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    Danse Macabre
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    Danse Macabre
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    Danse Macabre
    Audiobook18 hours

    Danse Macabre

    Written by Stephen King

    Narrated by William Dufris

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    The author whose boundless imagination and storytelling powers have redefined the horror genre, from 1974’s Carrie to his epic Under the Dome, reflects on the very nature of terror—what scares us and why—in films (both cheesy and choice), television and radio, and, of course, the horror novel, past and present.

    Informal, engaging, tremendous fun, and tremendously informative, Danse Macabre is an essential tour with the master of horror as your guide; much like his spellbinding works of fiction, you won’t be able to put it down.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateFeb 23, 2010
    ISBN9781441831095
    Author

    Stephen King

    Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes the short story collection You Like It Darker, Holly, Fairy Tale, Billy Summers, If It Bleeds, The Institute, Elevation, The Outsider, Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: End of Watch, Finders Keepers, and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and a television series streaming on Peacock). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works The Dark Tower, It, Pet Sematary, Doctor Sleep, and Firestarter are the basis for major motion pictures, with It now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. 

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    Reviews for Danse Macabre

    4/5

    929 ratings40 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I'm re-reading Stephen King's books in chronological order and this was the next book in line. I can now tell exactly how old I was when I originally read his books because this was the first one I bought (well was gifted) brand new from the bookstore. Every July (my bday) and Christmas my dad would give me any new Stephen King books that had come out as presents; so I was 13 when I got this one. I was really looking forward to this, King's first foray into non-fiction, as my first read of it had been soooo enlightening. I wanted to get my hands on every book he mentioned, watch every movie he named but it being pre-internet days that was a very hard task indeed. Now that I re-read the book thirty years later I find that I've watched a great many of the mentioned movies and the major books listed but not all of them so I still had some titles and authors to add to my tbr. It's a great book and so interesting to read. Parts of the book are biographical telling about young Steve's life as a kid when he connected with this world of the macabre, but mostly it is his treatise on the horror story genre and what it includes both the good and the bad. The movie section was enjoyable but my favourite part was the longest section: on books, of course. Steve has a great writing voice and it's like taking to someone about a topic you both love over a couple of beers. The only part that was disappointing was the section on TV. The book shows its age here, written in 1981, King is writing from an era of Mork & Mindy, The Dukes of Hazzard and Fantasy Island to name a few. King has no use for television whatsoever, feeling that all who lower themselves to its level, actors, directors, writers are entering an abyss of no return. He does manage to tell about a few gems, in his opinion, and he recommends such as Outer Limits and Dark Shadows. The book was written over quite a period of time which shows as when he first starts the book he mentions his own books: . Carrie, 'Salem's Lot, The Shining (and the corresponding movies), further on Night Shift and The Stand and towards book's end The Dead Zone is mentioned once. He had also of course published Firestarter by the time this book was on the shelves. Since his opinions and views of television are so outdated from now, where horror is a staple on the tube with King even being behind some ventures himself (Kingdom Hospital), I would sincerely love a follow-up to this book. Two ideas I have Uncle Steve, if you are listening: 1) continue with another book following the same theme horror movies, TV, books from the 80s to the 2010's. or 2) A new book just on horror and TV where King can expound on the very short chapter he included in this book and then go on to talk about what happened with horror on TV after the sitcom driven slump of the 80s up to the present. Why was Buffy a big hit in the 90s? Why is Walking Dead so hot today? Great book for the history of the genre but really worthy of a modern follow-up since there is so much more to say when his opinions are rooted in the eighties.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Really interesting insight into the perspective of an author whose work I really enjoy. However would have really liked to have had Steve do the narration himself
    • 4/5
      Fun and informative take on the horror genre in literature and film from the King himself
    • 2/5
      King's bragging and criticism makes him look petty. This sucked.
    • 4/5
      What a thoroughly maddening book - or alternatively, what a wonderful three hundred page book lurking in a five hundred page beast. King has lots of very good points to make and makes them well and I really do enjoy his factual books more than I do his fiction, but... firstly it's maddeningly opinionated to the point of tiresome. I'm glad that by "On Writing" he'd tempered his writing style a lot because he makes many of the same points but more graciously and better argued. Here he sort of gets on a soap box and MOANS for pages at a time on how he hates over analysis of books and films which is a fair point but blunted by excessive moanage. Then there's the fact that he spends far too long on too many modern, not very impressive sounding books rather than talking more about the older, more historically interesting books in the genre. And thirdly sometimes you get the impression he finds himself a little too pleased with the scenery on the way to making a point and thus there's a very funny two page rant using imagery from "Lord of the RIngs" which completely takes away from the impact of his argument. I'd love the more mature King to revisit this... or better still the horror/ supernatural genre really needs a Howard Haycraft style history of the form or a "Trillion Year Spree" inspired analysis rather than an amiable stroll through the hinterlands of horror.
    • 4/5
      This is an overview of horror movies, t.v. series, and books from roughly 1950 to 1980. King’s knowledge of the subject is both wide and deep, naturally. Since King is two years older than I, much of the book was s great nostalgia trip for me. He’s very engaging here; reading this is like having a conversation with close but garrulous old friend.Oddly, the largest part of the book is devoted to movies. There are some redundancies, some over-writing, some bs. But at its heart this is a fun book that doesn’t take its subject too seriously, but doesn’t treat it as trash, either. Recommended if you’re a fan of the horror genre in any form, a fan if King, or interested in the era.
    • 5/5
      This gave me some perspective on the landscape of the horror genre. I feel like I took a college class called Popular horror Fiction 101, and learned directly from the masterful Stephen King himself. I happened to have read many of the popular horror novels discussed, and was pleased to get a more in depth analysis (Straub’s Ghost Story, Shirley Jackson’s Haunting of Hillhouse). Any aspiring writer should not hesitate to give this one a listen. Five stars.
    • 2/5
      I can't say I disliked this book, though like many of Stephen King's recent works, it could definitely have used some editing. I found it overlong. Many of the points King made could have been dealt with much more succinctly; as it was, I found it repetitive at times.
    • 5/5
      Yes, it's a little dated now, but the observations are just as relevant, the wit just as sharp. The difference this time around is, with very few exceptions, I've actually managed to read the bulk of the novels and view the bulk of the movies King discusses here.

