Book Review: A Year of Fear

A Year of Fear: A Day-by-Day Guide to 366 Horror Films
By Bryan Senn
Published by  McFarland, 2007.  560 pages.

There are a ton of movie guides out there for us fans to choose from. Some are great, some are not. Some have the same old comments on the same old movies. But what author Senn has done with this book is a pretty unique angle and very entertaining as well. He reviews 366 films, one for each day of the year. But there is more than just that concept, for each movie has some sort of tie-in with that particular day. For example, Feb. 4th is Torture Abolition Day, so the movie is Torture Ship (1939), April 26th is National Bird Day so the movie is The Giant Claw (1957), and so on. Sure, some title might be a bit of a stretch, but it still a great idea and very entertaining angle.

But it is more than just picking movies to coincide with a particular holiday or date, Senn actually has very good reviews of the films, giving plenty of information about it and/or the people that made them. The titles range from the classics to the very best of the cheese and schlock, but are all reviewed with a positive light, even if the movie is admittedly terrible. Senn may point that out, but never comes across as all out negative.

This is simply a fun book. It’s a great one to go through to make your own checklist, since quite a few of these titles in here I would consider “must-see” films, but also gives a pretty cool angle if you’re trying to decide what movie to watch some evening.  Just look up today’s date, and there you go!