Nightmare Fuel: The Science of Horror Films (2024)

This was a fascinating little read, it goes into detail regarding how the brain is stimulated by watching horror films among many other things.

It's not a book discussing horror films, it's more on the science behind watching them and how it stimulates the brain.

It also delves into certain aspects of horror films, like why we find them scary and why we're attracted to entertainment that scares us.

It's very well written and laid out, it's probably the best book of its kind.

I recommend it if you're a fan of horror films!

My faves:

Fright Night (1985)
The Return of the Living Dead (1985)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Evil Dead 2 (1987)
Re-Animator (1985)
Psycho (1960)
The Lost Boys
The Thing (1982)
The Shining (1980)
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

4.5 Stars!

Top 10 Favorite Horror Movies

1. Scream
2. Psycho
3. Get Out
4. Candyman
5. The Silence of the Lambs
6. Final Destination
7. Hostel
8. It Follows
9. The Others
10. Saw

Honorable Mentions

1. Straw Dogs
2. High Tension
3. The Last House on the Left
4. House of 1000 Corpses
5. The Ring
6. The Omen

I love Horror movies. My list of favorite movies could probably be a top 50 but who has time for that. I don't particularly get scared while watching scary movies, I'm far more scared when I watch the news. But I do prefer my Horror to be mostly based in reality. Freddy Krueger does nothing for me scare wise but I do have fun watching those movies.

Nightmare Fuel is about the science of fear through the lenses of psychology and physiology. Why certain movies scare us? What about them sends a chill down our spines? And why we enjoy being scared?

This book had the potential to be boring and hard to understand for us non scientific minded people but it wasn't. Nina Nesseth breakdown these high minded concepts in a easy to understand way. I had never thought about why certain things in movies give the creeps, while other movies don't. How sounds affect us in ways we don't even realize.

I haven't been watching as many Horror movies(or any movies)in the last few years but I did go see The Black Phone a couple months ago. This book made me want to get back in watching Horror movies again.

A List of Movies I Still Need to Watch

1. Scream 5
2. Midsummer
3. Cannibal Holocaust
4. Don't Look Now
5. Lake Mungo
6. Hereditary
7. Suspiria (1977)
8. Maniac
9. Blood Feast
10. Jaws( don't ask me why I haven't seen it...I just haven't...okay)

I recommend this book obviously to Horror movie lovers but also to reader interested in what makes people tick.

If you have overlapping interest in science and horror movies, then Nightmare Fuel: The Science of Horror Films should be right up your street. Alas, when reading Nina Nesseth's book, I -- despite being a huge fan of horror movies -- quickly realised that I'm more interested in the science in horror movies than the science of them. At some point, reading about all the different ways horror movies exploit our instincts, emotions and psychological responses got to be monotonous. Indeed, my favourite parts of this book were the ones describing film scenes themselves and not the admittedly more insightful data behind Nesseth's approach to her subject. This is, of course, more a me problem than any major issue with the book's quality on its own terms, but I can't give a higher rating to something I didn't really enjoy. If the blurb makes it sound like your sort of thing, it probably is. I'll just stick to watching the movies.

“So you like scary movies? Have you ever wondered why?"

Author and scientist Nina Nesmith uses this space to help us figure out the why and it’s fascinating if you’re a horror movie fan. She mixes in studies and ties them to films and a few of them have some whopping spoilers so if you haven’t seen the big ones you might want to read the movie index which lists them out by chapter so you can watch the films first. But you probably wouldn’t be reading a book like this if you weren’t a huge fan so never mind me, lol.

I love books like Stiff by Mary Roach and Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty who gleefully dig deep into their morbid subjects and Nightmare Fuel is another one I’d add to the list. At times the writing of Nightmare Fuel can be a little dry and science jargon-heavy and could’ve used a touch of dark humor but that’s a personal preference. You might not like humor in your non-fiction, and you might only be here to learn some stuff without the haha’s but that’s not me.

There is some interesting stuff here about your brain on horror. This chapter starts the book and then dives into the history of horror which turned out to be one of my favorite chapters (next to the one on body horror and monsters). What is your brain doing and what is physically happening to your body during a jumpscare and/or terrifying scene? She gets into it here without making my eyes glaze over which is a minor miracle really.

I probably could’ve read an entire book on the history of horror through the decades and how the horror movies of each period reflect the fears and horrors in the hearts of people during certain times. I eat this stuff up. If you haven’t already, I’d recommend some of the documentaries currently running on Shudder because they have the room to expand more on all of this.

