The Horror Reader

About this book

Horror has been one of the most spectacular and controversial genres in both cinema and fiction - its wild excesses relished by some vilified by many others. Often defiantly marginal it nevertheless inhabits the very fabric of everyday life providing us with ways of imagining and classifying our world; what is evil and what is good; what is monstrous and what is normal; what can be seen and what should remain hidden. The Horror Reader brings together 29 key articles to examine the enduring resonance of horror across culture. Spanning the history of horror in literature and film and discussing texts from Britain the United States Europe the Caribbean and Hong Kong it explores a diversity of horror forms from classic gothic literature like Frankenstein and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde to contemporary serial killers horror film fanzines and low-budget movies such as The Leech Woman and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Themes addressed include: the fantastic horror and psychoanalysis monstrosities different Frankensteins vampires queer horror American gothic splatter and slasher films race and ethnicity lowbrow and low-budget horror new regional horror. The Reader opens with an introduction to the field of horror by Ken Gelder and each thematic section includes an introductory preface. There is also a comprehensive bibliography of horror literature.