Criminological Understandings of Horror Films

Krista S. Gehring is professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Social Work at the University of Houston Downtown. Stacie Merken is assistant professor and chair of criminal justice at Indiana University South Bend as well as a Senior Mosaic Faculty Fellow Emily Lenning is professor of criminal justice at Fayetteville State University. Walter S. DeKeseredy is Anna Deane Carlson Endowed Chair of Social Sciences, Director of the Research Center on Violence, and professor of sociology at West Virginia University.

Part 1: The Spaces and Places That Haunt Us

Chapter One

A Radical Feminist Perspective on Horror in the Heartland

Walter S. DeKeseredy

Chapter Two

“An Outlet for American Rage”: A Critical Analysis of Crime in Urban Suburban Settings in The Purge Film Series

Lauren N. Moton and Stacie Merken

Chapter Three

The Villain in the Machine: Cybertechnology in Horror Films

Shelly Clevenger and Kathleen Ratajczak

Chapter Four

Escaping the Horror and Reality of Mass Incarceration

Rosemary L. Gido

Part 2: The Crimes That Horrify Us

Chapter Five

Representations of Mental Illness and Crime in Horror Films

Susan M. Henney and Krista S. Gehring

Chapter Six

I am Your Worst Nightmare: Serial Killer Portrayals in Horror Films

Stacie Merken, Hannah Good, and Allison Grabowski

Chapter Seven

In The Invisible Man, The Horrors of Intimate Partner Violence are Real

Danielle C. Slakoff and Sheena L. Gilbert

Chapter Eight

Sexual Violence in Horror Films: Routine Activities Theory and Rape Myth Acceptance

Alexa D. Sardina and Hannah Torres

Part 3: The Monsters Inside Us

Chapter Nine

Queer Fear: Anti-Queer Themes in Horror Movies

Vanessa R. Panfil

Chapter Ten

“It is Us Who are the Divine Ones. We are the Gods Who are Trapped in Cocoons”: A Critical Analysis of Get Out

Susana Avalos

Chapter Eleven

Trans Panic! At the Movies

Allyn Walker

Chapter Twelve:

‘Stay Where you Belong, Ugly Americans, or the World Will Eat You Alive’: Tourism and Fear of the “Other” in Horror Films

Xavier Guadalupe-Diaz and Emily Lenning