Horror Books Have Lost Their Identity

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In today's video, we compare the look of new horror fiction titles to old classic ones, and see how they have changed over time.
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[@InPraiseofShadows]

Hey guys! Hope you liked this one, it was a little bit different than normal but I thought it would be fun to try something like this. I have always been a big reader, and this has been on my mind for a little while so I wanted to make something to talk about it. I am also currently working on a few new videos that should be out soon.Thanks for watching, and I will see you again next time.

[@chrislawson3536]

Did you ever read any more John Bellairs books? The Figure in the Shadows was scarier (I thought) than House with a Clock, and the Johnny Dixon series (Curse of the Blue Figurine etc.) is even scarier. He's probably my favourite children's/young adult author.

[@InPraiseofShadows]

@@chrislawson3536 No, I always meant to but I haven't gotten around to reading more than that one. My library had it when I was a kid, but that was mainly before I sought out multiple books by the same author except for a few examples like R. L. Stine and J. K Rowling. There is a used book store chain that I absolutely love called Mr. K's, and they have a section just for children's horror and they always have his stuff over there. I have thought about getting some to go through them but I haven't yet, I will check for that one next time I am up there though!

[@razorback7828]

Thanks for this one, this is so true! and as an illustrator , I am so disapointed by this. Today in france, most of the covers are only photostock montages...(and congrats, what an amazing collection!)

[@theshimmereffect3506]

The video is great, but annihilation and other books like it aren't horror. Therefore you can't say anything about it. :/

[@raphaelpujalte3001]

thank you for this video i thought my friend's and i were the only people to realise what you discuss in this video, i believe the same can be said about sci-fi.

[@kikijammer]

What I dislike more is when they use movie posters as the cover when the book gets adapted into a movie

[@madeofcastiron]

i hate it when they do that. even if the movie-cover book is the last copy on the shelf, i would never get it and would rather go to other bookshops to find the non-movie-cover book

[@hanoverfist3805]

You said it ! That's the worst!

[@hobihope2981]

Or when they use the same book cover but add on the tacky "now a major motion picture!" sticker in the corner 🤢

[@madeofcastiron]

@@hobihope2981 as if the original movie cover wasn't bad enough already

[@nvnchez]

oh god don’t get me started on that. irks me so much

[@Irisverse]

I think the problem with a lot of the new covers is that they're trying to be pretty, and horror is rarely helped by being pretty.

[@user-mh6ju3pg8c]

O recommend reading ero-guro Manga's

[@Scarshadow666]

True, and that's always been a struggle with marketing horror to an audience. It's an art in of itself to create horror art/media/content as a way to borderline being grotesque while also pleasing to the eye at the same time. 0_0

[@waltuh11121]

Yes, a cover should be either misterious or slightly creepy

[@chuchu9649]

Poor illustrators

[@dannhoff6646]

I do not think it is because it's pretty. A horror novel cover can look pretty while having gross content in it. But it's just the way is presented, it looks industrialized and bland. It looks bad because it looks like any other popular book you see at a library.

[@nancyjay790]

There used to be a huge industry in artists who created massive paintings that would be used for cover art of books. Not just in horror. Science fiction, mystery, dystopic fiction, fantasy... They all had specific feels to their cover art. Covers would often sell a book as much or more as press tours.

[@kavid8120]

and now AI can easily do that

[@spamson7413]

​@@kavid8120AI can't do detailed paintings

[@DireBeastRexYT]

easily, maybe- but hardly *good* for more than a passing glance. AI art gives the affectation of art- but it literally means and communicates nothing outside of the parody of human creation. It's digital junkfood. @@kavid8120

[@pokaay3163]

⁠@@kavid8120not by itself lmao. funny that ai art literally relies on real artists in order to function, and people still think it can work on its own, like its magic or something.

[@coryransom]

@@pokaay3163 It can't do it properly even with assistance.

[@amypattie7004]

As an illustrator it’s time for specialised book covers again. Firstly they’re iconic, secondly I have skills and want money. But mostly, I want to see iconic designs again. I didn’t become an illustrator because it was a lucrative career option.

[@joek600]

''I didn’t become an illustrator because it was a lucrative career option'' then you should be a painter. Illustration and graphic design are applied arts. As I like to say, we are the prostitutes of the artworld.

[@juliannehannes11]

I'll hire you

[@jackharper7002]

“I didn’t become an illustrator because it was a lucrative career option.” That is a SCATHING level of self examination brother, well done

[@scruffy281]

I am not an artist but I agree with you 100%! I want to see those Iconic designs also!!

[@richardquiroz4808]

God I would love to see a book cover commissioned through the artist Daniel Danger. Check out his stuff, and instantly you think of book cover.

[@alathar1981]

They say "Don't judge a book by it's cover." However, in selling books to your target audience, aesthetic judgment matters.

[@MastaSmack]

Ugly people say that to try and get you to lower your standards.

[@i.need.a.new.nickname]

I shamelessly judge a book by it's cover *at first* because what else am I to do? After I pick it up, I check the blurb, and then I only truly judge it when it's over, based on whether I liked it.

[@zero1zerolast393]

This video proves that point thought lol. I mean, hr can't tell if there horror book

[@thedeadcannotdie]

@@MastaSmack u should probably not use the same standard for judging a book and a human being even if the saying says so...

[@zawyehtike3089]

@@MastaSmack Not to be rude, but standard exists only in the minds, set by those people who tend to judge. But people who evaluate the essence of the pages through thought, rather than the cover is the moment when meaning is found.🙏 Let us not set standards on these pieces of works, for it should be put in the freedom of expression as these books are mere work of art as well. (That is what I see and believe...Anyways, goodday to you! 🙏)

[@Kniroid]

I work at a Barnes and Noble. All the books look the same. Its fucking exhausting. Its gotten so bad that Ive found 4 completely different books with different cover designers that included the same snake jpeg

[@jillmo6458]

I need to see this if possible.

[@yggdrasil3]

@@Kniroid That is so f*cking cheap.

[@barbarusbloodshed6347]

I work as illustrator and the reason for all of this is... capitalism. They all wanna make a profit, MORE profit if possible. And since we live in the age of the internet they can hire anyone from anywhere. Obviously 200 Dollars isn't a lot if you live in a country of the Western part of the world, but maybe it's good enough for you, if you live in Indonesia or somewhere else where costs are significantly lower. Nowadays you only get a fraction of what you got for a design 20 years ago, and compared to 30 years ago it's MUCH less. So let's say someone offers you 800 Dollars for a cover motive. You now have two options: make something cool that takes you a few days of work and you end up with less than 10 Dollars per hour, OR you go online, grab a few stock files, smash them all together in about an hour or so and get your 800 bucks. What would you do? If companies weren't that cheap and if people from very different countries from all over the planet weren't forced to compete, we probably would still have nice book covers.

[@kaiviru]

@@barbarusbloodshed6347 i would say that's corporatism rather than capitalism. Capitalism involves the free market and one of it's rules is demand and improvement. If people decide not to buy books that look like shit, companies have no choice but to improve them until people decide to give them money, or they find someone who gives a better product. In my opinion (although i'm not an expert), a big part of the problem is 1) big companies having a monopoly over certain products. When a company is too big and powerful without restrictions there's no possibility of competition, wich is kind of the golden rule of a free market, and 2) people having a consumerist behavior. Publishing companies would have no choice but to hire good artists for cover art if people didn't give them money, but a lot of people just have no standards of what is a good product or feel the anxiety of reading something as soon as it comes out. Another thing i see is that, sometimes when i complain about book covers looking awful or movies being shit, people respond that "i'm thinking too much about it". Some people either don't care about the quality of books, movies, comics, music, etc. and just want to consume product and then get excited about next product, or don't understand how much power the consumer has over products and companies. Sorry for the wall of text, i don't know how to sumarize my thoughts.