There are many movie examples and interviews that bring it all back to the movies when the science, psychology,and studies start to become a bit heavy. This wasn’t a book I wanted to zip through in one sitting, my brain would’ve gotten a bit tired, but I read a chapter a night and was always happy to get back to it and dig deeper into my love of horror films.

I think any big horror movie fan will find something interesting here no matter your tastes because it’s pretty comprehensive. But honestly, you need to read it because if you don’t you’ll miss out on who was voted the second most famous sexy monster which made me actually do a double take (spoiler it wasn't Krampus cries). People are SO incredibly weird in this world.

Anyhow, you’re either interested in this stuff or you’re not. If you are I’d recommend checking out this book.

This review is for an ARC copy received from the publisher through NetGalley.
Generally speaking, this was a reasonably interesting book. Being a huge horror fan, the description led me to want to read it: "Nightmare Fuel by Nina Nesseth is a pop-science look at fear, how and why horror films get under our skin, and why we keep coming back for more." What that made me expect and what was actually produced were fairly different. The majority of people who read this are unlikely to have extensive backgrounds in science, medicine or academia. It therefore makes sense that the physiological and biological and other medical and scientific aspects can't be easily explained in one or two sentences, and thus, had whole sections of the book dedicated to explaining them in terms the layperson can (hopefully) understand. But there were times that doing so required going into so much intricate detail that I felt my eyes glossing over until I just skipped ahead a few paragraphs. Too many times the book read too clinically and more like a dissertation than a scientific look broken down for the masses. By far the best chapter was the second one in which a breakdown of horror by the decades was made, with explanations of what societal fears were influencing the films of that time period. I would like to have read much more of that, and application of the science and theories involved more extensively to specific movies to make the point. It's not a bad read for any horror fan, but understand there's a lot more scientific talk than anything else in the book.

For those of you who love horror movies, have you ever wondered why? Why do you find thrill in something so gruesome? Why do you keep coming back for more when they scare you so much you can’t sleep? Nightmare Fuel dives into that question by breaking down the science of fear.

Reading Nightmare Fuel I was hooked from beginning to end. I started reading an eBook version but really wanted a physical to be able to jot down and place tabs on parts I found the most interesting. Nesseth does an incredible job outlining their research and providing sources for this book. The breakdown was done so well and really tapped into the physical experience of watching a horror movie.

Interviews with academics to directors to composers and film editors completed this books purpose. Movie spotlights included movies from The Exorcist to Hereditary, encapsulating a range of horror titles. This is truly a love letter to horror movies. If you’re a fan - you need it!

Thank you, thank you @tornightfire for sending me a copy for review! I loved this so much, 5✨!

Review in the May 15, 2022 issue of Booklist and here on the blog: https://raforall.blogspot.com/2022/05...

Three Words That describe this book: conversational, thought provoking, comprehensive

Notes:
This books works because Nesseth is both a fan and a scientist. It is a mix of scientific research, social science, and personal information.

Readers who love Horror movies will eagerly seek out this title, but it is also a great recommendation for fans of Mary Roach or Grady Hendrix’s Paperbacks from Hell.

Further Readalikes: Danse Macabre, My Book [this is very similar except analyzes the appeal of Horror movies, not books]. Science of Pop culture titles.

"What scared us?

