Books, Readings
For Spooky Season, Peter Counter reads “On the Horror of Comedy” from Be Scared of Everything
Oct
It’s Spooky Season and we’re featuring readings from some of our authors whose books explore the horrors and vulnerabilities of a life lived. Here, Peter Counter reads the essay “On the Horror of Comedy”, about the television sitcom Frasier, from his collection Be Scared of Everything: Horror Essays (Invisible Publishing, 2020).
“Why are we scared? How is this thing scary? … Be Scared of Everything is almost like an open mic night on horror topics. It’s the kind of set that makes you silently nod without realizing it and laugh despite the bluntness of it. Deep down, you even know what being said makes sense.”—Fangoria
Be Scared of Everything is a frighteningly smart celebration of horror culture that will appeal to both horror aficionados and casual fans. Combining pop culture criticism and narrative memoir, Counter’s essays consider and deconstruct film, TV, video games and true crime to find importance in the occult, pathos in Ouija boards, poetry in madness, and beauty in annihilation. This is a book that shows us everything is terrifying, and that horror can be just as honest, vulnerable, and funny as it is scary.
Peter Counter is a writer exploring ideas of faith, violence, horror, identity and memory though criticism, creative nonfiction, and playwriting. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with his partner, their grumpy cat, an old rabbit, and his family Ouija board. Find more of his writing at EverythingIsScary.com.