Joshua Hoffine: Horror Photography
Joshua Hoffine
Dark Regions Press
February 25th, 2018
Reviewed by Brian M. Sammons

Do you ever think of horror photography? If you don’t, then you should, as it can be both amazingly beautiful and wonderfully spooky. If you do think of horror photography then chances are good you think of photographer Josh Hoffine. Sure there are others who take the odd creepy photo, but Mr. Hoffine has made a career out of it and in my opinion no one does it better. So it’s about time someone brought out a book full of these frightful photos, and thankfully Dark Regions Press, publishers of many a great book, did just that. How did their efforts turn out? Well, let’s find out.

First, this is big book. The coffee-est of coffee table books. And by big I mean it measures 12 inches by inches and has 150+ pages on premium photo paper with a glossy finish. On those pages you will find 74 full-color and full-sized photos spanning over 13 years of his dedication to the craft. There are a bunch of behind-the-scenes photos, sketches, and production notes, five new photo shoots exclusive to this book, writings from Joshua Hoffine on horror, commentary about specific photographs, his inspirations, and more.

But how about the meat of this book, those photographs? Well, it’s hard to express to you how great these photos are with words. I mean, a picture is worth a thousand words and all that. But I will say that I liked each and every one of them, but I do have my favorites. “Balloons” (2004) is Joshua’s take on the evil clown thing and with shades of IT, it is one that I always liked. “Basement” (2006) is part of what I guess you can call children in peril series and it shows exactly why it’s never a good idea to go into the basement…alone…and in the dark. Isolation (2007) is a gruesome example of self-cannibalization. Yummy. “Lady Bathory” (2009) is my wife’s favorite Hoffine photo. Good thing I’m not a virgin, teenage girl or I would be really worried. His “Jack the Ripper” series is surprisingly gruesome and effective. His ode to zombies, “Last Stand” (2011) is far better than anything The Walking Dead has done for the last three seasons. And of course I like Joshua’s homages to H.P. Lovecraft with his “Pickman’s Masterpiece” (2011) series and his truly remarkable “Innsmouth” (2015) series. There are more here, much more, but this gives you a taste of what you could find in this book.

Joshua Hoffine: Horror Photography is available in case laminate trade hardcover and slipcased deluxe signed hardcover with dust jacket. You really can’t go wrong with either version as both are big and beautiful in the extreme. So consider this book highly recommended and if you want to class up your library a bit you can get a copy for yourself directly from the publisher HERE.