The Soul of Wes Craven

 NOW AVAILABLE!

“Finally, the Bible is written for the cult of Wes Craven! … The reason Wes Craven is often overlooked and taken for granted is because this book didn’t exist. Now it does, and we have no more excuses.”

- Grady Hendrix, author of Paperbacks from Hell and The Final Girl Support Group

 

“Illuminating and touching, I learned even more about the man who changed my life by casting me as Nancy Thompson in A Nightmare on Elm Street. This intimate, well-researched look into his life expands my appreciation of the maestro.”

- Heather Langenkamp, star of A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare

 

“Startling, inspiring, and often moving, this titanic biography of Craven bursts open both how art can save us—and what we do to hamstring our finest artists.”

- Daniel Kraus, co-author of The Living Dead and The Shape of Water

 

“This book is the definitive account of Craven’s life and work, put together with passion, insight and intellect worthy of the master himself.”

- Andrew Kasch, co-director DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy

 

“With patience, dexterity and assiduous research, Joseph Maddrey excavates the heart and soul of a horror movie legend. The Soul of Wes Craven reveals unseen facets of the beloved director, and in the process uncovers a poet, a philosopher, a psychologist and one of horror’s great thinkers. This book bubbles with stunning revelations, fascinating connections, and new stories, never before told, about the life and times of this icon of terror.”

-  John Kenneth Muir, author of Wes Craven: The Art of Horror and creator of Enter the House Between

 

“As a screenwriter working with Wes Craven, I knew I had entered a magical world but I barely knew what a profound and remarkable man I was getting to know. Joseph Maddrey’s book allows us to discover the brilliance, the painful journey and the triumph of an extraordinary life. You will be as lucky to meet Wes in these pages as I was in real life.”

- Bruce Joel Rubin, screenwriter of Deadly Friend, Ghost, and Jacob’s Ladder

 

"The battle over the soul of Wes Craven goes to Joseph Maddrey, no contest. His comprehensive exploration of Craven's career leaves no nightmare unturned, offering up a humane portrait of a horror icon."

- Clay McLeod Chapman, author of What Kind of Mother and Ghost Eaters

 

“An inspiration for indie filmmakers of every genre. Maddrey chronicles Craven’s curious path from rebel college professor to horror film icon. The financial challenges, artistic compromises and unimaginable triumphs are wildly entertaining as Craven struggles to direct his way out of the grindhouse and into movie mainstream. “

- Peter Filardi, screenwriter of Flatliners and The Craft

 

"Those who think of Wes Craven mainly as the father of Freddy will undoubtedly be surprised by this compelling portrait of a complex, rarely satisfied artist, while hardcore Craven fans will be delighted by new revelations and keen insight. Joseph Maddrey's The Soul of Wes Craven is a vital, valuable addition to any library of definitive filmmaker biographies or horror movie studies."

- Lisa Morton, Bram Stoker Award-winning author and screenwriter

 

“Wes Craven was a filmmaker of golden talents. His trove is sinister, vivid of wit. Impeccably fraught. He was also charming, effortlessly astute; observant as a spy. The gifted Joseph Maddrey has brilliantly captured the magic of a filmic icon in his long overdue The Soul of Wes Craven.”

- Richard Christian Matheson, author of Created By and The Ritual of Illusion

 

“Overwhelmingly and understandably identified as a master of horror, Wes Craven was widely viewed as a filmmaker lurking behind a Halloween fright mask. With his incredibly detailed and engagingly written The Soul of Wes Craven, Joseph Maddrey brilliantly peers behind that mask to reveal the true face, heart and, yes, soul, of a deceptively complex and influential writer and director. Anyone seeking a comprehensive and genuine understanding of the life and work of Wesley Earl Craven from Cleveland, Ohio, will find this book as insightful and intriguing as it is invaluable.”

- Mark Dawidziak, author of A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe and Everything I Need to Know I Learned in The Twilight Zone

 

“An incredible, insightful, and revelatory look at the life of a genre icon. Filled with fantastic stories, captivating new details, and plenty of heart, this is the love letter tapestry of a literary, philosophical, and spiritual life that Wes Craven—and every film lover—deserves.”

- Thommy Hutson, screenwriter of Scream: The Inside Story and Truth or Dare

 

“Like its protagonist, the book is an intelligent and inspiring treat for genre fans and cinephiles alike. It’s got soul. And heart. And guts. But mostly, it’s entertaining as hell.”