War, Change,
Communism

At its very beginning, film was an extremely limited
medium where storytelling is concerned. The Lumière
Brothers’ Cinématographe, one of the earliest movie
cameras, was hand-cranked and could record a
whopping 16 frames per second. For reference, the
contemporary standard frame rate is 24 frames per
second, while some films, notably Peter Jackson’s The
Hobbit trilogy, have experimented with higher frame
rates (holding at 48 fps). The human eyeball only begins
to perceive the illusion of smooth and seamless
movement from still images at roughly 18 frames per
second, so while 16 frames per second does produce a
sense of movement, it looks pretty jerky and jittery.
Early cameras also couldn’t hold much film, which
meant that once the first moviemakers started crafting
stories instead of just documenting real life, they had to
be economical with their narratives. (Although, in the age
of social media, thanks to extreme short-form media
apps like Vine and TikTok, we’ve since mastered the art
of telling complete and compelling stories in as little as
six seconds.)
The arrival of film as a medium for the masses
coincided with the shift from the Victorian era into
Modernism, as the nineteenth century hinged over into
the twentieth. This change in sensibility was concerned
with a commitment to new beginnings and a rejection of
the past. Outside of the art sphere, the world and
society were also swiftly changing in the years leading
up to World War I. In the decades after the industrial
revolution, technological, scientific, and engineering
advances persisted, transforming homes and society
again and again.
While not the first film, let alone a horror film,
L’Arrivée d’un train en gare de La Ciotat (1896, dirs.
Auguste and Louis Lumière), known in English as The
Arrival of the Train, is the film that we most often refer
to when we are trying to paint a picture of how
audiences experienced movies at the dawn of
cinema—whether that picture is an accurate one or not.
The fifty-second-long scene shows a train arriving at a
station. The common myth attached to this film was that
audiences were so naive to the film experience that
when they first watched the image of a train pulling up
toward the camera, they thought the train would burst
through the screen. And so the audience responded
accordingly, screaming and pressing toward the back of
the auditorium. Of course, historians doubt that
audiences who saw L’Arrivée d’un train en gare de La
Ciotat were so panicked by the sight of a grainy and
silent black-and-white train approaching them, and there
are no surviving accounts of its first showings in Paris to
shed light upon the truth. According to Martin
Loiperdinger, a film scholar at the University of Trier in
Germany, there likewise exist no police reports or
newspaper articles about the incident. It’s unlikely that
such a huge cinematic impression would leave zero
paper trail in this way.
That said, the rumor about a celluloid train freaking
out moviegoers is about as old as the movie itself.
Maybe what we’re really talking about when we talk
about L’Arrivée d’un train en gare de La Ciotat is the
birth of the movie marketing gimmick.
A lot of the earliest horror films feel more like
experimental uses of technique and technology than
narrative ambitions. One trend that does seem clear
from the earliest horrors, though, is that Faustian stories
were popular. We saw Faustian tales in popular literature
around this time too. Faust is said to have been based
on a real figure—Dr. Johann Georg Faust��a German
alchemist, magician, and accused blasphemer whose life
straddled the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The
legend that grew out of his life would become the “deal
with the Devil” trope. Playwright Christopher Marlowe
popularized the story in Europe in the late 1500s with
his play The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus
(although the most influential adaptation of the legend
would come a few hundred years later in the form of a
poem by Goethe). The play presents Doctor Faustus as
an ambitious man who calls upon the Devil for
knowledge and power. The Devil sends Mephistopheles
as a proxy, who agrees to grant Faustus powers, for a
time, in exchange for his soul. In Marlowe’s versions
(there are two), Faustus squanders his powers and is
dragged to hell at the end. Other adaptations have
given the all-powerful Faustus the opportunity to repent
and save his soul.
There’s something about the Faustian tale that seems
to have appealed to the earliest filmmakers. It could
simply be the fact that the story of Faust and
Mephistopheles is a familiar one that had already
persisted for centuries, but the more likely explanation is
that horror stories were already reflecting societal fears.
With themes exploring politics, morality, and whether
ambitions of transcendence should be punished, it’s no
surprise that Faustian parables experienced a resurgence
around the turn of the twentieth century, into a fug of
moral crisis and uncertainty. Tensions were mounting
across Europe in the years leading up to World War I
and the Balkan wars. In general, there was a fear that
things had gone off track—a feeling that would only be
exacerbated by World War I.
Le manoir du diable (1896, dir. Georges Méliès) is
one such Faustian story, and it is credited as the
first-ever horror movie, mostly thanks to the presence of
horror staples, like the Devil, a transforming bat, and
ghostlike figures. The movie itself doesn’t feel like it was
built with the intent to scare, despite seeming to be a
vampire narrative of some sort. In fact, most of the
earliest horror films were more aligned with what we’d
describe as horror comedies.
In 1897, a shorter, but strikingly similar film called Le
château hanté (in English, The Haunted Castle
) was
released. It was also directed by Georges Méliès, but it
tends to be misattributed to his contemporary George
Albert (G. A.) Smith and is often considered to be a lost
film because of this misattribution (sadly, most of the
horror films from this era are considered to be lost
films). While the term “lost film” makes it sound like
someone accidentally misplaced a film reel somewhere, a
huge factor in why so many of the oldest films are lost
to the annals of time is because the film stock used to
create the film was extremely unstable. Depending on
the care with which nitrate-based film stock (made with
a compound called nitrocellulose) was stored, it could last
for one hundred years or more, or it could degrade into
a powdery, highly flammable residue that might
spontaneously combust. Chemistry aside, perhaps the
biggest reason for so many lost films isn’t accidental
destruction, but intentional destruction. With a few
exceptions, early American film studios didn’t necessarily
see the value in archiving film reels. Rather than saving
shelf space for their works, reels were simply junked
when they were no longer being circulated.
While he didn’t direct The Haunted Castle, G. A. Smith
did serve up some spooky fare of his own in the late
1890s, including X-Ray Fiend (1897) and Photographing
a Ghost (1898). The latter is often considered to be the
film that birthed the paranormal investigation subgenre.
While most Faustian tales of this era ended with Faust
being dragged to hell, Faust et Méphistophélès (1903,
dir. Alice Guy), quite possibly the first horror movie
directed by a woman, grants Faust an apparently happy
ending, saved from eternal damnation and reunited with
his love Marguerite.
Similar to the Faustian legend, adaptations of Mary
Shelley’s Frankenstein were also popular among the
earliest horror filmmakers. The short 1910 version of
Frankenstein (dir. J. Searle Dawley), from Edison Studios
(which also gave us one of the first Faustian films), was
probably the first of these. In a thematic vein similar to
that tapped into by Faustian stories, Frankenstein
explores human progress and fears associated with
expanded knowledge and the dangers of ambitious
pursuits.
In other parts of the world, early filmmakers were also
drawn to what might be considered horror narratives. In
Japan, a film manufacturing company called Konishi
Honten (which would, 130 years after its founding in
1873, merge with the more well-known camera and
tech company Minolta) released two films written by Ejiro
Hatta: Shinin No Sosei, or Resurrection of a Corpse
(1898), and Bake ji*zo, or ji*zo the Spook (1898), which
are both now considered to be lost films. Shinin No
Sosei allegedly told the story of a man who comes back
from the dead after finding himself freed from a dropped
coffin. There’s no preserved description of Bake ji*zo, but
in Japanese legend, ji*zo is a deity who acts as a
guardian to children, especially children who have died
before their parents.
This is a stab in the dark, given the sheer lack of
information on these films and overall dearth of records
on Japanese film from this era, but reports that the
actors in Shinin No Sosei were Konishi Honten
employees seems to suggest that these might have
been early demonstrations of film techniques by a
camera company. The presence of death and spirits in
these first films isn’t surprising. While a Western lens
readily interprets images of undead men and ghostly
guardians as horror tropes, it’s hard to say without
seeing the films whether the spirits featured in them
were evil or not. Japanese culture has a very different
relationship with spirits than other parts of the world.
They’re not so much enemies to be defeated as
material beings that coexist alongside humans. Generally
speaking, this era in East Asia was seeing dominance
shifting for the first time from China to Japan, as Japan
was experiencing huge growth and industrialization as
part of the Meiji Era Restoration. Cultural anxieties
relating to these major changes would be more
apparent in the horror films that followed in decades to
come. As if holding fast to tradition, until well into the
1920s many Japanese films leaned into performance
techniques developed for traditional stage entertainment
and storytelling, such as N
ō and Kabuki, rather than
evolving a new visual language for film.
While the first few decades of film saw the medium
getting its footing as a storytelling tool, horror films soon
began developing the visual tropes that would continue
to resonate for the next hundred years and counting.
Growth of the film industry into the 1920s also spelled a
demand for longer horror films that could more fully
explore themes of fear."