[@barbarusbloodshed6347]

@@kaiviru well, I get your train of thought. Sadly, it doesn't work that way. Or let me rephrase that, you overlooked a few things. And that's usually the case when defending capitalism. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you're stupid, I'm just saying you're making mistakes - like everybody else. And that's where I can start the counter argument. People make mistakes, especially if the information they have is incomplete. So a responsible consumer that makes the "right" choices is about as rare as a unicorn. Also: Yes, monopolies are a major problem, but they ARE PART of capitalism. Beating the competition (having a competition instead of cooperation in the first place) is a built-in feature of capitalism. If all competition is beat, you're the winner, you have your monopoly and can do whatever you want - which is making a profit and therefore you won't do what's good for the people. We also see that the vast majority of books already has bad covers. So, if someone likes to read books...what are they supposed to do? Stop reading? Will that have an effect? I doubt that even a million people stopping to buy books would make a notable dent in book sales. And if you got enough people to stop buying books, my guess is the reaction of the companies would be the opposite to what you expect. They wouldn't increase the quality of their product, they'd try to make it even cheaper so that they can make as much profit as before with less buyers. This happens ALL THE TIME. And I'd argue that all the wealth we have today, is the result of socialism, not capitalism. It's the socialist elements in our economics that provide us with quality and keep the market going. THink about it, the states regulate monopolies and can prevent companies from merging. That's the only thing that keeps the gian monopolies at bay. And the other thing are our laws and regulations that keep companies from producing dangerous crap. Or those laws that prevent them from harming the environment. And we all know that these efforts aren't even enough. The companies are too big, there are monopolies and companies are hurting people and the environment all the time. If anything, we have too much capitalism and not enough socialism. And that was my wall of text ;)

[@nightmarishcompositions4536]

A lot of horror books and fantasy books from the 70’s - 80’s had badass covers that remind me of the art you would see on heavy metal album covers. As a lifelong fan of metal, horror and dark fantasy, I really miss them.

[@box0choco593]

Most likely some of the same illustrators working with those two fields! So cool.

[@soggyfroggy22]

I love metal myself, and that’s one of the biggest thing I loved about the 70s 80s horror, and fantasy books. The artwork is so neat! Now it’s the same font, and some colorful background.

[@Rosiestoned]

Some bands still use that aesthetic ('NWOTHM Full Albums' youtube channel showcases some new heavy metal bands for instance) but yea it's become this oldschool niche thing and I wish graphic design had a new awesome era. I do think it's also because mainstream culture in general isn't as badass as it used to be, not just a shift in aesthetics but a whole mindset.

[@WinkyDink]

I completely agree with all of this. There is a similar argument to be made for movie covers. I remember as a kid spending hours in the video store staring at VHS box art in the horror aisle, and having my imagination go crazy. Scrolling through horror on streaming services mainly serves you with horror from the last few years and their covers don't really have the same effect as their predecessors, whether or not the actual content is better or worse.

[@katiebayliss9887]

New ones are just pictures of the cast

[@JiveTalker78]

I have to disagree, 3 months ago I was thinking the same thing you just said but recently I have been coming across movies on Tubi or Amazon Firestick that have fooled me. The cover pics look like something straight out of the 80s horror genre but when I look into when the movies were made they are all recent films. Now, are they as good as the old horror movies the covers take after? That part I don't know, I haven't watched any of them yet.

[@bimomuzakki9379]

i'm glad music album cover survived from this! often time I'm just randomly listen to an album because the cover looks interesting

[@ryngobrody1627]

The only recent horror movie posters that are memorable and interesting are the posters for Censor and Halloween 2018

[@richiehoyt8487]

I'm having a hard time even _remembering_ when I last saw a poster for a new movie that had actually been painted, as opposed to being - as someone [ katiebayliss9887 ] pointed out - a cobbled together photograph of the stars...

[@tanimation7289]

This is why Goosebumps is timeless. Every cover tells you that it's a campy horror and you can see that.

[@thetechnocrat4979]

Absolutely! I love the cover art for the Goosebumps book series. They are so refreshing and appealing.

[@maryumgardner5958]

And Fear Street

[@traxcanonch.2421]

@@maryumgardner5958 Yes! I'm reading one right now, actually!

[@tasnimrahman7261]

This series during my childhood inspired my love for horror stories and to this day I love them for it

[@nickyhr]

Honestly, I remember reading a few Goosebumps books when I was younger, they were amazing. I wish I could remember where I left them all.

[@willmistretta]

And if you think this is bad, imagine how fans of movie poster art feel these days.

[@jamesthemagpie3202]

My dad mentioned that. He used to work in a movie theater and would collect the old posters. I think I'm starting to understand what he meant.

[@kananjarrus8652]

Yes! My brother owns posters for a new hope, the empire strikes back, and the last Jedi and it's so different. The original trilogy posters have so much color and magic to them but the last Jedi looks flat in color. It misrepresents what star wars is supposed to be and it makes me so sad. Rey Is also shown wearing a red cloak like the royal guards but never was shown wearing that once in the movie?? So that's complete misrepresentation. I feel like the new posters are there just to plaster faces on them rather them paint a picture of what the movie truly feels like

[@awhitney3063]

What we're seeing is the perpetual degradation of specificity - any word can be shoehorned in to kinda-fit, you can just make stuff up on the fly, what this represents can be warped to fit this other thing because I want it to, etc. - all of these covers could work for each other because none of them are really truly hyper specific to their stories, they are pretty and graphically captivating first and foremost, the story is secondary. Movie posters have also largely gone down this route, good point. I think a good example of what these covers are TRYING to do and failing at is 'Cabin in the woods' - that poster, with the big shifting cabin, not only is very specific to THAT story, but also conveys to us the audience that it's about more than just an ordinary cabin in the woods. But it's also striking and clean, conveying limited information. Not all are able to pull it off so elegantly.

[@OperatorE0003]

Each year the number of "cool guy posing while facing slightly away from the camera" movie posters doubles

[@janaekelis]

@@jamesthemagpie3202 ah yes...the floating heads

[@calebcostrini]

"Hey, a new book came in for you to give it a cover design, it's about-" "Just slap a chair silhouette on a blue background or something, I don't care."

[@user-uh2gh4ne4g]

"Throw up some stock photos and superimpose text over it" Is literally just every modern book cover outside of exceptions and that's just how it is. Honestly I find myself more drawn to books without cover artwork at all when browsing these days because it feels like the author is entirely confident the work speaks for itself

[@hervorinhervorin4631]

The worst is when a cover is like: here's the photo of the main character *GENERIC ATTRACTIVE YOUNG ADULT*. Like dude the author probably already did a great job of describing the character in such a way that you understand their most important and basic details, while giving you leg room to imagine what they look like for yourself. Have trust in authors and readers.

[@oziku1816]

I dont see what they point of that is anyways. They are probably just gonna get killed off lmao

[@random_meta]

Woah.. I've never bought a book like that 😂

[@jaliyakajakeh443]

Scott Westerfield´s saga "uglies" is one example. Even when you imagine the character the cover is always distracting, like they´re trying to force how we should imagine the characters.

[@JarlFrank]

So many books these days are basically just stock photo model standing in front of a photoshopped background

[@theturniptress805]

@@jaliyakajakeh443 So true . I have not read this particular book , but sometimes I just feel like painting over those book covers (The ones with the movie actors, or weird stock photos) .They really mess up the way I picture characters.

[@kainezillah]

"Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable."

[@mirai9242]

How are you so right

[@maneatfoot8693]

who said that?

[@claireguillon7596]

I love that quote, hadn't heard it before and weirdly it's the second time I see it in a comment today, here after reading it in the comments of Sia Elastic Heart video.. Hmmm

[@SaphInfection]

uganda massacre I just had a ceased salad for dinner lol

[@SaphInfection]

uganda massacre also Im just a little curious, what were you on when you made these comments. Whatever it was, I would like some of it.

[@bassforhire555]

Part of the aesthetic that got me into horror novels as a kid was in part the artwork, but what really did it was that all the horror books I got from the library were old, tattered, dirty, bug eaten, absolutely beat to shit... But still held together perfectly. It was like finding some kind of horrible secret thing I wasn't meant to see. It *felt* like a horror book in my hands

[@TotallyNotTheRedComet69]

Personally, I LOVE when horror novels have covers that have illustrations, it’s part of the charm. One of my all time favorites is one of the paperbacks for Stephen kings IT with the rainy day, the paper boat and piercing eyes starring out from the sewer drain. Probably the most eerie book cover I’ve seen in awhile.

[@legrandliseurtri7495]

Damn, that sounds awesome. My version only had Pennywise from the movie as the cover.

[@TotallyNotTheRedComet69]

@@legrandliseurtri7495 yeah I got my paperback before any of the reboot movies came out, now I’m sure the new pennywise is standard image for IT book covers, I think one of my favorite book covers has to be for book 1 of the Japanese translation, it’s got this beautiful illustration of the canal with balloons rising and what looks like someone falling into the canal.

[@clownworldhereticmyron1018]

I really miss the use of paintings, not only on horror book covers, but everywhere; movie posters, advertisements, etcetera.

[@sirspookybones1118]

@ThinKwiQ have you seen the newest Helloween album cover?

