Dark Carnivals

The American empire emerged from the shadows of World War II. As the nation''s influence swept the globe with near impunity, a host of evil forces followed - from racism, exploitation, and militar ...

The American empire emerged from the shadows of World War II. As the nation''s influence swept the globe with near impunity, a host of evil forces followed - from racism, exploitation, and military invasion to killer clowns, flying saucers, and monsters borne of a fear of the other. By viewing American imperial history through the prism of the horror genre, Dark Carnivals lays bare how the genre shaped us, distracted us, and gave form to a violence as American as apple pie. A carnival ride that connects the mushroom clouds of 1945 to the beaches of Amity Island, Charles Manson to the massacre