Don't Go Upstairs!: A Room-By-Room Tour of the House in Horror Movies

by Cleaver Patterson

Throughout cinematic history, the buildings characters inhabit--whether stately rural mansions or inner-city apartment blocks--have taken on extra dimensions, often featuring as well developed characters themselves. Nowhere is this truer than in the horror film, where familiar spaces--from chaotic kitchens to forgotten attics to overgrown greenhouses--become settings for diabolical acts or supernatural visitations.

Showing readers through a selection of prime movie real estate, this book explores how homes come to life in horror with an analysis of more than sixty films, including interviews and insights from filmmakers and scholars, along with many rare stills. From the gruesome murder in the hallway of The House by the Cemetery (1981) to the malevolent haunting in the nursery of Eel Marsh House in The Woman in Black (2012), no door is left unopened.

240 pages, Paperback

Published December 29, 2019

Reviews

[Kathryn Grace Loves Horror · Rating 5 out of 5]

A unique way of analyzing horror films.

Patterson’s book is well researched and informative, analyzing horror films by virtue of their setting in locations in and around the home. The book covers both famous and lesser known horror films. A must for any horror fan.