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How Horror Works in Books and Film  By  cover art

How Horror Works in Books and Film

By: Shannon Scott, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Shannon Scott
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Publisher's summary

Why are we scared of ghosts, zombies, vampires, demons, and monsters, when we know they are not real? Why do dark attics give us the creeps? How do writers and directors know exactly what anxieties to tap into, so that we break out in goosebumps, cover our eyes, and cringe?

Shannon Scott invites you into the spooky, creepy, and sometimes surprising world of the horror genre to examine how popular scary movies and books manipulate our collective and individual fears—not only to frighten us, but also to address taboo subjects, and to reflect and comment on the state of our society. More important, she examines what lessons we can learn from these fears.

Throughout this series, she will introduce you to the many facets of fear—the traditional monsters you are familiar with, as well as examples of apocalyptic and social horror, psychological horror, and ecohorror. Using well-known characters and settings, Shannon will show you how each case can—and does—reveal a lot about our personal fears and our cultural anxieties.

The things that go bump in the night are not always in your head, but it’s your head that makes you afraid of them.

©2022 Audible Originals LLC (P)2022 Audible Originals LLC

About the Creator and Performer

Shannon Scott teaches English at the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She holds an M.A. in English Literature, an M.F.A in Creative Writing, and a technical degree in filmmaking. She has presented her research at academic conferences in America and the UK and has contributed essays to academic collections published by Manchester University Press and Routledge Press. The co-editor of Terrifying Transformations: An Anthology of Victorian Werewolf Fiction, 1838-1896, Ms. Scott has also published several pieces of short fiction in the horror genre.

Featured Article: Stay Inside and Lock the Doors—These Slasher Audiobooks Bring the Thrills to You


From final girls to knife-wielding bogeymen, the tried-and-true tropes of a slasher always set the mood for a fun spooky night in. So if you're up for a bit of that spine-chilling, lock-your-doors and look-over-you-shoulder paranoia, don't miss this list of our favorite slasher horror audiobooks, which capture the genre’s signature thrills—and that fierce fight to survive to the sequel. Here are a few of our favorites.

What listeners say about How Horror Works in Books and Film

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Too much plot summaries for my taste

I enjoyed it, but not as much as I'd hoped I would. Too much of it was "Here's a category, and now here are plot summaries of some books and movies that fit that category."

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Great

Very insightful, a must read for any fan of horror or sci-fi. Highly recommend

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Disappointed

Not an evaluation of how horror works, but more of a synopsis of various horror movies and novels. To make it worse, the lecturer drops spoilers left and right for those movies and books I was interested in. Thanks…

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Excellent!

I really enjoyed this audiobook, learning about the dynamics of Horror really gave me a great insight into a wonderful and mesmerizing genre! The narration was excellent, she had a very pleasant and lucid tone. Plus, this wonderful gem was free and that never hurt!

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Scary fun

Very interesting insightful. Never dull. Ideas I had never considered. Makes me want to see many of these movies again

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Outstanding lecture on horror

If you are a purveyor of horror movies and literature, you will deeply enjoy this well-researched, comprehensive course on the genre. It is outstanding!

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Brilliant Series on Horror Genre!

I previously enjoyed Shannon Scott's earlier Audible series on Wolves and Werewolves in History and Popular Culture, so I was thrilled to learn she had a new series available! I meant to listen to the lectures over several days, but became so caught up in the fascinating narrative, I listened to most of it in one sitting!

Shannon covered many films and novels that are favorites of mine, which I thought I understood fairly comprehensively, but her insightful analysis and the larger historical and literary contexts she referenced, helped me to see these works anew. Now I want to go back and watch/read them again!

Shannon is a superb writer, so her lectures are witty, thoughtful, fascinating, and flow smoothly, which is why it's so easy to listen to the entire program all at once. Her voice rings out with great clarity and energy, and I swear I can hear her smiling every now and then, when her dry humor is in evidence.

I highly recommend this program, along with her earlier one! I know I'll return to it again, possibly taking notes the next time I listen, so I'll be sure to refresh my memory before once again enjoying a classic horror film or novel Shannon covered here. Shannon Scott is a gem! I hope she'll continue to produce amazing series like this one.

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For horror fans looking to learn and past the time :)

Great listen and ended up watching a few of the films brought up. Narrator was comforting to listen to and the subject matter was insightful and written in a way that o felt engaged throughout.

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A Treat for Horror Fans

I really enjoyed this. The author does a great job providing insightful information and looking at many of the main themes seen in horror fans. My only issue is that I wish it was longer, so here’s hoping Ms. Scott does another series of lectures and explores this even further.

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Very interesting

I Really enjoyed this. I was very insteresting and informative. I learned a lot of background info

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