- John Esposito, screenwriter of Creepshow and Stephen King’s Graveyard Shift

"The Soul of Wes Craven is beautifully written. It's funny, it's thoughtful, and it's even profound. I was deeply moved by this tour through Wes Craven's life. This is one of the best biographies I've ever read, and it's almost certainly the best book I've read about someone in the world of horror. All fans should read the book. Then we should all go back and re-assess the films with greater insight on their creator."

- Mark Sieber, author of He Who Types Between the Rows 

 

Love Joseph Maddrey's The Soul of Wes Craven so much that I was sad to finish. A deeply researched dive into Craven's life & career that paints a clear picture of who he was & makes you look at ALL of his work in a new way. Plus insights into his unmade projects. It's ESSENTIAL.

- John Squires, Bloody Disgusting

 

Check out John Kenneth Muir's interview with the author.

It's Only a Movie!

In 2012, I was brainstorming a book about metaphysical horror films like Serpent and the Rainbow,  Angel Heart, The Believers, Ghost, Flatliners, and Jacob’s Ladder. When I started doing my research, I learned that the writer of Ghost and Jacob's Ladder, Bruce Joel Rubin, hosted a weekly meditation class just ten minutes away from my home. Before that, I had been attending meditation sessions with a friend, so the overlap intrigued me. I found myself wondering if/how Bruce's meditation practice was related to his creative writing process.

 

For the next two years, I attended Bruce's meditation class and got to know him as a person. Eventually, in 2014, I asked if he might be interested in writing a book about the intersections of his spiritual life and his art. To me, the idea was more interesting than my plan to write a book about metaphysical horror films.

 

Ten years later, the Bruce Joel Rubin book exists—but it’s much more than I initially imagined it would be. I spent a full year poring over old interviews, listening to Bruce's recorded meditation talks, and interviewing Bruce at length. During that time, I also organized his personal archives (old scripts—produced and unproduced, research materials, promotional materials, reviews, etc.) for donation to the library of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science. The archive project led me to write an in-depth article on the film Deadly Friend as well as a short book about the film Brainstorm. But, at a certain point, the Bruce Joel Rubin biography project faded into the background. 

 

I had compiled a 53,000-word manuscript—a chronological selection of first-person stories—but Bruce thought the manuscript was incomplete, that it wasn’t personal enough, and it didn’t have a proper ending. For a while, he encouraged me to add my voice to the manuscript, to add historical context to his story. Although I added some supporting quotes from other sources, I avoided adding my own voice because I didn’t feel like this was my story to tell, or that my voice belonged in Bruce’s story. As a result, the manuscript sat on the shelf for several years.

 

In 2022, author Paul Cronin—a family friend of the Rubins—asked to read the manuscript. He encouraged Bruce to flesh out the existing manuscript, and posed a couple of precise questions that got Bruce writing. He also offered to publish the finished book. 

 

What happened next is that the manuscript morphed into a true, intimate autobiography of an important cinematic storyteller, expressing Bruce's life, art, and worldview in a way that only he could. It’s Only a Movie! is an important document for anyone who cares about film or screenwriting, surviving Hollywood, evolving as a storyteller, evolving as a human being, or finding meaning in life (and death). It is exactly the type of book I love--one that subtly affects the reader's life by asking big questions.

 

Via his imprint Sticking Place Books, Paul Cronin has also published a worthy companion book. Three Visionary Screenplays gathers unproduced spec scripts that seem like forerunners to Bruce’s most celebrated film work. To my mind, the screenplay “Quasar” is the missing link between Stanley Kubrick’s groundbreaking 2001: A Space Odyssey and Brainstorm. “Teratoma” is a metaphysical body horror movie that's every bit as dark and challenging as Jacob’s Ladder. “Secrets of the Astral Plane” is a mind-bending supernatural thriller as audacious and as heartfelt as Ghost. For anyone interested in any of Bruce's best-known work, Three Visionary Screenplays will be a revelation.

 

Both books are now available in hardback and paperback editions. It’s Only a Movie! is also available in e-book format, and as an audiobook (read by Bruce himself) on Audible. My friend Tony Mercer edited the latter project, and he did an amazing job. Obviously, I’m biased… but I am also extremely proud to have played a small role in bringing these two books to life.

 

If you want to hear more about the books, you can listen to an interview Bruce and I did for Mike White's The Projection Booth podcast. And if you want to read the books, you can find links for ordering them HERE.