Post-9/11 Heartland Horror

Victoria McCollum is Lecturer in Cinematic Arts in the School of Creative Arts and Technologies at Ulster University (Northern Ireland).

• Foreword by Emily SatterwhitePrefaceIntroduction1. The Unbearable Unrightness of the Righteous & Sympathy for the Devil: War on Dissent, Forced Loyalties & Zombie’s The Devil’s Rejects (2005)2. Divided We Fall: Fear God! & Loathe Thy Neighbour: Bush’s Demand For Patriotic Correctness & Smith’s Red State (2011)3. The Family That Slays Together, Stays Together: Contesting Truth, Contempt For Weakness & Paxton’s Frailty (2002)4. Malev(i)olence, Malevolence & Misogyny: 9/11, Gender, Torture & McKee’s The Woman (2011)5. ‘Knock ‘Em Dead’: Bush’s White House Of Horrors: Post-9/11 Memorial Mania & Dougherty’s Trick ‘r Treat (2007)ConclusionReferencesFilms CitedMusic CitedIndex

'Victoria McCollum peers into the dark forest of America after September 11 with Post 9/11 Heartland Horror. Her brilliant new work examines how horror films, including some of its most transgressive subgenres, deal with memory, ideology, and the often competing claims of nationalism, American exceptionalism and cultural sorrow. Historians and American Studies scholars will find rich material here in exploring how popular culture has tried to explain to itself the 'war on terrorr'.Professor W. Scott Poole, College of Charleston, USA and author of Monsters in America: Our Historical Obsession with the Hideous and the Haunting'A significant intervention in American studies, film and media studies, and cultural studies, Post-9/11 Heartland Horror illuminates the emergence of a transgressive new sub-genre of post-9/11 rural-set horror films. Horror fans, students, and researchers will find McCollum’s insightful analyses of heartland horror films lively, accessible, and fascinating.'Associate Professor Emily Satterwhite, Virginia Tech, USA