4.5 stars. A biology lesson featuring dissections of scardy cats. Beware of spoilers.

NIGHTMARE FUEL contains the following chapters along with forward, afterward, a comprehensive list of every horror and horror-adjacent movie mentioned in the book, and references for further study: This Is Your Brain on Horror, a Brief History of Horror, How to Make a Monster, Putting Fear in Your Ears, Why Some Scares Stick with You, Violence and Mayhem, Blood, Gore, and Body Horror, and Horror’s Long-Lasting Appeal. The book also contains numerous interviews with directors, film editors, film score composes, and other horror movie experts.

I liked how the author used biology, neuroscience, and psychology to explain the physical and mental effects of consuming horror media. The chronology of how horror movies evolved based on current fears was fascinating.

The scope of the book includes everything from final girls to the uncanny valley to what makes a monster to what makes horror movies appealing to how sound is manipulated to increase the fear factor. There’s even advice on how to recover from watching a scary movie and how to minimize the effects while watching, for example, by viewing on a smaller screen, during the day, or with a friend.

One of my favorite parts is in the Blood, Gore, and Body Horror chapter when the author explains how horror has an ideal vehicle in the human body, which is described as a gross, squishy, “fragile meat tube.”

There’s plenty of goodness for horror movie fans, even if they aren’t as into the science-heavy bits, such as deep dives into classic horror films such as Hereditary, The Thing, Alien, Jaws, the Blair Witch Project, the Quiet Place, and more.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to Tor Nightfire and Tom Doherty Associates for providing an Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley.

