The suburban gothic in American popular culture [Elektronisk resurs] / Bernice M. Murphy.

• Acknowledgements Introduction: Welcome to Disturbia The House Down the Street: The Suburban Gothic in Shirley Jackson and Richard Matheson Conjure Wife: The Suburban Witch Aliens, Androids and Zombies: Dehumanisation and the Suburban Gothic 'You Son of a Bitch! You Only Moved the Headstones!': Haunted Suburbia Don't Go Down To The Basement!: Serial Murder, Family Values and the Suburban Horror Film 'Ah, But Underneath!': Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Desperate Housewives Conclusion: The End of Suburbia? Notes Bibliography Filmography Index.

• The first sustained examination of the depiction of American suburbia in gothic and horror films, television and literature from 1948 to the present day. Beginning with Shirley Jackson's The Road Through the Wall, Murphy discusses representative texts from each decade, including I Am Legend, Bewitched, Halloween and Desperate Housewives. -- From the beginnings of the post-war era, suburbia has frequently served as a setting for narratives of fear, repression and horror. Why has this been the case? And what actually is the Suburban Gothic? Beginning with a discussion of Shirley Jackson's novel The Road Through the Wall (1948) and ending with Desperate Housewives (2004 -- ), this book discusses representative texts from each decade up to the present day. Each chapter provides a contextualising examination of the era and cultural and historical contexts of its setting, thus providing a unique insight into the changing face of the suburbs and, by extension, of American society. Murphy shows that depictions of suburbia in horror and the gothic provide an intriguing glimpse into the manner in which modern American society views itself. Making a major contribution to American cultural studies and to gothic criticism in general, this is the first sustained examination of the depiction of American suburbia in gothic and horror films, television and literature from 1948 up to today. 

Ämnesord

Suburbs in mass media.  (LCSH)

Suburbs in literature.  (LCSH)

Horror in mass media.  (LCSH)

Horror in literature.  (LCSH)

Gothic revival (Literature)  -- United States. (LCSH)

Popular culture  -- History -- 21st century -- United States. (LCSH)

Popular culture  -- History -- 20th century -- United States. (LCSH)

Horror television programs  -- History and criticism -- United States. (LCSH)

Horror tales, American  -- History and criticism. (LCSH)

History.  (eflch)

Klassifikation

HIS (ämneskategori)

700.973 (DDC)

I (kssb/8 (machine generated))