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Monsters on the Couch: The Real Psychological Disorders Behind Your Favorite Horror Movies

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Description

Horror movies can reveal much more than we realize about psychological disorders—and clinical psychology has a lot to teach us about horror. Our fears—mortality, failure, loneliness—can be just as motivating as our wishes or desires. Horror movie characters uniquely reveal all of these to a wide audience. If explored in an honest and serious manner, our fears have the potential to teach us a great deal about ourselves, our culture, and certainly other people. From psychologist, researcher, and horror film enthusiast Brian A. Sharpless comes Monsters on the Couch, an exploration into the real-life psychological disorders behind famous horror movies. Accounts of clinical syndromes every bit as dramatic as those on the silver screen are juxtaposed with fascinating forays into the science and folklore behind our favorite movie monsters. Horror fans may be obsessed with vampires, werewolves, zombies, and the human replacements from Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but even many medical professions may not know about the corresponding conditions of Renfield's syndrome, clinical lycanthropy, Cotard's syndrome, and the misidentification delusions. Some of these disorders are surprisingly common in the general population. For instance, a number of people experience isolated sleep paralysis, a disorder implicated in ghost and alien abduction beliefs. As these tales unfold, readers not only learn state-of-the-art psychological science but also gain a better understanding of history, folklore, and how Hollywood often—but not always—gets it wrong when tackling these complex topics. Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Chicago Review Press (October 3, 2023)


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Paperback ‏ : ‎ 286 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1641607912


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 19


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.01 pounds


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.65 x 9 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #438,144 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #80 in Horror Movies #1,023 in Folklore & Mythology Studies #1,328 in Popular Culture in Social Sciences


#80 in Horror Movies:


#1,023 in Folklore & Mythology Studies:


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Top Amazon Reviews

    • Engaging and interesting!
A conversational and easy to read discussion of rare but fascinating mental health disorders. Too heady? Read it to find out how Freddy Kruger is probably an indirect result of the Vietnam War.
Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2024 by Klaatu
    • Popular science at its best
Don’t be fooled by the pulpy cover. This is popular science at its best, in a format that will be equally at home in academic libraries and airport book stores. For those who do not know him, Brian Sharpless is a respected clinical psychologist who has an encyclopaedic knowledge of unusual and rare psychological disorders. Here he utilizes that knowledge to shed light on the real-life inspirations for horror tropes, ranging from zombies and vampires to lesser-known entities such as shadow people and the dab tsog. If you’re a film buff it will provide you with ample ammunition to outwit your cinephilic friends. If you’re a mental health professional, it will sear so many vivid case vignettes into your brain that you’ll be able to make on-the-spot diagnoses of obscure disorders for the remainder of your working life. This book is not for the faint of heart, though. Each chapter gently introduces us to one of the capably interconnected themes, but there is no denying that all of them end up in pretty dark territory, with well-documented examples of people who actually experienced these conditions. It is thanks to the compassionate way in which all this sensitive material is handled, that I consider Monsters on the Couch mandatory reading for mental health professionals and for anyone aspiring to become one. I know of no other book that is so engaging and yet prepares one so thoroughly for the full spectrum of human behavior that can be encountered in clinical psychiatry - provided that one has an eye for it. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2023 by alice4ever
    • Solid Companion Book for Horror Fans
This is a first for me in getting the opportunity to read a book as an advance copy. Monsters on the Couch is an interesting read by Brian A. Sharpless. Bianca from Independent Publishers Group asked if I would be interested in reading and doing a review. Before I got into watching movies like I do now, I was an avid reader. It is something that I get away from as my life gets busy, but always come back to. That is enough about my background, let me get into what Sharpless does here. This has the subheading of ‘The Real Psychological Disorders Behind your Favorite Horror Movies’. Seeing that in the press release caught my interest even more. Brian is a trained psychologist. This gives interesting insight into the different topics that are explored. Not only that though, but he also has others who helped him with doing research and even references different studies as well as journals. Being that there is informational backing to what is said adds more weight for someone like me who loves to do research. Brian delves into movie monsters from early horror cinema to modern day creatures and even behaviors that are horrific. Ahead of reading this, I did know what the basis of the werewolf concept is from and that there have been documented cases of vampirism. Not in the Dracula or Blade sense, but that a psychological disorder makes certain individuals feel like they need the blood of others to survive. Something closer to Transfiguration. What works here is that different disorders are introduced that could explain why someone thinks they’re a werewolf, vampire or zombie. It gives specific cases, if one could be found, give details as to why this patient thought this way and ways that people like this could be helped. The depth of the information provided was interesting and gives me a different perspective toward films with these monsters in them. There are other disorders explored as well. Brian gives us the background information that it seems like Wes Craven used for A Nightmare on Elm Street. The book also explores syndromes like misidentification along with movies that use this idea. It also explores sleep paralysis, cannibalism, necrophilia and others as well. Let me then close this out with the writing. What I like is that it feels like a conversation with Brian. He uses scientific ways of explaining things but breaks it down in a way where people who aren’t trained can understand. There is humor that is interjected. Not in a way though where it would be disrespectful. If anything, Brian pokes fun at himself. I’m not sure if these elements are removed or not. I hope they don’t. These helped make this a fast read with such heavy subject matter here. The ideas and concepts that are introduced add an element that I can take away and give me a different way of looking at my favorite films. I’d highly recommend to people that analysis movies or what a different perspective on the monsters and villains we see on the screen, give this a read. I’m seeing that this is available for sale on October 3rd, 2023. This is worth your time for sure. The last thing I’ll say is that this feels like a documentary I’d watch, just in book form. For that, I’ll give it the highest rating I do for those for the time and care put into this. My Rating: 8 out of 10 ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2023 by David Garrett
    • History, folklore, and weird psychological disorders... what's not to love?
I learned a lot of strange things from this book, especially in the cannibalism chapter. It's a very conversational and funny book, but there's a good bit of science behind it, too. It will appeal to people who like horror movies, psychology, and dark humor. I also now know what was wrong with Bill Cosby. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2023 by e_fang_lab
    • Entertaining and informative
I've really enjoyed this book, it's informative without being boring, very engaging, with just enough humor to keep from being disrespectful to the subject matter. Side note to Dr. Sharpless-if you do happen to write Exorcisms are Bad, I'll buy that one, too!
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2024 by Miranda Fleming
    • Real Life is Stranger Than Fiction
Who knew that there were real disorders behind movies like The Thing, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and A Nightmare on Elm Street. The Werewolf chapter was particularly interesting. Really fun (and funny) book. Highly recommended!
Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2023 by Sleepy
    • Psych and Myth, Yea!
Personally, informative, understandable, and entertaining. Thank you.
Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2023 by Lil W.

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