Danse Macabre by Stephen King

 “But on another, more potent level, the work of horror really is a dance — a moving, rhythmic search. And what it’s looking for is a place where you, the viewer or the reader, live at your most primitive level.”

“This is the real danse macabre, I suspect: Those remarkable moments when the creator of a horror story is able to unite the conscious and subconscious mind with one potent idea.” — Stephen King from Danse Macabre 

In Danse Macabre, Stephen King discusses horror fiction in film, radio, television, and in print, focusing on 1950 to 1980. The book begins with a couple of introductory chapters on the basics of horror and an autobiographical chapter. I found the chapter on radio fascinating and the chapters on television and books interesting, but I felt that the chapters on film dragged. Those chapters were a little too long winded for me. 

Levels of Horror 

What I found most interesting were some of the concepts he discusses in the introductory chapters. Instead of trying to define horror he explains how the “genre exists on three more or less separate levels, each one a little less fine than the one before it.” The way he sees it, the finest emotion is terror, where we don’t actually see anything threatening or scary, next comes horror where we do see the threat, and finally revulsion, which goes for the gross out.

The Appeal of Horror 

I also found the reasons he gives for the appeal of horror interesting.

“The answer seems to be that we make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones. With the endless inventiveness of humankind, we grasp the very elements which are so divisive and destructive and try to turn them into tools — to dismantle themselves. The term catharsis is as old as Greek drama, and it has been used rather too glibly by some practitioners in my field to justify what they do, but it still has its limited uses here. The dream of horror is in itself an out-letting and a lancing…and it may well be that the mass-media dream of horror can sometimes become a nationwide analyst’s couch.” 

He adds:

“Horror appeals to us because it says, in a symbolic way, things we would be afraid to say right out straight, with the bark still on; it offers us a chance to exercise (that’s right; not exorcise but exercise) emotions which society demands we keep closely in hand.” 

Talent 

Although he titled his autobiographical chapter “An Annoying Autobiographical Pause,” I found it quite engaging, especially his comments on talent. He states that while having talent is important, it’s not enough just by itself. 

“I think writers are made, not born or created out of dreams or childhood trauma — that becoming a writer (or a painter, actor, director, dancer, and so on) is a direct result of conscious will. Of course there has to be some talent involved, but talent is a dreadfully cheap commodity, cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work and study; a constant process of honing.”

He goes on to say yes, there has to be some talent to begin with, but that what one does with that talent is the key:

“Refining talent is merely a matter of exercise. If you work out with weights for fifteen minutes a day over a course of ten years, you’re gonna get muscles. If you write for an hour and a half a day for ten years, you’re gonna turn into a good writer.” 

In Conclusion 

King gives the plot details of the works he discusses and, in most cases, provides interesting analysis and insight. As he gives lots of spoilers, I skimmed the parts regarding movies and books I want to get to in the future. I thought it was a mostly fascinating overview of horror, but some may find it too detailed. 

There are two appendices at the end. Appendix 1 lists about one hundred films and Appendix 2 lists about one hundred books. In the chapter on fiction, he focuses on the following ten books: 

Ghost Story by Peter Straub 

The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons 

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson 

Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin 

The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney 

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury 

The Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson 

The Doll Who Ate His Mother by Ramsey Campbell 

The Fog by James Herbert 

Strange Wine by Harlan Ellison

I’ve read The Haunting of Hill House and Rosemary’s Baby and thought they were both excellent. I have Ghost Story, Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Shrinking Man, and Strange Wine on my shelf. I’ve added the others to my to-read list.