From blood-thirsty vampires to the vengeful undead, join us as American pop and folk culture specialist W. Scott Poole traces the origins of the contemporary genre of horror to the devastation of World War I in an eye-opening conversation based upon his 2018 book, Wasteland: The Great War and the Origins of Modern Horror. Following the works of famous figures like director F.W. Murnau, actor Bela Lugosi and writers Arthur Machen and H.P. Lovecraft, Poole argues that the trauma of the Great War and its calamitous costs reappear in a multitude of macabre forms, echoing the unprecedented horrors of the trenches, haunting the screen and page through today.  Presented in partnership with the Friends of the Kansas City Public Library