Poole, W. Scott

This book reveals how the horror genre as a way of seeing the world has become one of the most incisive critiques of America and its history and influence around the globe.

Explains monsters as concoctions of the public imagination, reactions to cultural influences, social change, and historical events; and making use of newspaper accounts, films, and oral histories presents a history of America that illustrates how the monstrous reflects society's fears and shapes historical behavior.