Screams & Nightmares: The Films of Wes Craven

by Brian J. Robb

Writer, producer, and director Wes Craven has successfully tapped into the horror vein for over forty years, serving up scary, funny, cutting-edge thrillers that have become classics in the genre. His films have been both critical and commercial successes, most notably Nightmare on Elm Street, which spawned a series of sequels and made Craven (and his creation, Freddy Kruger) an international sensation. He then created a second indelible series in the horror movie trope with Scream.

In Screams & Nightmares, Brian J. Robb examines Craven's entire career, from his low-budget beginnings to his most recent box office hits, from the banned thriller The Last House on the Left and the cult classic The Hills Have Eyes to the outrageous Shocker and The People Under the Stairs. Through exclusive interviews with Craven, Robb provides in-depth accounts of the making of each of the films – including the final instalments of the Scream series – Craven's foray into writing novels, and his numerous television projects.

Genres: Nonfiction, Film

320 pages, Hardcover

Published June 7, 2022

About the author

Brian J. Robb is the New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling biographer of Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp, and Brad Pitt. He has also written books on silent cinema, the films of Philip K. Dick, Wes Craven, and Laurel and Hardy, the Star Wars movies, Superheroes, Gangsters, and Walt Disney, as well as science fiction television series Doctor Who and Star Trek. His illustrated books include an Illustrated History of Steampunk and a guide to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth (Winner, Best Book, Tolkien Society Awards). He writes and edits the Chaplin: Film by Film centenary blog site and is co-editor of the Sci-Fi Bulletin website. He lives in Edinburgh.

Reviews

[Nick Johnson]

Absolute banger content on the king of horror film. While not the greatest organization and delivery of a biography, that can be forgiven as the book does give you insight into the greatness of Wes Craven, and the complexity of the film business.

[ashlee tayla]

the subtleplug for #releasethecravencut was brilliant

[Horror DNA]

Wes Craven was born August 2, 1939, in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in a conservative, religious home. He taught English at Westminster College in Pennsylvania and was a humanities professor at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York. Movies were forbidden throughout his childhood, but he soon fell in love with the craft and over a four-decade career would become one of the leading Masters of Horror. In his newly revised book, Screams & Nightmares: The Films of Wes Craven, author Brian J. Robb takes an in-depth look at the director’s lengthy career. First published in 1998, the book was released while Craven was hitting something of a renaissance and actively making films, resulting in an end product that felt unfinished. Now, Robb is back with an updated edition divided into fifteen chapters and a filmography that traces Craven’s career from his low-budget beginnings to his sudden passing on August 30, 2015.

You can read Robert's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.

[Samael Kovacs]

This is one of the most insightful novels I've ever read. It goes over everything and I mean everything.

Not too long I read another book about Craven and was so dissapointed that it barely covered anything at all, this novel feels like an answer to all the problems I had with Wooley's novel.

This is just perfect, it gives insight on every little thing Craven worked on.

Couldn't be more happier to have read this.

[L.C. Wolff]

As someone who grew up with the Nightmare movies and Scream ones, I absolutely loved this read and the BTS material. It truly inspired me.

[Teddy A.]

A great read for hardcore horror fans.