Horror Film and Otherness

Horror films depict social difference in the everyday world by using unearthly creatures and deranged killers as metaphors for society's fear of the "others" that threaten the "normal." These images can be sympathetic to their exclusion or complicit in their oppression, but ultimately, they stand in for the others that the majority dreads and marginalizes. Adam Lowenstein offers a new account of horror and why it matters for understanding social otherness, arguing that the genre captures ongoing metamorphoses across "normal" self and "monstrous" other, challenging viewers to recognize that we are all vulnerable to becoming or being seen as the other.

Format: Hardback
Length: 248 pages
Publication date: 19 July 2022
Publisher: Columbia University Press

Horror films have a unique ability to shed light on social differences in the everyday world. By using unearthly creatures and deranged killers as metaphors for society's fear of the "others" that threaten the "normal," these films can be seen as critiquing the dominant narratives that perpetuate these differences. The monstrous other can represent a wide range of marginalized groups, including women, Jews, Blacks, Indigenous, queer, poor, elderly, or disabled people.

Horror films' depiction of these minorities can be sympathetic to their exclusion or complicit in their oppression. However, ultimately, these images are understood to stand in for the others that the majority dreads and marginalizes.

Adam Lowenstein offers a fresh perspective on horror and its significance for understanding social otherness. He argues that horror films reveal how the category of the other is not fixed but rather constantly evolving. The genre captures ongoing metamorphoses across the "normal" self and the "monstrous" other, challenging viewers to recognize that we are all vulnerable to becoming or being seen as the other.

Horror exposes the ongoing struggle to acknowledge self and other as fundamentally intertwined, rather than settling into comforting certainties regarding monstrosity and normality. This transformative otherness confronts viewers with the experiences of the marginalized, forcing us to confront our own biases and prejudices.

Horror Film and Otherness is a valuable resource for anyone interested in exploring the relationship between horror films and social otherness. The book features new interpretations of landmark films by directors such as Tobe Hooper, George A. Romero, John Carpenter, David Cronenberg, Stephanie Rothman, Jennifer Kent, Marina de Van, and Jordan Peele. Through close analysis of their engagement with different forms of otherness, the book provides new perspectives on the significance of horror for culture, politics, and art.

In conclusion, horror films have a unique ability to reveal social differences in the everyday world. By using unearthly creatures and deranged killers as metaphors for society's fear of the "others," these films can be seen as critiquing the dominant narratives that perpetuate these differences. Through close analysis of their engagement with different forms of otherness, horror films provide new perspectives on the significance of horror for culture, politics, and art.

Dimension: 235 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780231205764