I was delighted to receive an ARC of this book. I love all things macabre, gruesome or horror- related, so I immediately found the concept of a fellow horror enthused pastor FASCINATING. I was not let down. I enjoyed the author's writing style, as it felt as if I were having a conversation with an intelligent, well- studied and educated friend. I very rarely re-read books, but I would read this again, and I find this to be quite easy to recommend.

Netgalley a un avantage certain pour les lecteurs voraces. On y trouve toute sorte de livres, même certains qui pourraient largement échapper à notre perspicacité. The Frighteners de Peter Laws est de ceux-là. Ni roman, ni essai scientifique, ce livre est entre la découverte d’un genre, un plaidoyer pour l’art macabre et une ode à ses appréciateurs, lecteurs, joueurs ou spectateurs.
Il ne vous a pas échappé en lisant ces pages que je n’aie rien contre une bonne histoire de fantôme ou d’horreur pure. Je sais ce que j’y trouve, mais pourquoi ces histoires sanglantes fascinent tant de monde ? C’est la question à laquelle tente de répondre dans The Frighteners, Peter Laws, révérend de son état, obnubilé par l’horreur depuis l’enfance et auteur de thrillers. En dix chapitres, il explore différentes thématiques : les monstres classiques (vampires, loups-garous, démons), les revenants, les zombies, l’envoutement qu’exerce les faits des serial killers ou l’intérêt des jeux et histoires violentes dans le développement des jeunes enfants.
À travers sa propre expérience, mais également ses rencontres aussi diverses que des furs en convention, un guide touristique spécialisé dans les fantômes anglais ou un couple ayant une boutique très spécialisée, Peter Laws présente les différentes raisons qui peuvent se cacher derrière cette passion pour le macabre dans son ensemble, ou pour certains de ses aspects. Et pourquoi d’une certaine façon, cette fascination, cathartique, est saine pour la construction de notre personnalité, mais également de notre société.
Loin d’être un pensum, The Frighteners se lit très facilement. C’est en quelque sort le pendant de Danse Macabre (Anatomie de l’Horreur) de Stephen King. Là où l’écrivain américain avait un point de vue avant tout de créateur d’histoires à faire peur, Peter Laws se place résolument du côté des consommateurs de tels récits. Il parsème son propos d’anecdotes souvent très drôles et aussi parfois surprenantes. Ainsi, Peter Laws a entendu l’appel de la religion en regardant L’Exorciste !

As a fan of horror, I was interested in reading about why we are so fascinated with the macabre. Overall, I enjoyed the adventures of a horror-loving pastor, although the last chapter felt very different from the rest of the book and was a bit disappointing.

The Frighteners by Peter Laws takes a look at people's fascination with the macabre. Peter Laws just happens to be a pastor who loves all things horror. He takes a look at everything from ghosts to vampires to zombies. It might seem like the two do not go together, but it was interesting to read how watching The Exorcist led to him being saved. I enjoyed this unusual look at horror through the eyes of a minister.

Laws seems like a fun and likable guy, but his book disappoints. Both the title and the publishers summary badly mislead the reader as to what this book truly is. I was expecting something more academic, but this is an indulgent memoir populated by pop-psych theories on fear and violence and way too much "me, me, me" from the author.

This book is cheerfully gruesome, following interesting lines of macabre thought. It felt a little bit like having a talk with a buddy about spooky things when Halloween is approaching. I'm sure that the author is a very interesting person to have a conversation with!

Totally on board with all the macabre stuff and things that go bump in the dark and fly in the night and haunt our nightmares. Not so much on the religion being so heavy throughout. The description made it sound like it was only part of his upbringing, so the dark things he was fascinated by were off limits because of that - but nope! He's actually a minister, he didn't shun faith at all or let it take a back seat in any of this.

I suppose for some people it's fine, but it just tainted the whole experience for me. A little commentary now and then, sporadically, sure. But this was too much. Just my opinion. I was not expecting or signing up for religious commentary with my supernatural creatures.

What a fascinating exploration of all things macabre! Peter Laws takes the reader on a journey through popular horror tropes, such as zombies, ghosts, vampires and werewolves, all while providing his own background experiences watching horror films as a child and melting the faces off Star Wars figures (yes really). Laws has a really light tone that draws you in as the reader, but the information is clearly very thoroughly researched, which lends gravity to the book. I really enjoyed the choices he made in terms of topic (although I do feel a chapter on witches would have been welcome) and the way in which he aligned his faith (Laws is a Christian minister) with his love of all things spooky. He sets out to show us how important the connection to the macabre is through films, books and video games in this sterilised world in which we have very few encounters with actual death. For me, as a life long lover of being scared, I found this book a delight and would recommend it to anyone who likes the ghost train more than the waltzers!
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I'm conflicted. I found this book by Peter Laws very interesting but did feel that it did focus on God and religion a bit heavier than I had hoped. And it's totally understandable, he is a minster, after all.

