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anyaemilie's Reviews (1.57k)
Oh goody. Another 3-star book. When will I read another book that isn’t mediocre??? 😭
The Black Guy Dies First: Black Horror Cinema from Fodder to Oscar
Robin R. Means Coleman, Mark H. Harris
informative
fast-paced
This was really interesting and entertaining!
I liked that the authors covered traditional horror movies as well as sci-fi, comedy horror and other horror-adjacent genres. And woven throughout the book was also the theme that while many people dismiss horror as a silly or unserious genre, it's usually full of political and social commentary. This is especially true of horror films where Black creators have been able to control the narratives of their stories--Jordan Peele is mentioned several times throughout the book as a writer/director who has done a lot to bring Black horror to the mainstream.
Overall it was a really good history of Black people in horror and how things have changed since Duane Jones's noteworthy role in Night of the Living Dead in 1968. It also blatantly lays out all the different tropes that Black actors have been limited to in horror films since that role, which is something that they have only recently been able to break out of.
The audiobook narrator, Jaime Lincoln Smith, was really good and definitely added personality to the text. The only downside to the audio format for this book is that the listing of movie titles, release years and movie grosses ($$) got a little repetitive. This is something I would normally skim over when reading a physical/ebook copy but that's much harder to do with audio.
I definitely recommend this to anyone who is a fan (even a casual one!) of horror movies. It's entertaining and educational and will definitely make you want to watch some horror movies
I liked that the authors covered traditional horror movies as well as sci-fi, comedy horror and other horror-adjacent genres. And woven throughout the book was also the theme that while many people dismiss horror as a silly or unserious genre, it's usually full of political and social commentary. This is especially true of horror films where Black creators have been able to control the narratives of their stories--Jordan Peele is mentioned several times throughout the book as a writer/director who has done a lot to bring Black horror to the mainstream.
Overall it was a really good history of Black people in horror and how things have changed since Duane Jones's noteworthy role in Night of the Living Dead in 1968. It also blatantly lays out all the different tropes that Black actors have been limited to in horror films since that role, which is something that they have only recently been able to break out of.
The audiobook narrator, Jaime Lincoln Smith, was really good and definitely added personality to the text. The only downside to the audio format for this book is that the listing of movie titles, release years and movie grosses ($$) got a little repetitive. This is something I would normally skim over when reading a physical/ebook copy but that's much harder to do with audio.
I definitely recommend this to anyone who is a fan (even a casual one!) of horror movies. It's entertaining and educational and will definitely make you want to watch some horror movies
This was fun and a perfect spooky season read (magic, curses, haunted forest). Atmosphere-wise, it was great. 5 stars for that. And the cover! Super creepy and excellent.
But it got draggy and repetitive in the middle and I think it could have been tightened up a bit to make the pacing a little better. It kind of lost the excitement for me when the plot slowed down and I found myself just wanting to find out what happened at the end. Especially about 65% through it felt like it was building up to a climax and yet somehow there was still almost 4 hours left in the book 🤨❓
But it got draggy and repetitive in the middle and I think it could have been tightened up a bit to make the pacing a little better. It kind of lost the excitement for me when the plot slowed down and I found myself just wanting to find out what happened at the end. Especially about 65% through it felt like it was building up to a climax and yet somehow there was still almost 4 hours left in the book 🤨❓
I never quite know what to think of David Sedaris’s books. I’ve listened to quite a few of them so I guess I enjoy them. I kind of equate it to having a movie on in the background. I generally enjoyed the experience but I really don’t have any deep thoughts about it and couldn’t tell you many details about it.
I can’t say I relate to him at all and sometimes his humor is a little too weird (and gross) for me. But I enjoy his narration of his stories (I always prefer the audio versions of his books). I mean, he’s made his career as a storyteller so I guess that’s a given. And one thing I can say for sure is that I definitely appreciate his effort to learn some of the language of every country he visits. It’s more than most Americans do and it makes for some funny anecdotes.
This was about as wishy-washy a review as I could write and I also didn’t rate it so you’re welcome I guess?
I can’t say I relate to him at all and sometimes his humor is a little too weird (and gross) for me. But I enjoy his narration of his stories (I always prefer the audio versions of his books). I mean, he’s made his career as a storyteller so I guess that’s a given. And one thing I can say for sure is that I definitely appreciate his effort to learn some of the language of every country he visits. It’s more than most Americans do and it makes for some funny anecdotes.
This was about as wishy-washy a review as I could write and I also didn’t rate it so you’re welcome I guess?
