Criminological Understandings of Horror Films

Krista S. Gehring is professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Social Work at the University of Houston Downtown.Stacie Merken is associate professor and chair of criminal justice at Indiana University South Bend as well as a Senior Mosaic Faculty FellowEmily Lenning is professor of criminal justice at Fayetteville State University.Walter S. DeKeseredy is Anna Deane Carlson Endowed Chair of Social Sciences, Director of the Research Center on Violence, and professor of sociology at West Virginia University.

• Part 1: The Spaces and Places That Haunt UsChapter OneA Radical Feminist Perspective on Horror in the HeartlandWalter S. DeKeseredyChapter Two“An Outlet for American Rage”: A Critical Analysis of Crime in Urban Suburban Settings in The Purge Film Series Lauren N. Moton and Stacie MerkenChapter Three The Villain in the Machine: Cybertechnology in Horror FilmsShelly Clevenger and Kathleen RatajczakChapter FourEscaping the Horror and Reality of Mass IncarcerationRosemary L. GidoPart 2: The Crimes That Horrify UsChapter FiveRepresentations of Mental Illness and Crime in Horror FilmsSusan M. Henney and Krista S. GehringChapter SixI am Your Worst Nightmare: Serial Killer Portrayals in Horror FilmsStacie Merken, Hannah Good, and Allison GrabowskiChapter SevenIn The Invisible Man, The Horrors of Intimate Partner Violence are RealDanielle C. Slakoff and Sheena L. GilbertChapter EightSexual Violence in Horror Films: Routine Activities Theory and Rape Myth AcceptanceAlexa D. Sardina and Hannah TorresPart 3: The Monsters Inside UsChapter NineQueer Fear: Anti-Queer Themes in Horror MoviesVanessa R. PanfilChapter Ten“It is Us Who are the Divine Ones. We are the Gods Who are Trapped in Cocoons”: A Critical Analysis of Get OutSusana AvalosChapter ElevenTrans Panic! At the MoviesAllyn WalkerChapter Twelve:‘Stay Where you Belong, Ugly Americans, or the World Will Eat You Alive’: Tourism and Fear of the “Other” in Horror FilmsXavier Guadalupe-Diaz and Emily Lenning

"Criminological Understanding of Horror Films provides a criminological Cooks Tour of a popular genre. Horror films are important contributors to the social construction of crime, criminality, and violence and they consistently emphasize the negative psychological, physical, and spiritual effects of violence. When horror is combined with criminality the real-world realm of crime and justice is also painted. In this volume, the authors lead readers through the rural, urban, suburban, cyber-land, and prison places of crime and horror and the people who live in these criminological horror landscapes. How horror films construct crimes, offenders, and victims and discussions of race, sexuality, gender, and nationality are discussed in detail. The inclusion of specific horror movies results in a book that is both readable and contemporarily relevant. Strongly recommended, Criminological Understanding of Horror Films will help both horror fans and non-fans to see horror crimes in a less dark, more socially significant light."