And while Mr Laws is a minister..he's also obsessed with the darker parts of life. Monsters, zombies and serial killers. This book is an exploration of those dark tales and mysteries though the eyes of a man who loves God. This is a good read for people who, like Mr. Laws love God and love all things scary/horror/dead.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I got an ARC of this book.

A non-fiction about all things dark and spooky? Count me in! I am not a silent fan of the dark. I watch horror movies, I read horror novels, I love horror video games (Silent Hill being my favorite because of the atmosphere and the score). There is so much to love about horror and the macabre. People are very quick to judge. My step-mom once decided I couldn't wear pants with chains on them or listen to metal because it meant I was obsessed with death. 

The book is broken down into ten chapters. The first chapter is an introduction to the idea that people have been into the spooky for hundreds and thousands of years. The last chapter was a conclusion that focused on religion and how the author came to be a christian through the movie The Exorcist. Skipping the last chapter would have made my reading of the book better, I wasn't looking for a memoir about religion or a book that focused on it. The last chapter feels out of place with the rest of the book and dragged compared to the rest. 

My favorite chapter had to be the one that focused on killers and murderabilia. I had a similar experience coming across the murderabilia market as the author, though the hair was much cooler than what I found. We came to some different conclusions while staring at the items of famous killers. Mine was very clearly: "why the heck are they selling this and promoting killing?" and then "how are these people going to prove this really belonged to so-and-so?" and finally "I really want this book, but I don't want to support people who profit off of murder and/or support murders". The author had a more nuanced reaction and actually went further and tried to see it from both sides. He interviewed people that sold murderabelia and the people trying to shut down the market. It was fascinating and that chapter literally made my stomach churn. 

The chapter about hunting werewolves had my laughing a bit. The section about ghosts had a lot of great bits in it. There really is a chapter for all the major spooky fandoms out there. However, the addition of furries to the section of werewolves felt really off putting. Furries aren't werewolves, nor do any of the ones I have come across equate it with anything to do with werewolves. For most of the furries I have meet or had to deal with it is generally a sexual thing and this focus on the sexual has actually created issues (super high sexual assault rates at furry conventions, the creator of shows quitting because of the furry fan base, parents literally calling for a ban on My Little Pony because of the fan art/sexualization of the characters, the furry bar in SF that has a table where sexual assault is the norm). While I can't say that every furry solely is a furry because of a sexual fetish (because that is untrue, check out a few documentaries on bronies and you will see a world of music and friendship), but that has been a large part of the community that I  have seen and is the easiest part of the community to get access to even without meaning to. So this section just felt like it was under researched and out of touch with the rest of the book. It was an unwelcome interlude in the world of horror that I was expecting.  

Overall, this is a great and gentle look at horror both historically and what is currently happening. I say gentle because it doesn't require a great deal of background knowledge or an iron stomach/nerves of steel to get through. It is a book that is a fascinating and light read for a subject that can be gruesome and off putting to many.

As a big fan of all things creepy and greusome I’ve often wondered why I like horror so much. Turns out I’m not the only one who has pondered this, and Peter Laws has written a brilliant book on this exact subject. This book is packed with fun horror facts and psychological assessments of the fascination we have with horror, and it is written in such an engaging way that I felt like I was having a chat with an old friend. I would highly recommend this to fans of horror or anyone after a good (funny) nonfiction read about the history of horror.

Being someone who's favorite character in books was almost always the villains, being someone who enjoyed watching true crime documentaries because of how fascinating they were, and being someone who was always interested in the idea of ghosts and paranormal stories, I have to admit that this novel was definitely up my alley. I wanted to know more about why people were fascinated with these gruesome ideas and events, and so seeing this book definitely caught my interest.

But I can't say that it really kept my interest.

When I opened this book, I was expecting a thorough discussion and presentation of evidence on the subject, and, eventually, I did get that. This discussion, though, didn't happen until after Laws told a story about his life that happened to line up with the subject of the chapter. It was a fairly odd way to talk about this subject, because it was very casual up front, and then twenty pages later he would begin to present evidence in the way I was originally expecting, with professionalism, while still staying conversational. So with each chapter, Laws would go back and forth, back and forth, going from casual and funny, to professional yet conversational, and it was just weird, and these two types of prose clashed. I couldn't get into the novel because of the constant switching.