[@EtamirTheDemiDeer]

@@sirspookybones1118 just googled and all I can say is wow

[@sirspookybones1118]

@@EtamirTheDemiDeer it's absolutely awesome art, worthy of framing. I was tempted to buy the album for the art alone but the skyfall single is a certified banger too

[@aimeem]

There's probably a correlation between this state of affairs and people saying, "Go into STEM, you'll never make a living with a fine art degree!!!"

[@themcrib7920]

@ThinKwiQ the band Mastodon has some amazing album art. Emperor of Sand, Once More Round the Sun, Cold Dark Place, Leviathan, etc. They look great and fit the music really well.

[@04dram04]

All those modern book covers look just like" girl with the dragon tattoo" cover

[@mosespray4510]

I think the legacy publishing industry has become insular, where if a certain thing sells then they have to do everything that way. They say they want ground-breaking material, but when push comes to shove they want something that imitates the last thing that sold well.

[@KyrieFortune]

I'm gonna say it: "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" is what has ruined modern publishing. It's a good book for sure, but ever since it came out, everything tried to replicate its success, from the cover, to the title (a friend told me to take notice of how many "The Girl with [thing]" or "The Girl Who [action]" are in a bookshop published after that book and BOY ARE THERE A LOT OF THEM AMONG ALL GENRES BUT ESPECIALLY THRILLER, the only one I found that preceded it was King's "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon"), to how people write and what people write about.

[@moozartney]

Haha exactly

[@hackett152332]

@@KyrieFortune unoriginal people are to blame

[@diaz5292]

That's because they are all about her. Every one of them.

[@willerror]

Thank you for including a link to my blog, Too Much Horror Fiction! I also co-wrote PAPERBACKS FROM HELL with Grady Hendrix, and am assisting him and Valancourt Books with choosing titles & writing intros for the PBFH reprint line. We have more coming later this year! Glad to see so many people still into vintage horror paperbacks.

[@octopusbraiin1776]

yes, yes, YES!!! the absolute SKILL behind creating the fine art that goes on the covers of old horror novels is astronomical. there was a camp that nothing else can compare to. same goes for old horror VHS tapes-they were so damn fun to look at and that was part of the enjoyment of the film. goodness, we need to bring back hand-painted book covers!!!

[@matthiaswileyto8589]

It seems that creepypastas have better thumbnails than modern horror novels do covers. There is a reason it is called "click-bait", and these novels lack that horror-clickbait.

[@InPraiseofShadows]

Yup, pretty much. Most modern covers don’t make me want to buy the book. The other day actually I didn’t buy a new copy of the sequel to Flowers in the Attic because it had a really bad cover, ordered an old used one online instead.

[@Simp4Gwyn]

@@No-hf5xb I guess but by using common "clickbait techniques" you can at least try instead of just looking kinda weird "and pretty"

[@smeminem1258]

Ditto, half the reason i listen/watch a creepypasta is the cover

[@forsakennevermore]

SO TRUE!!!

[@harryvass9018]

you are right on the money. If I see a creepypasta with an interesting title or thumbnail I'll click on it and listen to it.

[@muppetbabybobby]

“Too Clean” is the perfect way to describe it. I really want to get back into reading, but every book just looks manufactured, like no creative or human thought went into it

[@legohead2731]

My favorite example of too clean is the cover for House of Leaves. It’s matte black on glossy black that forms a maze and a spiral staircase with a compass in the center. On the back there’s a hint of a picture but you really only see a lantern in a dark room. The spine has Polaroids of houses, one of which is upside down. The title on the front is written in a pretty standard font at a modest size and the word house is written in blue rather than white. The cover is 1/4 inches shorter than the rest of the book. Every last one of these details comes back beautifully in the book

[@legohead2731]

@Sebastian Huerta I shoehorn it in to every conversation where someone brings up a book

[@skateforzero357]

@@legohead2731 that was one of the first books that I ever really got into. Not only is it an amazing and unique book, but it has a special place in my heart.

[@thatspookyfeeling]

No human thought does go into it. I write and when looking at what agent's want it's all woke garbage. Ruins everything! Look for old books. Ramsey Campbell is amazing horror.

[@tsb5274]

hi daria lol

[@HitchcockBrunette]

“Slowly digging a pit straight toward graphic design hell” 😭🙌🏻 you nailed it… I just picked up the book “Paperbacks from Hell” by Grady Hendrix & frankly you should have written the forward for it! What an awesome resource to have, and now this video exists as sort of a companion piece I feel like! I also grew up on the same books - goosebumps, SS2TID, Christopher Pike … it was the cover art that would initially capture me and also catapult my imagination 💯 They just don’t exist anymore…a lost art (Apart from what PfH is doing!!)

[@Dugget]

When you were talking about pulpy horror novels having lost their charm, my mind immediately went to the company 'vinegar syndrome' and 'arrow entertainment' who both re-release forgotten and corny horror movies that were previously lost to time but also give them incredibly well crafted, beautifully made cover arts that accurately capture the usually fun tone behind the movie. I recommend going through vinegar syndrome's library especially its a real treat

[@george-vk8ke]

i really do hate the "dont judge a book by its cover" sentiment, that really only works when Not talking about books. books are such physical things and the design 100% plays a role, i hate that thats taboo to say

[@InPraiseofShadows]

I agree 100 percent. I own hundreds of books and I refuse to buy an ugly book. Movie tie ins or badly designed, it honestly hurts the reading experience for me. Personally the book is not just the text so I’m with you on reading being a physical experience as well as a mental one.

[@jackcinephile7554]

That's why I'm very picky about the kinds of books I buy. Due to my ADHD, I get very distracted from reading, no matter how much I love it. So I always look for the most handsomely printed edition I can get my hands on. It just makes the entire reading experience so much more enthralling!

[@NMahon]

@@InPraiseofShadows the word you're looking for is paratext!

[@jamesfitzgerald8267]

While I agree that old covers were much better than they are now and I wish they would go back to having more personality, a book's contents is far more important than the cover.

[@george-vk8ke]

@@jamesfitzgerald8267 but if the cover doesn't convey the content of the book then the cover artist did their job wrong, there is such a wealth of books out there that the first glance is so important, imagine how many great books you didn't pick up because the cover made you think it was something else. i'm assuming, of course, that you don't walk into a waterstones and read every single back flap to form your impression but rather you look at a cover and THEN decide whether you'll have a look at the back. see, covers are SUCH an important part of books, both in marketing the book and for the reader to be able to guess whether they'd be interested in said book. content is important but how will you know what the content is if the cover is a copy of every other cover out there ?

[@kathrinepedersen7079]

The new ones remind me of wattpad and quotev book covers.

[@T-1000-]

WHY ARE YOU RIGHT I-

[@rockhistoria2537]

I am concerned with the accuracy

[@johnsalchichon777]

Boku no Hero Minecraft GTA 4 Male reader (18+)

[@ladycavalier]

LOOOL U RIGHT

[@ProceduralUtopia]

Sadly.

[@the_Googie]

As with movie posters, full on painted (digital or traditional) illustration have one quality that's irreplaceable with graphic design: integrity. All illustration has this connected, "full" quality to it that glues visual content together. It's tough to describe, but its a powerful effect.

[@Somnivore7]

Old horror and scifi covers were things of beauty.

[@Emily-Whitfield]

So true ❤❤❤❤❤

[@WalterLiddy]

Along with this, over the past couple of decades the practice of putting a story synopsis on the back cover has given way to endorsement quotes. A synopsis lets me know what the story is about, so I can decide if I'm interested. "Fantastic!" "His best work yet!" Does NOT.

[@astrumandroda9970]

WalterLiddy TOO TRUE! Whenever I see that, I roll my eyes and put it back on the shelf. With the fact that you can’t distinguish book plots based on their book covers anymore, it’s so annoying that they don’t realize that you ALWAYS need to put the synopsis in the back.

[@doppelrutsch9540]

To be fair, the more I've grown as a reader the more I've found books that I love but that can't be sold on a synopsis because how it is written and what ideas it plays with in the details is far more important than the skeleton of a plot.

[@olgierdvoneverec4135]

I personally blame spoiler culture, in todays day and age people complain so much about spoilers and are obsesed with getting a "pure experience" companies try their best to avoid giving any information and depend on other mediums to generate hype. They try to get you to go buy THEIR book, rather than catching the eye of frequent readers.

[@j.d.1709]

My mom’s rule of thumb for books is that you should be skeptical of a book’s quality if most of the reviews/endorsements are from other authors, not periodicals and professional reviewers. Not dismiss it outright, but question if it is a networking tool or a sincerely written novel.

