Wasteland, W. Scott Poole
Wasteland, W. Scott Poole
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Wasteland
The Great War and the Origins of Modern Horror

Author: W. Scott Poole

Narrator: Andrew Eiden

Unabridged: 11 hr 30 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/16/2018

Synopsis

Historian and Bram Stoker Award nominee W. Scott Poole traces the confluence of history, technology, and art that gave us modern horror films and literature.In the early twentieth century, World War I was the most devastating event humanity had yet experienced. New machines of war left tens of millions killed or wounded in the most grotesque of ways. The Great War remade the world’s map, created new global powers, and brought forth some of the biggest problems still facing us today. But it also birthed a new art form: the horror film, made from the fears of a generation ruined by war.From Nosferatu to Frankenstein’s monster and the Wolf Man, from Fritz Lang, F. W. Murnau, and Albin Grau to Tod Browning and James Whale, the touchstones of horror can all trace their roots to the bloodshed of the First World War. Historian W. Scott Poole chronicles these major figures and the many movements they influenced. Wasteland reveals how bloody battlefields, the fear of the corpse, and a growing darkness made their way into the deepest corners of our psyche.On the one-hundredth anniversary of the signing of the armistice that brought World War I to a close, W. Scott Poole takes us behind the front lines of battle to a no-man’s-land where the legacy of the War to End All Wars lives on.

About W. Scott Poole

W. Scott Poole, who teaches at the College of Charleston, has written widely about American history and pop culture. His books include Wasteland, Vampira: Dark Goddess of Horror, and the award-winning history Monsters in America, which received the John G. Cawelti Prize from the Popular Culture Association.

About Andrew Eiden

Andrew Eiden is an actor and winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award for narration. He has been acting since the age of four, working at regional theaters, in national commercials, and on numerous television shows.

Reviews

Goodreads review by mark on December 07, 2018

As a portrait of the many horrors of World Wars I & II, the book succeeds admirably. Poole is an exciting and excitable writer; his outrage at the bloodshed and senseless deaths of these wars is palpable. Many of the passages made me recall some of my favorite history teachers, and how their enthusi......more

Goodreads review by Bill on June 12, 2019

Veterans Day 2018. As always, I emailed my friend the Colonel to tell him “thanks for your service” and to let him know I was thinking of him. But this time I added something else: “And I’m also thinking of Ypres, the Marne, the Somme, Belleau Wood . . .” What I didn’t tell him was that those memora......more

Goodreads review by Sadie on February 11, 2019

Review Originally in SCREAM Magazine 2018 “Horror as an art form, as escape, as a rendition of what had just happened, became the only possible response for a world that could not stop screaming.” W. Scott Poole I don’t read a lot of non fiction. I find that in order to get the most out of my recreati......more

Goodreads review by Kevin on March 08, 2022

A nice exposition on the relationship between horror, as an entertainment genre, and World War I. The author’s approach is smart, scholarly and extensive; so extensive in fact that if your love of horror is utterly existential and you feel you are ready to commune with the Dalai Lama of Dread, W. Sc......more

Goodreads review by Dominique on November 05, 2018

I've been waiting for someone to write this book for a long time and I'm glad this is what we got. In Wasteland, W. Scott Poole takes us through the highlights of art forms and movements in the interwar years. The book is divided into chapters that deal roughly with topics, such as fear of the corpse......more

Quotes

“Highly persuasive…Poole’s general conclusions about World War I’s transformation into art, and the process of psychological displacement that accompanied it, are incontestable.” Wall Street Journal

“Andrew Eiden deftly delivers the author’s examination of a popular literary genre through the lens of history…Author and narrator weave an engaging and insightful listen that captures the reality of battle with a sensitive and respectful touch. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.” AudioFile

“Wasteland will appeal to film and military buffs, horror fans, those interested in popular culture, and those who seek a better understanding of the escalating violence of the last 100 years…A fascinating read.” Missourian

“A sophisticated work of cultural history…[with] wide-ranging erudition, strong prose, and clear love and fascination with both history and horror.” PopMatters

“[A] thoroughly engrossing cultural study…His extensive and well-supported citations will make it hard for readers who haven’t considered the wartime context for horror’s emergence to forget it.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Poole brings a scholar’s eye and a devotee’s heart to a study of the literary, film, and artistic incarnations of horror from the World War I period to today.” Kirkus Reviews

“Elegantly written and cogently argued, Wasteland convincingly demonstrates the modern horror genre’s origins in the great Dance of Death that was the First World War.” David J. Skal, author of The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror

“W. Scott Poole combines smart readings of the horror classics with detailed knowledge of twentieth-century history, art, and literature to dig deep into the serious side of these popular entertainments. I thought I already knew the subject inside out, but Wasteland introduced me to fresh facts, new ideas, and surprising connections. This is cultural history of a very high order: intelligent, lively, and wonderfully readable.” Christopher Bram, author of Gods and Monsters

Awards

  • AudioFile Earphones Award
  • Washington Post Pick
  • UnboundWorlds.com Pick
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