Reddit reviews On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears

Being black is not a mark of Cain, I know this because the flood that God sent killed everyone but Noah and his family (not descendants of Cain). It's an evolutionary marker for people who lived closer to the equator and developed more melatonin in their skin.

If you are interested in the actual history of mythical creatures like minotaurs or centaurs, I strongly suggest you read On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears Reprint Edition
by Stephen T. Asma. This book explains how these myths began in a very real and rational sense. https://www.amazon.com/Monsters-Unnatural-History-Worst-Fears/dp/0199798095/ref=pd_sim_14_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=51FHx5FEXSL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL320_SR212%2C320_&refRID=8W9V8HVF53DH8FQMCXV4

Elites actually worship Lucifer. They follow Aleister Crowley's demonology. http://vigilantcitizen.com/hidden-knowledge/aleister-crowley-his-story-his-elite-ties-and-his-legacy/

I don't know where you're getting your information, but read the links I've suggested. Don't be led astray into thinking there is no hope, there most definitely is.

You might enjoy some of these:
Shock Value How A Few Eccentric Outsiders Gave Us Nightmares, Conquered Hollywood, and Invented Modern Horror by Jason Zinoman
A History of Horror by Wheeler Winston Dixon
The Philosophy of Horror or Paradoxes of the Heart by Noel Carroll
On Monsters An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears by Stephen T Asma
Dark Dreamers Facing the Masters of Fear by Stanley Wiater
J-Horror The Definitive Guide to The Ring, The Grudge and Beyond by David Kalat
Hollywood Horror From Gothic to Cosmic by Mark A Vieira
Why Should I Cut Your Throat Excursions Into the Worlds of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror by Jeff VanderMeer
And I haven't read this one yet, as I'm still on the waiting list at the local library, but it looks quite interesting:
The Gothic Imagination Coversations on Fantasy, Horror, and Science Fiction in the Media by John C Tibbetts
Edit: fix link

I'm not opposed to it always. But slashers deal with sexuality in a surprisingly specific way, and since you're early in your career it may be too much to delve into that sort of stuff when you've just started classes. I was just suggesting for your first project you stay away from that, as it will make your slasher stand out, as opposed to reshaping it, which can be tricky.

My advice is to watch as many films as possible and read about films as much as possible throughout your schooling. There are lots of valuable things to be learned from both.


I was going to say Clover, she's great!
Not all of these are slasher or gender specific, but they're solid.
The Dread of Difference Is a good collection of essays. Clover will be in there along with some others. The quality varies though. (I remember the Fatal Attraction one wasn't that great)

On Monsters is good. However, not all of it is about gender. But the chapter on witches, monstrous births, and monstrous mothers are interesting.

These books you should be able to buy get in a local library. Academic Articles that may be harder to find (I've sort of clumped essays with similar themes or that talk about similar movies)

-Virginia Wright Wexman, “The Trauma of Infancy in Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby,” American Horrors: Essays on the Modern American Horror Film, ed. Gregory A. Waller (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1987), 30-43.
-Robert Skal, “It’s Alive, I’m Afraid,” The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror (New York: Norton & Co., 1993), 287-305.


-Julia Kristeva, “From Filth to Defilement,” Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection (New York: Columbia University Press, 1982), 56-89.


-Barry Keith Grant, “When the Woman Looks: Haute Tension and the Horrors of Heteronormativity,” Feminism at the Movies, eds. Hilary Radner and Rebecca Stringer (New York: Routledge, 2011), 283-195.

--Laura Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” Visual and Other Pleasures (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989), 14-28.

-Deborah Jermyn, “Rereading the Bitches from Hell: A Feminist Appropriation of the Female Psychopath,” Screen 37, 3 (Autumn 1998), 251-267.

-Linda Willaims, "Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess"

I can't say I agree with all the authors I've listed, but this is a good start. If you have a professor who is a specialist in gender in media (there's usually at least one) or horror (not as common) also ask them for suggestions. If someone is teaching a class you can't take, ask for a copy of the syllabus.

Good luck!

I, too, love monsters. In fact, I'm preparing to write a dissertation on monstrosity in 19th century British/American Gothic literature. Here are a handful of books you may find interesting:


On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears by Stephen T. Asma
-- If you want a comprehensive history of monsters, this is an excellent book to start with. Asma discusses everything from mythological beasts to cyborgs, and the discussion is very well written and easy to follow.

Skin Show: Gothic Horror and the Technology of Monsters by Judith Halberstam
-- In the opening chapter, Halberstam offers a very interesting reading of The Silence of the Lambs, which she identifies as a sort of re-telling of Frankenstein. Generally, though, Halberstam tends to focus on Gothic lit. (Shelley, Stoker, and Wilde are prominent in her discussion), but she also brings up horror film and newer horror phenomena.

Medusa's Gaze and Vampire's Bite: The Science of Monsters by Matt Kaplan
-- Conceptually, this book is very similar to Asma's but there's a key distinction. Whereas Asma is a philosophy professor, Kaplan is a science journalist, so his take on the subject is quite different. Kaplan tends to explore "why do monsters exist?" but Asma seems to prefer to ask "what do monsters mean?"

Those are the three texts that I would recommend most highly, and I'd definitely start with Asma if you're interested in a sociocultural history of monsters. I should warn you that Halberstam is more theoretical in nature, in terms of the discussion of literature, so it may not be what you're looking for. Either way, I have a ton of articles on my hard drive about monstrosity and horror in general...if there's any other area of horror/Gothic you're interested in, I'd be happy to recommend further reading. Enjoy!

The Monster Show was interesting and so was On Monsters.

Just a quick few:

Monsters

American Monsters: A History of Monster Lore, Legends, and Sightings in America

On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears

In Search of Dracula: The History of Dracula and Vampires

You might check out Stephen T. Asma's On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears. I've only read the first few chapters, but it seems to match what you're looking for.