I really enjoyed this book. There are things in here that I found absolutely fascinating. The science behind how the brain works and how it will react to stimuli and the author wrapped all of that into how we react to certain horror and then put spotlights on certain movies was really well done. I can see how sone of this can be very dry for some people because it can veer away from the horror discussion and concentrate more on the science and anatomy. Having said that, I very much enjoyed the audio of this and would recommend that format for anyone checking this out. My eyes have been opened to a whole new way of looking at horror and why we react the way we do.

One for the home library.

Given that the author's background is deeply bogged in science, it was no surprise that this book is more about the workings of our brains and how that relates to the attraction of horror films. Sadly, I don't think the Horror genre is as deep as the author does. I think that scary movies are just that; made for a good fright and not a metaphor for something else.

There is a silver lining though: The book lists MANY horror movies I haven't seen, but are now on my list. As it is, I see this more of a reference book to be picked up every now-and-then for a glance through. I only managed to plough through about half of the book before I DNF and went and made a good, strong Martini. Prophetically, one of my olives was deformed and monster-like.🎃

Nightmare Fuel: The Science Of Horror Films.- Nina Nesseth⁣
⁣
"Humans like to consider themselves an ultimate predator, an apex predator. Nothing naturally preys on us and hasn't for a very long time. So, when a monster comes along and flips this current natural order, it's terrifying."⁣
⁣
La divulgadora científica y escritora Nina Nesseth, explora la ciencia del miedo a través de la fisiología y psicología preguntándose ¿Por qué nos gusta asustarnos en una sala oscura rodeada de extraños? ¿Y por qué volvemos por más? Nightmare Fuel nos propone un recorrido por la historia del cine del terror desde una óptica distinta, el funcionamiento y la respuesta de nuestro cerebro ante el miedo.⁣
⁣
"Do you like scary movies?" A través de 8 capítulos, cada uno dedicado a diversos aspectos que componen las películas de terror y su historia, Nina Nesseth nos explica las reacciones naturales de las partes que componen nuestro cerebro hacia los Jump Scares, música ambiental, sonidos, gore, monstruos, asesinos y demás componentes de una película de terror y de como los realizadores toman ventaja de estos hechos.⁣
⁣
Con un lenguaje simple (lo más simple que puede ser explicar el funcionamiento de sectores del cerebro) y respirando cinefilia de terror en cada página, con enorme cantidad de data, entrevistas a realizadores y análisis de escenas de películas, Nightmare Fuel es un lanzamiento que resulta novedoso en un ámbito tan poblado como son los libros dedicados al cine de terror.⁣
⁣
Por el momento está disponible en inglés solamente.⁣
⁣
🤘🤘🤘🤘

I wanted this book to do so much more. It felt too light, and didn't spend enough time dissecting any single point in depth. As a general overview, it works pretty well, but fell short of what I wanted it to be. With that in mind, I won't give this a rating; I don't want to penalize the author.

The writing is crisp. The points are concise (maybe too much so). It has a conversational tone that's easy to fall into. This work will be appealing for horror fans, science enthusiasts, and anyone interested in film deconstruction.

Reviewed on Lili Lost in a Book

I was SO excited when I came across this book because it combines two of my favorite things: horror movies and science!

As the title suggests, this book goes into the science behind horror movies, why we like them, why our bodies react the way they do, that sort of stuff. And I just found all of that so interesting! I mean, why do we come back for more horror instead of staying away from these terrible scenarios? The book pointed out one thing: when recognizing a scary situation in a horror movie, the buildup of your own anticipation for that situation is half the fun—and that is SO true! That is one of my favorite things about watching horror movies—just waiting for the spooky thing to happen 😆 AND recent research has shown that oxytocin (the “love” hormone) can be released during stressful situations... including horror movies! That I did not know!

And I actually learned a lot about myself and my relationship to horror from reading this book. One thing about me is that even though I love all things horror, I actually startle really easily. It’s embarrassing! 😂 But I also have anxiety, and apparently that makes me more sensitive to spooky things and thus I have a bigger startle response. Yay anxiety 🙃 Lol. However, they say that people with anxiety disorders have a harder time distancing themselves from the horror in movies, but I find that I don’t have that problem. I’ve never had an issue distancing myself from the fictional horror of movies. I can literally fall asleep to a horror movie and not have a nightmare 😆 Lol.

But just because I love horror and can handle a bit of violence and gore, it’s not the same with real-life stuff, which this book talks about a little. I’ve read one true crime book, and at the moment of writing this review I’m reading another, but while reading these types of books I am so acutely aware that this terrible violence happened in real life, that I could obviously not take it as lightly as I do movies/fictional books. In fact, it took me MONTHS to read that first true crime book (even though I loved it). The media loves to blame horror movies for terrible acts of violence that happen in real life, saying that these types of movies desensitize the people committing these awful crimes. But no. I've watched so much horror that I might be a little desensitized when watching other horror movies, but never when it comes to violence that happens in the real world.

