Reading, and especially choosing what to read, has always been very mood and impulse driven for me. I may wake up tomorrow with a craving for Rex Stout, but I may wake up the next day jonesing for Harlan Ellison. The weather, how well I feel, and the music they are playing in the book store may all play a part when I look over and spot your novel. A glimpse of Paul Newman as Harper may send me straight to Ross MacDonald. An image of George Segal may send me to the Quiller novels of Adam Hall. A copy of Roger Zelazny’s My Name is Legion placed on a desk in the film Phantasm (1979) led me to read that book. Hearing Tom Jones perform “Thunderball”, or Shirley Bassey singing “Goldfinger”, has sent me back to the Ian Fleming shelf on several occasions. Striking cover art, movie posters used as cover art, a blurb from a favorite author, or a positive review from one particular newspaper may all play a part in what I choose. The book that seems to jump right out at me, grab me, and can maintain my interest amid all these other distractions can become a favorite.I recently spotted a used copy of Danse Macabre in a shop and it was the right book at the right time. It is the trade paperback Gallery Books edition (Feb 2010) with the “right handed” school desks on the cover. As a general rule, I never buy used copies of books with heavy notes, underlining, and highlighting. With fiction I find this very distracting, non-fiction not so much. This individual copy looks as if it was used has a text by a student and for some reason the notes don’t bother me. It’s almost like having a conversation with a stranger and King at the same time. I already own the hardcover first edition from Everest Books (1980) which I bought and read when I first spotted it at a great, classy, gone but not forgotten non-chain book store at Hilltop in Virginia Beach. I also have a copy of the Berkeley mass market paperback edition (circa 1991), the one with the posterized image of Stephen King with a full beard and those strange eyes, and that copy is filled with my own personal notations to the text. This is a book to which fans seem compelled to add their own thoughts, there is a photo in one Goodreads review showing the reviewer’s own heavily annotated copy with post-its sticking out of the pages.So this is my third time reading this book, which remains one of my all-time favorites. The only other book I can think of which is even close to this in subject matter is The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror by David J. Skaal.This book is still somewhat like attending a class taught by King on the subject, but for me more like having a long private conversation with him. King deals with classic horror books, films, and television. A wealth of titles are discussed: Frankenstein, Dracula, Rosemary’s Baby, The Body Snatchers, The Amityville Horror, Thriller, The Twilight Zone, EC Comics (and newer titles like the Saw series of films in this particular edition). If you’ve read, watched, or enjoyed horror since the last half of the twentieth century began, you will enjoy this book.King seems to spend more pages writing about The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons (including long passages from the author herself, perhaps from a letter she wrote to King, or a conversation they had) than any other novel, including Frankenstein or Dracula. It’s almost as if King is trying to convince the reader it is a horror novel, and not a scathing satire of Old South vs New South mores in the nouveau riche Atlanta suburbs. Ultimately, this takes too long, while the reader waits for keeper King to return to the crypt, and in three readings has never convinced me to read that novel. It was even selected as one of the titles in the Stephen King Horror Library. Bought it; never read it.This edition has corrected errors from the previous editions, and removed all of the photo illustrations. Some were incorrectly captioned anyway. But, there are still factual errors. For example, King still seems to be confused exactly which David Cronenberg film starred Marilyn Chambers, even after fact checking by Dennis Etchison. This edition seems heftier than earlier ones, and to my mind has definitely been expanded. This edition also includes a lengthy essay titled “What’s Scary?” reprinted from Fangoria magazine that is right on target. You are getting more for your money with this printing, even without the photos.
Reviewed First at Brunner's BookshelfI really had no idea what to think of this book at first. I want to read every book from Stephen king so this was on my list. The reason I read this recently is for the simple reason that out of all the books I wanted to read this was the only one available at the library when I needed a book. I have always wondered what movies King thinks are worth watching in the horror genre and what his favorite novels are so I was anxious to see what he had to say. At the same time I wasn't sure how I would feel about a lecture on the subject. Would it take all the fun out of horror siting there reading about it broken down to its simplest forms?I liked this book, King is one of those celebrities that I wish I could have dinner with. Just to talk about life, writing, and the subject of horror. Of course there would be no place for baseball in our dinner conversation. I'm a Cardinals fan and he is a Red Sox fan. We don't get along and the rivalry is almost as bad as the Cardinals and the Cubs. King is also someone I would love to take a class with. If I could take a writing course with King I would be in heaven. This book was like a class he is teaching, and a dinner conversation all rolled into one. It was nice to know that I am just as warped as King is. We have the same taste in crappy B horror movies and I got a kick out of that. The foreword was done somewhat recently so he mentions some newer remakes that he enjoyed and I liked those as well. Other wise the rest of the book is all about some of the really old Horror movies that paved the way for what we have now. Not only does he talk about Horror movies, but he discusses some of the classic novels. He breaks down Dracula and Frankenstein and how they affected the movies that spun off from these novels. King also has a small section about Radio Horror programs. That was really interesting because I have heard some of those programs. The old radio dramas are great audio books. As cool as this book turned out to be there were times where I drifted off and found myself a little bored. He got a little long winded at parts, but I'm used to that. Some of his books are over the 1000 page count so it wasn't a surprise. I enjoyed this book and I am giving it 4 out of 5 stars. This was a fun trip down the halls of horror.