[@hannahbradley2769]

For real! I hate it when a book doesn't give me anything to preview what it will be about

[@bowiezombie69]

As an artist myself, I have to agree with you 100%. Kind of tired of the minimalist modern look at this point. I think the tone and style of the work should influence the style and design of the artwork on the cover or poster.

[@ramirosotto]

Agree 100%. Jesus...they all look the fucking same

[@CC0566]

I mean, it's probably made by graphic designers and I don't really consider graphic design as art but it is true that it's overdone and basically it means they are horrible at their job, the whole career it's about conveying what needs to be communicated

[@dennismartin5821]

The cover art, is the only opportunity you really get to catch someones attention. I remember when I was a kid, I would buy something, just because of the art work on the front. Toy's, books, movies, video games, breakfast cereal. No one running a successful marketing campaign neglected the art on the box. I use to zone out looking at pictures, on stuff, and in books. Sometimes I still do.

[@one_man_community]

@@CC0566 Graphic design can be art, but currently is misused

[@CC0566]

@@one_man_community I mean, I'm currently studying Graphic design (and that doesn't mean that my word is law, I'm saying it so we see my position on the subject and why I may think this way) Graphic design no longer exists for the art, that's where it separates from art, it uses art to convince the man of something. Art can do this too but, first, art can be subjective and in gd there's no room for that (even if their shapes are unclear it shouldn't be up to interpretation) and second art is free to do and be whatever without any worries. You can grab techniques from art or create your own for purposes of gd but you can't do whatever you want with it, you have a goal to catch. In art you put those goals to yourself.

[@thomas_dries]

I think the cover for the first edition of Stephen King's "The Stand" is one of the best covers of any book in any genre. It epitomizes the entire theme of the book, the battle of good vs evil, and it has such an otherworldly feel about it, almost bordering on fantasy. It is the only cover I have ever purchased a print of.

[@sarahmc1698]

I remember as a kid in my elementary school those books attracted me and I felt I could have looked at them all day and truly take my imagination on a journey if I grew up with the more digital design books I’m starting to think I may have never picked them up or found my love of art and reading

[@boxsalt3588]

I remember I used to hate reading the Goosebumps books because the art felt so real that it felt gross to touch them. I think you're definitely doing a good job making horror art if an 8-year-old kid doesn't want to touch them lmao

[@gagne6928]

I had a nightmare when i was younger just based off the puppet one

[@Nirrini]

Haha, same. The horror section in our local library was dubbed as the “tread at your own risk” aisle among youngsters. But that was the 90s. A lot of libraries have shut down since then and lost their charm. Everything is redesigned (for all the bad reasons). Nowadays you’re lucky if they even HAVE a whole single bookcase dedicated to only horror in bookshops.

[@autumndowling3479]

This is how I felt about the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books. I would hold them by the very edge so I wasn't resting a finger on the illustrations while reading them, lol.

[@redpanda6497]

I like your profile pic. Rolfe deWolf.

[@boxsalt3588]

@@redpanda6497 thank you, he’s my favorite of the showbiz animatronics

[@memesouls8653]

So this is the reason why I ignored half of the books at the store. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who thought these covers all looked kind of “bland” and the same.

[@jordanfleming7022]

They look generic at best, and tacky at worst. Not exactly something I’d want to display on my book shelf. Everything is drowned in pastel, and the colours clash terribly. Do these designers even understand basic colour theory?

[@memesouls8653]

Jordan Fleming Like do you ever go to a book store and stare at one of these things and are like hell yeah I’m going to buy this. Never ever.

[@jordanfleming7022]

The Maykr The only time I ever saw books that I’d buy because of the cover alone was when I was in an old used bookstore. I’ve gone to bookstores in malls that only sell new books, but the appeal just isn’t there - and I really wish it was.

[@memesouls8653]

Jordan Fleming Yeah honestly though. This is exactly the reason why I don’t pick up books anymore. The only ones I read are probably the Warhammer 40K novels because those actually have some sick covers and great stories

[@sephikong8323]

For real, I have several Lovecraft books and there's only one (in the abyss of time) that genuinely has a good cover, the rest does a disservice to the work. Like wtf, a photo of Lovecraft with some photoshop filter on ? A simple night sky with some ragged tree branches and vines for the Color out of Space with the novels name in a yellow font ? Granted it truly looks like horror but it also ....... doesn't really look like Lovecraft at all, I could give this cover to any children spooky story and it would work just the same. If I pulled someone who didn't know the author and presented them these covers they wouldn't be able to tell at a glance in what they are embarking, what a shame

[@bzcustoms]

As a self-published Horror writer, I am often sad to find my cheap covers look better than reprints of my old favorites. It blows my mind that in a time where people are reading less, the industry isn't adapting to correct the downward slide.

[@wefhyuewif]

Where can I find your books? I would love to check them out :)

[@Pope_Khajiit]

Black Leopard, Red Wolf's cover art is what drew me to the novel. Before picking it up I'd never heard of the book or Marlon James himself. But those colourful shapes twisting together against a dark background really caught my attention, begging to be picked up and read. I took the book home without any clue of the unsettling horror lurking inside that mesmerising cover.

[@deloctober4369]

As a former book cover artist, I can tell you that economics played a big role in transforming cover art. Publishers are expected to reduce overhead in order to keep costs low. Unfortunately, covers artists are considered overhead. A lot of art directors now use readily available software and stock photos to create their covers. One can get cover work but the pay is so low compared to what it used to be, it hardly seems worth it.

[@shannonm.townsend1232]

It checks out. Goddamn, that's sad. What a way to underwhelm any potential readers. I would think it is a bad economic decision on behalf of the publishers to do this. The cover art is what makes the first impression, and as such is surely bound with the book's contents in the reader's mind.

[@jamjox9922]

Same trend is what's killing Metal Music covers. Most are done on computers now and lack some of the *feeling* and charm that older albums had, like Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, or Iron Maiden album covers.

[@UkuleleVillain]

@@jamjox9922 and movie posters

[@aferyorinyagle2747]

@@jamjox9922 unmm well depends of what bands are you listening, there's s lot of album covers in metal with awesome artwork, like the work of Paolo Girardi

[@theunlawfulsponge5908]

@Frizzurd the only one I can think of with a good poster was the illustrated one for once upon a time in Hollywood

[@DeathnoteBB]

As a Graphic Designer, I clicked on this video thinking it’d just be an interesting video essay, but damn this is basically a design lesson disguised as a video. Part of design _is_ conveying what it’s product is about. I think that’s the most important part. Designs these days have so little identity, and convey so little. Design has interested me since I was a kid. I remember looking at covers of horror movies at a rental store and being able to imagine what it could possibly be about.

[@phillystevesteak6982]

Covers are downright misleading. And it shows in other industries as well, more than ever. Movie posters -for instance- and trailers are misleading on another level, which was really not common pre-2000's

[@shoeling]

i don’t read many horror books but josh kirby’s illustrations for the discworld series are so cool and I wish more books looked like that bc they make the whole thing look so alive- it’s the only book series where I picture the story in my head in the style of the cover and illustrations

[@mckenseykendall6410]

4 minutes into this video and I'm beyond excited to hear my thoughts on horror cover art reciprocated. I won't hate on modern cover work but I just feel like minimalist design doesn't belong in the horror genre. I've been collecting all the books mentioned here since I was 10 and it's almost always because of the cover art rather than the story itself.

[@aden.e]

can we talk about how there’s really not much horror books being published anymore? even king has just been writing suspense and thriller

[@no1zombielover]

It may just be drifting away from popularity. Drama, suspense, and crime are all very popular right now, and they'll eventually shift away from popularity as well

[@oziku1816]

Creepypasta is more popular now

[@no1zombielover]

@@oziku1816 is it? i honestly haven't seen any hype at all for creepypastas since like 2015. I'll take your word for it though

[@user-bw3gi6es4g]

With liveleak, the deep web and whatever-else we are seeing snippets of the horrors of life already; I was just at the teenage stage of physical development then when I was on the Kik app in a furry ageplay group and man! People who had raid the groups have shows me what I.S.I.S. was doing and what liveleak was about...

[@no1zombielover]

@@user-bw3gi6es4g dude I'm so sorry you got traumatized as a child, seriously. I've experienced the exact same thing pretty much, seeing messed up stuff on LiveLeak and bestgore etc. It's sickening.

