Recommendations based on "Itch! The Darkly Feminist Horror Novel Crawling Under Your Skin for Halloween 2025"

What do horror films reveal about social difference in the everyday world? Criticism of the genre often relies on a dichotomy between monstrosity and normality, in which unearthly creatures and deranged killers are metaphors for society’s fear of the “others” that threaten the “normal.” The monstrous other might represent women, Jews, or Blacks, as well as Indigenous, queer, poor, elderly, or disabled people. The horror film’s depiction of such minorities can be sympathetic to their exclusion or complicit in their oppression, but ultimately, these images are understood to stand in for the others that the majority dreads and marginalizes.Adam Lowenstein offers a new account of horror and why it matters for understanding social otherness. He argues that horror films reveal how the category of the other is not fixed. Instead, the genre captures ongoing metamorphoses across “normal” self and “monstrous” other. This “transformative otherness” confronts viewers with the other’s experience―and challenges us to recognize that we are all vulnerable to becoming or being seen as the other. Instead of settling into comforting certainties regarding monstrosity and normality, horror exposes the ongoing struggle to acknowledge self and other as fundamentally intertwined.Horror Film and Otherness features new interpretations of landmark films by directors including Tobe Hooper, George A. Romero, John Carpenter, David Cronenberg, Stephanie Rothman, Jennifer Kent, Marina de Van, and Jordan Peele. Through close analysis of their engagement with different forms of otherness, this book provides new perspectives on horror’s significance for culture, politics, and art.

American Monsters

Half-human Cal Leandros and his brother Niko aren’t exactly prospering with their preternatural detective agency. Who could have guessed that business could dry up in New York City, where vampires, trolls, and other creepy crawlies are all over the place—if you know where to look.But now there’s a new arrival in the Big Apple. A malevolent evil with ancient powers is picking off humans like sheep, dead-set on making history with an orgy of blood and murder. And for Cal and Niko, this is one paycheck they’re going to have to earn. If they live long enough to collect it…

Liked the Sweetpea TV series on Sky Atlantic? You'll love the books... ‘This isn’t a book for the squeamish or the faint-hearted ... think Bridget Jones meets American Psycho’ Red

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The ultimate story of the Scream movie franchise, featuring interviews from more than eighty key players and an in-depth exploration of the creation and legacy of the films that revived a dying genre In Your Favorite Scary Movie, entertainment journalist Ashley Cullins examines the making and impact of the Scream films with behind-the-scenes insight from cast, creators, and crew, as well as sharp analysis on how the movies’ special blend of gruesome violence and humorous self-awareness rewrote the horror playbook. This intimate and thorough history includes brand-new interviews from Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Kevin Williamson, Skeet Ulrich, Matthew Lillard, Jack Quaid, Parker Posey, Hayden Panettiere, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Radio Silence, Roger L. Jackson, and so many more. Perfect for fans of Scream, horror lovers, and cinephiles, this is the story of how a little movie about a ghost-faced killer terrorizing high schoolers overcame countless obstacles to become an historic success that still has audiences screaming to this day.

A handbook for beating nightmares from the New York Times bestselling authors of the Nightmares! series, Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller. Nightmares. They come in all shapes and sizes--from gargantuan lizards to teensy creepy-crawlies. No matter their form, we know all too well, they are truly terrifying. The good news is that every Nightmare, no matter how ferocious, mysterious, or hairy, can be defeated. And this book will tell you how. Everything You Need to Know About NIGHTMARES! and How to Defeat Them is your one-stop guide to battling anything that goes bump in the night. Whether you're being chased by zombies or stalked by evil twins, this handy book will give you all the tools and tips you need to put your bad dreams to bed for good! Keep a copy under your pillow and you'll never fear Nightmares again! Praise for the Nightmares! series "Charlie Laird, who learns fear will eat you alive if you feed it, makes an impression, and . . . readers will want to accompany him again." --The New York Times Book Review "A touching comical saga . . . about facing things that go bump in the night." --US Weekly "Coraline meets Monsters, Inc. in this delightfully entertaining offering from actor [Jason] Segel and co-author [Kirsten] Miller." --Publishers Weekly

Your next dose of pitch-black comedy, mystery, and mayhem has arrived as Hap and Leonard find themselves in a vicious and ridiculous situation--just as the best friends may finally be calling it quits. When Hap and Leonard are called in on a strange request (subduing a meth-hopped hog) by a desperate young lady, they quickly learn this woman is part of a fringe group: The Hatchet Girls, who have pledged their allegiance to a crazed and grudge-bearing leader bent on bloody societal revenge. The timing couldn't be worse to be caught in such a vile, sticky wicket of a case: both boys are wrapped up in their domestic lives: Leonard is in the midst of wedding planning with fiancee, Pookie. And meanwhile, Hap and Brett are hard at work on their new home. Homemaking bliss will have to wait as Hap and Leonard are driven to stop the danger in its tracks and better understand the group's mission and the plans they have already set in place for helter-skelter esque mayhem. Life changes, midnight sneaks, and dark encounters with misguided dames who yell "Chop, Chop," lead Hap and Leonard into one of their darkest adventures yet.

Meg, her friend Voldar, and "Batboy," an injured baby bat, must complete a dangerous mission at the vampire castle ordered by her bloodsucking ex-babysitter--or else she will be the next vampire in Drazylvonia.

Your car is out of gas and you go to Monster Mansion seeking help. Vampires, werewolves, and zombies await you. You decide which path to take next.

The infamous, Most Wanted Goosebumps characters are out on the loose and they're coming after you! Catch them all, undead or alive!Ray Gordon really likes the circus. His uncle, Theo, is a performer in Koko's Klown Academy and he invites Ray to come join him for the summer. At first, Ray's parents are reluctant-they know their son has a habit of getting himself into strange situations. But Ray manages to convince them that he'll be on his best behavior. The circus itself is very cool. The clowns stay in their makeup all day and only go by their clown names. Ray becomes a clown-in-training named Mr. Belly-Bounce. But the longer he's there, the scarier things become. There are whisperings about a place called Clown Street and nobody, including Murder the Clown, wants to go there. Will Ray be able to survive the dark secrets of the circus?