Book Review: ‘Horror on the Brain’ by Austin Lim

Book Review: ‘Horror on the Brain’ by Austin Lim
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Updated 11 May 2025
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Book Review: ‘Horror on the Brain’ by Austin Lim

Book Review: ‘Horror on the Brain’ by Austin Lim

Why do we get a kick out of being scared? Why do we find it difficult to look away from a train wreck? In “Horror on the Brain: The Neuroscience Behind Science Fiction,” neuroscientist Austin Lim takes a scalpel to that question — examining fear, not just as a feeling nor merely as a survival mechanism, but as a thrill, and even a form of entertainment. 

Published recently by Prometheus Books, the work dives into the science of what horror does to our brains and why we keep coming back for more.

“Curiosity exists only because of the unknown. Conveniently, the unknown is also the birthplace of horror,” writes Lim. “Even before literacy, people had been making haunting ‘what-if’ stories about the biggest unknowable: what happens after death.”

I was hooked.

Lim, who teaches neuroscience at DePaul University in the US, has made a career of blending biology with pop culture. He brings that dynamic energy to this book, cutting through academic jargon to explain the science behind it: how blood, suspense and dread dig into our brain’s deepest wiring. And why. 

Each chapter dissects a different horror hallmark: jump scares, body horror, creepy music, monsters — even killer AI. Lim shows how horror stories hijack our neural pathways, from the amygdala’s panic response to the brain’s craving for novelty and resolution.

He argues that horror is more than shock value; it is a mental playground where we rehearse danger, confront taboos and make sense of the world’s chaos. Being scared jumpstarts us. Like a rollercoaster, that rush of blood and brush with danger make us feel alive.

Among the most provocative insights is his take on gore and violence. Why do we flinch — yet keep watching?

Lim explains how exposure to violence can affect empathy; how cultural background shapes what we fear and why some viewers are desensitized, while others are rattled for days.

“Horror on the Brain” is part neuroscience, part social commentary. A wicked read.

Lim also unpacks horror in literature and speculative fiction, tracing how science fiction from “Frankenstein” to “Black Mirror” taps into the same neural circuitry as slasher films. 

Lim’s writing is sharp and crystal clear. You do not need a science degree to follow — just a curious mind and maybe a strong stomach. 

This book will make you think twice about what really makes your skin crawl — and why you like it.


What We Are Reading Today: The History of Money

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Updated 21 July 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: The History of Money

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  • In this book, McWilliams takes the readers across the world, from the birthplace of money in ancient Babylon to the beginning of trade along the Silk Road

Author: David McWilliams

In this eye-opening global history, economist David McWilliams charts the relationship between humans and money — from clay tablets in Mesopotamia to cryptocurrency in Silicon Valley.

McWilliams shows that money is central to every aspect of our civilization, and from the political to the artistic. According to this book, money defines the relationship between worker and employer, buyer and seller, merchant and producer. It also defines the bond between the governed and the governor, and the state and the citizen.

In this book, McWilliams takes the readers across the world, from the birthplace of money in ancient Babylon to the beginning of trade along the Silk Road.

 


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Beepedia’

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Updated 20 July 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Beepedia’

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  • Explore the many wonders of bee morphology, behavior, and ecology, and learn about the role of bees in agriculture, art, literature, and religion

Author: LAURENCE PACKER

“Beepedia” is a one-of-a-kind celebration of bees, from A to Z. Featuring dozens of alphabetical entries on topics ranging from pollination and beekeeping to the peculiar lifestyles of cuckoo bees and carrion-eating vulture bees, this enticing, pocket-sized compendium takes you on an unforgettable journey into the remarkable world of bees.

Explore the many wonders of bee morphology, behavior, and ecology, and learn about the role of bees in agriculture, art, literature, and religion.

