W. Scott Poole

Bram Stoker Award finalist W. Scott Poole is the author of numerous books and articles on monsters and mayhem in popular culture. His new book, forthcoming this fall and available for pre-order, is _Wasteland: The Great War and the Roots of Modern Horror_. The book takes you from the trenches at Ypres to the backlots of Universal Studios and introduces you to the artists, writers, and directors who shaped the world of horror we know today from their own encounter with the carnage of the Great War. In 2016, he wrote the Bram Stoker Finalist _In the Mountains of Madness: The Life and Extraordinary Afterlife of H.P. Lovecraft_. Based on new findings and bursting with new interpretations, it offers newcomers and old fans of the America's great horror writer new insight into his life, work, and continuing influence. "Rue Morgue" magazine called it "the best biography of H.P. Lovecraft in print." In 2014 he published _Vampira: Dark Goddess of Horror_ that looked at the life of 1950s horror host Maila Nurmi (a.k.a. Vampira) to explore the history of American sexuality, gender relations and the rebirth of the horror film in post-WW2 America. Its a story that begins with the history of the dark lady of late night horror and branches out into a discussion of the Beats, Bebop Jazz, the birth of rock and roll and the social protest movements of the 1960s. Novelist Sheri Holman calls the book "a subversive masterpiece." He is also the author of _Monsters in America_ from Baylor University Press (2011)._Monsters_ explores the American fascination with vampires, zombies, serial killers and even sea serpents, showing how these creatures of our dark obsessions help us to understand the dark and foreboding places in American history. The book won the John Cawelti prize from the Popular Culture Association for the best book published in pop culture history for 2011. In 2009, Poole published _Satan in America: The Devil We Know__ (Rowman and Littlefield), a cultural history of the image of Satan in American religion, history and popular culture. This exciting work blends the study of horror films, comic books, religious texts and newspaper accounts of "satanic panics" into a highly readable analysis of the concept of the devil in American cultural history. Penn State folklorist Bill Ellis called the book "required reading for anyone who wants to understand the dark roots of America culture." I Poole is also a Professor of History at the College of Charleston where he teaches courses on monsters in American history, Satan in folk belief and pop culture and the history of religion and race in American life .