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In this author interview, I speak with Brad Weismann, an award-winning writer and journalist who has also worked as a stand-up comic and improv actor. He’s contributed to publications and websites worldwide such as Senses of Cinema, Film International, Backstage, Movie Habit, Colorado Daily and Boulder Magazine. His first book, Lost in the Dark: A World History of Horror Films, was recently published by the University of Mississippi and he contributed to the critical collection 100 Years of Soviet Cinema. He joins me today to talk about his new book, Horror Unmasked: A History of Terror from Nosferatu to Nope. 

Listen to hear about what horror is, how horror films are similar to today's superhero films, and why the horror genre has been kept out of the Oscars (with very few exceptions).
 
Books mentioned in this episode include:

• Danse Macabre by Stephen King
• The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror by David J. Skal
• Screams of Reason: Mad Science in Modern Culture by David J. Skal
• Dark Carnival: The Secret World of Tod Browning, Hollywood's Master of Macabre by David J. Skal
• The Horror Film: An Introduction by Rick Worland
• The Rough Guide to Horror Movies by Alan Jones
• Four of the Three Musketeers: The Marx Brothers on Stage by Robert S. Bader
• Montaigne's Essays by Michel de Montaigne
• On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio by John Dunning

Films mentioned in this episode include:

• Dracula directed by Tod Browning & Karl Freund
• The Mummy directed by Karl Freund
• Frankenstein directed by James Whale
• Batman vs. Superman directed by Zack Snyder
• Freddy vs. Jason directed by Ronny Yu
• Get Out directed by Jordan Peele
• The Shape of Water directed by Guillermo del Toro
• The Silence of the Lambs directed by Jonathan Demme
• Smile directed by Parker Finn
• Nope directed by directed by Jordan Peele 
• Evil Dead Rise directed by Lee Cronin
• The Bride of Frankenstein directed by James Whale
• Peeping Tom directed by Michael Powell
• The Wicker Man directed by Robin Hardy
• Seven Samurai directed by Akira Kurosawa
• Lawrence of Arabia directed by David Lean
• Children of Paradise directed by Marcel Carne

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Scooby-Doo