Monster Kids Rejoice!: A Review of Gothick Meditations at Midnight by Dr. Stephen Edred Flowers.

Since the beginning of storytelling, there have been those of us that are drawn to frightening stories. Stories that challenge us, that push our boundaries, that even—if we are bold and aware enough—allow us to become a bit more than what we were before the shudders began. While there have always been “fans” of “horror” (to use some modern parlance), the mid-twentieth century phenomenon of the “Monster Kid” had a special quality about it.

Dr. Flowers is one of the first wave of Monster Kids while I am of the last wave (I remember feeling like a good friend had died when Famous Monsters of Filmland stopped publishing in 1983). The Monster Kids lived in a zone between wonder and fear, innocence and worldliness, and belief and cynicism. Post-modern irony and deconstructions within the genre hadn’t quite occurred yet. The love of the movies, books, comics, TV and radio shows, was still quite niche and, yes, esoteric. Discovering information about our favorite films or books was, emotionally, like an archaeologist discovering ruins or perhaps a Lovecraftian scholar finding a rare forbidden tome of lore—daring his sanity in another dive into the dark waters of his obsession.

As the genre continued to grow, many wrote their own tomes of lore about the genre. Some focus on the technical, some on the personalities, studios, or publishers involved. There have been scholarly treatises on the social implications, the political underpinnings, the history of ideas that informed the works, the economics of B-Movies, etc. Many are excellent and fill more than a few bookshelves in the libraries of horror fans, but there are none that approach the genre in the same way that Gothick Meditations at Midnight does.

Dr. Flowers is as much a fan as he is a scholar. He appreciates the technical and practical constraints as much as the artistic visions, and he knows the objective history as much as his subjective understandings. He also recognizes where the mythic can hide within the historical and where beauty can lie within, what Philip K. Dick called, the “trash stratum.” Therefore, he has a unique perspective and voice on the subject.

The subtitle for Gothick Meditations at Midnight is, “Esoteric Commentaries on Classic Horror Literature and Film 1919-1975” and the word esoteric might need some explaining within this context. This is not the dry “esoteric” writing of the modern film-scholar explaining some socio-political aspect or cultural messaging. Neither is it the type of esotericism that tries to convince a fan, seeking for meaning, that some pop-culture film or book is an actual spiritual or religious path to follow.

Dr. Flowers’ approach to the esoteric includes elements of the historical, the psychological, the philosophical, and, yes, the numinous is there as well. Most of all, it is honest, loving, funny, and thought provoking. It is as much for the classic horror fan who just loves reading about their favorite movies and books as it is for the person who knows that there is some form of personal or philosophic truth in these cultural artifacts but might feel hesitant about how much meaning to place there (and Gothick Meditations at Midnight is a great primer on how one can determine such things).

There are chapters on Dracula, the Mummy, the Wolf-Man, the Phantom of the Opera, Dr. Frankenstein and his creature, the nihilistic cosmic horror of H.P. Lovecraft, the psychologically interior horror of Edgar Allan Poe, a unique exploration of Zombies, the horror films of German Expressionism, and a lot more.

Since reading Gothick Meditations at Midnight I have reread some of these stories and have rewatched many of these classic films with a new eye. A new eye which makes them fresh and full of surprising wonders again. I have also approached other genres with such an esoteric eye—such as Film Noir, Westerns, and even classic Musicals—as Dr. Flowers’ approach is as valid to any genre as it is to Horror (and his planned follow-up volume focusing on Science Fiction should be fascinating).

You might have noticed that I used the present tense when saying that Dr. Flowers IS a Monster Kid at the beginning of this review, and this is because I don’t think a true Monster Kid ever stops being one. I know this is true for me because the Monster Kid inside of myself was the one rewatching those films, rereading those stories, and appreciating them with the joy of discovering a new Mystery.

And for those who never had the pleasure of reading Famous Monsters of Filmland, don’t worry. If you read Gothick Meditations at Midnight and come away with a deeper appreciation and love for these films and stories, you might just be a Monster Kid too.