Rating: 
Summary: more catholic right-wing extremism
Review: Dr. Jones has once again taken his eccentric right-wing Catholic point-of-view to its usual terminus: an ugly extremism. Read Garry Wills' Papal Sins for a more realistic view of Catholicism
Rating: 
Summary: Starts Out Promising-Then Slowly Putters Along
Review: E. Michael Jones' book "Monsters from the Id" starts out very promising, but then half way through falters and eventually putters out. By the time I reached the end, when the book started to pick up steam again, I lost almost any interesting his assertion. His first three chapters in part I of his book are very engrossing. He crafts nicely his thesis about sin and horror. His focus on the Shelly's and their beliefs and practice lifestyle and how it affected her writing of Frankenstein is marvelous, and while I do not know if I completely buy his assertion, it is extremely plausible. His chapter on Stoker and Dracula is also very well done, but mid way through Part II when we get to the 1920s and Germany, he does not craft his arguments and insights as well. The book begins to drag I think he begins to make some overstatements about the condition of the time in regards to sexual liberation and homosexuality. While these behaviors had an impact on Germany after WW I, other problems persisted to weaken Germany as well, and more importantly, the liberal theology espoused prior to WWI and during it, as well as a 100 years of liberal German philosophy and theology weaken any moral fabric, allow a place for a Hitler to rise. Of course other problems are there as well, but Jones focuses so much on European decadence that he loses sight on demonstrating horror fictions part in the process. While his assessment is interesting, he seems to be off track from what the reader is expecting.
Rating:
Summary: Starts Out Promising-Then Slowly Putters Along
Review: E. Michael Jones' book "Monsters from the Id" starts out very promising, but then half way through falters and eventually putters out. By the time I reached the end, when the book started to pick up steam again, I lost almost any interesting his assertion. His first three chapters in part I of his book are very engrossing. He crafts nicely his thesis about sin and horror. His focus on the Shelly's and their beliefs and practice lifestyle and how it affected her writing of Frankenstein is marvelous, and while I do not know if I completely buy his assertion, it is extremely plausible. His chapter on Stoker and Dracula is also very well done, but mid way through Part II when we get to the 1920s and Germany, he does not craft his arguments and insights as well. The book begins to drag I think he begins to make some overstatements about the condition of the time in regards to sexual liberation and homosexuality. While these behaviors had an impact on Germany after WW I, other problems persisted to weaken Germany as well, and more importantly, the liberal theology espoused prior to WWI and during it, as well as a 100 years of liberal German philosophy and theology weaken any moral fabric, allow a place for a Hitler to rise. Of course other problems are there as well, but Jones focuses so much on European decadence that he loses sight on demonstrating horror fictions part in the process. While his assessment is interesting, he seems to be off track from what the reader is expecting.
Rating: 
Summary: Horror through the eyes of a critic of the Enlightenment
Review: I'm glad that this book didn't turn out to be just another survey of horror books and films; if I'd wanted one of those, I'm sure I could have found one on the discount rack at my local megastore. Jones' interest in horror stems from the way he thinks it reflects vital facts about the culture within which it is produced. Some of his interpretations seem like a bit of a stretch, but no more so than those by modernist critics. I am neither a Catholic nor a conspiracy theorist, but I think that, despite its flaws, Jones' analysis of some of the negative consequences of the Enlightenment is valuable. He is a skilled writer, and this book is a quick read.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting...Informative...but...
Review: MONSTERS from the ID is overwritten. That too much of a good thing spoils it more than applies when writing about "bad stuff". Professor Jones scatter-gun essay blasts away at the anti-Western/anti-Christian PROJECT he asserts The ENLIGHTENMENT became under subversive influence of various Societies of Illuminati and wildmen/women gnostics. Most people never heard of Adam "what's-his-name", the founder of THE ILLUMINATI. Many have heard of Nietzsche but forget he spent the last 11 years of his life a bed-ridden psychotic and published little of his own work. Martin Heidegger...Nietzsche's philosophical "Monster from the Id"...has been recognized as the "Nazi Aristotle" he aspired to be and consigned him to deserved Deconstructionist Nether Regions.Germane works of Sade; Byron; Shelley (poet and wife); Stoker; monster movie masters...along with Hitler's occult obsessions and alleged dual homophobic/erotic propensities ...get tossed-in to give conscientious readers headaches as Jones develops his theme of anti-myths(Logoi)that comprise PM culture. FRANKENSTEIN is genetic Monster from the Id TOMORROW. AIDS is Dracula NOW. C.S. Lewis skewered Adepts of the Enlightenement in THE ABOLITION of MAN. Bradbury did Id in FAHRENHEIT 451. ALIEN may be ultimate repudiation of radical Feminism and Abortion. As Blake says: "One becomes like that which One beholds." We agee Dr. Jones but "less is more"; next time use an editor...
