Reviewed by Nicholus Schroeder for Readers' Favorite

Psychology of Horror Villains, Survivors, and Victims: Volume 1 Movie Edition by S. L. Yarbrough delves deep into the psyche of numerous fictional and non-fictional characters. The book has sections with a mental affliction as their main theme, so for instance, if the mental disorder is schizophrenia, then the characters mentioned will suffer from that disorder. The motivations behind the killing rampages that fictional serial killers such as Jason and Michael Myers go on are also analyzed by the author and broken down so the reader can better understand them. At the end of each section, a set of real-world situations that have people suffering from the aforementioned affliction in that particular section will be shared with the reader, so you’ll get to know more about how that disorder affects people in the real world. There’s also an extensive glossary available if you want to learn more about certain mental health issues. In a nutshell, if you want to know why people’s deteriorating mental health leads them to do horrible things, and how they could’ve been helped, whilst also educating yourself about the various mental health illnesses that affect people, then this book is for you.

Psychology of Horror Villains, Survivors, and Victims was a book I enjoyed reading as it kept me engaged and interested throughout. The sheer number of characters analyzed was enough to get me hooked, and S. L. Yarbrough’s meaningful commentary and analysis of the situations made it even more difficult to put down. It’s hard to put it into words, but it’s as if the author was sitting beside me and explaining what led to this outcome and how it could’ve been prevented. The commentary was just spectacular and the best I’ve ever come across in a book or on-screen. Another thing I loved about this book is that the author included some real-world examples of people suffering from the mental illness mentioned at the beginning of the section. Those examples helped me to grasp just how dangerous someone suffering from certain disorders could potentially be. I also learned quite a lot about different disorders, how to spot the early warning signs, and how to help the afflicted. Getting to understand some of my favorite horror film characters such as John Kramer, Jason and Michael Myers was also fun. This book, overall, was just such a blast to read and that’s why I’m certain readers who love horror and want to educate themselves on mental illnesses will definitely love it.