Joss Whedon vs. the Horror Tradition
The Production of Genre in Buffy and Beyond
Published on 29. November 2018
Book
Hardback
344 pages
978-1-78831-102-1 (ISBN)
Description
Although ostensibly presented as "light entertainment," the work of writer-director-producer Joss Whedon takes much dark inspiration from the horror genre to create a unique aesthetic and perform a cultural critique. Featuring monsters, the undead, as well as drawing upon folklore and fairy tales, his many productions both celebrate and masterfully repurpose the traditions of horror for their own means. Woofter and Jowett's collection looks at how Whedon revisits existing feminist tropes in the '70s and '80s "slasher" craze via Buffy the Vampire Slayer to create a feminist saga; the innovative use of silent cinema tropes to produce a new fear-laden, film-television intertext; postmodernist reflexivity in Cabin in the Woods; as well as exploring new concepts on "cosmic dread" and the sublime for a richer understanding of programmes Dollhouse and Firefly. Chapters provide the historical context of horror as well as the particular production backgrounds that by turns support, constrain or transform this mode of filmmaking. Informed by a wide range of theory from within philosophy, film studies, queer studies, psychoanalysis, feminism and other fields, the expert contributions to this volume prove the enduring relevance of Whedon's genre-based universe to the study of film, television, popular culture and beyond.
Reviews / Votes
Exposes both his deep affection for the horror genre and the complexity of the horror genre itself ... Provides a solid addition to study of the horror genre on both television and film, and in popular culture more generally. * Critical Studies in Television * Joss Whedon vs. the Horror Tradition takes nothing for granted, appealing to fans of both the creator and the genre. Scholarly yet accessible, it should be pop-culture required reading. -- Elizabeth L. Rambo, Associate Professor of English at Campbell University, USA This book will fascinate horror scholars and television scholars alike. The analyses are text-specific yet thoughtfully grounded in the context of the horror tradition. The writers are original and insightful. -- Rhonda V. Wilcox, Professor of English at Gordon State College, USAMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
33 bw illus
Dimensions
Height: 222 mm
Width: 145 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
565 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78831-102-1 (9781788311021)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Kristopher Karl Woofter teaches on the American Gothic, horror and the "Weird tradition" in literature, cinema and television at Dawson College, Canada.
Lorna Jowett is Reader in Television Studies at the University of Northampton, UK.
Lorna Jowett is Reader in Television Studies at the University of Northampton, UK.
Content
List of Illustrations x
Acknowledgments xii
Introduction Whedon Studies and the Ghost of Horror 1
Kristopher Karl Woofter and Lorna Jowett
Part I (Under)Groundwork: Horror Concepts and Conventions in the Whedonverse
1 The Slasher Template: Buffy the Vampire Slayer vs. John Carpenter's Halloween 17
Clayton Dillard
2 The Sonic Horror of "Hush" 34
Selma A. Purac
3 "The Body" That Will Not Sit Up: Shock, Stasis, and the Negative Space of the Horror Genre 53
Mario DeGiglio-Bellemare
4 The Melancholy Musical: Horror and Avant-Garde Strategies in "Once More, with Feeling" 73
Anne Golden
5 Angel's Dreams, Our Nightmares: Oneiric Horror in Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer 92
Cynthia Burkhead
6 Dollhouse's Terrible Places: Hauntings, Abjection, and the Repressed 105
Bronwen Calvert
7 Inscription and Subversion: The Cabin in the Woods and the Postmodern Horror Tradition 123
Stephanie Graves
Part II Mutant Enemies: TV Horror, Industry, and Influence
8 "For All I Know, It Could Be Hilarious or It Could Suck": Situating the Film Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) in Period Vampire Comedy 143
Jerry D. Metz Jr.
9 Monstrous Puppet Masters: Negotiating Violence and Horror in the Whedon Tele-verse 163
Stacey Abbott
10 Forever Knight, Angel, and Supernatural: A Genealogy of Television Horror/Crime Hybrids 181
Erin Giannini
Part III "It's About Power": Revisiting Whedon's "Revisionist" Horror
11 Whedon, Feminism, and the Possibility of Feminist Horror on Television 201
Lorna Jowett
12 Weird Whedon: Cosmic Dread and Sublime Alterity in the Whedonverse 219
Kristopher Karl Woofter
13 "All the Better to Know You": Investigating the Hybrid Monster and Allegories of Self/Other in
Buffy the Vampire Slayer 243
K. Brenna Wardell
14 Horror and the Last Frontier: Monstrous Borders and Bodies in Firefly and Westworld 261
Karen Herland
15 The Half-Lives of Horror: The Differential Embodiments of Dollhouse 281
Alanna Thain
Appendix I The Work of Joss Whedon and the Horror Tradition: A Selected Bibliography 298
Compiled by Alysa Hornick
Appendix II Foundational Works in Horror and Related Scholarship 308
About the Contributors 313
Index 317
Acknowledgments xii
Introduction Whedon Studies and the Ghost of Horror 1
Kristopher Karl Woofter and Lorna Jowett
Part I (Under)Groundwork: Horror Concepts and Conventions in the Whedonverse
1 The Slasher Template: Buffy the Vampire Slayer vs. John Carpenter's Halloween 17
Clayton Dillard
2 The Sonic Horror of "Hush" 34
Selma A. Purac
3 "The Body" That Will Not Sit Up: Shock, Stasis, and the Negative Space of the Horror Genre 53
Mario DeGiglio-Bellemare
4 The Melancholy Musical: Horror and Avant-Garde Strategies in "Once More, with Feeling" 73
Anne Golden
5 Angel's Dreams, Our Nightmares: Oneiric Horror in Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer 92
Cynthia Burkhead
6 Dollhouse's Terrible Places: Hauntings, Abjection, and the Repressed 105
Bronwen Calvert
7 Inscription and Subversion: The Cabin in the Woods and the Postmodern Horror Tradition 123
Stephanie Graves
Part II Mutant Enemies: TV Horror, Industry, and Influence
8 "For All I Know, It Could Be Hilarious or It Could Suck": Situating the Film Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) in Period Vampire Comedy 143
Jerry D. Metz Jr.
9 Monstrous Puppet Masters: Negotiating Violence and Horror in the Whedon Tele-verse 163
Stacey Abbott
10 Forever Knight, Angel, and Supernatural: A Genealogy of Television Horror/Crime Hybrids 181
Erin Giannini
Part III "It's About Power": Revisiting Whedon's "Revisionist" Horror
11 Whedon, Feminism, and the Possibility of Feminist Horror on Television 201
Lorna Jowett
12 Weird Whedon: Cosmic Dread and Sublime Alterity in the Whedonverse 219
Kristopher Karl Woofter
13 "All the Better to Know You": Investigating the Hybrid Monster and Allegories of Self/Other in
Buffy the Vampire Slayer 243
K. Brenna Wardell
14 Horror and the Last Frontier: Monstrous Borders and Bodies in Firefly and Westworld 261
Karen Herland
15 The Half-Lives of Horror: The Differential Embodiments of Dollhouse 281
Alanna Thain
Appendix I The Work of Joss Whedon and the Horror Tradition: A Selected Bibliography 298
Compiled by Alysa Hornick
Appendix II Foundational Works in Horror and Related Scholarship 308
About the Contributors 313
Index 317