What do You think about Danse Macabre (2001)?
As others have said, this book is a bit dated now, since it was first published in 1981. Given that, it is an interesting, if occasionally rambling, fireside chat with Stephen King on what he thinks about horror in various media. Most of his ideas seem well grounded, although he departs into a bit of fuzzy thinking. I didn't agree with his ideas about children having more imagination than adults to be well founded; he confused credulity with imagination in an effort to support that thesis. His evidence was essentially cherry-picking, and ignored the fact that most imaginative play of children is highly derivative, not that there is anything wrong with that. He disdain for TV as a medium for horror was probably reasonable 30 years ago, but I wonder if he would have a different take now that there are so many outstanding TV series. It seems now that TV has actually surpassed movies on average in terms of quality. I would also love to read his opinion on more recent horror movies such as The Descent, Ringu, Jo-On, Battle Royale, Saw, Cabin In The Woods, etc.Of course one of the things that really kicks this book over from a three to a four is the appendix with the lists of notable movies and books. I will be adding a lot of these to my consumption lists.
—Baal Of
King's a great writer -- as always -- who fills his book with lots of amusing anecdotes. Typical of his work, it starts strong and sort of fizzles out towards the end. Or maybe that's a general fault of survey-style works? It's only loosely focused and starts to feel repetitive after awhile. Danse Macabre surveys horror film, novels, television, and radio up to 1980, when it was originally written. The strongest segments are about the movies. King loves high art gothic horror as well as the lowest z-grade atomic monster movie, and he makes the reader want to see the films. (I finally watched the original The Stepford Wives thanks to his discussion, and I am well-pleased.)I found myself skimming at points because I didn't want to be spoiled on the plots of novels I intend to read one day, such as Ghost Story or Rosemary's Baby. A decent read if you like King or the horror genre. I was left wanting more. I wish he had included a chapter in the 2010 update about the rise of the slasher film and its influence on the genre, something just beginning when he originally published. Though based on his comments re Friday the 13th, I suppose he would say 80's-style slasher films are cheap and lazy and therefore boring. He does talk at length in the new Preface about the experience of seeing The Blair Witch Project, and it makes me want to go back and see the film again. This book is at its best when it gets the reader excited about the topic. When it becomes just a term paper, like in the novels chapter at the end, then it's not as good.
—Derrick
Who better to review a thirty year span of horror films, books, comics, and television than the master of horror himself, Stephen King? His knowledge, and passion alone suffice the prerequisites for the task nonetheless the amount of research and edits he went through to ensure it's accuracy have made this book a fantastic adventure.After reading his two devout chapters on the horror film; where it started, where it's going, how it got to where it is now, I couldn't help, but wonder why I hadn't read this one long ago. As I plow through his books chronologically I found this to be an odd stepping stone. Almost like a brief reflection on the seventies before he broke through into the eighties with a fury. Reading his first non-fiction book I listened to a King that I find myself very much so in tune with today. He was very reflexive that horror writers aren't always trapped within their genre, but even the most soft drama they compose holds elements of horror within. This is the King that I know better than any other having started reading the books that he released in the nineties and on first. With all this being said I don't recommend this book to most people. You need to have that desire for history and context to really enjoy the book. King doesn't offer you a recommend reading/viewing list in the beginning, but rather at the end. Having seen most of the films that he referenced I was engaged, excited, and felt participatory. It made me want to go back and review the ones I had seen, but once, and rent the ones I hadn't seen at all. When it came to the horror as a novel department I was lost. Books as readily available as "Something Wicked This Way Comes" if not previously read didn't feel pertinent. I wanted to stop that section read the book in question and then return when I could nod my head in agreement or question the controversial perspective.
—Tom Nittoli