[@dirtywater5336]

It's still not half as bad as horror movie covers these days. "Oh, you worked a skull into the clouds over a house for a haunted house movie. How original and clever"

[@shatteredscry]

At least Fright Night refined that 😂

[@shatteredscry]

Y’know, with cool art, a vampire and all

[@crackedemerald4930]

It's dumb simple but damn won't you be fooled into thinking it's not a horror movie.

[@PoptartParasol]

Or half of a surprised/scared face of a forgettably attractive girl double exposed (or overlayed) over some random house. Sometimes not even that. Sometimes it's literally just one of the actress' face LOL

[@serpentsaurus7969]

My dad always had a ton of old school horror books on his bookshelf when I was growing up. I used to look at all the scary cover art all the time. I never really noticed how that got phased out until I watched this video! Very well done~

[@nick-playercharacter8583]

When I was a kid in the 90's, I liked to wander libraries and just admire the cover art for many of the books. Horror books especially always caught my eye. I never read any because I was a massive coward, but the art always made my imagination run wild.

[@cancercandy949]

My favorite is the cover for "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream". It's so trippy and "wtf" that you're so enticed to read it even with the title.

[@hervorinhervorin4631]

I was just thinking that. I remember as a kid i was particularly entranced by the cover and the title, but never picked it up for one reason or the other. Probably for the best since its definitely not a children's book. Still, I think it really does speak to the power of a good cover.

[@isabellafelipedeoliveiraca6698]

Science fiction stories in the old days had such great titles. James Tiptree Jr. in particular was a master of doing that, her stories had the best titles.

[@mattjindrak]

I Have No Balls Yet I Must Scratch

[@raffy234]

I had to look it up but I can't tell which cover you mean. I found two. One is reddish and looks, imo, really bad and uninteresting, and the other one is green and looks more like the inside of a pc which I find curious enough to want to know what's it about

[@sevenchambers]

^^^

[@unharmeddrudge3668]

absolutely love the aesthetic of this video: a small 'tap' sound with each change of the image, picture-switching done in rhythm, close-ups of book cover details, simple background, consistent design, periods of no music.... i just want to give it a chef's kiss!

[@InPraiseofShadows]

Thanks! Really glad to hear it worked, I tried a bunch of different stuff in this one, really wanted it to feel different than anything I had made before so I’m happy to know you liked it.

[@davidpaul6290]

That tap sound is one of the most obnoxious and repetitive things I’ve heard in a video in a long time.

[@alexa6709]

David Paul sucks for you dont it

[@davidpaul6290]

@alexacq1 Considering he hasn’t implemented it in his videos since, no, not really.

[@alexa6709]

David Paul Well, there you go.

[@malyourgal7540]

Am I the only one absolutely in love with the og Fear Street and Christopher Pike book covers? The art on them is so damn gorgeous!

[@Sawrattan]

I keep revisiting this video every now and then. Love your narration style and choice of images, a pleasure to both listen to and watch, and actually inspired me to get some old style horror books.

[@ClarenceDass]

The whole thing about "not judging a book by it's cover" is bull shit.All my favorite books have the best covers.

[@glowingunknown5625]

Racist.

[@urielgonzalez900]

Jared Frost lol

[@alanmooreisrasputinreincar8106]

Also isn't that the point of a cover? To help you judge the book and decide if you want it

[@LadyNightsong]

Right?! There are plenty of times that I've purchased a book because the cover get my attention and made me want to pick it up.

[@rolanddeschain6089]

Of course you judge the cover. Whether it's pretty and atmospheric for example. Of course, the saying means the evaluation of the entire novel. And here the cover plays a subordinate role. A crappy book can still have a great cover, but it remains a crappy book.

[@Solanin0803]

Back when I was a kid I loved looking over the Goosebumps covers

[@mslightbulb]

Solanin Hell, I choose what story to read based on cover and title alone.

[@j.clementec.m.1558]

that's facts man, doesn't feel like that long ago either

[@raphaelserra7573]

Lol same

[@Dude_Abides]

And the artwork in "Scary stories we tell in the dark" scared the pisser outta us as kids

[@TheDuckGenie]

Saame! Half my love of finding Goosebumps stories I hadn't read was seeing new cover art.

[@ethanlowe1845]

I agree, I collected a lot of the same books you did when i was a kid. The original covers are the what that have stuck with me over the years. The scary stories covers gave me such a sense of weird fear and intrigue that made me read them again and again. Now when I look at the horror shelves nothing really gives me that feeling. great video essay, thanks!

[@littleprince12]

I tried looking for suspense/horror books earlier, but it was hard because of the book covers, I couldn't tell which of them were the genres I was looking for.

[@ethananderson2327]

“Don’t judge a book by its cover” well how tf am I supposed to know what I’m reading?

[@boshwa20]

The summary, the thing that's supposed to sell you on the book.

[@-orion5888]

Boshwa that’s also on the cover tho 👀👀

[@bingbongjoel6581]

Ethan Anderson You read it

[@Joyfk]

@@bingbongjoel6581 I too read the whole book in the store, really saves on the purchase

[@bingbongjoel6581]

James Pfeiffer I didn’t say the whole thing, dick cheese. Just read the back, or a few pages. Smh. Good job. You’re big funny tho I laughed many much.

[@rooktopwn]

Speaking as someone who's worked on bookcovers for a small publishing house for the last 9 years, I can add that at least in my experience, as a graphic designer/illustrator, you don't get to spend a lot of time with the book itself which hinders your ability to render out a quality cover. You don't get to sit down and read it as the book is often still in edits by the time you are told to make a cover, so all you really have to go off of is the synopsis or if you're lucky the author themselves have a very specific idea in mind. For instance the last cover I did, the author wanted a very simple two tone illustration of a photo he had taken. I got the synopsis but that was it. I didn't get to read the book, I didn't get to really interview the author other than a quick phone call and a few text messages, and I had about two weeks to crank out a cover, one of which I had to spend in a brace due to carpal-tunnel. And two weeks is a decent amount of time for one cover. Sometimes I only have a few days or a week at best to split between several covers. Plus with the advent of self-publishing authors are often reaching for the cheapest options, either doing the covers themselves with stock photos or finding young artists who will pump out a cover in a few days for $50 or less, far lower than a professional, which was around $300 last I checked. So the decline in cover quality goes back to the basics: cheap, good, fast, and you can only choose two. Most go for cheap and fast because they can't wait for the artist to take their time and really sit with the ideas the book is providing. For publishing houses however, it's more about fitting an overall style. I was lucky in that I was part of a small publishing house that allowed me to do illustrations and experiment with my style, while also doing cheap quick photoshop jobs that I might get done in a day. This creates some disjointed looks when looking at that publishers catalogue. Other publishing houses though have far stricter quality control, which limits what can be done with a book cover, as an illustrated cover like the ones you've pointed out might need several revisions, tweaks, and conversations. A simple graphic cover, rather than a painted or illustrated one, needs less work and once the idea is agreed on usually can be done fairly fast. All in all, things are complicated on the other side of the cover and takes a whole lot of work to make it from concept to bookshelf.

[@SqueeaakyB00ts]

Sounds like the fast food version of the book illustration world.

[@jessicawood421]

Fascinating! Thank you for sharing, it’s always good to get a look at both sides 👍

[@oldfashionedboots2774]

Really cool story and all, but can we just appreciate that there are no grammatical errors in that entire thing?

[@oof-rr5nf]

this was really helpful. thank you ❤️

[@coltonray2078]

Well said.

[@lydiasteinebendiksen4269]

Great video, hadn't really thought of it but think I agree, also: Amazing sound design! I don't know who you are, but by using simple tools you created a powerful and evokative sound feel for this video, that I feel really set the tone effectively, while also being interesting and engaging in it's own right. I'm not an expert or anything, I just found myself delighted by the unique feel of the the sound use.

[@Spikerzky]

This is like the 5th time I've come back & watched this video in a year, the way you cut this video to the click in the background track works so well. Masterful editing, gahdamn

[@RSEFX]

I'd summarize this by saying that these sorts of cover designs have made the genre feel generic. The aesthetic of "beautiful meh".

[@gergana5634]

''beautiful meh'' describes this so perfectly well!

[@DefenestrateYourself]

RSEFX That describes the MCU as well honestly

[@charliepie1212]

Horror Books have Lost their Identity, or: The forgotten benefits of judging a book by its cover.

[@Helperbot-2000]

actually u right

[@Qwerty-ks8dn]

Exactly, everything gets judged by appearance, the Cultural Marxist elites would have us abandon all common sense.