Beside Laws's strange writing style, I also wasn't sure of some of the topics. Some of them were truly fascinating and had me engrossed, like the murderabilia chapter and the vampires and werewolves and the discussion on violent video games. However, some of the other topics were just unnecessary. That chapter on furries? How does that relate to the horror genre? Or how does a tour of Romania constitute as something that would be connected to the topic, other than the fact that the whole vampire lore was based in Romania. Some parts of the novel just seemed there to increase length or go into really niche subjects that weren't important. I still honestly can't get over that furry chapter. He had literally gone to a furry convention to...what? 

Final Rating: ★★★☆☆
Overall?
Peter Laws wrote a very solid and interesting novel. He kept me reading out of interest, but honestly my main reason was out of review obligation. It was an interesting book, I'll give him that, but the weird type of writing, going back and forth from casual to professional, as well as the unnecessary chapters about subjects that didn't matter.

Would I Recommend?
Maybe! I don't know if there are other books on a similar or same subject, but this one was just okay. I would be interested in reading other books, but I do think that this one was a good place to start.

For a factual book about society’s misunderstood subcultures and the strange fascination humankind has with the morbid and profound, The Frighteners is one superb work of literary fiction.

Drawing from personal experiences combined with humorous commentary and journalistic accuracy, Peter Laws sets out to create clear distinctions between what is unknown stereotypical assumptions and blatant exaggeration – fuelled by unclarified superstition.

Let’s first get into the author’s head.

This guy not only enjoys watching horrors or reading (and writing) about the macabre, Peter Laws is also an ordained minister. Yes he mentions this in the blurb, but get this: since childhood Laws has been struggling to bridge the gap between accepting his infatuation with everything weird and creepy, but to also try to make sense of his faith in a society hardwired to think only in shades of black or white.

Not surprisingly, I’m sure this resonates with many of us.
Laws takes the reader on a journey that’s more than simply a quest to clear up muddled perceptions and verify outrageous claims (such as an individual who claimed that she could physically transform into a werewolf) but invites us all on a journey of really getting to know yourself as an individual in this loud, crazy, unpredictable world of ours.

Joining Laws throughout the book we’re met by a colourful cast of characters, from a youth who spends almost 2 grand on a furry outfit, a supposed vampire who doesn’t actually kill babies but does drink her boyfriend’s blood purely because she enjoys the taste, and the strange retail industry dabbling in killer merchandise.

With subjects that challenge your own ideals about dealing with random situations, insights into our bloody history and how certain habits and traditions are still carried out to this day, The Frighteners is something that should easily be labelled as ‘education worthy’. If you’ve ever wondered what the hell the furry movement is about and what the mentality behind it (and numerous other topics you might’ve not even considered) is all about, welcome Laws’ words into your mind.

I’ve been enlightened about a part of the world I never knew was so macabre and I loved every dreadful detail about it.

As the horror-loving husband of a Methodist minister, I must disclose that I feel more or less on Reverend Laws’ wavelength.

The book is an allowance for him to ask himself (and the reader, ultimately) what drives us toward that which is considered repugnant, gory, horrific, macabre...you get the picture.

We’re given stout proof via scientific studies, articles, etc. that we’re more wired for wanting to lay eyes on nasty happenings; Laws goes toe to toe with furries, the possessed, self-professed vampires and a werewolf to showcase how some use the darker side of life to find identity, to complete themselves, or to act out. There’s much more, too (even a chapter on the advent of the market dealing in serial killer memorabilia).

Presented in a welcoming writing style that’ll have you blowing through the pages in no time flat, Laws is exceptionally gifted at not diddling about regarding the subject matter; sure, most of the chapters are bookended by some trip or experience he’s endured, but it’s craftily buttoned together by the end. In the hands of a lesser author, this book would be more clinical and flavorless.

Worth mentioning is a profound chapter on the effect (or lack thereof) of the macabre on children. If you read the book for no other reason, it should be this.

Whether you’re searching to understand urges to justify why you feel drawn to the darker side or maybe why someone else would have the gall to, Laws lays it out plainly. Such a worthwhile read. Go for it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Skyhorse Publishing for the advance read.

I don't think I have ever read a book that made me do so much research while reading as this book has. I found The Frighteners so fascinating that the only time I stopped reading, was to look up every site, book, store and tour mentioned throughout. This is an "eyes wide open" read that I feel every lover of the dark and twisted needs to pick up!
I loved that each chapter focused on a different form of macabre obsession and not only gave the reader an interesting introduction to the author's experience with it, but also provided historical background to the subject. You not only get a fun, twisted story but you learn a lot in a way that, not only captures your attention but makes you want more!
This was such a well researched and well written book that I just can't even think of a single criticism (and that says a LOT). Even the chapter on zombies (I am terrified of zombies....) kept me glued to the pages.
I can't wait to start picking up books that were mentioned and referenced (yes...I noted them all) and will be waiting very impatiently for the September release date so that I can add this amazing book to my collection.
If you're a lover of horror and the macabre...make sure to get yourself a copy! You won't regret it.
Huge thanks to Netgalley and Skyhorse Publishing for allowing me the chance to read this amazing work of non-fiction.

