(Hardcover) (Paperback)
Zack Handlen and Emily VanDerWerff
Monsters of the Week: The Complete Critical Companion to the X-Files
(Abrams Press, Hardcover October 2018, Paperback September 2019)
Listed on The New York Times‘s Holiday Gift Suggestions gift guide list
In 1993, Fox debuted a strange new television show called The X-Files. Little did anyone suspect that the series would become one of the network’s biggest hits—and change the landscape of television in the process. Now, on the occasion of the show’s 25th anniversary, TV critics Zack Handlen and Emily VanDerWerff unpack exactly what made this haunting show so groundbreaking. Witty and insightful reviews of every episode of the series, revised and updated from the authors’ popular A.V. Club recaps, leave no mystery unsolved and no monster unexplained. This crucial collection even includes exclusive interviews with some of the stars and screenwriters, as well as an original foreword by X-Files creator and showrunner Chris Carter. This complete critical companion is the book about The X-Files, the definitive guide whether you’re a lifelong viewer wanting to relive memories of watching the show when it first aired or a new fan uncovering the conspiracy for the first time.
Praise for Monsters of the Week
—Entertainment Weekly
Syfy Wire lists “7 Things We Learned From MONSTERS OF THE WEEK: THE COMPLETE CRITICAL COMPANION TO THE X-FILES”
Read Emily VanDerWerff and Zack Handlen’s interview with X-Files News and read their review of MONSTERS OF THE WEEK
Read an excerpt of MONSTERS OF THE WEEK on AV Club
Den of Geek gives a sneak peek of MONSTERS OF THE WEEK with an excerpt of the book
Read an excerpt of MONSTERS OF THE WEEK focused on the pilot episode of The X-Files on Tor.com
Read an excerpt of MONSTERS OF THE WEEK on Den of Geek
Listen to Emily VanDerWerff’s interview on Intangible Quarter
Read The Cutaway‘s profile of Emily VanDerWerff
Emily VanDerWerff is the critic-at-large for Vox and the first TV editor of the A.V. Club. Her work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Salon, and Grantland. She lives in Los Angeles.