''Shock Value: How a Few Eccentric Outsiders Gave Us Nightmares, Conquered Hollywood, and Invented Modern Horror'' is a 2011 American book by

Jason Zinoman Jason Zinoman (born 1975 or 1976) is an American critic and author. He has written for ''The New York Times'', ''Time Out New York'', '' Vanity Fair'', and ''Slate''. In 2011, he published ''Shock Value'', a non-fiction book about horror films. ...

. It traces the evolution of

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

s as they began to focus on more reality-based, less campy subjects during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Background

The book grew out of an article Zinoman wrote for '' Vanity Fair'' in 2007. Over four years, Zinoman collected interviews with filmmakers, and, after interviewing family and friends, returned to the filmmakers again, to find new, fresh topics for interviews. Zinoman also researched stories he heard repeated from multiple sources, such as the former friendship between John Carpenter and

Dan O'Bannon Daniel Thomas O'Bannon (September 30, 1946 – December 17, 2009) was an American film screenwriter, film director, director and visual effects supervisor, usually in the science fiction and Horror fiction, horror genres. O'Bannon wrote the scr ...

, both of whom were responsible for important horror films in the 1970s. To differentiate the clashing styles of horror filmmaking that took place in the 1960s, Zinoman used the terms "Old Horror" and "New Horror". These are borrowed from a 1979 ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...

'' article written by

Ron Rosenbaum Ronald Rosenbaum (born November 27, 1946) is an American literary journalist, literary critic, and novelist. Life and career Rosenbaum was born into a Jewish family in New York City, New York and grew up in Bay Shore, New York. He graduated fr ...

. Zinoman defines Old Horror as being campy films focused on stars, while New Horror is more politically aware, realistic, and focused on directors. New Horror also has what Zinoman describes as a "postmodern sensibility of evil", where antagonists have no discernible motive. Zinoman says that films like '' Targets'' offer commentary on this change-over.

Reception

Cynthia C. Scott of ''

Bright Lights Film Journal ''Bright Lights Film Journal'' is an online popular-academic film magazine, based in Oakland, California, United States. It is edited and published by Gary Morris. Originally a print publication established in 1974, it was discontinued in 1980 to ...

'' wrote that the book "lacks the epic scope" of other New Hollywood histories, but it offers compelling arguments to take the discussed films seriously. Ty Burr of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' praised the book's research but wrote it "struggles to bring the larger picture into focus". Matthew Hays of ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' called it "crucial reading for any serious horror aficionado". Zack Handlen of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' rated it A− and wrote that the book's only flaw is that it should have been longer. Ryan Daley of

Bloody Disgusting Bloody Disgusting is an American multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news site/website specializing in information services that covered various horror medias, including: film, television, video games, comics, and music. ...

rated it 5/5 stars and described it as "the most effortlessly enchanting treatise on the American horror film since

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

's '' Danse Macabre''".

References

{{reflist 2011 non-fiction books Books about film Penguin Press books