The Pleasures of HorrorPleasures of Horror is a stimulating and insightful exploration of horror fictions—literary, cinematic and televisual—and the emotions they engender in their audiences. The text is divided into three sections. The first examines how horror is valued and devalued in different cultural fields; the second investigates the cultural politics of the contemporary horror film; while the final part considers horror fandom in relation to its embodied practices (film festivals), its "reading formations" (commercial fan magazines and fanzines) and the role of special effects. Pleasures of Horror combines a wide range of media and textual examples with highly detailed and closely focused exposition of theory. It is a fascinating and engaging look at responses to a hugely popular genre and an invaluable resource for students of media, cultural and film studies and fans of horror. |
Contents
Theorizing the Pleasures of Horror | 11 |
Hesitation and Shock | 33 |
Restoration and Repetition | 46 |
The Pleasures of Horror in Fan Practices | 71 |
Challenging Censorship | 91 |
Beyond Generic Horror | 109 |
True Horror | 129 |
Theoryhorror | 145 |
Beyond Postmodern Horror | 161 |
Conclusion Theorizing the Displeasures of Horror | 198 |
212 | |
237 | |
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Common terms and phrases
academic aesthetic affect analysed Anno Dracula argue argument art-horror Blair Witch Project Bourdieu Buffy Carroll Carroll's censorship Chapter cinema cognitive cognitivists consider contemporary critics cultural capital cultural categories diegetic discourses of pleasure discursively constructed display distinction Dracula emotion example fan culture fan knowledge fan subculture fandom fantastic field of horror Freud gender genre's hence hesitation horror fandom horror fans horror fiction horror film horror genre horror texts horror's pleasures ibid interpretation intertextual intertextual subcultural capital Jancovich Kermode Kim Newman Kim Newman's Lake Crane linked literary London monster moral narrative Newman's fictions Noël Carroll non-fans object ontological performative pleasures of horror position postmodern postmodern horror psychoanalytic readers reading reflexively relation representations repressed scared Schneider Scream sense serial killer specific stalker films Stephen King suggesting supernatural television textual agency theoretical theories of horror Todorov's true horror TV horror uncanny University Press viewers Waller X-Files