I would highly recommend this book for any lovers of both horror films and horror fiction. Stephen King discusses what he feels are the most influential films and novels of the genre for 3 decades, 1950 to 1980. The book was published in 1982, so unfortunately he did not get a chance to comment on many horror films which would be well known to myself, however he did give me some idea's for films I would not normally have thought of watching.

Of course, the obvious ones are there, Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby, and TV shows such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone. Its very interesting to hear from an author of this genre's point of view, to see what inspired his books, and he even discusses some of his own film adaptations, but he does say that the book is not meant to be an autobiography, and so the references are brief.

Name: Stephen King
Born: 21st September 1947
Died: n/a
Nationality: American
Most Famous Works: The Shining, The Stand, It, Carrie
First Novel Published: Carrie

My Mom gave this to me one Christmas. I return to it again and again for knowledge and out of curiosity.

Okay required reading this christmas break, did not enjoy it after awhile. To much infor to cram into your mind at any period in time. It is a good reference book for greek and roman mythology. It even has a bit of Norse.

Surprisingly I enjoyed the book a whole lot. It was required summer reading for my lit class and I expected the worst. It's information is not only witty but all so true. This will make you look at your favorite books in a whole new light. I would recommend this to those who love to read and look between the lines.

Main issues:
- far too sycophantic, especially when dealing with Kant
- far too many grammar errors. The number of commas I had to add, remove, and replace was obscene.

On the other hand, this book sent me on my merry way to discovering more fully Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, Frege, and Heidegger, which I am very happy about. Worth the read for that alone.

Main issues:
- far too sycophantic, especially when dealing with Kant
- far too many grammar errors. The number of commas I had to add, remove, and replace was obscene.

On the other hand, this book sent me on my merry way to discovering more fully Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, Frege, and Heidegger, which I am very happy about. Worth the read for that alone.