- Published: 22 November 2022
- ISBN: 9781640094369
- Imprint: Catapult
- Format: Hardback
- Pages: 384
- RRP: $59.99
Dark Carnivals
Modern Horror and the Origins of American Empire
- Published: 22 November 2022
- ISBN: 9781640094369
- Imprint: Catapult
- Format: Hardback
- Pages: 384
- RRP: $59.99
"Dark Carnivals is a fascinating, exhaustively researched historical polemic. Poole unflinchingly leads the reader through the horrifying history of the American empire and how it's reflected and refracted within horror cinema. You can't cover your eyes and say, 'It's only a movie.'" —Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Pallbearers Club
“In Dark Carnivals, W. Scott Poole takes a sharp knife to the long history of horror in the United States, dissecting the politics behind the genre, but maybe more importantly, exposing the horrors that live at the heart of American exceptionalism. Poole’s book examines the violent events behind some of the most recognizable horror titles (drawing a direct line, for instance, between the 1966 University of Texas tower shooting and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre), but it also shines a harsh light on the appetite that American audiences have for violence on the screen. Who will survive America? That’s the question Poole dares his readers to delve into the darkness to answer. I’ve long been a fan of Poole’s work, but this may be one of his best.” —Lisa Kröger, Stoker- and Locus-award-winning author of Monster, She Wrote