Reading American Horror Story

Rebecca Janicker is a senior lecturer in film and media studies at the University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom.

• Table of Contents AcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart One: Industry and CultureAmerican Horror Stories, Repertory Horror and Intertextuality of Casting (Lorna Jowett)Haunted History: American Horror Story as Gothic Tourism (Stacey Abbott)Seasons, Family and Nation in American Horror Story (Derek Johnston)Part Two: Issues of RepresentationStatic Femininity: Gender and Familial RepresentationdeleteMurder House (Nikki Cox)The Minotaur, the Shears and the Melon Baller: Queerness and ­Self-Mortification in Coven (Kyle Ethridge)“Wir sind alle freaks”: Elevating White Gay Male Oppression Through Representations of Disability (Carl Schottmiller)Part Three: Genre Tropes and the Horror of History“There’s a power in it. A power we can use”: Perpetuating the Past in Murder House (Rebecca Janicker)“They were monsters”: The Alien Abduction Plotline and Race, Sexuality and Social Unrest in Asylum (Philip L. Simpson)Piecing It Together: Genre Frameworks in American Horror deleteStory (Emma Austin)Nightmares Made in America: Coven and the Real American Horror Story (Conny Lippert)Epilogue: Past Nightmares and Anticipated Horrors (Rebecca Janicker)GlossaryAbout the ContributorsIndex

“American Horror Story, FX’s hit anthology series, has captured the imagination of viewers with its intriguing tales, quality writing, and noble actors.... [T]his collection explores the shows literary themes and social issues...as well as how series creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Fulchuk use familiar horror tropes in innovative ways.”—Library Journal.