Rating:
Summary: extremism-r-us
Review: Mr. Jones' theories are interesting, even fascinating. His comments about movies like "Psycho" and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" seem right on the mark, especially when compared to most critical theory which describes those films, and others like them, as artistic responses to "cold war fears". If "Psycho" was a reaction to the paranoia of the cold war, why does it continue to resonate today? Jones' theories will not win him a lot of fans(his discussions of Darwinism, Newtownian science, vampirism and abortion fly in the face of today's politically correct thought), but they are too well researched and developed to be easily dismissed. His historical and cultural takes on the Shelleys, the Marquis de Sade, Bram Stoker, and filmmakers from James Whale to the makers of "Friday the 13th" are fascinating--a kind of fun ride through the world of the guilty conscience. Great horror flicks don't stray far from fear or guilt or God. This is a great book about some of those great films.
Rating: 
Summary: sex versus guilt--horror is the referee
Review: Mr. Jones' theories are interesting, even fascinating. His comments about movies like "Psycho" and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" seem right on the mark, especially when compared to most critical theory which describes those films, and others like them, as artistic responses to "cold war fears". If "Psycho" was a reaction to the paranoia of the cold war, why does it continue to resonate today? Jones' theories will not win him a lot of fans(his discussions of Darwinism, Newtownian science, vampirism and abortion fly in the face of today's politically correct thought), but they are too well researched and developed to be easily dismissed. His historical and cultural takes on the Shelleys, the Marquis de Sade, Bram Stoker, and filmmakers from James Whale to the makers of "Friday the 13th" are fascinating--a kind of fun ride through the world of the guilty conscience. Great horror flicks don't stray far from fear or guilt or God. This is a great book about some of those great films.
Rating:
Summary: Hardly right wing, hardly extremist, just a book....
Review: Possibly due to its being more concise than Jones' last effort ( in addition to having a more attentive copy editor!) this volume transfers its message more pointedly. The thesis is merely an extension of typical criticism of a 'moral' bent on Frankenstein or Dracula ( the former as reflecting certain agonies of Enlightenment man, the latter's connection of sex, blood and death) beyond its usual limits, to artforms of the twentieth century, cinema especially. Far from promoting an ideology ( unlike Papal Sins, which can be guaranteed a reader ignorant of papal history, latin and theology, like its author) Jones simply picks up these films and novels as they exist and are argued in popular culture, sets them in their wider context and history, and proposes to one the fireworks that result. Not that his argument is faultless, it isn't, not even than you'll walk away feeling converted in any way, though you might, but, compared to the illiterate ravings of Papal Sins; the neo-paganism of WomanChurch; the consumate fatuousness of Curran and so on and so forth, Jones' thesis may even take on some rather shocking semblance of sanity! Jones, in addition, hardly proposes a conspiracy theory of some Illumanist takeover, though prejudiced readers may well be desperate to misread in this manner, as his 'major' thesis, in Libido Dominandi for example, was that one's disordered sexual predelictions find themselves exploited for the benefit of the certain few, for political and financial gain. If this is a hairbrain conspiracy theory then plainly the media and advertising industries that we have at the moment are languishing in utter poverty...
Rating:
Summary: Under the Sun of Satan
Review: Slowly and by degrees the world is inching towards an understanding that the "Enlightenment" was at best cleverly orchestrated agit-prop, at worst a self-indulgent, wanton grab for power. This is a wonderful book. Jones confidently, wittily and effortlessly dissects the manners and morals of the likes of Shelly and Godwin. My only wish is that Jones in the future would broaden his canvas to convey the horror that has been the legacy of the Enlightenment not just in the realm of sex but in the entire culture. That said, this is cultural criticism at its best. A treat! It reminded me of Dostoyevsky's "The Devils." It demands a place on your shelf along side the likes of Eric Voegelin, Marion Montgomery, Jean Brun and Thomas Molnar.
Rating:
Summary: Under the Sun of Satan
Review: Slowly and by degrees the world is inching towards an understanding that the "Enlightenment" was at best cleverly orchestrated agit-prop, at worst a self-indulgent, wanton grab for power. This is a wonderful book. Jones confidently, wittily and effortlessly dissects the manners and morals of the likes of Shelly and Godwin. My only wish is that Jones in the future would broaden his canvas to convey the horror that has been the legacy of the Enlightenment not just in the realm of sex but in the entire culture. That said, this is cultural criticism at its best. A treat! It reminded me of Dostoyevsky's "The Devils." It demands a place on your shelf along side the likes of Eric Voegelin, Marion Montgomery, Jean Brun and Thomas Molnar.
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