The Making of Horror Movies works great as an introduction to horror genre in films. As a person who loves horror movies (and horror as a genre itself) I had to read this book!
Selway's essay format makes the reading pretty much straighforward. You can tell the author did her research but not only she provides organized information but she also includes anecdotes that adds an entertaining element to the book.

We get to know a lot of details about the directors and actors who participate in different horror movies. For example: Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, John Carpenter, among others. And there are plenty references so you can navigate trough the different chapters easily. I recommend this book to anyone who likes horror movies and has an interest in the film industry.

Thanks to NetGalley.

I found this book utterly fascinating. I think it's important to pay attention to the subtitle: Key Figures Who Established the Genre. This is not a book about actually *making* horror movies, though you will find a slew of interesting anecdotes, this is a book about the *people* making the movies.

The book includes eighteen chapters, bookended by and introduction and Afterword, and each of those chapters focuses on a different influential figure - actors, directors, producers - in the horror film genre.

The chapters cover:

Tod Browning
Bela Lugosi
Lon Chaney and Lon Chaney Jr
Boris Karloff
FW Murnau
James Whale
Elsa Lanchester
Val Lewton
Terence Fisher
Vincent Price
Peter Cushing
Nigel Kneale
Christopher Lee
Roger Corman
Roman Polanski
Ingrid Pitt
Michael Reeves
John Carpenter

Each chapter acts as a mini-biography, telling all about each person from childhood through their working years and (in most cases), all the way to their deaths. Such a group of heavy-drinking, chain-smoking, adulterous, brilliant, troubled, loved, hated, praised, condemned, and genuinely fascinating people have never been gathered together.

This one is a great read for anyone who loves horror films, from Murnau's Nosferatu all the way up through modern twenty-first century slashers. Lots of truly interesting information here and I certainly learned a thing or two.

loved this book, I love the making of the movies and am a big fan of horror movies. This was a great read and was really well researched and a fun read.

I didn’t get around to reading this book unfortunately, however, I’ve read other books from P&S in this vein and they were marvellous so I can only expect that this one too was great. I’m sorry I can’t say more.

This book was very interesting and I loved learning about the people behind the horror movies. This is perfect for those who love horror movies from classic black and whites to now. I will definitely getting a physical copy of this book as soon as I can.

4 Stars!
As a fan of the horror genre in general, I found this to be an interesting look at the people behind some of the best horror films ever made. I truly enjoyed learning about the people behind my favorite movies and their contributions within the genre. I may have happily added a dozen or so movies to my "To Watch List".

Many thanks to NetGalley and Pen & Sword/White Owl for the opportunity to read and review The Making of Horror Movies.

Fantastic and insightful. I’m currently starting a podcast about the history of genres in horror and this helped my research immensely. Selway is passionate about horror and it shows, which helped the book move along with ease. Overall, I have nothing but absolute praise for this title. I hope to get a hard copy soon to add to my collection.

The Making of Horror Movies: Key Figures Who Established the Genre by Jennifer Selway was quite the pleasant surprise. I love watching horror movies and it's always fun to jump into the classics, so this non-fiction who's who was pretty cool. It offers biographical information on the big names of the genre from actors to behind the scenes figures and discusses their movies. I've definitely added some new to me movies to my watchlist and am thinking of rewatching some of my favorites. On that note, I particularly enjoyed reading the sections on Vincent Price (one of my favorite classic actors), Peter Cushing, and Christopher Lee. I appreciated the discussion on Cushing and Lee in [Horror of] Dracula (1958) as it's probably my favorite Dracula movie. You can't go wrong with Cushing as Van Helsing and Lee as Dracula. I also was pleased to see John Carpenter got a section in this book too, even Escape From New York which is my second favorite movie from that director. I never really looked at it as horror until now, but Selway really made the case for it. Overall, the author held my attention with this book. Even though I already knew a good deal of the information she presents, it was still a lot of fun to see all in one place. I'm going to have to look into some of the books in the she referenced in the bibliography. If you're interested in horror movies at all, I highly recommend this book.

