Projected Fears: Horror Films and American Culture

by Kendall R. Phillips

Overview

A revised and expanded edition of this popular book that traces the cultural history of the American horror film by focusing on individual films that helped to define or redefine the genre from Dracula (1931) to Get Out (2017).

This book examines thirteen films that redefined the notion of cinematic horror and influenced the films that followed: Dracula (1931), The Thing (1951), Psycho (1960), Night of the Living Dead (1968), The Exorcist (1973), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Halloween (1978), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Scream (1996), The Sixth Sense (1999), The Blair Witch Project (1999), Saw (2004), and Get Out (2017). Carefully situating each film in relation to the history of the genre and the cultural contexts in which it emerged, the book explains why certain horror films create a connection with a wide audience.

Since the publication of the first edition in 2005, the horror genre has become even more culturally prominent and commercially successful. The genre has also shown rapid development, and several prominent trends have emerged in the 21st century. This edition includes two additional chapters that focus on Saw (2004) and Get Out (2017), as James Wan's Saw helped to launch a highly successful franchise as well as the subgenre of “torture porn,” while Jordan Peele's Get Out inaugurated a broader cultural conversation about the power of horror narratives to interrogate systems of ideology and oppression.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798765122198
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	11/13/2025
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.95(h) x 0.85(d)

About the Author

Kendall R. Phillips is Professor of communication and rhetorical studies at Syracuse University, USA, where he teaches courses on rhetoric, popular culture, and public memory. He is author of several books on horror, including A Place of Darkness: The Rhetoric of Horror in Early American Cinema (2018) and Dark Directions: Romero, Craven, Carpenter and the Modern Horror Film (2012).

Table of Contents

List of Images
Acknowledgements

Introduction to 2nd Edition
Introduction to 1st Edition
1. Dracula (1931)
2. The Thing From Another World (1951)
3. Psycho (1960)
4. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
5. The Exorcist (1973) and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
6. Halloween (1978)
7. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
8. Scream (1996)
9. The Sixth Sense (1999) and The Blair Witch Project (1999)
10. Saw (2004)
11. Get Out (2017)
Conclusion

Appendix: Conclusion to the 1st Edition
Selected Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

A. John Graves

"Phillips has provided deep and probing insights into the relationship between ten classic horror films and the cultures they reflect. This is a challenging but rewarding read for serious fans, film buffs, and filmmakers, as well as scholars. Even the writers and directors of these classics stand to be enlightened by learning of the impact, scope, and significance of their realized concepts."

Thomas W. Benson

"Kendall Phillips explores the cultural resonances and rhetorical form of American horror films of the 20th century. He takes us from Dracula (1931) through Psycho (1960), The Exorcist (1973), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), and other films that have shocked and horrified us, in a lucid account of the cultural contexts that gave them birth and influenced their reception. His lively and wide ranging account will certainly send readers back to the films for another look."

Charlton McIlwain

"Projected Fears goes well beyond being exemplary film and media criticism. Kendall Phillips provides an intriguing and cogent synthesis of visual, textual, and cultural analyses that present a unique, useful, and welcomed reframing, retelling, and reinterpretation of human history and memory through the lens of one of our most important and popular forms of artistic expression—not to mention a genre that has long been a focus of public fascination—the horror film."

Editorial Reviews

With the addition of The Blair Witch Project, Saw, and Get Out, Phillips extends his excellent analysis of the rhetoric of horror film to present day horror and makes this book even more essential for teachers, researchers, and lovers of horror at any level.” —Michele Ramsey, Associate Professor, Communication Arts & Sciences and Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies, Penn State Berks, USA

“Kendall Philips's Projected Fears is a keenly argued exegesis of American horror films and the cultural contexts from which they emerge. This new edition, which includes two new chapters – on Saw and Get Out respectively – and a new introduction assessing the place of horror films within contemporary academic discourse, will – like the first – make an excellent teaching resource and generate much debate within and beyond Horror Studies.” —Johnny Walker, Head of Visual Communication and Digital Cultures and Co-founder of the Horror Studies Research Group, Northumbria University, UK

“Projected Fears is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in understanding the relationship between culture and horror. Phillips's theory of popular horror films as “resonant violations” is foundational for understanding how these movies jolt viewers into new ways of thinking about their social and political contexts. This second edition provides additional insight into horror cinema's growing popularity and status as a subject of academic inquiry. The two new chapters on the movies Saw and Get Out help to make this book an easy choice for use in undergraduate rhetoric, film, and media studies classes.” —Kristen Hoerl, Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Public Culture, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA

From the Publisher