Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
Categories
Popular culture

THE HORROR OF IT ALL

Adam Rockoff

One Man’s Love Affair with Masked Maniacs, Frightened Virgins, and the Living Dead...

In THE HORROR OF IT ALL a horror film aficionado and screenwriter for film and television combines pop culture history with memoir, recalling a life spent watching blockbuster slasher films, cult classics, and everything in between.

Horror films have simultaneously captivated and terrified audiences for generations, racking up millions at the box office and infusing our nightmares with unrelenting chainsaws, signature masks, and blood-soaked machetes.

Today's hottest television shows feature classic horror elements, from marauding zombies and sexy bloodsuckers to myriad incarnations of the devil himself. Yet the horror genre and its controversial offshots continue to occupy a nebulous space in our critical dialogue. The Horror of It All is a memoir from the front lines of the horror industry by one of the genre's ultimate fans, that dissects (and occasionally defends) the massively popular phenomenon of scary movies.

Author Adam Rockoff traces the highs and lows of the horror genre through the lens of his own obsessive fandom, which began in the horror aisles of his childhood video store. From the convergence of horror and heavy metal, to Siskel and Ebert's crusade against the slasher flick, to the legacy of the Scream franchise, and the behind-the-scenes work of horror directors and make-up artists, Rockoff mines the rich history of the genre, braiding critical analysis with his own first-hand experiences as a horror writer and producer. Filled with mordant wit and knife-tipped insight, The Horror of It All explains why horror films not only endure, but continue to prosper.

Adam Rockoff is an author, screenwriter, and producer in the horror film industry. His production company, FlashRock Films, has produced series and specials for the Discovery Channel, A&E, National Geographic Channel, the History Channel, MSNBC, truTV, Investigation Discovery, CNBC and PBS. His first book, Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film, 1978-1986, a critical examination of the slasher genre, was adapted into a documentary film. He penned the screenplays for the horror movies Wicked Lake and a re-make of the controversial 1978 cult classic, I Spit on Your Grave. Rockoff has appeared on numerous radio and television shows to discuss all things horror, including Bravo's "The 100 Scariest Movie Moments."

Available products
Book Published 2015-05-01 by Scribner
Book Published 2015-05-01 by Scribner

Comments

Adam Rockoff is the ultimate authority on horror film and fandom, and no one captures the full dimensions of the genre with greater wit,humor, nostalgia and charm. The Horror of it All is bloody brilliant!

Some of the sharpest pop culture criticism you’ll find in any medium today, delivered with evocative writing that veers between thoughtful, heartfelt and hilarious….a compulsively readable package that’s likely to become the most popular non-fiction book horror aficionados will clamor for this year.

[Rockoff] knows horror movies like the Colonel knows chicken.... Rockoff’s genuine love for the genre shouts from every page.

Adam Rockoff's The Horror of It All may well have been titled Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Horror Industry… But Were Too Afraid To Ask. It's a no bullshit look at the culture of horror and the films that define it, from a professional who hasn't lost his ability to be a fan. Written with the know-how of an academic and the crackerjack honesty of bathroom graffiti, The Horror of It All will satiate horror hounds and film buffs alike.

Rockoff is an amiable and often amusing guide…a passionate defender of the creative rights of filmmakers, no matter how shocking or disturbing their creations might be, and a convincing advocate for scary movies as transgressive art—or just plain fun.

Adam Rockoff writes from his heart with cleverness and wit as well as a hell of a lot of knowledge. The Horror Of It All is right up there with any classic tome of horror criticism and history.