Book Review: 'Stephen King's Danse Macabre'
'Stephen King's Danse Macabre' first was published in hardback in 1981. This trade paperback edition (400 pp.) was issued by Berkley Books in July 1982. The book doesn't have any reproductions of book or magazine covers, but is illustrated with black-and-white stills from films.
I remember reading 'Danse Macabre' in 1982, by which time King firmly was established not only as a bestselling horror author, but one of the bestselling novelists in the USA, period. At that time I found 'Danse Macabre' competent, but not particularly remarkable. How does it stack up when re-read more than forty years later ?
The book is designed to provide an overview of horror in the popular culture from the Victorian era all the way up to the early 1980s, and, as such, necessarily can only address the initial stages of what in the 80s was turning out to be a horror boom. There are chapters devoted to the seminal works of Shelley (Frankenstein), Stoker (Dracula) and Stevenson (Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), horror programs on the radio during the first 50 years of the 20th century, and the era of 'classic' horror films. King also covers the horror films of the postwar years and, in a particularly lengthy chapter, the modern era of horror novels.
Interspersed with these chapters, is one devoted to King's own childhood and adulthood as an aficionado of the horror genre. King clearly intends this chapter to be a riposte to the belief on the part of some observers that, as a horror author, he somehow is afflicted with psychological and spiritual imbalances that drive his affection for the morbid and the distasteful.
'Danse Macabre' tries to find a difficult middle ground between the academic treatise and a popular analysis and does reasonably well in this regard. For the most part King's forays in the 'literary' attitude are restrained; such as, for example, promoting the idea that most horror media reflects the conflict between the Apollonian and Dionysian world views. Elsewhere in the book, however, he'll lurch into lowbrow culture and reference the Penthouse Forum, something no academic ever would do.
Not surprisingly, many of the novels and short story collections that are featured in King's 'Top 10' modern horror works since have receded from the public consciousness. Thus, I don't believe that many contemporary readers under the age of 50 are going to have familiarity with Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes, Anne Siddon's The House Next Door, Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby, and Richard Matheson's The Shrinking Man. But, to his credit, King includes Peter Straub's Ghost Story, Ramsey Campbell's The Doll Who Ate His Mother, and James Herbert's The Fog among his Top 10, which should resonate with horror fans under the age of 50 (as well as devotees of Paperbacks from Hell).
The book's appendices provide a list of King's top 100 or so horror films, as well as a list of 100 top books. While bearing in mind that these lists inevitably are dated, looking through them certainly will lead the reader to some further investigations. For my part, I went and obtained the Harry Crews' 1976 novel, the Southern Grotesquerie Feast of Snakes.
I finished 'Danse Macabre' with mixed feelings. While there are some sections that are engaging and informative, there are others than belabored the subject and tried my patience. Hence, a three Star rating is advisable. I can't recommend the book to all horror and fantastic fiction fans, but those who are interested in an overview of the genre as it stood in the early 80s, on the cusp of the Paperbacks from Hell explosion, may find it valuable.
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ReplyDeleteDoes King mention Richard Lortz (Lover Living, Lovers Dead) somewhere in his book?
ReplyDeletePersonally, I really like Lortz
I also enjoyed Lortz's novel LOVERS LIVING! (as well as THE EXORCIST). While King has great insights into horror, DANSE MACABRE is not an objective, academic work of literary criticism; it functions as more of a Cold War kid memoir and how horror reflected the fears of the Baby Boom generation. Reading it in 1986 for the first time, age 15, it was a revelation, and I learned more about American culture/history from it than what I was learning in school (you don't learn about Charles Starkweather, Patty Hearst, or Three Mile Island in 10th grade civics). I've learned to take King's recommendations with a grain of salt over these many, many years, despite how important this book was to me as a kid: it really grounded my love of and appreciation for the horror genre.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is that I read "Dance Macabre" in translation. And here you need to understand the difference in the availability of all these books for the Slavic reader.In the early 90s, after the complete absence of horror as a genre, as a commodity, as a living presence, the bookshelves were suddenly flooded with translations (often bad ones) by King, Barker, Koontz, a little Rex Miller, very little Sean Hudson. And for those who have questions in their heads, it remains a mystery who worked in this genre in the 70s, not to mention the earlier period.Yes, I will not hide that at first I was very sorry that the book was closing at the period in which it was published - but it’s just that it’s well documented, including thanks to your "Paybacks from Hell"
ReplyDeleteSeparately, I want to praise the selection of films provided by King - this is a wonderful launching pad for horror lovers.
As for books, everything is very good here too - strangeness is redeemed by diversity, hardly anyone will regret getting acquainted with his selection