New Book The Soul of Wes Craven’ Pulls Back the Curtain

The Soul of Wes Craven, just released by Harker Press, offers a fresh look into the life of the man behind Scream and A Nightmare on Elm Street. Joseph Maddrey penned the tome. It is comprised of 80 interviews with people who knew Craven (1939-2015).

“If you have spent any time with me during the past 5 years, you have probably heard me talk about this book,” Maddrey said recently. “It’s been a long time coming, and I am grateful to the countless people who helped bring it to life.”

The tome offers readers a chance to get to know the real person behind Craven’s iconic films, ranging from The Last House on the Left to The Hills Have Eyes and beyond.

Here’s What You Can Expect from The Soul of Wes Craven

The book strives for a revealing look at the life, career, and soul of the auteur. The tome features new interviews with those who knew him best, including friends, family, and colleagues, The Soul of Wes Craven also offers fans insight into the master of horror like never before.

In addition to the more than 80 interviews, all exclusive to the volume, The Soul of Wes Craven includes:

•  Never before seen photos from Wes’ life and career
• Chapters on Wes’ alter egos, Thomas Sparrow & Abe Snake
• A history of his poetry, short stories, and articles
• Coverage of Craven’s various forays into television
• New details on lost, canceled, and abandoned projects
• Previously untold stories of Wes’ studio struggles
• Fresh insights into Craven’s creative influences
• An index of attributed scripts (and where to find them!)
• A list of Wess favorite books, music, and movies
• An Afterword by Jonathan Craven, Wes’ son.

Those interviews include Heather Langenkamp and Robert Englund of the Nightmare films; David Ladd, producer on The Serpent and the Rainbow; Marianne Maddalenna, producer on Scream 1-7 and New Nightmare; plus Craven’s family members and colleagues.

​Joseph Maddrey is the author of more than a dozen books, including Nightmares in Red, White and Blue: The Evolution of the American Horror Film (2004); Not Bad for a Human, the official biography of film actor Lance Henriksen (2011); Simply Eliot, a biography of poet T.S. Eliot (2018); two volumes of Adapting Stephen King (2021-2022), and the graphic novel To Hell You Ride (2013). He has written or produced over 100 hours of documentary television, including episodes of Discovery Channel’s A Haunting, History Channel’s Ancient Aliens, Oxygen’s Snapped, and TVOne’s Payback.

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