The book also talks about the brain in relation to horror movies, like how the amygdala is generally accepted as the primary brain center for fear processing, and just what goes on in the brain when fear is triggered. I liked the way the book talked about what happens to your brain as you go through these frightening scenarios, from potential threat to actual threat, what hormones are released and how your body reacts. AND they used movies as examples! I loved that! I also learned that there are more responses than just flight or fight! There are in fact MANY Fs! Lol. It was so interesting!

Another thing I found interesting was that loving horror COULD be in the genes! I have no idea how, as neither of my parents like it 😆 My dad loves his Hallmark Christmas movies, meanwhile I’m over here like, “Ew! Get them away from me!” 😂 I have three brothers and only ONE is a horror fan too! So in my case, it’s definitely not hereditary, but it is contagious. Lol. I’m honestly not sure where exactly my love for it came from... I mean, I used to watch things like Goosebumps and I remember once Child's Play was on tv and it scared the ever-loving crap out of me and made me hate dolls 😆

Ironically, it's one of my favorite movies now! Lol. One experience I remember vividly is when my twin brothers were born. It was MLK day and my younger brother and I were staying with an aunt while the twins were being, well, birthed 😆 Me, my brother, and our cousins (I was 12, my brother 6, one of my cousins maybe 10 or so, and my other was also 6) were watching The Ring, and the scene where Samara came out of the TV scared us SO badly, we literally ran down the stairs 😂 That being said, we apparently found it fun because we came back to finish the movie 😂

This book talked about so many interesting things that I could not possibly touch on them all... I feel like I’ve already rambled on long enough 😆 But two more things I wanted to note before I wrap things up, is that if you take a look at horror movies throughout history, horror movies made during certain time periods actually correlate with what's going on in the real world and what scared us during those times. And that maybe watching and enjoying horror movies could be... almost a coping mechanism/a way to deal with our own terrible in-real-life issues. For example, during the pandemic, I watched All of Us Are Dead, which is a Korean zombie show (which I highly recommend! It is SO good!) where the characters had to deal with an even worse virus than we have now. It’s almost like a release for the things you’ve been feeling.

Oh man, that is one long-winded review 😅 But I really enjoyed this book! I love how all the science was explained and then horror movies were used as examples or spotlit in relation to whatever topic was being discussed. It was just a fascinating read! Although I will admit, my eyes glazed over in certain parts 🙈 Usually when they talked about movie production. I guess I just don't care about that 🤷‍♀️ But give me ALL the science! 😆 But I definitely recommend this book if you’re a fan of horror! And even if you’re not, I think you might find it interesting as well!

I requested this on Netgalley half on a lark, figuring it would tend towards the junkier pop-science books I’ve seen (Science of Superheroes, etc). Instead, this is actually a damned solid book looking at the actual science of how we react to fear, both in real life and on the screen (highlighting the many ways the two are different).

There’s a ton of actual neuroscience here, way more than I’d expected, but it’s at a level that anyone should be able to comprehend. More importantly, Nesseth doesn’t just regurgitate studies; she explains them, notes the potential weakness in them, and in many cases, points out how much “known” stuff has relied on flawed studies (one very gender-conformist study has all kinds of flaws, yet keeps getting cited as foundational).

That said, this isn’t a pure science book; Nesseth throws in examples in nearly every paragraph, and also happily throws in anecdotes from her own lived experience as a horror fan. She also has a lot of fun sidebars diving deeper into specific films, and interviews with other experts in the field. Aside from the intro (which feels, to be frank, like an earnest college newspaper editorial on why people watch horror, and probably can be skipped by anyone who’d want to read this book in the first place), the book feels free of missteps, and is well worth the read.

I love horror movies. Zombies. Ghosts. Serial killers. Monsters. Aliens. Whatever. I've watched it all. Now I can't say that I haven't covered my eyes at particularly creepy bits, screamed occasionally at jump scares, and even turned the volume off to survive really gory parts......but I still love the genre!

This book pulled me right in. Of course I want to know what makes horror movies horrific! I'm all over that immediately! And this book delivers. I had such a fun time reading my review copy of this book. And, to kick off my Halloween season reading this year, I even checked this book out of my public library to read it again! My son says he gets to read it when I'm finished. I can't wait for the discussions after we've both read it. I'm sure we will be talking horror movies and our reactions to them for some time afterwards!

