American Scary

From the acclaimed author of American Comics and Jewish Comedy comes a sweeping and entertaining narrative that details the rise and enduring grip of horror in American literature, cinema, and, ultimately, culture-from the taut, terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe to the grisly, lingering films of Jordan Peele

America is held captive by horror stories. They flicker on the screen of a darkened movie theater and are shared around the campfire. They blare out in tabloid true-crime headlines, and in the worried voices of local news anchors. They are consumed, virally, on the phones in each of our pockets. Like the victims in any slasher worth its salt, we can't escape the thrall of scary stories.

In American Scary, noted cultural historian and Columbia professor Jeremy Dauber takes the reader to the startling origins of the horror genre in the United States, drawing a surprising through-line between the lingering influence of the European Gothic, the enslaved insurrection tales propagated by slaveholders, and the apocryphal chronicles of colonial settlers kidnapped by Native Americans, among many others.

These foundational narratives give rise to and are influenced by the body of work we more closely associate with horror: the weird fiction of HP Lovecraft, the lingering stories of Shirley Jackson, the unsettling films of Alfred Hitchcock, the up-all-night tales of Stephen King, and the gripping critiques of Jordan Peele. From "The Tell-Tale Heart" to M3gan, we begin to see why the horror genre is the perfect prism through which to view America's past and present.

With the extraordinary historical breadth and dexterous weave of insight and style that has made him twice a finalist for the National Jewish Book, Dauber makes the haunting case that horror reveals the true depths of the American mind.

Featuring cameos from:

Shirley Jackson The Sixth Sense Edgar Allan Poe Nathaniel Hawthorne Anne Radcliffe Charles Brockden Brown Los Espookys Washington Irving Nat Turner Night of the Living Dead H.P. Lovecraft Alien Mary Heaton Vorse Edith Wharton Norman Bates Lon Chaney Frankenstein Dracula H.G. Wells William Faulkner Dashiell Hammett Tananarive Due Twilight Zone The Handmaid's Tale Ray Bradbury I Am Legend Elia Kazan Psycho Ralph Ellison The Blair Witch Project Stanley Kubrick Helter Skelter Jordan Peele The Walking Dead H.H. Holmes Harriet Beecher Stowe

Named a Best Book of 2024 by the Boston Globe and the Washington Independent Review of Books

Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist

Finalist for the Stoker Prize

Amazon Editor's Pick, Best History Books of October

Named a Most Anticipated/Recommended Book of the Season by the Washington Post, Chicago Review of Books and Goodreads.