      The last time I read it, I remember feeling like I was a pretty well-educated horror aficionado...until I realized I wasn't familiar with most of the stuff King had discussed. This time around, I've found the intervening 35 years have remedied that.

      A great dissertation--with a lot of Uncle Stevie's wit--on the world of horror. With side trips into fantasy and SF and thrillers.

      I find myself wishing he'd do follow up to this, covering the next 30 years.
    • 3/5
      “The danse macabre is a waltz with death.”"Danse Macabre" is a book that has been on my shelf for a looooong time. I'm not sure why I decided now was the time to read it, but I did. Also, it's interesting that the AMC channel is showing a series right now titled "Eli Roth’s History of Horror" that has King in it, and seems like the television version of this book, updated for 2018.On these pages, King covers the horror genre for literature, film, and radio during the time period of 1950-1980. Most of this read feels like a essay, or textbook, and has a bit of a dry feel to it. I even found myself skimming some of the material. But I learned a bit, and added about ten new books to my reading list!“The Last Waltz” is the gem in here. King's defense of the horror genre is peppered with real life examples of things that really happened, showing that reality is often worse than what appears in books, film, music, etc. People often ask me, "How can you read that stuff?" Well, Uncle Stevie has the answer that I'll be using from now on!I also really enjoyed King's musings on how the ideas(s) for "The Stand" began! (Patty Hearst!!??!! - no friggin' way!!!)So, it's non-fiction, sort of textbook-ish, and dry at times. But I'm glad I read it! And I'm glad he wrote it, especially this, at the end - “Thank you again for coming with me, and rest you well. But, being who I am and what I am, I cannot find it in my heart to wish you pleasant dreams...”
    • 4/5
      An intriguing look into Stephen King's insights and interpretations of what horror is about and why horror fiction exists.
    • 4/5
      This is an overview of horror movies, t.v. series, and books from roughly 1950 to 1980. King’s knowledge of the subject is both wide and deep, naturally. Since King is two years older than I, much of the book was s great nostalgia trip for me. He’s very engaging here; reading this is like having a conversation with close but garrulous old friend.Oddly, the largest part of the book is devoted to movies. There are some redundancies, some over-writing, some bs. But at its heart this is a fun book that doesn’t take its subject too seriously, but doesn’t treat it as trash, either. Recommended if you’re a fan of the horror genre in any form, a fan if King, or interested in the era.
    • 3/5
      I was hesitant on reading this, worried it would be out of date. (It's as old as me!) There have been a lot of... advances? (I don't know what you'd call them) in horror that no one could have predicted in 1981: slasher franchises going mainstream (e.g. Freddy Krueger action figures), J-horror, psychological horror (like Black Swan), torture porn, home invasion films, indie horror (e.g. The Blair Witch Project), the second rise and decline of zombies. Enough time has passed that now we have meta-horror for all those tropes (e.g. "Scream" and "The Cabin in the Woods").Nonetheless, much of it still holds up because it's really all about roots. And those roots take place in three things--films, TV, and books. It takes examples from timeless phenomenon like B-movie monsters, anthology suspense, and Lovecraft books. Each reflects the time period they were born into. And it's all delivered with Stephen King's tight and witty prose (he was still high in these days so the writing is good). It's the kind of book that might be assigned in an "Introduction to Horror" college class. Plus, it contains some of the missing biographical elements from "On Writing".However, I don't think it's required for any horror aficionado. There's a lot of examples from the 50s-70s that maybe influenced King more that it influenced everybody. Read this if you're a fan of Stephen King's style. You get to see him put on his college professor hat. But there are more current books that do just as well.
