Before he gave us the classic title On Writing, (''part biography, part collection of tips for the aspiring writer'' - Guardian) Stephen King wrote a nonfiction masterpiece in Danse Macabre, ''One of the best books on American popular culture'' (Philadelphia Inquirer)

It was not long after Halloween when Stephen King received a telephone call from his editor. ''Why don''t you do a book about the entire horror phenomenon as you see it? Books, movies, radio, TV, the whole thing.''

The result is this unique combination of fantasy and autobiography, of classic horror writing honed to an unforgettable edge; ; an analysis of horror, terror and the supernatural in films, television and books by the bestselling master of the genre.

DANSE MACABRE ranges across the whole spectrum of horror in popular culture from the seminal classics of Dracula and Frankenstein. It is a charming and fascinating book, replete with pertinent anecdote and observation, in which Stephen King describes his ideas on how horror works on many levels and how he brings it to bear on his own inimitable novels.