Deformed and Destructive Beings

The Purpose of Horror Films

Add to my list

by George Ochoa

Type

Essays

Subject

Genre > Horror

Keywords

horror, sociology

Publishing date

2011

Publisher

McFarland & Co

Language

English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Paperback • 235 pages
6 x 9 inches (15 x 23 cm)

ISBN

978-0-7864-6307-7

User Ratings

(0 vote)

X

Average rating:

0	rating	= We can do without
0	rating	= Good book
0	rating	= Excellent book
0	rating	= Unique / a reference

Your rating: -

Book Presentation:
Why are audiences drawn to horror films? Previous answers to that question have included everything from a need to experience fear to a hunger for psychotherapy. This critical text proposes that the horror film’s primary purpose is to present monsters, best understood as deformed and destructive beings. These monsters satisfy the audience’s desire to know these beings, in particular those beings too fantastic and dangerous to know in real life. The text illuminates many aspects of the horror film genre, including epistemology, ethics, evaluation, history, monster taxonomy, and filmmaking techniques.

About the Author:
George Ochoa is the author or coauthor of more than thirty nonfiction books. He is currently a medical writer at Applied Clinical Education in New York. Please visit his blog at deformeddestructive.blogspot.com.

Press Reviews:
"a lively and interesting read…contains many rare film stills. Monster movie addicts will love it"—starburstmagazine.com "when it comes to horror films, Ochoa knows his stuff"—Scarlet.

See the publisher website: McFarland & Co