Monsters From the Id

E. Michael Jones • 2000
Spence Publishing

There’s more to horror than cheap thrills. Beginning with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, tales of horror have consistently drawn a connection between transgressive sex and violent death. In this captivating history from the French Revolution to modern Hollywood, E. Michael Jones reveals the origins of horror in the lives of its creators.Tormented by her husband’s spectacular debauchery, Mary Shelley created a powerful and unforgettable avenging monster. Rising in repudiation of the very way of life that produced it, Frankenstein’s monster, Jones shows, became the model for all others.Turning next to Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Jones follows the progress of horror from the syphilitic underworld of Victorian England to Weimar Germany and the classic film Nosferatu. Bringing his account to the end of the twentieth century, he shows how the Western imagination has responded to the explosive force of the sexual revolution with horror of unprecedented intensity. In the Alien series and other contemporary films, the culture of abortion and pornography has spawned a new and terrifying breed of avenging monster.Jones’s provocative book Shows fans of Steven King, Anne Rice, and Wes Craven what lies beneath. Explores the chaotic lives and haunted consciences of the men and women who created horror Reveals the connection between sex and horror Explains our need for horror — and why we don’t understand it This description may be from another edition of this product.

Table of Contents

Preface

A Legacy of Horror (p. ix)

Part I — The Monster Travels from France to England

  • 1. Why the French Revolution Failed (p. 3)
  • 2. Passion and Electricity (p. 28)
  • 3. Frankenstein (p. 66)

Part II — The Monster Travels from England to Germany

  • 4. Dracula and Sin (p. 101)
  • 5. Blood and Berlin (p. 134)

Part III — The Monster Travels from Germany to America

  • 6. The Difference Between Us and Them (p. 171)
  • 7. The Body Snatchers (p. 205)
  • 8. Hollywood and Death (p. 222)
  • 9. Alien and Contraception (p. 244)

Conclusion

Misreading Horror (p. 258)

Back Matter

  • Notes (p. 281)
  • Index (p. 291)

From Monsters From The Id: The Rise of Horror in Fiction and Film by E. Michael Jones (Spence Publishing, 2000)

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