The Art of Horror: An Illustrated History (Applause Books) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1495009130 ISBN 13: 9781495009136

Publisher: Applause, 2015

Synopsis

Amazingly, there has never been a book quite like The Art of Horror – a celebration of frightful images, compiled and presented by some of the genre's most respected names. While acknowledging the beginnings of horror-related art in legends and folk tales, the focus of the book is on how the genre has presented itself to the world since the creations of Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley first became part of the public consciousness in the 19th century. It's all here: from early engravings – via dust jackets, book illustrations, pulp magazines, movie posters, comic books, and paintings – to today's artists working entirely in the digital realm.

Editor Stephen Jones and his stellar team of contributors have sourced visuals from archives and private collections (including their own) worldwide, ensuring an unprecedented selection that is accessible to those discovering the genre, while also including many images that will be rare and unfamiliar to even the most committed fan.

From the shockingly lurid to the hauntingly beautiful – including images of vampires, werewolves, zombies, ghosts, demons, serial killers, alien invaders, and more – every aspect of the genre is represented in ten themed chapters. Quotes from artists/illustrators, and a selection from writers and filmmakers, are featured throughout.

About this title

About the Author:

STEPHEN JONES is a Hugo Award nominee and the winner of three World Fantasy Awards, three International Horror Guild Awards, four Bram Stoker Awards, twenty-one British Fantasy Awards, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the World Horror Association. One of Britain’s most acclaimed horror and dark fantasy writers and editors, he has more than 130 books to his credit. He lives in London.

Review:

''Heavily-bounded and excellently printed by Applause (a cinema and theater related imprint of Hal Leonard Corporation), The Art of Horror is nearly as much of a work of art as the many pieces it aims to highlight. With the downward spiral that print publication has been going through, this book leaves faith that there are still plenty of quality releases on the rise. That quality only continues once inside. Each of the book's 250-plus pages are nicely illustrated and laid out, printed on a heavy stock, lightly glossed paper that accentuates harrowing images contained within.... While on first appearance it may seem so, The Art of Horror [is] not your standard coffee table style art book (which the world is in no short supply of). Jones elevates the book by adding a strong critical component. Rather than present a hodgepodge of pieces, Jones has collected the works into ten carefully curated sections, taking it a step farther by assigning each section a writer to add to it a cultural and historical context of whom, many are often leading critics of their given fields.... Even the most seasoned veteran of horror art history will be sure to find a few new pieces amongst the collection. Halloween may have passed but The Art of Horror is a piece you'll want to keep out all year round.'' -Diabolique Magazine

''There have been heavily illustrated books that dealt with [horror] fragments some devoted only to 20th century art, others only to pulp magazine illustrations or genre film poster art; and horror was often mixed with heavy doses of science fiction and fantasy. None had the ambition with which veteran editor Stephen Jones approached this subject. The result is The Art of Horror: 256 large-format pages containing an in-depth history, as well as roughly 400 of the most haunting examples of horror art, including classical paintings and engravings, dust jackets, book illustrations, pulp magazine covers, film posters, comic books, new original paintings and digital artwork.'' --Rue Magazine

''A fine addition to your coffee table or coffin lid, The Art of Horror: An Illustrated History, edited by Stephen Jones, is a horror connoisseur's choice of movie posters, comic books, paperback and dust jacket art, pulp magazine covers, and ancient and contemporary art that gleefully dwells on the morbid predilections of the frightening genre so many fans clamor for yet know little about.'' --Zombos' Closet

''The Art of Horror: An Illustrated History landed on CL's desk at a time when appreciation of vintage horror is at an all-time high, evidenced by Second Screen's recent showing of Dario Argento's Suspiria and del Toro's nostalgic and sweeping Gothic romance Crimson Peak. The marvelously massive anthology weighs nearly 4 pounds and boasts a lovely matte paper stock with impeccable image quality. Editor Stephen Jones has curated more than 500 fantastical and creepy images with a beautifully penned foreword by Neil Gaiman (a tease, but a tasty one, for sure). Beasts, demons and ghosts are brought into context, offering a great primer for teens and pre-teens and non-horror enthusiasts. Hardcore horror lovers may gain a little less information-wise from the book but will have a beautiful picture book to escape life's real-life's horrors with.'' -Creative Loafing

''The Art of Horror has appeal to fans of horror films, comics, literature, and pulp magazines. Jones did a superb job of bringing together some of the foremost authorities on horror and matching them to their particular specialties. This is a book that any horror connoisseur will want to add to their personal library.'' --SciFi Movie Page

''While we normally think of horror in terms of fiction or film, artists' illustrations for books, magazines and movie posters have been giving hideous life to this ever-popular genre for more than a century. Arranged by monster, each section boasts an essay by a prominent scholar, including, among others, David J. Skal on vampires, Kim Newman on werewolves and shapeshifters, Richard Dalby on ghosts, S.T. Joshi on cosmic horrors, Lisa Morton on witches and demons and Robert Weinberg on aliens. Still, the pictures here are, so to speak, to die for. Featured, among scores of others, are Margaret Brundage's iconic Bat-Woman (from the cover of Weird Tales), Hannes Bok's even more sexy Fox Woman, Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein confronting his creature and Michael Komarck's Cthulhu, depicted rising from the ocean depths. This beautifully produced books is, in short, the stuff that nightmares on Elm Street or before Christmas are made of.'' - The Washington Post

''A motherlode of fascinating information, The Art of Horror includes much that has been seldom seen or heard of.'' --Shepherd Express

''If you're a fan of things that go bump in the night, the works of H.P. Lovecraft, or anything related to the world of horror for that matter, this is the book for you. Even if you don't have much knowledge on the subject, this book is certainly something worth checking out. There are images that have been seen many times before, but there are also many that have rarely seen or have never been seen before. It's a terrific, in-depth look into the world of horror and art.'' - Examiner

''The Art of Horror: An Illustrated History by Stephen Jones is a visual feast aimed at lovers of horror. It contains an endlessly impressive selection of horror art since the late 19th century. Every page deserves multiple visits.'' - Kirkus Reviews

''A wonderful book that looks far more expensive than it's pricetag suggests, just holding it in your hands feels like something truly special, a wonderful item that compliments a wonderful genre.'' --Back to the Movies

''The mother of all creepy coffee table books, Stephen Jones' THE ART OF HORROR is a jaw-dropping collection of art charting the illustrated history of the genre in art, film, literature and international popular culture. The wildest collection of odds, ends, essentials and esoterica I've ever seen collected in one place. From Applause Theatre & Cinema Books.'' --Shock Till You Drop

''First and foremost, it's a gorgeous volume measuring a big ten by eleven inches. It features heavy gloss pages designed with stunning images and well-researched topics for each chapter. But it's certainly the art that you'll buy it for, and it's well worth it. As a long-time fan I've seen a LOT of horror, but this book is packed full of images and artists I've never heard of.'' --Horror Talk

About this edition

• Publisher: Applause
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1495009130
• ISBN 13: 9781495009136
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256
• Editor: Jones Stephen