[@matthewseaman8021]

Check out the Necroscope series. It's even got bitchin' covers

[@jensanruby6739]

How can one be a Marxist and an elite? In order to be an elite you must own the means of production, in order to be a Marxist you must oppose private ownership of the means of production. Also Marxists such as myself care very heavily about appearances and branding. Why do you think we always use red flags and our symbols are so simple, like the anarchist A? Also elites have a vested interest in good marketing and alot of that is about appearances.

[@matthewseaman8021]

@@jensanruby6739 Easy, embarrassingly so. Marxism always has a ruling class. Someone is always there to be "more equal" in order to ensure "equality" Who do you think orders re-education and death? Marxism is a mode of tricking dumb people into signing up for being less than serfs under a dictator, and cheering all the way until they inevitably starve

[@MidoriNatsume]

God I have how many of these modern covers fall in the "Minimalistic Puke that look exactly the same" pitfall.

[@magicknight13]

Absolutely excellent video, I immediately subscribed! I love all those book seriesyou mentioned like Goosebumps, Tales from the Crypt, and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark!

[@Faliat]

The same thing is actually happening with movies. Both in physical media covers as well as banners on streaming services. It's probably why now you can sit for hours just browsing Netflix or store/library shelves and nothing stands out except the preowned titles with older cover designs. But the difference here is that the more graphical and striking covers have been replaced by cheap-looking renderings or photographs that make the title look more B-movie like than the original even on major releases.

[@tannerbarnes7392]

Video games too. Painters used to have to interpret the images on screen and make them into cover art, leading to crazy and interesting covers. Nowadays, just pose your main character's model in front of a backdrop, add some effects, take a screenshot and call it a day. It's depressing. I can link a video if you're interested. That said, big props to the companies that do reversible covers. A lot of PS4 releases have great ones.

[@Faliat]

@@tannerbarnes7392 To be fair, though, that was back when you couldn't even show what was in the game accurately most of the time on the front cover.

[@7superdaimajin]

@Stale Bagelz Capitalism CREATES culture. People wouldn't be painting or writing at all if they weren't getting paid. Those books wouldn't be on the shelves if they weren't for sale. Where did you study? Patrice Lumumba University?

[@Faliat]

@Stale Bagelz Capitalism? You mean the same Capitalism that made all those classic book, game and movie covers possible in the first place? No. This is mainly because of the homogenisation of culture due to appealing to wider and wider groups of people in order to gain more popularity and not accepting that it's OK to be niche. Capitalism has some element in that, but then like I wrote above, it has for a long time. Something else changed.

[@Faliat]

@@7superdaimajin Nah, people would still be painting or writing if they weren't paid. The difference would be having the time and resources to create works. If we were in a communist society we'd all be too busy doing our state mandated roles to have the time to practice and use creative skills. But while this also still happens with capitalism (my dad was never able to find the time and energy working his 13 hour job to pick up the guitar until he had to become his wife's full time stay at home carer, which he gets paid nothing for and only gets his state carers allowance) , capitalism still enables creating art to be your sole source of income eventually.

[@ShwintyKat]

This sums up my exact feelings on fantasy novels, which I collect in a similar way to your collection of horror. I want the schlocky painted pictures of wizards and dragons and unicorns on the covers, I could give less of a rat's mass about a book if it doesn't catch my eye with a gleaming sword being dragged out of a stone, surrounded by gawking dwarves and dripping stalactites.

[@InPraiseofShadows]

Absolutely! I agree with you 100%, painted covers will almost never age poorly if they are done well to begin with, but if you look at a lot of the graphic design covers from before (even some in the most recent years) they frequently look horribly dated. So I am with you on that, and I have always seen fantasy and horror as two sides of same coin that should even interact more than they do. I love when fantasy stuff gets as dark and upsetting as a horror film or novel would.

[@Hoopla10]

It's probably an issue all niche genres have had over the last 20 years. It feels like they've wanted to remove the niche stigma and attempt to draw it into the literary mainstream. And maybe in some respects they have achieved that, I don't have any data to prove either way. Horror novels for me should have covers that feel "dangerous" to hold let alone read. Much like film posters we've lost their identity along the way which is really sad but also like this video perfectly vocalizes we've lost an important element of why people gravitated to them. How we consume books is changing and I hope in order to fight for market space horror novel covers will regain its identity.

[@Crysomandiaz]

Yes yes yes!!

[@mrroberts7828]

Yeah, there is something bloody glorious about those old covers, nothing beats the classic artists like Frank Frazetta, all rippling muscularity, sumptuous feminine forms, and slavering beasts. I want to feel like I'm viewing a world where the only thing between you and death is your own strength. Now, I don't know what kind of fantasy I'm picking up, and I getting low or high, sword and sorcery, or even a political fantasy, I can't tell, and I end not buying any of them because I'm not getting any kind of sense of adventure in a genre who's primary focus is exactly that.

[@CurtisAlfeld]

Fantasy covers have basically become "attractive people with swords".

[@Forkygolach1]

I came across this slightly by accident but found it a fascinating video. You are a great host and can back up your rationale with some great points and a lot of stunning visuals. Thank you.

[@glitchedoom]

This video got me back into reading a few years ago. Also, thank you so much for introducing Valancourt Books to me, that publisher offers just about everything I'm interested in reading.

[@bingefeller]

I think the horror novels of the 80s and 90s were best. They had a certain charm to them.

[@InPraiseofShadows]

For sure, that is why for me they were so fun to look for in used bookstores.

[@jrobertlysaght]

you could do a serious horror coffee table book from the Dell 'Abyss' book line back in the 90s.

[@shannonm.townsend1232]

They certainly did, and I am glad someone has so artfully coalesced my thoughts on the above mentioned trend in bookcovers. *No mention of those great 2-part covers that featured a misleadingly innocuous image under the title, which was an illusion artfully created by the cutout on the cover, which framed the image out of context, until you opened the cover to reveal usually scenes of quite lurid and.. unseemly debauchery, or cold malice, innuendo & etc. They could be quite jarring, as I recall. They had some kick to them. It was akin to a jump-scare. Supermarkets of the 80s were ride with these, and they did indeed drip with dread.

[@asgrimurhartmannsson]

I personally like Sci-fi covers from before 1980. No matter what the book is about, there's always an elaborate spaceship/station in flaying randomly in space or on the moon. Before 1960 we get guys with goldfish-bowl helmets doing stuff on the moon. Also good. Also in no context with anything. Glorious stuff.

[@eziraphale8436]

i have a few poppy z. brite and anne rice paperbacks from the 80s and 90s and just the covers alone make me so happy. they look so cheesy and i love them

[@mortal2815]

This is what I particularly find difficult to swallow as a painter who is also studying illustration/graphic design. I am more likely to get work illustrating book covers with graphic illustrations than I would actually putting forth paintings that I put my heart and soul into. All too often I hear, "you would do far better on the commercial market if you didn't put in blood," or "you don't want to deter your audience." I found the most authentic art I create is unsettling, but academia and the commercial market try to make us into palatable for the public, instead of genuine creators.

[@InPraiseofShadows]

I’m sorry to hear that you’re going through that, I can imagine that would be extremely frustrating. I hope you find success in painting what you want to be painting, there are loads of people who love dark art on books and I hope you’re able to do that. But it for sure is an issue with publishing, I find myself avoiding Barnes and Noble just because I find it a lot less fun to look at new books than it used to be for me. I make trips to used stores for older titles almost every other week though. I just love that painted style, it never gets old for me at least, and I do hope you can find an outlet for that in your own work.

[@mortal2815]

@@InPraiseofShadows I really appreciate you taking the time to hear out my squabbles about the art/illustration industry. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be granted more freedom with what I make for a living! I consistently battle with what's marketable versus what I want to make, and I know many of my fellow colleagues feel the same way. Used bookstores are always great resources no matter what the genre. There's always lots of gems, bonus points if they have a shop cat!

[@naisargibuch2168]

@@mortal2815 this is so true! I'm a graphic design student as well. And I appreciate this art style and try to make things inspired by it but it is constantly turned down by the faculty of it doesn't get the same amount of appreciation as the others who use the more modern day design for their work. Being more interested in the maximalist style of design, it really difficult to get people to actually be interested in my work when most of the people around me would try to take forward the minimalist style forward just because that's what the trend is right now. I really wish I was being taught about all kinds of art styles and not just what's in right now in the market.

