The Horror Theory Reader

A comprehensive guide to the timeless, paradoxical appeal of horror

Why do we enjoy horror? The emotional responses the genre provokes--fear, dread, and disgust--are ones we typically seek to avoid, so what is the appeal of narratives and artistic representations that seek to scare, startle, shock, and repulse? In The Horror Theory Reader, Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock assembles theorizations of the genre's appeal from antiquity to the present day to explore the "paradox of horror" that has for millennia preoccupied theorists and consumers alike.

Beginning with an introduction situating the history of horror in the context of moral panics, this carefully curated volume then is organized into three sections that introduce early attempts to explain horror's fascination; present perspectives from horror writers, filmmakers, and scholars; and offer nuanced considerations of horror's intersections with disability, queerness, race, and gender. Featuring classic commentaries on the genre by H. P. Lovecraft, Alfred Hitchcock, and Stephen King alongside incisive essays by philosophers, literary and film scholars, cultural critics, and others, The Horror Theory Reader is indispensable for scholars and will be of interest to anyone curious about our paradoxical enjoyment of appalling and fearsome things.

Contributions by: Joseph Addison; Aristotle; Anna Letitia Barbauld; Dani Bethea; Edmund Burke; Noël Carroll, CUNY Graduate Center; Brigid Cherry; Mathias Clasen, Aarhus U; Douglas E. Cowan, Renison U College; Meghan Downes, Monash U; Berys Gaut, U of St. Andrews; Julian Hanich, U of Groningen; Sheri-Marie Harrison, U of Missouri; Matt Hills, U of Huddersfield; Alfred Hitchcock; David Hume; Mark Jancovich, U of East Anglia; Stephen King; Petra Kuppers, U of Michigan; H. P. Lovecraft; G. Neil Martin, Regent's U London; John Morreall, College of William and Mary; Monika Negra; Nina Nesseth; Anne Radcliffe; Fredrich Schiller; Walter Scott; Tim Snelson, U of East Anglia; Christopher St. John Sprigg; Susan Stryker, U of Arizona; S. Trimble, U of Toronto; Kendall Walton, U of Michigan; Linda Williams, UC Berkeley; Robin Wood.

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Author: Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
Published: 01/06/2026
Pages: 528
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.91lbs
Size: 10.00h x 7.03w x 1.08d
ISBN: 9781517917821

About the Author

Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock is founder and president of the Society for the Study of the American Gothic and professor of English at Central Michigan University. He is author or editor of many books, including The Monster Theory Reader and The Age of Lovecraft, both from Minnesota.