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It Makes Us Jump. It Makes Us Scream. It Haunts Our Nightmares. So Why Do We Watch Horror? Why Do We Play It? What Could Possibly Appealing About A Genre That Tries To Terrify Us? Why Would We Subject Ourselves To Shriek-inducing Shocks, Or Spend Dozens Of Hours Watching A Television Show About Grotesque Flesh-eating Monsters? Monstrous Forms Offers A Theory Of Horror That Works Through The Genre Across A Broad Range Of Contemporary Moving-image Media: Film, Television, Video Games, Youtube, Gifs, Streaming, Virtual Reality. This Book Analyzes Our Experience Of And Engagement With Horror By Focusing On Its Form, Paying Special Attention To The Common Ground, The Styles And Forms That Move Between Mediums. It Looks At The Ways That Moving-image Horror Addresses Its Audiences, The Ways That It Elicits, Or Demands, Responses From Its Viewers, Players, Browsers. Camera Movement (or Camera Movement), Jump Scares, Offscreen Monsters-horror Innovates And Perfects Styles That Directly Provoke And Stimulate The Bodies In Front Of The Screen. Analyzing Films Including Paranormal Activity, It Follows, And Get Out, Video Games Including Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Layers Of Fear, And Until Dawn, And Tv Shows Including The Walking Dead And American Horror Story, Monstrous Forms Argues For Understanding Horror Through Its Sensational Address, And Dissects The Forms That Make That Address So Effective.
This book investigates the psychological and physiological mechanisms that make horror media compelling to audiences across diverse platforms. Adam Charles Hart, a scholar of film and media, utilizes a cross-media analytical framework to argue that horror functions primarily through its sensational address. By examining how specific stylistic techniques provoke visceral reactions, the author posits that the effectiveness of the genre lies in its formal ability to stimulate the bodies of viewers and players alike.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Scholars and critics recognize this work as a significant contribution to the study of horror aesthetics and audience engagement. Readers frequently note the clarity with which the author bridges the gap between traditional film theory and modern interactive media like video games.
Page Count:
312
Publication Date:
2019-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0190916257
ISBN-13:
9780190916251
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