[@treytonhunsaker]

Me and my opinion as an artist: From a business perspective, I think you should create for who is paying, from an artist perspective, you should create from your heart. If you try to do both, you’d probably go mad because your creativity is constantly stifled by what the client might think, and that is exhausting because there’s a lot of decisions to be made in art. But when you are creating a piece from your heart to see what you want to see, it should flow and you should not even be thinking about who else is going to see it. I find it very difficult to try and create with the intention of appealing to the most amount of people, it doesn’t feel like creativity anymore. However, I think you can still be creative and expressive while working in the vision boundaries of a client, they are paying for your work after all and what is an artist without individuality? Make your unsettling, weird, unique art and forget the standards, they are literally imaginary, and although money doesn’t lie, it is not the end all of what makes a great and successful artist.

[@MattWalters123]

Is your name Robert Pickman?

[@ashwinim9655]

The editing on this video is underappreciated. The sound effects and cuts are absolutely on point

[@davidzuk]

I guess the “Growing Things” book cover is accidentally a colorblind test. The only text I could see was Paul Tremblay..

[@realisezmoi]

god i can SMELL the pages of all these books. that universal, totally wonderful secondhand bookstore aroma is wafting through my brain rn. thank you for that! it feels like forever since i've walked through one. can't wait until it's safe to do so again.

[@MattSpoon07]

It's been safe

[@mcoteish]

It was safe to do so when you wrote this comment

[@realisezmoi]

@@mcoteish depends where you live & whether or not you live with immunocompromised people, which i do. for the record, the store i used to go to closed out of precaution because the people who owned it were really old & didn't want to risk it. hope it's safer where you are!

[@danblakeslee3570]

I thought I was the only one that felt this way. I'm tired of looking at a book's cover and not knowing the genre.

[@PaisleySundance]

Great points, Shadows! I love looking through the classic novels in the pulpy section of my local bookstore, even for the art alone. I definitely screenshot those wide shots of the covers for future reading reference.

[@moroseloki1912]

Your my new favorite KZbinr I really appreciate the hardwork in each of these Videos. Thank You.

[@stellafolwarska4216]

*white book with a red line across* Editor: Wow, this really reflects the bloody journey the main character takes to finally uncover the mystery of what happened to his friend at the end of the line. I _love_ it.

[@lukamilosevic661]

It would be good for a book about the history of Belarus

[@christopherreeves7807]

The Stephen King book covers of the 1980s scared the shit out of me as a kid. I'm in my 40s now and they still live in my psyche.

[@funkyweapon1981]

@Frizzurd I used to look at the VHS covers in the horror section of my parents' video store back then all the time.

[@graceknowswhatyoudid3064]

I really wanna own Stephen king books with the old beautiful covers because it makes the whole experience so much better

@@graceknowswhatyoudid3064 Me too. I only have the Cujo, Eyes of the dragon (although it's not horror), Tommyknockers, Regulators, and a few more. I'd like to own IT with the original cover, it's so badass.

[@WilAdams]

Good job. I agree. The old (original) covers for authors like John Saul, Robert McCammon, and Robin Cook were often enough to draw you to the book itself. When I started reading novels, I used to go to the store (our town was too small for an actual book store) where there was a spinning round bookstand, and since my money was limited I could only purchase one. My mom would supervise my selection, and she cringed when I picked up the first John Saul book I ever read. "Suffer the Children'. That original cover all purple with white lettering, and the image of a doll with it's arm snapped off, intrigued me, and even made my mom interested. She read the book before I got started, and by the time I had finished it, our home was filled with Robin Cook's Coma, John Saul's next book Punish the Sinners. She told me the picture of the girl who was half statue half human chilled her. So yes, the cover art does matter.

[@TheDragonman104]

Honestly, I rather have the cover for a horror novel be more interesting rather than just beautiful. I hope to one day write a horror series of my own and have the covers be similar to Goosebumps or the old horror novel covers.

[@jonnybaze]

That’s why I never get the saying “never judge a book by its cover”. Then why do they have covers duh?

[@maddison5120]

Then what would draw you to the book in a library or bookstore? Let's say there's a book that has everything I love in a book, but its cover is so far off from what I'm looking for. Why would I choose it? It would result in me passing by something I might've loved

[@clownworldhereticmyron1018]

Browsing through books visually is thoroughly enjoyable. I won't be looking for anything in particular, just finding things that catch my attention or interest, purely by visual / title.. and I've found absolutely awesome books by doing that. I dont know why judging a book quickly is considered "bad," I can tell within a page or less if a book will be enjoyable to me.

[@jonnybaze]

Waffle Cakes the cover. You’re saying exactly what I’m saying. I judge book by their cover.

[@jonnybaze]

doodily doo exactly. That’s why I’m sad that video stores are gone. As a kid I could spend hours just looks at the covers and reading the backs deciding which one or two was worth the watch. Pretty much solely based on cover and genre. I’ve been burned many times but found many gems.

[@kingusernamelxixthemagnifi3488]

It is supposed to mean that you shouldn't judge the quality of the book based on its cover. Bad cover doesn't equal bad book. However, the saying is used for many other things besides books. The video is about the content of the covers and how they don't represent the content of the novel.

[@colemarie9262]

I seriously almost gasped when you showed the newer Scary Stories books. THAT is blasphemy. An entire generation knows those books from the gory, scary and totally age inappropriate art alone. Come on guys!!

[@rice6022]

cole Marie timestamp?

[@helenthaxter8203]

@@rice6022 9:38

[@oddprimemusic]

I was shocked when I saw them at my kid's book fair a while back.; they replaced ALL the original illustrations throughout the book, not just the cover.

[@dinosaurtreesflowers]

Political correctness. _"People shouldn't be scared! Someone might be offended!"_

[@bowartgirl9143]

Everything was scarier back then 🥰🥰🥰🥰 Now this new horrror movies suckkk

[@emmalipker1132]

I think the cover thing really goes for all books nowadays especially the kids or young adult ones. My mom gave me her books from the 70s and 80s (young adult and kids) and the covers were SO much more appealing. I have some remake covers of the same series and books that she gave me and they are so boring and just ugh... like do they really think adult looking covers with boring colors and fonts will appeal to children???

[@EnergyXDragon]

Very good video! I felt amazing and nostalgic when I saw those old and truly scary horror book covers. I work as a librarian and when I see the new books in the coming book catalogs they really look the similar in these days. Most of them and it is sad... It makes my information seeking hard if the customer tries to tell about the book and he or she only remembers the cover... I miss the old days when the cover itself managed to scare and left a clear picture in my mind....

[@fynnb8537]

This is not only a trend in the Horror Genre. It's as you said in the beginning. Everything looks the same. But not only books. The same goes for album art, product design, poster design and also art in generel that is simply just done to be showcased on the internet. Bright colours, bold statements, minimal approach of imagery, very little character. Just sad to see the decay of originality.

[@trevor0245]

F Y N N tastes change and so does design, things have become very simplified and easy to digest in the hyper fast reality of the internet. But we have people who want better more intricately designed things, hopefully things will change for the better.

[@fynnb8537]

@@trevor0245 Yes taste changes. But there is still different taste, therefore there should be differences in design. When a horror novel looks like a John Green book it is not because people who read horror like the design of John Green books, it is because John Green books sell better and all these books out there (or whatever thing with a cover on it) that look similar are designed for the mass even though they don't have that much of a mass audience like other books, where the cover might fit for audience and contents. It feels like an attempt to make everything look the same to make everyone buy everything because the masses control what is being produced but it results monotony where no one is able to distinguish what fits their taste by looking at the cover. That is simply impractical.

[@karonte16]

exactly!, just remember how lovely and awesome was the covers from Iron Maiden albums....

[@viiviketomaki7284]

I mean it's not like the new wave of minimalism is out of nowhere or the first one. The current wave of minimalism is definitely strongly influenced by stuff people like Saul Bass were doing back in the 50s and 60s. You could see his posters for Bunny Lake is Missing and Vertigo to fit almost perfect as modern horror novel covers. Albeit with maybe different font. Everything comes in waves and atleast the current crop of nice albeit a bit generic minimalist artwork is a hell of a lot better than the photoshopped stock photo nightmare that was the 2000s and early 2010s.

[@fynnb8537]

@@viiviketomaki7284 But it feels like today it is not minimalism as a design but more of a demanded stylistic element to appeal to the masses.