    • 3/5
      This was originally published in 1981. It is an analysis/criticism of horror books, movies and tv from 1950 to 1980. Although King said more than once in the book that he doesn't like analyzing this stuff, that's what the book felt like to me. More like the analysis and criticism one is supposed to do in English classes, and I was never interested in doing that. I read for interest, fun, enjoyment (or sometimes to scare myself in the horror I read!). But, not to analyze. Because of that, I lost interest many times while reading the book. There were parts that I did find myself following; moreso for books, movies and/or tv I've already read or seen. Overall, I'm rating it “ok”, but I think it really wasn't my cup of tea.
    • 3/5
      A very interesting look at the horror genre. The recommendations at the end are excellent. I went on to read a number of them and they were all good reads.
    • 4/5
      I purchased this book back in the 1980’s when it was first published and I know I thumbed through it occasion but never really read it. In my defense, it was my “baby years” and I did not read much that was not escapism fiction. Okay, okay, I still don’t, but I sneak in some “high-brow” books every once in while now. I came across this title again as an audio download from my library and decided it was time to hear what the horror-master has to say about the horror genre.

      The audio book had an updated forward by Mr. King. His thoughts were interesting since it was around 30 years since the book was first published. The book was definitely worth the listen. Despite the fact that some of the references were dated (referring to his son Joe as a child when he is now a published author himself was amusing) but overall his references to horror books and films were still timely. He discusses the classics in the genre; Stoker, Matheson, Jackson as well as the cult-ish books and films.

      Definitely a worthwhile read for any die hard King fans or horror fans in general.
    • 3/5
      Although I love Stephen King and wanted to hear his insights into the horror found in our pop culture, I was disappointed. The references ramble a bit, in his fiction it seems to have a conversational feel, here it feels like listening to a drunk uncle reminiscing about the good ole days. I did prefer the references to books versus movies and did pick up the invasion of the body snatchers by Jack Finney which I loved.I do have to say I listened to the audiobook version and learned the narrator is also the voice of Bob The Builder. This was such a turn off, his reading is annoying and laughable at points, maybe I would have liked and followed the narration better if it had been read by Stephen himself, avoid the audiobook!
    • 5/5
      Who knew Stephen King and terror could be so... entertaining?! A discussion of all things scary, including a look at films from the 1930s onwards, King brings a discerning and remarkably funny eye to dissecting what makes us scream. The book reads like an extended literary thesis on steroids: analytical but fun. A bit dated now (published in the 1980s) this reader would love a new edition to include films like Paranormal and The Conjuring.
    • 3/5
      A survey of horror literature and movies. Pretty good insight into King's mindset, but not particularly revealing.
    • 5/5
      This is what my copy looks like after finishing:


      There was so much inside that head that I just wanted to remember, or come back to, or... just highlight. I could have done all of that on my nook, and it would have been easier. Simpler, less restricted as to what I could fit onto the post-it, but... I dunno. This way just felt right to me.

