No. Was I entertained? Yes, but not overly so. I had some fun with the book, but I didn't find this to be a great read.

[Vince Liaguno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every once in awhile, horror shows us its fun side. In The Book of Lists: Horror, a wonderful new compendium that will leave genre enthusiasts glassy eyed and drooling into the wee hours of the night, editors Wallace, Howison, and Bradley ably pull together the vast elements of this classic genre. Straddling a fine line between trivia and contributor opinion, the collection offers up a plethora of lists – spanning movies, television, literature, music, even comic books and video games – compiled by genre royalty (Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, and Robert Block), respected genre editors and critics (Fangoria’s Anthony Timpone, Tim Lucas, and Leisure’s Don D’Auria), and the genre’s next generation (Eli Roth, Hatchet director Adam Green, and Neil Marshall).

Read the rest of the review here.

[Professor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the lists are good, and contain films I haven't heard of or from genres I am not that into (especially in things like the list of "women in terror" sub-genre films). Unfortunately, the bad is really bad-no talent ass wipes with terrible stuff to their credit enlightening you to exactly why they make terrible films. Probably the primo example of this is Eli Roth's list, which is, predictably, of "The Top Ten Genital Mutilations in Film", with each entry loving laid out-both the film, and Roth's reaction to it. God I hate that tool. There is also a very large section of horror literature lists, and these seemed less prone to be full of jerks. Worth a borrow from your local library if you're looking to find some new titles with a few laughs thrown in.

[Casey Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great resource for casual and serious horror fans. Many movies are repeated because the lists are offered up by many aficionados of the genre, but there are still quite a few I haven't managed to add to my archives. Thankfully the movies due span across most of cinema's history up until around 2007 and are not stuck in any exclusive time period.
The list of horror books/stories was the greatest and most useful section that had me constantly checking Amazon for the prices and the comics section had me on Ebay wishing I had some disposable income to dispose of.
Lastly, while reading this book I realized just how more valuable books can be in generating actually useful lists compared to most articles on the internet.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Works almost as a reference book, at least in a basic way to catch me up on my classic and recent horror movies. I don't like the Hostel series- too much morality, not enough gore- but Eli Roth did compile a good list of groin accidents (but uses Cannibal Holocaust 3 times- it's a great movie, but come on!) The Italian movies list is good, as are a few of the book lists. Steven King has some obvious, then some interesting recommendations. There's a great list of Mexican movies I now need to see. I wanted a list of Lovecraft movies. This book got me to see Fulci's Zombi 2 - which is brilliant for its eyeball scene and zombie vs. shark vs. naked lady scene.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was terribly entertaining, and a reminder that the best kind of book to read is one where the author loves the subject matter. broken down into sections -- lists about horror movies, horror literature, horror music, horror miscellany, and horror fans -- the book is quick moving and segues right about the time you're done reading about one subject or the other.

[GracieKat]

Some of the lists were good but (especially the movie lists) they all seemed to list and relist the same movies.
The book lists were a very small chapter and that is what I was most looking forward to.
I would have given this book 2 stars if it wasn't for their horror-themed video games list. It was only 5 items long and two of the games they screwed up the description.

[Ruben]

Pretty sweet, I read it from Cover-to-cover, even though it's more of a bathroom book. Really it just made me want to read more horror books and see more horror movies. Really, it makes me want to embrace the horror fan inside that I never actually let out. Maybe I will...

[Dickon Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this because of the varied contributors (are Edgar 'Shaun of the Dead' Wright and Scott 'Mysterious Skin' Heim brought together anywhere else?) plus inspired little features. The Twilight Zone chap's list of hackneyed plots is a hoot, particularly 'Hey! I'm Really Dead!'

[Rowan MacBean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love lists. I love horror. So there was very little chance of me disliking this book. I was reminded (usually quite pleasantly!) of things I'd seen/read before, and I picked up a lot of recommendations for things I hadn't. I'm really glad I got this book.

[Susan Haines · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book would have been more meaningful to me if I had known even a third of the "famous" people chosen to list their Top Ten _______. For example, "Adam Green's Top Ten Horror Movie Actresses Who Should Have Gotten Naked...But Didn't" is not only boring but insulting.

[Kevin Gallan]

a fun read

[Joanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really could not get into this. Not the horror buff that I was when I was younger. Have read the other List books though and have enjoyed.

[Ruben Olague · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got this book at the book signing. It is incredibly entertaining and funny as all hell. A definite must-read!

[TrumanCoyote · Rating 4 out of 5]

Could've done without all the self-plugging intros (but I guess the contributors have to have some reason to participate). Anyway, lots of fun (with some good movie suggestions).

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool book if you are into horror.