[@PunkExMachina]

I’ve talked to cover artists in the field and sadly artists aren’t that well paid anymore to produce a great illustration for a book. Not only that they are not given the time to do so either. With the amount of time/money artists get paid the best they can do is some graphic font on top. Sometimes is not even artists who do it. Someone with photoshop will just do a generic cover and that’s enough. It is also an issue of horror itself as the industry doesn’t want artists to do something off-putting or scary. The industry thinks readers are just not into that. The result is now horror novels look pretty much the same as any other book. But other non-fiction genres have suffered in different ways. Romance novels covers have suffered a decline in quality that is quite baffling. If you’re reading this and want to be amused look at ‘ modern romance novel book covers’ and then look at ‘vintage romance book cover’ regardless of what you think of the genre look at the actual illustrations and work that goes unto vintage romance books. You could take the font out and they’d be works of art. Meanwhile modern romance books have the most bland stock image couple photo they could find as covers. If you go deeper into non fiction genres look at scifi-romance novels, it’s the same except the man is photoshopped to look blue or alien or is just a picture of abs with a ‘sci fi’ font. Sci-Fi book covers are the same. There were some interesting & thought provoking sci fi covers in the 70s but recently they’re either bland space image with ‘alien’ font on it or granted, good covers works that are trying to be indistinguishable from non fiction books.

[@claudeyaz]

They just want titles that are readable as 1 inch thumbnails on smart phones

[@doppelrutsch9540]

Oh yeah don't get me started on SF covers. Everywhre it's just some bland monochrome planet (if it's a higher concept novel) or even worse, a spaceship which inevitably looks absolutely nothing like anything described in the novel.

[@red_light_3937]

I'm so glad you brought romance. I had the equal and opposite thing as OP here with romance books. I'd get swept away but this gorgeous art work of 40's-70's romance novels & I love just, holding them in my hands when I was a kid in an antique/used book shop. I saw the difference immediately between that experience vs. walking into the Borders/Barnes & Noble shops romance books sections just in the 2000's.

[@nightmaresanyone]

This is so true! Covers have change s much over the last 50 plus years, that it is and can be really decieving......so really check out what the books about before you spedn a huge amount and get taken for it. Great video......be careful, and stay SCARED!!! Richard

[@xkeeb]

I LOVE that the algorithm recommended this to me right at the start of October. Love the video man, can't wait to dive in and see the rest of your content!

[@Cybopath]

This is a problem with design in general. Movie posters have lost their edge, interchangeable Photoshop jobs. Even classic movies get poor covers on blue ray these days.

[@rolanddeschain6089]

Mostly yes and especially on blu ray. But there are still a lot of great movie posters and art around movies. Unfortunately they often use the most boring stuff for the blu ray release.

[@stokesa3122]

Remember when they tried to reprint Scary Stories with tamer, completely different artwork and nobody liked it?

[@swimmyswim417]

If I remember right, they had the cartoonist who illustrated the Series of Unfortunate Events books do the pics for that one. It’s kind of sad, because I like that art style, but it didn’t suit the tone of the book and couldn’t hold a candle to the absolute nightmare fuel of the originals.

[@morganrobinson8042]

How do they not understand the trauma is the point of those books? We love them because they hurt us in ways that never really healed as much as scarred. They're a part of us, but to be that they need to irreparably wrong.

[@CeramicQuill]

The old covers are so minimal and uncanny that it really wrecks havoc on our imaginations. So when you recall it years later, it isn't accurate to what the image was originally. I feel that it was horror done right.

[@swimmyswim417]

Ceramic Quill The Bride was the one picture I had to skip whenever I read through those books in elementary school. And guess what image they chose for the cover of the 3-in-1 hardcover anthology? I was terrified just holding it because it seemed like she’d come to life and bite my fingers off. I had to keep it face-down just so I wouldn’t accidentally see her when I browsed my bookshelf.

[@MrArtVein]

madgirlmuahaha was that the one with the spiders in her face

[@nexusSix_237]

What a wonderful and informative video! Thank you! It's rare that I "like " and subscribe after only watching one video. I'm impressed

[@feywild1758]

This is a fantastic video, and honestly? This exact thing is something I think about every time I go to the library, that I feel like book covers are becoming more and more same-y. I went to a used book store the other day and walked out with three new books based on how much I liked their covers alone. I feel like that unfortunately rarely happens when I go to the library, because the books there are newer and have this problem of same-y covers. I'm glad to know that it's not just me.

[@MomentsofMuse]

Im not a fan of the horror genre but this video has a lot of truth to it about the trends of book covers. This does also apply to modern mediums in general. Good video.

[@InPraiseofShadows]

Thanks! And yeah it is for sure across all books, you have to study the front and back sometimes to even get a slight hint about what the book might actually be about and it has gotten frustrating for me a lot of the time.

[@THATGuy5654]

I get audio books from my library's online collection, and I usually go through their thumbnails looking for stuff that I might like. And I swear, it just gets harder and harder to tell what might be interesting. It'll be something like, "Lord of Dragons," with a cover depicting breaking glass, and a blurb that explains that it's about a city girl returning home after the death of her father to confront her past and find love. Grrr.

[@spencermayborne2366]

oh my god I feel the exact same. I HATE it when there are cool elements in the title (ESPECIALLY DRAGONS) and the story had absolutely nothing to do with those elements. I mean, it must be pretty hard to make your book stand out given that there are literally millions and millions of books in the world, but I swear most books these days have some of the most generic, meaningless images in the front. Stuff like smoke, random animals that probably aren’t in the story, glass, flowers and silhouettes of objects.

[@maya_existing6273]

That's something that I never really thought about before, your video explained this so well while still being quite entertaining. Thank you.

[@MKhixer]

Wow! Wonderful work. You had my attention as well as curiosity. Keep it up.

[@WolfMoonWings]

Idk I miss illustrated book covers. The painted ones. I think typography-heavy book covers are boring and I never buy them. I see a book with an illustrated cover? Instantly catches my eye.

[@saya1720_]

They all look like YA novels tbh. Not saying that it's a bad thing, they all look beautiful but a horror novel should look like a horror novel. My advice: Just hire Ito Junji to design the covers.

[@saya1720_]

@@notfounderrornotfound 👍 You have my best wishes, bro.

[@turtleanton6539]

Yup

[@The_Custos]

Yes, and YA for girls especially.

[@saya1720_]

@@The_Custos Boys don't read YA novels? I thought their target audience is late teens, including both genders. I am a woman and I usually don't like that genre but some of them pretty good like the hunger games series. Edit: Is Harry Potter series consider YA? 🤔

[@The_Custos]

@@saya1720_ books now look like YA for girls, time and time again. HP is for children. Hunger games is overrated.

[@stews9]

Something to consider. I've watched Horror go from mixed in with Mystery novels and not a market category at all, to a major market category found in all bookstores. Then starting in probably the 1990s a backlash from xtians and other creatures of the dark began objecting to them as obscene or degrading. Horror on the shelves shrank, the covers became more neutral, and soon Horror was mixed back into General Fiction with the kinds of bland covers you began this commentary with. So I think at least part of it has been driven by Horror's aura of "evil" in the eyes of prudish do-gooder types who seek always to censor and curb.

[@squidwardtentacles2736]

I agree with you totally, I watched documentary about Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark and controversy around it. Ridiculousness as its worst. It's equally frustrating as I am a Christian and I love horror, I'm an aspiring horror writer. People acting like scary stories are evil and Christians should have nothing to do with it, so I like to ask them "have you actually read the Bible, because there is some terrifying shit in there!" We as humans are the greatest evil there is, and the scariest part of all of that....we hide it.

[@CulainRuledByVenus]

It's much the same with horror movies of the time you specify - the filmmakers usually found a way to deliver the material with a wink and a smirk. I miss the days before people decidedly sought what next will offend them. Thank you for this awesome trip into the past! Cover art is half the reason I choose what to collect, and the reasons you specify apply equally to Science fiction and fantasy from the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

[@RJ_Ehlert]

The new cover for The Cartoonist looks like The Giver instead.

[@RavenStarMedia]

I was thinking the same thing!

[@lindsayejoy]

omg i just googled it after reading your comment and it 100000% looks like that. lololololol so stupid!!!

[@sleepylionking1103]

The Pet Cemetery cover Witt the guy “screaming” is SO BAD

[@TheSansDoesThings]

A Kirin Tale it also even looks like a cover for a comic book.

[@dennismartin5821]

When I was kid, back in 80's my sister had the 1983 copy. With Church the cat on the cover. When she would come home from college, I would get her to read it to me. I would stare at the cover, and think about the story. I'm 39 years old, and I still get that same uneasy feeling, every time I see that cover.

[@how_tragic]

The kid is screaming “graphic design is my passion”

[@MouseGoat]

what about the one where somone just slapped a housecat on it XD "this is a horror" * cute kitten on the front page. *

[@spectralbridee]

Nekogami-Crystal lol i own that one it’s seriously adorable

[@juanmartin606]

Man what an awesome video, great concept and great execution. Thx for it