Exploring America's intricate relationship with the devil, the book delves into how various groups, from eighteenth-century evangelists to modern filmmakers, have invoked Satan to articulate societal fears, injustices, and identity. It highlights the use of the devil as a symbol of theological evil, reflecting anxieties about war, sexuality, and morality. W. Scott Poole illustrates how this figure serves as a counterpoint to the nation's ideals, revealing the darker undercurrents of American culture and politics throughout history.
This “smart, shrewd, and insightful” biography of H.P. Lovecraft not only explores the author’s fascinating life but also reveals his “lasting power and influence” on the entertainment industry and society as a whole (Victor LaValle, author of The Changeling) Interweaving the biography of the legendary writer with an exploration of Lovecraft as a phenomenon, In the Mountains of Madness strives to explain this reclusive, cultish figure while challenging some of the general views held by Lovecraft devotees. Focusing specifically on the large cross-section of horror and science fiction fans who know Lovecraft through films, role-playing games, and video games directly influenced by his work, but who know little or nothing about the man himself, In the Mountains of Madness places Lovecraft and his work in a cultural context, as an artist more in tune with our time than his own. More than a traditional biography, this provocative book reclaims the true essence of Lovecraft in relation to the comics of Joe Lansdale, the novels of Stephen King, and some of the biggest blockbuster films in contemporary America, proving the undying influence of this rare and significant figure.
The panoramic story of how the horror genre transformed into one of the most incisive critiques of unchecked American imperial power The American empire emerged from the shadows of World War II. As the nation’s influence swept the globe with near impunity, a host of evil forces followed—from racism, exploitation, and military invasion to killer clowns, flying saucers, and monsters borne of a fear of the other. By viewing American imperial history through the prism of the horror genre, Dark Carnivals lays bare how the genre shaped us, distracted us, and gave form to a violence as American as apple pie. A carnival ride that connects the mushroom clouds of 1945 to the beaches of Amity Island, Charles Manson to the massacre at My Lai, and John Wayne to John Wayne Gacy, the new book by acclaimed historian W. Scott Poole reveals how horror films and fictions have followed the course of America’s military and cultural empire and explores how the shadow of our national sins can take on the form of mass entertainment.
A wonderfully nostalgic pictorial history of the buses in Yorkshire from the
halcyon days of municipal pride through the colourful days of deregulation to
the new corporate image of the big three: Arriva, First and Stagecoach.
