Science of Monsters

Ever wonder if there was any scientific validity to the horror movies you consume? Then look no further than Science of Monsters by Meg Hafdahl and Kelly Florence. In this delightful book you read interviews and research about different scientific truths that horror movies utilize, such as porphyria "the vampire disease" for Dracula and prairie madness (cabin fever) for The Shining. It is written in a way that is very easy to understand for someone who does not have formal academic training in science. The chapters are very short and are basically short topical essays on different horror movies. This makes it really easy to jump around to different chapters of interest. I was really curious about The Witch and Poltergeist would be approached and jumped to these chapters immediately. As someone who values skepticism in real life I did find myself feeling like the chapter on The Witch was handled more from a cultural history perspective instead of evaluating claims that modern Wiccans make. Also as someone who finds it important to distinguish between science and pseudoscience I struggle with taking paranormal investigation seriously. So I had to take these parts with a grain of salt. However there were so many great things that fed my morbid curiosity such as an interview with a taxidermist and an interview with a Mayo Clinic doctor on what happens with our bodies when we die. I really enjoyed this book and found the style easy to read quickly. I would highly recommend it to any horror lover!