      There were a lot of references to books that I hadn't read yet, and these sections I tried to skim so that I could get the idea without the spoilers, but that wasn't always possible. I do hate spoilers, but I can't hold it against King too much, I knew that was a possibility when I picked this up. One doesn't read an examination of the horror genre without expecting examples... and I'm just NOT that well read to think that I would've read every book he might have mentioned. Not by a loooooooong shot.

      But the books that I have read, I now have a new and deeper appreciation for. King sees things in such a different way than I do, and so getting his perspective is fascinating.

      Highly recommend reading this.

      PS. Support your local used book stores! :D
    • 4/5
      This is one of the most effective studies on horror by one of the masters. Although King only covers thirty years of modern horror in the media (1950-1980), he still manages to cover a wide arc of large, Cold War-era horror medium to the quieter self-involved horror that peaked in the Seventies and Eighties. This is a fantastic read and a must for any horror fan.
    • 3/5
      Danse Macabre is Stephen King's essay/opinion piece on the horror genre from 1950-1980. The writing style is very conversational, but if you are not well versed in the books and movies from the selected time period much of the content will float right on over the readers head. The problem with a book like this is that it is stuck in time, and the level of enjoyment for the reader is directly proportional to the readers age and the readers exposure to writing from this time period. Fortunately, Stephen King provides an appendix of recommended reads to help the reader expand their horror horizons. For me, I am hoping to beef up my wishlist, read some horror novels that I was previously unaware of and maybe come back to this book when I can fully appreciate King's expert opinion.
    • 5/5
      I scare easily. There's no question of this. I've never been a huge fan of scary movies. When I was not yet thirteen, a girl in my class had a sleepover birthday party. I don't recall if she was first generation American, or if she had actually been born prior to her family coming over from China, but her parents were...I'd like to say open-minded, but I think really they may have just been a little oblivious. They allowed her to rent Scream for the sleepover.A bunch of twelve-year-olds (plus the birthday girl's younger sisters--10 and 7, I think) watching Scream late at night. It may have scarred me for life. Prior to that, I think the scariest thing I'd ever seen was the ghost of Mary Meredith in The Uninvited (1944). Unless you want to count Tony Pierce's haunting craziness in The Bodyguard. God, I love that movie. Okay, and some of the classic "Twilight Zone" episodes are really freaky.In recent years, I've tried to be a little braver. A little. My best friend and I went to see the remake of The Amityville Horror in 2005. I'm sure Ryan Reynolds was really hot in it, but I wouldn't know because Ali and I spent the entire time watching the top two feet of the movie screen, my sweater blocking out the rest, out of fear. I've seen the second and third installments in the Scream series...through my fingers. I went back and watched every episode of Snick's "Are You Afraid of the Dark"...while at work, in the daytime, and only if I fast-forwarded through the opening because swings moving by themselves freak me the hell out.I've seen both Perfect Getaway (2009) and The Orphan (2009), both of which are really thrillers....and both during the day...at work. Actually, the biggest jump in my horror/thriller education (until very recently) was watching each and every episode of CBS's "Harper's Island" back in 2009...in the comfort of my home, after dark, and not screaming every time something remotely scary happened.In the last year, I've started watching some good old classic horror films (see: The Creature from the Black Lagoon or The House on Haunted Hill). And then I got turned on to "The Walking Dead" on AMC. This led to more of the....less classic horror films (see: Dead & Buried or Return of the Killer Tomatoes). I don't count the Jaws series (or any of those shark attack/megalodon films) in my education, partly because that (to me) has always been a different type of scary, and also because most of them are just awful and inadvertently hilarious. And finally, this led to seeing The Woman in Black last month. I was really good up until a bit with a rocking chair, at which point I started letting the sleeve of my sweater hover in front of my eyes now and then.I didn't plan to do an actual review of this book, and this is not really a review. The copy I had belongs to a friend of mine (with whom I saw The Woman in Black) who lent it to me while he was on vacation, and I read it (mostly) to gain an understanding of a genre that I didn't really understand very well at all. Danse Macabre is a work of non-fiction, by Stephen King, about the genre he knows best: horror. It was first published in 1981 and, as a result, only concerns stories (novels, short stories, radio plays, and films) up to that point. The bulk of the focus is on the works written during King's lifetime (he was thirty-three in 1981).But the brilliant thing about King's insight into this subject is that the genre really doesn't change. He bases his analysis on the idea that horror can be boiled down to three archetypes: the vampire (see: Dracula), the werewolf (see: Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde) and "The Thing Without a Name" (see: Frankenstein). And over thirty years later, the method of the madness has not changed. I often found myself classifying and re-classifying more modern pictures and novels as the book went on. But this was not just a lesson in classification. Rather, it was a dual lesson in anthropology and literature, one that--when applied to my affinity for fantasy novels--was truly illuminating.I just want to say three very brief things about this book, and then I'll let you all be:1. I can't imagine being not only settled with a family and published, but so incredibly intelligent at thirty-three years old. The man amazes me.2. King's voice in the book is exceedingly casual and, therefore, the reading of it is very comfortable. There's no high-handed alienating jargon. It's quite down to earth.3. I can now go forward in my reading with a better understanding of why fantasy and horror exist, and to what extent they are useful in allowing modern readers of fiction to live and imagine and create. The world may be very different than it was in 1981, but some things - like fear - never really change.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed the conversational tone, and I found it to be a really fun read. It's a light-n-fluffy sort of popcorn book. I found that the most appealing part was actually the recommendations of horror movies and literature. King has pointed the way to some really great stuff that I never would have found otherwise.
    • 4/5
      A horror/pop-culture perrenial, but how fantastic would it be to have King write an update, or a whole new book on the subject! I'd love to know his take on how much things have changed since 1983 - all I know is that he didn't thing much of 'Twilight'. Hardly revolutionary. :)
    • 2/5
      I can't say I disliked this book, though like many of Stephen King's recent works, it could definitely have used some editing. I found it overlong. Many of the points King made could have been dealt with much more succinctly; as it was, I found it repetitive at times.
    • 5/5
      There's something about the way Stephen King writes that just seems like he's sitting across the table from you, chit-chatting. It's conversational while educational and it makes me wish that I was alive and in college those twenty years ago so I could have benefited first hand from the lectures. This is King's view on the horror genre in film, television and writing from the 1950s until the 1980s. While not the most up-to-date information, what he says holds true even today. Each film/novel/show he analyzes can bring a sense of nostalgia to the reader or give them a whole buffet of horror classics to go check out. (Yes, I went to my library and rented a good chunk of movies. Next week are the books...)He says, and holds true to that promise, that he won't analyze things like an English professor and I enjoy that the most. He shares in something I've said for years: sometimes, a story is just a story and there's no subtext when we write it. And that horror and humor are linked, as they should be. It makes me feel not so bad knowing that I'm not the only person who laughs ridiculously loud at horror movies...I'd recommend this book as a fresh view of what's happened in the horror genre, and to see where the roots lie. The roots before everything became the gross-out factor.
    • 4/5
      This was an interesting read. I liked learning what King thought about the horror stories than influenced him.
    • 4/5
      Great read. I have so much to read now and so many movies to see. I completely understands King when he talks about how a person can appreciate stories even when they're presented in a less than talented way, they still have that magic even if the author/director doesn't know how to fully express it. I never gave much thought to the archetypes of horror, but after reading this book I can see them clearly in the books/movies I've read/seen in the past. Loved this book.
    • 5/5
      I've read the book and this time, I listened to the audio version. I definitely recommend the audio, although the narrator's voice was a bit grating to me at first. Quickly though, I adapted to his sound and lost myself in the memories of a lifetime. Many spoilers throughout and a lot might be meaningless if you are not familiar with the books and movies covered. I recommend looking at the bibliography and watching and reading as much of the material Stephen discusses before you read this book. This is one of my most favorite SK writings because I enjoy his non-fiction almost more than his fiction. Definitely one of these books that might be appreciated more by readers closer to Stephen's age, I think younger people could enjoy it too as a movie and book guide for a real history lesson of horror. The roots and templates for today's scares, these B flicks and their campy promotions were the best. You can see for yourself where the movies and books of today drew heavily on the ideas and creativity of yesteryear. And, although there aren't the special effects and buckets o'blood like in today's movies and books, in some cases, they are scarier and more disturbing in what they don't show. I have seen or read almost every single thing Stephen discusses here, so this was a nostalgic look back at my childhood and young adulthood. I would recommend this book to anyone who appreciates the horror genre and its place in pop culture. I love a good scary story because, I do believe in spooks, I do believe in spooks, I do believe in spooks.