Supernatural Mothers and Wombs of Discontent

Ruth Barratt-Peacock is an Australian literary studies scholar and musicologist.

• Introduction: The Magic in the Horror: Spelling a Different Perspective on Reproduction in HorrorRuth Barratt-Peacock (Independent Scholar, UK)Part I: Witches1. WandaVision: When Horror (Re)frames Magical MotherhoodRuth Barratt-Peacock (Independent Scholar, UK)2. The Witch as Anti-Mother in Eggers's The WitchMark Henderson (Tuskegee University, USA)3. Irish Witches, Familiars, and Mother Earth: Exploitation of Women, Animals, and the Environment in Irish History and Modern MediaEvelyn Suttle (Advocate, Ireland)Part II: M/Others4. M/othering and the Abject in Molly Cochran's The Third MagicRadhia Flah Gaich (University of Sousse, Tunisia)5. Magical Vulnerability and Vulnerable Magic: The Witch (M)Other in Salman Rushdie's Victory CitySreelakshmy M (National Institute of Technology, India)6. Fangs and Phalluses: The Barren, Pregnant VampireEvie Kendal (Swinburne University of Technology, Australia)Part III: Wombs and Their Progeny7. Wombs of Discontent: Unveiling Gender Abjection through Dolls in Lucky McKee's MayAmylou Ahava (Independent Scholar, USA)8. Chapter 8: Gynae Horror in Select Hindi Cinema: The Womb as The Element of HorrorShrenya Soni (Independent Scholar, India)9. A Haunting Healing in Toni Morrison's BelovedJeff Ambrose (Delaware County Community College, USA)10. Chapter 10: Miscarriage in Contemporary Film: Visualizing the Unseen Through the Horror SceneKatherine Cottle (Goucher College, USA)About the ContributorsIndex

This compelling collection of essays exposes and elucidates the deeply entrenched interrelationships between reproduction and magic in horror. Through their lucid analyses of witches and wombs, the contributors offer a vital insight into the complex and contested role of reproduction in genre fiction. Bringing together discussion of contemporary horror classics such as Robert Eggers’ The Witch with that of works less-often read as genre texts like Toni Morrison’s Beloved, one of the collection’s major strengths is the way in which it expands our understanding of genre, showing how the horror of reproduction is invoked in myriad centres of cultural production.