Why read The Philosophy of Horror?

Book cover of The Philosophy of Horror: Or, Paradoxes of the Heart

Book description

Noel Carroll, film scholar and philosopher, offers the first serious look at the aesthetics of horror. In this book he discusses the nature and narrative structures of the genre, dealing with horror as a "transmedia" phenomenon. A fan and serious student of the horror genre, Carroll brings to bear his…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Philosophy of Horror as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Asa Simon Mittman

Author

I have used this book many times in courses on the history of monsters and on monster movies. Carrol is a philosopher, and the book is written with exacting clarity. It is primarily about the genre of horror, but as Carrol writes, “monsters are central to horror.” Therefore, the author sets out both to define the generally indefinable category of “monster” and to analyze how we respond to them when they appear in fictional narratives. If you’ve ever wondered why a werewolf is a monster but Chewbacca isn’t, this is the book to read!

From Asa's list on explaining the history of monsters.