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New Blood

New Blood

Critical Approaches to Contemporary Horror

Editor(s): Eddie Falvey Jonathan Wroot Joe Hickinbottom

Paperback - £45.00

Language: English

Genre(s): Media Film and Theatre

Series: Horror Studies

January 2021 · 288pages · 216x138mm

·Paperback - 9781786836342
· eBook - epub - 9781786836366
· eBook - mobi - 9781786836373
· eBook - pdf - 9781786836359

About The Book

The taste for horror is arguably as great today as it has ever been. Since the turn of the millennium, the horror genre has seen various developments emerging out of a range of contexts, from new industry paradigms and distribution practices to the advancement of subgenres that reflect new and evolving fears. New Blood builds upon preceding horror scholarship to offer a series of critical perspectives on the genre since the year 2000, presenting a collection of case studies on topics as diverse as the emergence of new critical categories (such as the contentiously named ‘prestige horror’), new subgenres (including ‘digital folk horror’ and ‘desktop horror’) and horror on-demand (‘Netflix horror’), and including analyses of key films such as The Witch and Raw and TV shows like Stranger Things and Channel Zero. Never losing sight of the horror genre’s ongoing political economy, New Blood is an exciting contribution to film and horror scholarship that will prove to be an essential addition to the shelves of researchers, students and fans alike.

Endorsements

‘This sparkling and much-needed collection on recent trends in horror across multiple platforms is especially welcome for its focus on industry, reception, fandom and horror as a discursive construct. Written by acknowledged leaders in the field, New Blood sets the agenda for horror studies at a time of American and global carnage.’
-Professor I. Q. Hunter, Cinema and Television History Institute (CATHI), De Montfort University

‘Horror scholarship always benefits from an injection of new blood, and this collection offers a set of fresh perspectives that should help reinvigorate the field. Covering everything from the impassioned debates surrounding “post-horror” through to the Netflix phenomenon Stranger Things, New Blood carves out significant new directions for the study of horror.’
-Dr Iain Robert Smith, King’s College London

‘With New Blood, Falvey, Hickinbottom and Wroot have gathered an impressive roster of contributors to interrogate a variety of contemporary manifestations of horror cinema (and television) from across the globe. Touching on individual films and cycles, production contexts and fan formations, this collection brings debates about the genre and its significance right up to date. It will prove of great value to anyone who takes the genre seriously.’
-Professor Andy Willis, University of Salford

‘A valuable contribution to new studies of the horror genre in the twenty-first century. Featuring chapters by established and emerging scholars in the field, this collection addresses a broad range of topics and texts across multiple platforms, and examines cultural and political contexts alongside production, distribution and reception.’
-Dr Laura Mee, University of Hertfordshire

‘The undying genre continues to thrive and mutate as new technologies, media platforms and reception contexts evolve. This new volume explores diverse trends of modern horror, including the rise of “extreme” and “prestige” horror, the lingering legacy of the “video nasties” controversy, and the advent of streaming and digital horror formats. Highly recommended.’
-Professor Harry M. Benshoff, University of North Texas

Contents:
Acknowledgements
Table of Contents
List of Figures and Tables
Biographies of Contributors
Horror 2020: Introducing New Blood – Eddie Falvey, Joe Hickinbottom, Jonathan Wroot

Part I: Framing Horror
Apprehension Engines: The New Independent ‘Prestige Horror’ – David Church
Hardcore Horror: Challenging the Discourses of ‘Extremity’- Steve Jones
From Midnight Movies to Mainstream Excess: Cult Horror Festivals and the Academy – Xavier Mendik

Part II: Horror Reception
A Master of Horror? The Making and Marketing of Takashi Miike’s Horror Reputation – Joe Hickinbottom
Bloody Muscles on VHS: When Asia Extreme Met the Video Nasties – Jonathan Wroot
Streaming Netflix Original Horror: Black Mirror, Stranger Things and Datafied TV Horror – Matt Hills

Part III: Emerging Subgenres
Slender Men and Candle Coves: Digital Gothic and the Mainstream Horror Genre – Jessica Balanzategui
Nazi Horror, Reanimated: Rethinking Subgenres and Cycles – Abigail Whittall
Digital Witness: Found Footage and Desktop Horror as Post-Cinematic Experience – Lindsay Hallam

Part IIII: Horror in the World
Revisiting the Female Monster: Sex and Monstrosity in Contemporary Body Horror – Eddie Falvey
The Kids are Alt-Right: Hardcore Punk, Subcultural Violence and Contemporary American Politics in Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room – Thomas Joseph Watson
21st Century Euro-Snuff: A Serbian Film for the Family – Neil Jackson

About the Editor(s)

Eddie Falvey

Eddie Falvey completed his AHRC-funded PhD on the early films of New York at the University of Exeter. He is currently Lecturer at Plymouth College of Art, and has research interests in film spectatorship, horror and reception studies.

Jonathan Wroot

Jonathan Wroot is Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Greenwich. He regularly publishes work on Japanese cinema and home media distribution, as well as on horror cinema.

Joe Hickinbottom

Joe Hickinbottom completed his AHRC-funded PhD on the cult reputation of Takashi Miike at the University of Exeter. His research interests include Japanese film, cult cinema and authorship.