Dark Carnivals

Modern Horror and the Origins of American Empire

By: W. Scott Poole

Narrated by: Enrique McGavin

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.

©2022 W. Scott Poole (P)2022 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Made me rethink

Really weird and horror movies and various authors in relationship to the United States of America and it's empire building.

Very thorough

A very comprehensive history of horror that is very heavy on the history, so if you’re just looking for movie facts, maybe look somewhere else. Other than that its a really good overview of US imperialism and its reflection in 20th and 21st century horror films and media. Love how it included video games as well, since they’re often seen is low brow by many despite the nuances they can have.

Loses Way in Last 3rd

It starts very strong, but he really stretches to fit his thesis by the end, and has some really questionable reads on certain works. Some weird editorial oversights too, such as being wrong about what films of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise Wes Craven directed, or Eli Roth’s name.

i love history, love horror, but was disappointed

Poole makes the stretch between the development of politics as related to horror movies and fiction. Sadly, a brand of left wing politics haunts this tale. Worse than his other, better books.

Interesting premise, not great execution

I very much enjoyed Wasteland, but this missed the mark for me. It is an interesting and valid idea/opinion, and one I agree with to a significant degree, but it's rather poorly explained and defended, and lacks any substantial engagement with counter arguments that would no doubt be made. He spends much more time analyzing action/science fiction content than the horror movies he mentions, which get a passing reference for the most part. The recording itself is fairly poor. There were several instances where a sentence was repeated exactly with a different inflection (editing error I assume), and often there is a three second silence between sentences. Paragraph break? It's hard to tell.