Subtitle: Key Figures Who Established the Genre

I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

This book takes a look at the directors and actors who created many of the greatest horror films ever. It covers a long timeline (though not in chronological order, from the silent film version of Nosferatu to approximately 1980 and the remake of The Thing. That time frame includes many of the horror films that captivated me during my teenage years in 1970s watching the Saturday afternoon Creature Feature on channel 30 from St. Louis, or late night movies on network TV.


While not strictly a biography, the book includes a ton of biographical information about the actors and directors it includes. It isn’t purely a watchers’ guide to the horror films that it focuses on, it does include a lot on synopsis-style information about the films and how they were made. From Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Lon Cheney Jr. of the classic Universal horror movies of the 1930s and 40s to Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing of the Hammer horror films of the early 60s to Vincent Price of Roger Corman’s AIP films based on the fiction and poetry of Edgar Allen Poe, there is plenty of material that will appeal to fans of all types of “classic” horror.

I gave The Making of Horror Movies five stars on Goodreads. It will appeal to anyone with any interest whatsoever in horror films.

The Making of Horror Movies by Jennifer Selway was received directly from the publisher and I chose to review it. This author I had never heard of, yet the fellow on the book cover is familiar to me, and probably you. Horror movies are a large part of many of our lives. These movies make up 70-80% of all movies I watch, so this book interested me for many reasons. The book is basically short biographies of horror movie actors over the years. Some I had never heard of.. If you, or someone you buy books for has an interest in horror movies and the participants in those moves, give this book a read.

4 Stars

My thanks to NetGalley and Pen & Sword for an advanced copy of this film study.

The Making of Horror Movie: Key Figures who Established the Genre by Jennifer Selway serves as a good primer for those newly interested in the genre of Horror films. The book covers the mainstays, Universal and Hammer in depth with profiles on the principal actors such as Boris Karloff so and Christopher Lee, and directors and writers. There is little mention of international films,Italian or otherwise, nor newer directors or works after John Carpenter. This is more nitpicking as the book is well written with plenty of facts and behind the scene stories. For a neophyte in the horror genre this is an excellent start to a spooky fun genre.

Oh, God, where do I start? Maybe for the fact that I have FIVE PAGES of manuscript notes taken, and a list of 27 MOVIES to watch. I considered myself a horror movie fan, but the fact that I wasn’t familiar with the work of Tod Browning changed everything.
I loved this book from the start; I loved how it’s not about MOVIES but about the PEOPLE BEHIND THEM, and how the author manages to chain a spectacular list of directors, producers, actors, actresses and writers, giving us not biographies per se but notes and details about their lives that makes us understand more about where they come from and, by doing so, how they landed on the horror genre and what they added to it.
The book made me laugh, and I even teared up a bit on some parts. The author’s love for the horror genre is palpable in every page, and I wish they wouldn’t stop at Carpenter’s work: I need to know more about Selway’s opinion about contemporary horror (she gives us some pointers and talks even about Peele’s work, but it’s in an after-note and I need MORE).
The book also made me think about the lack of woman in the industry. My, oh my, we need to change that. After all, as Bela Lugosi said, “it is women who love horror” –
Overall, I must read for any fan of the genre and of the cinema in general, really. Pioneers, rule-breakers & rule-setter, the horror movies gave us all, and we all can feel inspired by this.

This is such a wonderful and nostalgic book. I read through this book thinking about the old monsters of my childhood that starred in the saturday shocker movie afternoons. The history was very interesting. I would recommend this book.

I loved this book and found it a fascinating read. I didnt want to put down. The first part of the book's title may be a bit misleading, and give the impression its about the actual production of Horror movies, but in fact this book is a biographical exploration of many of the famous figures that have made the genre what it is. Each chapter tackles the personal story of one of the famous figures and explores how their life contributed and intersected with their art in film. The book therefore provides an intimate and insightful perspective into the human aspect of the horror genre, the stories many of us may not know yet were crucial to the creation of numerous masterpieces. A well thought out and sensitively written text, it does not shy away from the darker sides of the individuals and I learnt a lot I didnt already know. I would recommend this to any horror fan as I think it provides and adds a unique perspective to many peoples collections of horror film memorabilia or knowledge of the genre.

