The National Retail Federation expects 72% of Americans to celebrate Halloween this year and to spend a combined $11.6 billion to do it.

We love candy. We love costumes and decorations. And more than

anything, we love stories that make us want to sleep with the light on. From KERA in Dallas,

this is think. I'm Chris Boyd. From the very earliest days of our history as a nation, Americans

have sought out terrifying entertainment. And what

might seem at a distance like just a ghost or witch or vampire story can often be traced directly

to the particular anxieties plaguing this country at any given time. Changing roles for women,

the arrival of immigrants from new places, and our long and shameful history

of chattel slavery and racism. Jeremy Dauber is professor of Jewish literature and American

Studies at Columbia University. His new book is called American Scary, a history of horror

from Salem to Stephen King and beyond. Jeremy, welcome to think.

Thank you so much.

It's great to be here.

Humans are wired to pay attention to what scares us so we can avoid things that might kill us.

That is universal.

I wonder then what is unique about American horror?

Well, you know, I think that's exactly it, is that we take these universal fears, and depending on our history, our cultural background, our particular circumstances,

they take very specific flavor. To take a very silly example, if you were in a geographic locale

without spiders, you probably wouldn't find giant

spiders nearly as scary, right? But I spend most of my time in the book talking about sort of

much more particular fears that are related to American history and culture.

So there are two things we are broadly afraid of. One is like these cosmic or supernatural threats that remind us of how small and powerless we are.

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