This book is divided into 8 chapters and delves into some really cool aspects of horror itself, why we find it scary, and why people are attracted to entertainment that scares them. So interesting! There is also a list of horror movies in the back of the book, plus a list of books for further reading on the topic.

Loved it! I can't wait to read what this author comes up with next!

I don't give non-fiction star ratings

Very fascinating; Nina Nesseth provides the scientific explanation for our physiological and psychological reaction to horror movies, examining our response to the way they look, sound, and even feel to us, and how they sit in our memories and make us behave. Notable are the sections where she singles out how specific horror movies that got big (Jaws, The Blair Witch Project, etc.), and what they say about the cultural consciousness that made them hits. Essential reading for all horror fans.

Se enfoca mucho en estudios existentes, conocidos y repetidos, que explican motivos biológicos, fisiológicos, sicológicos, de por qué los temas del horror dan miedo.
Sirve como ayudamemoria. Pero no tiene nada nuevo.

Thank you SO much to NetGalley for an ARC of Nightmare Fuel.

I can't believe it took so long for someone to write a book like this but I was so excited to see it and doubly excited when my request was approved.

I ❤❤❤❤❤❤ horror movies!

I love to be scared, to jump up in my seat, to feel my heart racing and my palms sweating as the creepy background music reaches a crescendo and the (insert scary phantasm) pops out.

I think my love for scary movies truly evolved when I was a little kid and my dad allowed me to watch movies I was FARRR too young to be watching.

I remembered how I couldn't sleep for days after watching A Nightmare on Elm Street.

That scared me to death, but it's remained one of my favorite horror movies of all time.

Nightmare Fuel is about why we love horror movies; the author explores and explains the fascinating science of fear through psychology and physiology.

Why do some people love horror movies?

How come some movies keep us up at night and some don't?

Is a love of horror movies genetic?

I think so because my dad loves scary movies, too, but not my sis and mom.

The author explains how we relate to the characters on the screen, empathetically and physically, why is why some squeamish scenes stay with us for a long time and never cease to bother us when we see similar scenes in other movies.

I love the spotlight features on some of horror's famous films and the interviews with directors, film editors, composers, and horror academics, asked to give their take on why horror films resonate with an audience or how they craft a horror movie to elicit terror, suspense and chills.

The author does an awesome job referencing old school movies, recent movies, popular movies and not very popular ones.

I appreciate the list of movies at the end of the book, compiled by the author as part of the research that went into this amazing book.

I'm definitely going to check some out because some sound familiar and I've never seen them, and some didn't, and their synopsis made me want to watch them as I was reading Nightmare Fuel.

Nightmare Fuel is not just about the science of fear, but a celebration of the horror genre, a genre grossly underestimated by the film industry and audiences.

I haven't been scared by a horror movie in a long time (it's called habituation - read the book!), but I have hope one will come along one day that will scare me the way my young self was scared by Freddy Krueger.

Nightmare Fuel was my favorite book of 2022. Check out my full best-of lists (fiction and nonfiction).

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

As a huge fan of horror, I was initially hesitant to read Nightmare Fuel by Nina Nesseth. I was worried that the book might not live up to my expectations or do justice to my beloved genre. However, I was pleasantly surprised by Nesseth's expert analysis and deep appreciation for horror films. The book exceeded my expectations, providing a thorough and engaging exploration of the science behind horror films and their impact on the human mind and body. Nesseth delves into various elements of the genre, such as jump scares and undead creatures, and examines their effects on audiences. She also includes interviews with industry professionals and in-depth discussions on popular horror films to provide a well-rounded understanding of the subject.

One of the things I appreciated most about this book was Nesseth's clear love and appreciation for horror. Her passion for the genre is evident in her writing, and it made the reading experience all the more enjoyable. I also appreciated the way she presented the scientific concepts in a way that was both engaging and easy to comprehend. As someone with a background in science, I know there is an art to science writing that not all science communicators have. However, Nesseth explained things in a way that was accessible and engaging, making the book a pleasure to read.

Overall, I highly recommend Nightmare Fuel to all horror enthusiasts. It's a must-read for anyone who loves the genre and wants to gain a deeper understanding of the science behind it. I enjoyed it so much that I am already planning on rereading it in the future.

Note: this review was written by me but modified by the openAI chatbot to improve it.

I was very excited by this because, well, it's about horror and why we love it. For the most part, it was a very enjoyable read, except that perhaps it gets bogged down sometimes by *too much* science. That, or I'm an idiot that doesn't really get psychology and brain-science stuff as much as I thought I did. Overall, possibly more enjoyable for those with a greater interest in neuroscience than I am, but a solid read in general.

