INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER • The evidence is clear—we are now entering a post-literate society. In this urgent and timely account, James Marriott shows the potential impact of this shift and offers a passionate defense of the written word.It’s not by chance that the rise of new printing technologies coincided with the age of revolutions and the decline of the aristocratic order. At the beginning of the modern era in Europe, a critical mass of people c...

'Dripping with delicious detail' - Aditya ChakraborttyTaking the reader on a journey through North East Scotland, Merseyside, South Wales, the Thames Estuary and London, this is the story of Britain’s oil-soaked past, present and future. Travelling the country, the authors discover how the financial power and political muscle of an industry built the culture of a nation from pop music to kitchen appliances, and how companies constructed an empire, extracting the wealth of the world...

Pull back the curtain on more than a century of terrifying horror movies... if you dare.Packed with stills from the most terrifying scenes in cinema history, The Definitive Guide to Horror Movies is a comprehensive companion to the genre, tracing the story of horror film, decade-by-decade. Providing a witty and informative critique of more than 350 films and several TV series, this extensive handbook offers a superb introduction for newcomers to the genre ...

From Caspian drilling rigs and Caucasus mountain villages to Mediterranean fishing communities and European capitals, this is a journey through the heart of our oil-obsessed society. Blending travel writing and investigative journalism, it charts a history of violent confrontation between geopolitics, profit and humanity. From the revolutionary futurism of 1920s Baku to the unblinking capitalism of modern London, this book reveals the relentless drive to control fossil fuels. Harrowing, po...

From the Slick horror of Alien, Scream and The Ring and the cult classics Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy to the slasher icons Jason, Freddy and Leatherface, horror just won’t stay dead. The genre has earned its place in the moviegoing psyche, with many of the key films spawning numerous copycats. But what are the 20 most influential horror films of all time? And what made them so important?James Marriott give an incisive ac...

INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER • The evidence is clear—we are now entering a post-literate society. In this urgent and timely account, James Marriott shows the potential impact of this shift and offers a passionate defense of the written word.It’s not by chance that the rise of new printing technologies coincided with the age of revolutions and the decline of the aristocratic order. At the beginning of the modern era in Europe, a critical mass of people c...

sit back, get comfortable and get ready to enjoy seven spooky short stories. From a haunted mansion to a celestial garden, and from a crimean battleground to the trenches of world war one.

**“Swanwick’s wildly imaginative and beautifully written short stories have been, for several years, one of the primary joys of the field.”—**Washington Post Book WorldDiscover the vast worlds and pocket universes of Michael Swanwick (Stations of the Tide), the only author to win science fiction’s most prestigious award five times in six years. In his dazzling new collection, the master of speculative ...

You'll scream with delight while reading this fun and engaging book that discusses fright flicks all horror fans need to see to ascend to the level of a true Horror Freak -from classics (Dracula and Psycho) to modern movies (Drag Me to Hell) and lesser-known gems (Dog Soldiers).Movies are divided into various categories including Asian horror, beginners, homicidal slashers, super...

The phenomenally popular Book of Lists series has sold millions of copies from coast to coast, enthralling trivia aficionados with fascinating infobits about simply everything! Now the latest edition turns an evil eye toward the strange, the blood-curdling, and the macabre with spine-tingling fun facts from the dark side of entertainment. Chock-full of creepy information from the netherworlds of movies, TV, literature, video games, comic books, and graphic novels, The Book of ...

A flash of lightning. A rumble of thunder. The sinister silhouette of an indistinct figure. A bestial howl echoes across the misty moors. A skeletal hand reaches, slowly, deliberately around your door. Meanwhile there are unholy stirrings in the graveyard and disappearances from the local morgue. A scream pierces the chill air as a madman cackles, the blood dripping from his old rusty axe... Horror is one of cinema's most disreputable genres. Frequently dismissed or reviled by criti...

Now over twenty years old, the original edition of Nightmare Movies has retained its place as a true classic of cult film criticism. In this new edition, Kim Newman brings his seminal work completely up-to-date, both reassessing his earlier evaluations and adding a second part that assess the last two decades of horror films with all the wit, intelligence and insight for which he is known. Since the publication of the first edition, horror has been on a gradual upswing, and taken ...