This book brings back the golden age of horror movies to a new generation. It can never be reinvented too many times. You are taken into the private lives of the actors and directors who found one horror movie could change their lives forever. It really brings alive what these actors went though to bring the new development of groundbreaking makeup effects. The story takes you through the Golden age of Hammer studios where budget did not stop enjoyment of these quick turned out films. Many stars who started their careers in horror are still household names to this day. I found it a very enjoyable time reflecting back though the films of my youth and would recommend trying for yourselves.
I was given an arc of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Jennifer Selway takes some of the most important leading figures in horror cinema and details how each of them got into the horror genre. From actors, directors, producers and writers, Selway has grouped a stunning mini-biography of artists such as Vincent Price, Christoper Lee, Peter Cushing, Val Lewton, Roger Corman, Nigel Kneale and Elsa Lanchester to name just a few. I found this to be a fantastic book on film but also it would make a must for any horror film fan looking to see how the genre found its feet through the artists and innovators who were there at the beginning.

I love horror movies and found this book very interesting and easy to read though the writer jumped around a lot for me

This was an absolutely excellent guide to who’s who of the genre luminaries. Most unexpectedly so, because my experience with this publisher thus far has led me to expect terribly serious, positively arid thesis like treaties on cover subjects, not something as exciting and engaging and lively as this book. In fact, the previous book I’ve read by them was a historical account of undead in fiction and on screen and that was very much like like their standard fare. So I didn’t expect much of this book going in, hoping that personal passion about the subject would just be enough to get through it and learn some things, but this book happily exceeded all expectations. Good going, publishers, you finally did it, landed a good one.
I’ve never heard of the author and there wasn’t a bio provided in the book, but from what can be gathered in the book she has been a publicist and a reporter and is a fellow genre fan. The latter comes through in her writing, in some of the personal connections she makes and just in her overall zeal for on screen spookiness.
This book comprises a number of biographical accounts of people who have brought some of the greatest cinematic thrills and scares to life, be it through directing, acting or writing and often some combination of the three disciplines. It spans the range from the early masters to John Carpenter, with the latter being as recent of an original as the author recognizes. Which is to say some modern great get a brief shoutout in the afterword, from Cronenberg to Romero, but the author considers them as mostly adaptors of previous greatness as oppose to genuine trailblazers. This is, of course, debatable, but this isn’t a debate. This is an author’s perspective and she seems well versed in the subject. Plus you can’t possibly expect an all inclusive book, it’s only 232 pages. Which is a great length for nonfiction for me, it reads well, doesn’t drag or overstay its welcome. There’s even a bunch of black and white photos included.
The thing is as much as I love a good scary movie, I admit to not having watched enough classics. They don’t always date well for me. But this book has certainly stirred my interest in them. And I’m delighted to think, once I actually get to rounding out this cinematic love of mine, I’ll be in the know about who’s who and the lives of individuals behind the scenes and the screams. And, considerately enough, the author tells you just enough about the movies to rouse your appetite without giving away too much, so that you can still be surprised, frightened and awed as originally intended by all those featured in this book.
Great read, informative, erudite and engaging. An absolute must for genre fans. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

I enjoyed the first half of this book, but the second half really dragged. Obviously, I love the topic (that’s why I picked up this book), but the further the book went on, the more it felt like I was just reading a Wikipedia page.

The title is a bit misleading. This is not necessarily a book about the making of horror movies. It’s a book about the actors that have been in some popular horror movies. I think that this book focused a bit too much on the personal lives of the actors/producers/directors. I finished it wanting to know more about the exciting stories from the filming process of some of our favorite horror movies.

Although I don’t think this book was the worst, I think there are better books out there about horror films.

Thank you to Pen & Sword and Netgalley for an advanced reader copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

The making of horror movies' by Jennifer Selway ✔ ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
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Thank you to @penswordbooks @white_owl_books and @netgalley for this copy, this is set to be published on 30th April 2021.
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'The making of horror movies' delves into the key players in creating the genre. The origins of horror movies and how they have expanded and continued to influence the movies we see today. This book was so well researched and easily digestible, with short chapters keeping the reader engaged. I really enjoyed this one and would love to read a follow up with more recent horror movies explored!
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