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More About This Textbook
Overview
From literature and urban legends to film and television, horror's ability to thrill has made it an integral part of modern entertainment. Thomas Fahy and twelve other scholars reveal the underlying themes of the genre in The Philosophy of Horror. Examining the evolving role of horror, the contributing authors investigate works such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818), horror films of the 1930s, Stephen King's novels, Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of The Shining (1980), and Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960). Also examined are works that have largely been ignored in philosophical circles, including Truman Capote's In Cold Blood (1965), Patrick Süskind's Perfume (1985), and James Purdy's Narrow Rooms (2005). The analysis also extends to contemporary forms of popular horror and "torture-horror" films of the last decade, including Saw (2004), Hostel (2005), The Devil's Rejects (2005), and The Hills Have Eyes (2006), as well as the ongoing popularity of horror on the small screen.
The Philosophy of Horror celebrates the strange, compelling, and disturbing elements of horror, drawing on interpretive approaches such as feminist, postcolonial, Marxist, and psychoanalytic criticism. The book invites readers to consider horror's various manifestations and transformations since the late 1700s, probing its social, cultural, and political functions in today's media-hungry society.
Editorial Reviews
From the Publisher
""The Philosophy of Horror provides new insights into a familiar genre. And, like the Cedar Point commercial that comes on each autumn, advertising family-friendly October weekends, it's 'fun scary, not scary scary.'"--The Plain Dealer" --
""[The Philosophy of Horror] demonstrates how horror films essentially make us philosophical skeptics for a couple hours before we return to everyday life.... it's "fun scary, not scary scary." It definitely made me chuckle."--The Plain Dealer" --
""It's precisely the extreme nature of horror that makes it such a lightning rod for debates about hot-topic issues within American culture -- like racism, women's rights, consumerism and sexuality -- along with broader issues of morality....Philosophy of Horror addresses the latter, with contributions about the hidden messages of everything from The Birds to Hostel."--Thomas Rogers,Salon" --
""Fahy…examines the reasons why audiences continue to revisit horror and why fear is the underpinning of some of American culture's most well known television and film productions and works of literature."--tucsoncitizen.com" --
""The Philosophy of Horror is an intelligently written, perceptive, engrossing work that attempts to answer many disturbing questions. The arguments are presented in a clear manner and are supported by appropriate examples…The [book] is recommended not only for enthusiasts of the genre, but also for anyone who has ever wondered why some people enjoy horror films. The book raises some questions about our own psyche worth pondering about."--Mayra Calvani, New York Journal of Books" --
""[Fahy] gathers essays by 12 philosophers, literary scholars, and others on the appeal and repulsion of horror films and the questions they raise about fear, safety, justice, and suffering."--Moving Image Archives" --
""A selection of 14 essays exploring ways horror plays with philosophical concepts, primarily looking at films and TV, but also fiction."--Locus" --
""The philosophy of Horror demonstrate the range and diversity of purposes served by horror films and fiction."--Booksquawk.com" --
""If you wish to have your horizons broadened, and new ideas brought up and explored, then you'd do well to pick this up."--Rock Star Journalist" --
Product Details
Related Subjects
Meet the Author
Thomas Fahy, director of the American Studies Program at Long Island University, is author or editor of numerous publications, including Staging Modern American Life, Freak Shows and the Modern American Imagination, and two recent horror novels, Sleepless and The Unspoken. He lives in New York City.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction Thomas Fahy 1
Horror and the Idea of Everyday Life: On Skeptical Threats in Psycho and The Birds Philip J. Nickel 14
Through a Mirror, Darkly: Art-Horror as a Medium for Moral Reflection Philip Tallon 33
The Justification of Torture-Horror: Retribution and Sadism in Saw, Hostel, and The Devil's Rejects Jeremy Morris 42
Hobbes, Human Nature, and the Culture of American Violence in Truman Capotes In Cold Blood Thomas Fahy 57
Making Their Presence Known: TV's Ghost-Hunter Phenomenon in a "Post-" World Jessica O'Hara 72
The Vampire with a Soul: Angel and the Quest for Identity Amy Kind 86
Ideological Formations of the Nuclear Family in The Hills Have Eyes Lorena Russell 102
Zombies of the World, Unite: Class Struggle and Alienation in Land of the Dead John Lutz 121
The Fall of the House of Ulmer: Europe vs. America in the Gothic Vision of The Black Cat Paul A. Cantor 137
From Domestic Nightmares to the Nightmare of History: Uncanny Eruptions of Violence in King's and Kubrick's Versions of The Shining John Lutz 161
"Hot with Rapture and Cold with Fear": Grotesque, Sublime, and Postmodern Transformations in Patrick Süskinds Perfume Susann Cokal 179
Shock Value: A Deleuzean Encounter with James Purdy's Narrow Rooms Robert F. Gross 199
Making Monsters: The Philosophy of Reproduction in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and the Universal Films Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein Ann C. Hall 212
Kitsch and Camp and Things That Go Bump in the Night; or, Sontag and Adorno at the (Horror) Movies David MacGregor Johnston 229
Contributors 245
Index 249