Surprisingly insightful

Insights I gained:

Literature, especially high literature, has always included horror, since the very beginning. Even one of the first works of literature, the Gilgamesh epos, contains a ghost story (actually, "Inanna in the Underworld" is even older, and tells of a trip to the Sumerian hell gone awry). Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus contains horror that easily rivals a Clive Barker.

And this is surprising: Why are ghost and werewolf stories - in some variants - found in nearly every culture? Why are we fascinated, or horrified, and about what? Asking these questions lead the author to a number of rather surprising answers, and this is where the true strength of this audio book lies.

Darryl Jones also gives an overview of the history of horror literature, horror movies and selected other media. He demonstrates quite convincingly how they reflect the discussions and often hidden fears of their time of writing , etc. The major subgenres and a nearly exhausting number of classics are discussed - brief enough, but except for the last (post-2000) overview, the amount of works discussed and the time given for each was perfect for me.

The author draws extensively from many fields, from history to literature and psychology, and blends all the perspectives in one fresh thought after the other. I learned a lot and found myself intrigued over and over again.

Thus, one of the best audio books I've listened to this year. Best marks. (Great speaker, too.)

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