I don't read non-fiction. Going through my Goodreads list finds precious few. (Half of those were required "positive thinking" reading by my boss...Excuse me while I hurl.) If I'm going to choose a non-fiction, it has to be something that invokes my curiosity and that thing is usually something morbid, like Ebola, or death, or graveyards. 😸

When I was a child, I loved to read books about all the spooky things. One book that has stuck with me throughout the years is "Alone With the Devil: Famous Cases of a Courtroom Psychiatrist".

It was published in 1989.
I was 11.

My mom told me much later in life that she used to be slightly worried because I had such a strong interest in all things grim and gruesome. I'm almost 40 now, but nothing's really changed.

I still love all the ghastly things, but why?

This is a question that Reverend (yes, you read that right) Peter Laws attempts to answer in The Frighteners. His book is broken down into different chapters, with each chapter introducing a new interpretation of our fascination with ghoulish things.

"We turn down the lights and tell tales of monsters, ghost, death and gore. It helps us organise our fears, our hopes, our curiosities, and what we're left with is fun and adventure."

Sinister Minister begins our journey with the author on his way to Transylvania for no other reason than it's his 40th birthday and he's always wanted to go. He explains his own love for horror and how he's seen the "clash between faith and fright" within Christianity. This conflict between the love of the macabre and his own love of God inspired him to seek out a resolution of the two.

Why do we love the things that frighten us?

Theatre of Blood explores our history with the morbid. Our past is filled with sacrifices, bloody spectacles, and death. Is the world, while embracing blood, guts, and violence in movies and video games, actually becoming less savage because we have these venues to express ourselves?

Wired for Fright touches on the basis of fear. Fear conditioning, extinction, and fear-potentiated startle are all ways that fear is ingrained in us. Fear is normal. Fear helped our ancestors survive but our modern day lives don't allow for a lot of instances to flex our fear muscle. Do we have an inherent need to be scared?

Hiding the Bodies imparts how the reality of death is hidden away from us behind closed doors and closed caskets. We no longer live alongside death as our predecessors did. Has our becoming ignorant to the reality of death caused us to create more ways to experience fictional death?

Zombies, everywhere traverses the history of the zombie and its film resurrection by the one, the only, George Romero, as well as our current relationship with the creature. Modern zombies are no longer created by magical and religious practitioners, but by germs and viruses.We feel like the zombie apocalypse could actually happen any day. Zombies allow us to make our fears rational and fathomable. They make us confront death. Do zombies make us consider our dependency on the structure and comfort of society?

Killer culture explores our fascination with serial killers and with murderabilia. Is it simply a desire to collect rare things or is it a search for understanding? Does the notoriety of killers remind us of the difference between right and wrong?


The Beast Within ponders the urge that we have to embrace the more basic and primal part of ourselves. Werewolves, vampires and even demonic possession are terrifying prospects, but aren't they all just expressions of the emotional side of ourselves that we keep hidden?

Deadtime Stories examines why children naturally have an affinity for the macabre. Is this hurting our children, or is it a benign, or even helpful, expression of things they simply have no words for?

The Haunted scrutinizes how our early idea of ghosts as dangerous beings has changed. We created culturally elaborate funeral rituals to ease the dead into the afterlife. This all changed, thanks to the Fox Sisters and their interaction with spirits in the Victorian era. Do we believe in ghosts because they give us comfort in "life" after death?

Sister - In the closing chapter of the book, the author rationalizes that there is spirituality in scary things. There is a duality in life and in Christianity. Embracing the dark only means that we also embrace the light for, without one, the other ceases to have meaning.

"The stars at night are a beautiful, awe-inspiring sight, but only once the darkness has brought them out. The light and the dark are intertwined. They make sense of each other."

The Frighteners is well drafted, meticulously researched, and utterly entertaining. It's informative but reads like a casual conversation with an old friend. If you have an affinity for things that go bump in the night, read this. It will leave you with a greater understanding of yourself.

Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity to review.

A minister writing a book about horror? Yes and it is a great book about the history of the macabre fascination we have. We all like some type of scary movie, whether it is a slasher movie or monsters. The author actuality went to Transylvania and yes, I'm jealous because , I too have this obsession.. Loved this book and the subject matter is amazingly creepy. I received this book from Net Galley for an honest review and no compensation otherwise.

Excellent overview of the macabre and what frightens us. Laws does a superb job on exploring those things that go bump in the night.