Post-Horror - by David Church (Paperback)

About the Book

Post-Horror is the first full-length study of one of the most important and divisive movements in twenty-first-century horror cinema.

Book Synopsis

Horror's longstanding reputation as a popular but culturally denigrated genre has been challenged by a new wave of films mixing arthouse minimalism with established genre conventions. Variously dubbed 'elevated horror' and 'post-horror, ' films such as The Babadook, It Follows, The Witch, It Comes at Night, Get Out, The Invitation, Hereditary, Midsommar, A Ghost Story, and mother! represent an emerging nexus of taste, politics, and style that has often earned outsized acclaim from critics and populist rejection by wider audiences. Post-Horror is the first full-length study of one of the most important and divisive movements in twenty-first-century horror cinema.

From the Back Cover

'The horror film is often read as a low-budget and disreputable genre that is disparaged by critics and loved by only a small core of committed fans. However, there has always been a high end to horror, a high end that is made up of both art films and prestigious productions from the major studios. In this book, then, Church offers a crucial contribution to an understanding of this trend through his analysis of recent developments in its history. Grounded in an analysis of the reception contexts within which these films are produced, mediated, and consumed, this book is a must for those interested in contemporary film culture in general and the horror film in particular.' Mark Jancovich, University of East Anglia 'With this book, David Church confirms his status as one of the most interesting contemporary scholars working on horror and on taste politics. Church expands the notion of art-horror and shows the links between contemporary post-horror and 1940s woman's films, melodrama, science fiction and European art cinema, with great chapters devoted to the post-horror connection between family and intimate relationships to epistemic violence. Meticulously researched and theorized, this is a book that, like the films it analyzes, rewards multiple readings. A thumping good read.' Joan C. Hawkins, Indiana University Horror cinema has long been a popular but culturally denigrated genre. This assumption has been challenged by a new wave of films that mix arthouse minimalism with established genre conventions. Dubbed 'elevated horror' or 'post-horror', films such as The Babadook, It Follows, The Witch, Get Out, Hereditary, Midsommar, and mother! represent an emerging nexus of taste, politics, and style that has earned outsized acclaim from critics and populist rejection by wider audiences. Post-Horror is the first full-length study of one of the most important and divisive movements in twenty-first-century horror cinema. David Church is a film and media scholar specializing in genre studies, taste cultures, and histories of film circulation. Cover image: A Ghost Story. Photo: Andrew Droz Palermo. Courtesy of David Lowery / Sailor Bear

Review Quotes

Post-Horror: Art, Genre and Cultural Elevation is a thoughtful yet ambitious study of 2010s horror cinema. The book is well-researched and scholarly, yet it remains accessible in its tone and coherent in its argumentative structure. A useful entry point for readers unfamiliar with contemporary horror, Post-Horror will also engage scholars already acquainted with 2010s horror cinema through the rich detail of its analysis. Church's monograph is unique in its capacity to engage with contemporary critical paradigms while simultaneously questioning their most basic assumptions. Indeed, Post-Horror is impressive precisely because of how it employs a divisive critical term as springboard from which to launch an incisive exploration of genre, form, narrative and, most crucially, the way viewers respond to and talk about horror.--Miranda Corcoran, University College Cork "Supernatural Studies"

Church's investment in reception cultures renders Post-Horror even more valuable as a pedagogical resource. [...] Post-Horror further affirms that the past decade--an epoch of horrors--has provided a fertile opportunity for filmmakers of various marginalized backgrounds to rethink what it means to be horrified.--Caetlin Benson-Allott, Georgetown University "Film Quarterly"

The horror film is often read as a low-budget and disreputable genre that is disparaged by critics and loved by only a small core of committed fans. However, there has always been a high end to horror, a high end that is made up of both art films and prestigious productions from the major studios. In this book, then, Church offers a crucial contribution to an understanding of this trend through his analysis of recent developments in its history. Grounded in an analysis of the reception contexts within which these films are produced, mediated and consumed, this book is a must for those interested in contemporary film culture in general and the horror film in particular.--Mark Jancovich, University of East Anglia

This book is indispensable for both academic researchers and film critics - as well as genre fans - who strive to understand the finer workings of this new cycle in horror cinema.--Sandra Aline Wagner, University of Limerick "Gothic Studies"

With this book, David Church confirms his status as one of the most interesting contemporary scholars working on horror and on taste politics. Church expands the notion of art-horror and shows the links between contemporary post-horror and 1940s woman's films, melodrama, science fiction and European art cinema, with great chapters devoted to the post-horror connection between family, intimate relationships, and epistemic violence. Meticulously researched and theorized, this is a book that, like the films it analyzes, rewards multiple readings. A thumping good read.--Joan C. Hawkins, Indiana University

About the Author

David Church is a film and media scholar specializing in genre studies, taste cultures, and histories of film circulation. He is the author of Grindhouse Nostalgia: Memory, Home Video, and Exploitation Film Fandom (EUP, 2015), Disposable Passions: Vintage Pornography and the Material Legacies of Adult Cinema (Bloomsbury, 2016), and Mortal Kombat: Games of Death (University of Michigan Press, 2022).