 


What We Are Reading Today: ‘A Beautiful Mind’

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Updated 21 July 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘A Beautiful Mind’

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  • The 2001 movie starring Russell Crowe is certainly gripping and brought Nash’s story to a huge audience

Author: Sylvia Nasar

Sylvia Nasar’s “A Beautiful Mind” from 1998 chronicles the extraordinary life of John Nash, the mathematician who shared the 1994 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences with John Harsanyi and Reinhard Selten for groundbreaking work in game theory. 

Nasar explores Nash’s genius, his battle with schizophrenia, and his unexpected recovery, crafting a rich portrait of one of the 20th century’s most complex minds. 

Born in Bluefield, West Virginia, Nash’s exceptional intellect distinguished him from an early age.

Nasar carefully traces his academic journey, spotlighting revolutionary concepts like the Nash equilibrium, transformative for economics and strategic thought.

Nasar also unflinchingly details his paranoia and delusions, and the heavy toll they took on his career and family. Most compelling is Nash’s eventual recovery — a slow, medically unusual journey central to his story.

Nasar’s writing blends insight with precision. She weaves personal history, scientific context, and accessible explanations, making the mathematician graspable while honoring his resilience. This balance ensures value for scholars and casual readers alike. 

The 2001 movie starring Russell Crowe is certainly gripping and brought Nash’s story to a huge audience. I remember being moved by it myself, but it takes massive creative liberties, simplifying the science and dramatizing his relationships for the screen. 

I would suggest reading Nasar’s book by way of contrast as it feels like it uncovers the real, layered truth behind the headlines.

After reading it I appreciated so much more deeply the messy, complex reality of his life as opposed to the cinematic hero arc.

It is not just more accurate; it offers a richer, more profound understanding of who Nash truly was — honoring both his towering intellect and the quiet, enduring strength he and his wife Alicia showed. 

This elegant mathematical insight, a result of his turbulent genius, transcends economics to illuminate everything, from nuclear standoffs to everyday competition.

That such a universal principle emerged amid his personal struggle with mental illness makes “A Beautiful Mind” not just a biography, but a testament to the fragile duality of brilliance.

 


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Birds of India’

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Updated 19 July 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Birds of India’

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  • Comprehensive and definitive, this is an indispensable guide for anyone birding in this part of the world

Authors: RICHARD GRIMMETT, CAROL INSKIPP, AND TIM INSKIPP 

The best field guide to the birds of the Indian subcontinent is now even better.

Thoroughly updated and substantially expanded, this third edition of “Birds of India” features revised color plates, text, and distribution maps, and 64 more pages than the previous edition.

Comprehensive and definitive, this is an indispensable guide for anyone birding in this part of the world.

 

 


What We Are Reading Today: ‘How to Have Willpower’

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Updated 18 July 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘How to Have Willpower’

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  • In the spirit of the best ancient self-help writing, Plutarch, a pagan Greek philosopher and historian, offers a set of practical recommendations and steps we can take to resist pressure and to stop saying “yes” against our better judgment

Authors: Prudentius and Plutarch 

Edited and translated by Michael Fontaine

“How to Have Willpower” brings together two profound ancient meditations on how to overcome pressures that encourage us to act against our own best interests—Plutarch’s essay On Dysopia or How to Resist Pressure and Prudentius’s poetic allegory Psychomachia or How to Slay Your Demons. 

Challenging the idea that humans are helpless victims of vice, these works—introduced and presented in vivid, accessible new prose translations by Michael Fontaine, with the original Latin and Greek texts on facing pages—emphasize the power of personal choice and the possibility of personal growth, as they offer insights and practical advice about resisting temptation.

In the spirit of the best ancient self-help writing, Plutarch, a pagan Greek philosopher and historian, offers a set of practical recommendations and steps we can take to resist pressure and to stop saying “yes” against our better judgment. And in a delightfully different work, Prudentius, a Latin Christian poet, dramatizes the necessity to actively fight temptation through the story of an epic battle within the human soul between fierce warrior women representing our virtues and vices.