Solid Dragon Age reference in it, though.

This book surprised me, as it took an angle I didn't expect at all. Although the subtitle "The Science of Horror Films" should have been a tip-off, I still didn't expect the narrative presented here. Maybe because the very idea of juxtaposing "science" with "horror film" is so unusual I didn't think the author would follow through with it.

But follow through she did. In this book, you will learn more than you ever thought could be said about different brain regions and how the body and mind react to various stimuli: fear, terror, disgust. As the title suggests, it is very heavy on the science, referencing many studies (all documented in the endnotes, although the book really could have used an index). The horror films discussed definitely take second place, mentioned only for how they are used to reveal the science of how they affect us.

If you came to this book for the films, you will be disappointed. (Although chapter 2, "A Brief History of Horror," does do a fascinating dissection of the various horror "waves" and how they were reflecting the state of human society at the time.) But if you go into it knowing its focus will be on scientific research, you will be rewarded with some really interesting insights. And the extensive list at the end of all the movies the author watched to write this book should inspire horror aficionados to search for films they have possibly never heard of.

Books like this, with such a different, unexpected slant, don't come along too often. Recommended.

Nightmare Fuel was both what I was and wasn't expecting when I first picked it up. I expected some scientific discussion on a lot of what makes us scared of horror films, and what goes into such films. But what I got out of it beyond that was understanding more of the science behind why we actually LOVE horror, and all the different types of genres (body horror and gore included). I have to admit my own biases toward those genres when I read their titles. But Nina Nesseth actually made me realize I actually am a fan of both those things (I just didn't realize it!) I didn't know werewolf movies were considered "body horror" and that my enjoyment of the ridiculous use of blood in a scene (Scorcese often comes to mind) would be considered "gore". The one thing I feel certain about still is my aversion to the torture-type horror...no me gusta. I really loved how this book debunked some of my own beliefs around horror films, and this is coming from someone who really does enjoy them as it is! Now I need to go let my mom know that her method of making my sister and me watch a funny movie after a scary one was actually the perfect tactic when we were younger!

1.5/5

I WANTED TO LIKE THIS SO BAD. This is not about the science of horror films, not really. It's much more about the history of horror films, with a bunch of tangents about science. sometimes. sometimes the tangents are about not science. sometimes it made me laugh (hannibal lector? really?) mostly it made me angry. maybe it works better as not an audiobook, i don't know and i don't plan to find out.

This book really exceeded my expectations! As a horror movie fan I was interested in the concept of this nonfiction book, and was pleasantly surprised when it actually talked about the science behind why people enjoy horror! It was broken down into easily digestible sections and went really deep into how different parts of our body reactions to horror. I really enjoyed the section about music and how the different tones cause different reactions, it was very well researched and obvious that the author knew what she was talking about. I would definitely recommend this to any horror movie fan!

Thank you to Macmillan-Tom Doherty Associates, Tor Nightfire, and NetGalley for providing me with an eBook copy to review.

Pretty cool learning why some people love horror movies very informative and cool

I really liked this book for its broad sweep of the impact of horror movies on our psyche and our culture. It does a nice job putting the genre into context (the overview of the history and themes of horror movies is intriguing to think about and really well explored). I think what really impressed me about the book was how many examples Nesseth used in the writing. It would have been easy to generalize and make some points using a few movies, but there is a wide range of horror films that the book utilizes. Everything from main stream to independent films gets a mention, and I appreciate that the quality of films analyzed was not just blockbuster movies..

Perhaps a second edition would include a chapter on the influence of CGI elements in horror movies. I think there's some fascinating research to look at in the common years about whether they have improved or decreased the scare factor of movies. After all, do Syfy channel horror movies really get classified as true horror, or at least, should they be?

If you are a film buff, into pop culture, cultural history, or how those intersect with our psychology, please read the book. You'll gain a few more films to your watchlist as well.

This is a super interesting nonfiction book about horror, and some of the science behind horror films, and why horror scares us so much. It was absolutely fascinating, and a topic I'm really interested in. I actually want to do a full podcast episode talking about some of the points this author brought up that I think make for great conversation and just really thought-provoking things. Not gonna lie, some of the science went way over my head, but for the most part this was a very interesting read.

In the forward the question is asked "Do you like scary movies?" and I am an enthusiastic yes! This book was all over the place talking about horror movies. Part of the book is about how your brain works and why you get scared. Part of the book was a history of scary movies and the types of horror during certain times (this is the best part for me). There is section on sound effect and the Final Girl. Lots of examples but for me this book just jumped around too much. Almost a DNF but a did actually read it all. Don't recommend.