Horror after 9/11: World of Fear, Cinema of Terror

by Aviva Briefel (Editor), Sam J. Miller (Editor)

Horror films have exploded in popularity since the tragic events of September 11, 2001, many of them breaking box-office records and generating broad public discourse. These films have attracted A-list talent and earned award nods, while at the same time becoming darker, more disturbing, and increasingly apocalyptic. Why has horror suddenly become more popular, and what does this say about us? What do specific horror films and trends convey about American society in the wake of events so horrific that many pundits initially predicted the death of the genre? How could American audiences, after tasting real horror, want to consume images of violence on screen? Horror after 9/11 represents the first major exploration of the horror genre through the lens of 9/11 and the subsequent transformation of American and global society. Films discussed include the Twilight saga; the Saw series; Hostel ; Cloverfield ; 28 Days Later ; remakes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre , Dawn of the Dead , and The Hills Have Eyes ; and many more. The contributors analyze recent trends in the horror genre, including the rise of 'torture porn,' the big-budget remakes of classic horror films, the reinvention of traditional monsters such as vampires and zombies, and a new awareness of visual technologies as sites of horror in themselves. The essays examine the allegorical role that the horror film has held in the last ten years, and the ways that it has been translating and reinterpreting the discourses and images of terror into its own cinematic language.

Genres: Horror, Nonfiction, Film

273 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2011

Reviews

[Matty van Hoof · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read but some of it was far off from the 9/11 theme and just felt like a horror essay pasted in to fill the pages. Anyway, still had some great insights and definitely made me reflect on how the media approached the tragic event.

[Wintergreen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read most of the essays in here. Lots of good stuff overall. The most interesting material winds up interpreting the media and cultural response to 9/11 itself, how the American public was told to "frame" the event, how the images we were shown ultimately were neutered in the interest of maintaining facelessness. Good collection of essays. Interesting, perhaps incomplete (more could be said about the introduction of xenophobia and the reframing of victimhood present in the torture porn genre that arose in its aftermath, i would've liked a deeper analysis of the Rob Zombie stuff both as it pertains to american concepts of violence and how the way the said violence is depicted is weaponized against culturally-instilled concepts of sympathy) but the material itself is all very intelligent stuff.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall this was a "good" read. I expected academic articles, and that was definitely what this book delivered. However, there were a few articles in here that were incredibly hard to parse. I was incredibly fascinated by nearly every chapter, but so were so hard to read I would struggled to summarize the take-away lessons or ideas. Given that the book is nearly 10 years old, there were also a few articles that showed their age.

This is definitely a book for someone wanting an academic take on horror in this era, not for a casual "for fun" reader. I enjoyed reading most of it, but I also knew to expect a more "academic" tone.

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Less accessible than Kevin J. Wetmore Jr.'s Post-9/11 Horror in American Cinema despite covering a number of the same films. This book also includes a number of things that I don't think would generally be described as horror: Paul Greengrass's United 93 and Catherine Hardwicke's Twilight really aren't horror films, and their inclusion is a bit odd. Some interesting points here and there, but nothing that substantially changed my understanding of how the genre has evolved since 2001.

[Jessrawk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, it's an okay read. Although, don't expect most of the essays to stick to the theme, at all, or even touch on it. There were some interesting essays, though, even if they had no connection to horror after 9/11. Watch out for the ham-fisted ones where they try to cram oblique films into their thesis.

[noah · Rating 4 out of 5]

procrastinated reading this since i bought it EIGHT YEARS AGO but it was incredibly slay. however i don't recommend reading this unless you're a nerd in academia and don't mind grappling with the pretty opaque film theory that's used in some of the essays. the first section (analysis of film/media made about the events of 9/11) was probably the most astute in terms of ground-breaking research, but imo all of the essays have their own merits. admittedly the further you go into the book, the more it strays from the theme but quite frankly i did not care. because it's from 2011 it is a little dated in some respects but it did remind me of some of the batshit things the bush administration did that i'd forgotten about (ex: shopping is your patriotic duty in the war on terror! if you don't spend more money the terrorists WILL win!!). i'm biased ofc but my former professor's essay on consumerism and zombie films was a favorite and the twilight/mormonism one was pretty entertaining as well. miller's closing essay on the queer monster was *chef's kiss*. overall it's a very niche read and should be taken with a grain of salt but it was well worth holding onto the book for 8 years LMAO

[Ruby Atkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

haven’t read anything “academic” in a long time and forgot how repetitive it can be. so much ‘othering’, so much ‘abject’ etc etc.

the snakes on a plane essay was particularly standout, the section on Saw really dragged but was interesting learning more about 9/11 and Bush, then it was the horror influences which felt shoe horned at times.

[Blake Frederick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Way too much academic hedging for my taste and a lot of say-nothing pages, but the essays on Cloverfield were good. 😁

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit dry, and I feel like some of it's point reach a little.