"An entertaining and informative pathway through complex and densely populated neighborhoods of horror... This is a book that will reward both casual and close reading. As a profitable index of suggested readings in American horror, it is second to none... [If] you are curious about the dark paths that crisscross the American past, American Scary is an indispensable guide."--Los Angeles Review of Books
"I was consistently and utterly engrossed... informative [and] entertaining."​--Gruesome Magazine
"Dauber assesses expertly... [He] adds heft to material usually dismissed as lightweight and shows how the rhetoric of fictional horror has informed the wider culture... In this zestful account... Dauber summarizes nimbly the developments in horror [and] encourages us to approach fictional horror as a topical reflection of cultural hopes as well as fears."--Times Literary Supplement
"America is the world's biggest haunted house and American Scary is the only travel guide you need. I loved this book."--Grady Hendrix, author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group
"A comprehensive and continuously compelling exploration of our national obsession with horror and the legacy of the genre. Columbia professor Jeremy Dauber takes readers on a haunted history lesson for the ages... American Scary is sure to deepen your love for the horror genre or give you the push you need to begin to indulge in the terrifying delights."--Chicago Review of Books, "12 Must-Read Books of October 2024"
"A robust account of how art has reflected American dread for centuries... Dauber's attention to the details of myriad cultural touchstones, both famous and obscure, will entice those who care to tiptoe deeper into the darkest of the dark. American Scary's greatest success is making readers consider what art may be born of our late-night anxieties."--BookPage
"Casually magisterial, endlessly erudite... This is a book that could launch a thousand reading lists... [Dauber] is the best kind of cultural historian, one who does an epic amount of research to make the big picture accessible... I'm not sure whether anyone has approached the task with Dauber's combination of thoroughness, lucidity and wit... expansive and revelatory."--Los Angeles Times
"Brisk, stylish... There's a surfeit of treats in Mr. Dauber's bucket, plus a few tricks tucked up his sleeve... It's a testament to his talent... Dauber has drawn generously from his research and teaching, in all the best ways... Accomplished [and] darkly alluring."--Hamilton Cain, Wall Street Journal
"American Scary is... clearly the work of someone who adores the genre and has indefatigably excavated its American roots. Dauber particularly excels at unearthing the work of those now-forgotten writers whose short stories spooked American magazine readers before other forms of popular entertainment came along. It will delight completists."--Slate
"A satisfying, sweeping overview of the United States' homegrown horrors (real and imagined)... offers myriad ways to understand the cultural, political, historical and psychological issues tackled by popular narratives that aim to thrill and chill... Remarkable."--Washington Post
"Intriguing... tantalizing... Devoted fans of the horror genre will appreciate 'American Scary' for its encyclopedic scope."--New City Lit
"A meticulous chronicle of the American horror genre across mediums... a provocative expansion of the genre's pantheon... largely rewarding."--Publishers Weekly
"A scholarly study of the horror genre's cultural roots and meanings... [Dauber] takes his subject very seriously, emphasizing the psychological and cultural issues that underlie the genre... Dauber's knowledge is unquestionably extensive."--Kirkus Reviews
"America likes its scary stories. But why? That's the simple but fascinating question in this expansive survey of the history of horror in American popular culture."--Goodreads, "Readers' Most Anticipated Books of Fall"
"American Scary reveals an essential part of the American soul. Dauber masterfully integrates history, myth, religious beliefs and the inner lives of the American people from different times, under various circumstances. A must read for students of American literature, history, and culture and a fascinating book for all who love the scary."--Bora Chung, author of National Book Award Finalist Cursed Bunny and Your Utopia
"American Scary--a rigorous history of American horrors, real and fictional--is clear-eyed, unflinching, comprehensive in scope and detail, and entertaining as hell. A remarkable achievement."--Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Cabin at the End of the World
"Dauber serves up a lively, vivid examination of American history through the chilling lens of the horror genre--or perhaps it's an examination of horror through the twisted lens of American history. Unmatched in its scope and brilliance, American Scary is a vital and wildly entertaining chronicle that will keep you hooked--and maybe a little scared--in the best way possible."--Robin R. Means Coleman author of Horror Noire: A History of Black American Horror from the 1890s to Present
"The American character defies description in many cases, but we are an obvious nation when it comes to our fears. With depth and dexterity, Dauber gets at the heart of our delusions of damnation, our obsessions, and confessions. American Scary synthesizes for both scholar and fan what it is we're afraid of, and why we always come back for more. A must-have for any horror completist."--Meg Elison, author of Number One Fan
"Scary-smart, scary-deep. Dauber understands and captures that the true threat of American horror is us, the audience. His book is equal to the best of the genre it chronicles."--Joshua Cohen, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Netanyahus
"Vividly written and encyclopedic in scope, American Scary traces the history of horror through sources both classic and surprising, from Washington Irving and Jordan Peele to Emily Dickinson and the literature of the Holocaust. Jeremy Dauber uses his engaging style and deep knowledge of the genre to illuminate the question that lies beneath the gore: the way the things we fear reflect who we are, as individuals and as a nation."--Ruth Franklin, National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author of Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life
Praise for American Comics:

"The first book about comics that covers events I was there for, where I'm not shaking my head at how wrong it is. A really good history of all the different strands of comics that came together over the last hundred and twenty years to become American Comics."--Neil Gaiman

"An entertaining and richly detailed new history of comics . . . both opinionated and frequently funny . . . the story Dauber tells is a mighty one."--Michael Tisserand, New York Times Book Review
"An entertaining, big . . . comprehensive survey of the comics industry, from its inception in early twentieth-century newspapers to the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe megamovie crossover empire."--Scott Bradfield, New Republic
"Dauber lets his love for the medium shine through . . . [and] makes a compelling argument that we can view, through the lens of comics' content, how America sees itself."--Cliff Cumber, Washington Independent Review of Books
"Until now one could only dream of an engaging, analytic history encompassing the entire medium. That sounds like a job for Superman, but Jeremy Dauber has gotten there first . . . His perceptive, critical overview is enlivened by a jaunty style that bops from the political cartoons of Thomas Nast in the 1860s to the demise of an equally influential gadfly, Mad magazine, in 2018."--Michael Saler, Wall Street Journal

Jeremy Dauber is a professor of Jewish literature and American studies at Columbia University. His books include Jewish Comedy and The Worlds of Sholem Aleichem, both finalists for the National Jewish Book Award. More recently he is the author of Mel Brooks: Disobedient Jew and American Comics: A History. He lives in New York City.

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