Ultimately, what makes Jewish horror, I believe, is that a Jew made it.”Īnd yet, the sources of these legends and their influence have a long tradition of being “…all carried around in our heads for the first thousand years or so, or at least carried in the heads of specialists who, like Homer, stored vast collections mnemonically to be shared at hearth, by campfire, and from one dungeon cell to the next.” What we fear (and what we don’t) may be different based on our unique historical experience. The ingredients speak more to “our” demonology or eschatology. He also points out that “If you dissect the stories herein, you may be stricken by themes, vocabulary, or a particular sense of humor that set them apart from horror that is not explicitly Jewish. Rabbi John Carrier kicks off the survey with “An Orchard of Terror: Scary Stories and the Jewish Tradition.” This provides readers with a historical and literary backdrop for the connection between horror and Jewish experience, offering a scholarly but lively inspection of the Jewish psyche, its dilemmas, and its incarnations in the horror genre. The Jewish Book of Horror presents both sample stories and introductory discussions of the tradition. Many readers may be surprised at the association between ‘Jewish’ and traditional horror writing, but as this collection shows, Jewish history and legends hold strong roots in depictions of horror.
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