The Laughing Dead
The Horror-Comedy Film from Bride of Frankenstein to Zombieland
Edited by Cynthia J. Miller and A. Bowdoin Van Riper
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Book Presentation:
Hybrid films that straddle more than one genre are not unusual. But when seemingly incongruous genres are mashed together, such as horror and comedy, filmmakers often have to tread carefully to produce a cohesive, satisfying work. Though they date as far back as James Whale’s Bride of Frankenstein (1935), horror-comedies have only recently become popular attractions for movie goers.
In The Laughing Dead: The Horror-Comedy Film from Bride of Frankenstein to Zombieland, editors Cynthia J. Miller and A. Bowdoin Van Riper have compiled essays on the comic undead that look at the subgenre from a variety of perspectives. Spanning virtually the entire sound era, this collection considers everything from classics like The Canterville Ghost to modern cult favorites like Shaun of the Dead. Other films discussed include Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Beetlejuice, Ghostbusters, House on Haunted Hill, ParaNorman, Scream, Vampire’s Kiss, and Zombieland.
Contributors in this volume consider a wide array of comedic monster films―from heartwarming (The Book of Life) to pitch dark (The Fearless Vampire Killers) and even grotesque (Frankenhooker). The Laughing Dead will be of interest to scholars and fans of both horror and comedy films, as well as those interested in film history and, of course, the proliferation of the undead in popular culture.
About the authors:
Cynthia J. Miller is a Scholar-in-Residence at Emerson College, USA, and a cultural anthropologist specializing in popular culture and visual media. She serves on the board of the National Popular Culture/American Culture Association, and is Treasurer and Governing Board member of the International Association for Media and History, as well as Director of Communication for the Center for the Study of Film and History. She also serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Popular Television. She is the winner of the James Welsh Prize for lifetime achievement in adaptation studies and the Peter C. Rollins prize for a book-length work in popular culture.
Press Reviews:
"Miller and Van Riper provide a lively autopsy of a body of horror-comedy films. Grounded in Henri Bergson’s theories, the essays excavate a veritable graveyard of comic horror films. The five essays in the first section, ‘Playing with Genre,’ address generic transformations with the comic, transforming the horrific into the zany and providing cultural analyses. The six essays in the second section, ‘Horror, in Theory,’ theorize horror films through unexpected comic perspectives, showing how mirth and menace play off each other. Chris Yogerst eulogizes the familiar rules for survival in films such as Zombieland. The final five essays, under the heading ‘There Goes the Neighborhood,’ look at how the intersection of horror and comedy provides a lens to critique the basic conventions of the horror film and its spectators. In his essay, Van Riper considers how comedy enables viewers to contend with the angst of everyday life. Miller wraps up with a provocative essay challenging the scientific elite, giving the creative power of life to ordinary people. Insightful and remarkably readable, these stimulating essays will delight, leaving readers laughing, screaming, and thinking. Summing Up:Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above; professionals; general readers." ―Choice Reviews
See the publisher website: Rowman & Littlefield
> From the same authors:
Journeys into Terror (2023)
Essays from the Cinematic Intersection of Travel and Horror
Dir. Cynthia J. Miller and A. Bowdoin Van Riper
Dark Forces at Work (2023)
Essays on Social Dynamics and Cinematic Horrors
Dir. Cynthia J. Miller and A. Bowdoin Van Riper
Horror Comes Home (2019)
Essays on Hauntings, Possessions and Other Domestic Terrors in Cinema
Dir. Cynthia J. Miller and A. Bowdoin Van Riper
Elder Horror (2019)
Essays on Film's Frightening Images of Aging
Dir. Cynthia J. Miller and A. Bowdoin Van Riper
Terrifying Texts (2018)
Essays on Books of Good and Evil in Horror Cinema
Dir. Cynthia J. Miller and A. Bowdoin Van Riper
Horrific Humor and the Moment of Droll Grimness in Cinema (2017)
Sidesplitting sLaughter
Dir. John A. Dowell and Cynthia J. Miller
Urban Noir (2017)
New York and Los Angeles in Shadow and Light
Dir. James J. Ward and Cynthia J. Miller
Divine Horror (2017)
Essays on the Cinematic Battle Between the Sacred and the Diabolical
Dir. Cynthia J. Miller and A. Bowdoin Van Riper
The Silence of the Lambs (2016)
Critical Essays on a Cannibal, Clarice, and a Nice Chianti
Dir. Cynthia J. Miller
Subject: One Film > The Silence of the Lambs
Learning from Mickey, Donald and Walt (2011)
Essays on Disney's Edutainment Films
Dir. A. Bowdoin Van Riper
Subject: Others persons > Walt Disney
> On a related topic:
Comedy-Horror Films (2009)
A Chronological History, 1914–2008
The Horror Spoofs of Abbott and Costello (2004)
A Critical Assessment of the Comedy Team's Monster Films
Subject: Actor > Abbott & Costello
Horror House Film (2026)
Possession, Obsession, Domination, Masculinity
The Politics of Monstrous Figures in Contemporary Cinema (2025)
Witches, Zombies, and Cyborgs Re-enchanting the Ends of the World
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