Film Studies Librarian
Lucinda M. Hall
Contact:
Evans Map Room, Baker-Berry Library
Dartmouth College
25 N Main ST
Hanover, NH 03755
Dartmouth College
25 N Main ST
Hanover, NH 03755
(603) 646-0962
Website Skype Contact: d1128r8@kiewit.dartmouth.edu
Other library resource(s)
Horror-comedy from Oxford Bibliographies Online by Call Number: Electronic resourceISBN: 9780199791286Horror-comedy is a generic hybrid that deliberately provokes an emotional shift from terror, suspense, or dread to hilarity. In comedy-horror—its relative—a playful tone predominates, but it is undercut by horrific or startling events or effects. Horror-comedy traces its literary antecedents to the Elizabethan and Jacobean stage at least, as well as to gothic fiction and the Grand Guignol, but the particular type or flavor of humor employed by horror-comedy film can range from mordant wit to slapstick or, in the case of splatter-horror-comedy, “splatstick.” The particular type of comedy in horror-comedy tends to emerge cyclically, often following then parodying horror film cycles as they appear, become popular, and wane. ...
Horror Film Festivals
- 60 Best '80s Horror Movies--Top 1980s Horror Films from EsquireCamp, honest-to-God scares, and stellar Stephen King adaptations—this decade had it all.
- The Big List of Horror Film FestivalsThis is the author's attempt to make a complete and current list of all the horror film festivals in the world.
- Chicago Horror Film FestivalWhat began as a simple one-day festival to showcase Short, Independent Horror films has now become a festival for both feature and short horror films and is known for seeing many of it’s featured films picked up for distribution.
- Eerie Horror FestSince its debut in October of 2004, the Eerie Horror Film Festival has become one of the most popular and respected events of its kind in the country. Each year the Eerie Horror Film Festival attracts thousands of fans, filmmakers and screenwriters to the city of Erie, Pennsylvania, for a four day celebration of independent cinema, featuring special celebrity guests, screenings and workshops.
- New York City Horror Film FestivalEach year the NYCHFF celebrates both the horror classics we grew up with and the new horror films & filmmakers who created them. the NYCHFF fills the city with special screenings, parties, celebrity guests and free giveaways.
- Sacramento Horror Film FestivalThe Sacramento Horror Film Festival was created in 2007 with many purposes. The festival founder desired the festival to be a platform for the horror filmmaker
while providing a satisfying and valued movie going experience to the film patron. - Screamfest LAScreamfest was formed in August 2001 by film producers Rachel Belofsky and Ross Martin in order to give filmmakers and writers in the horror/sci-fi genres a venue to have their work showcased to people in the industry.
Internet resource(s)
- Horror Films from Filmsite.orgFrom Filmsite.org, this page gives a very short primer on horror films.
A quick definition for horror films
A large and heterogeneous group of films that, via the representation of disturbing, violent, and dark subject matter, seek to elicit responses of fear, terror, disgust, shock, suspense, and, of course, horror from their viewers. Horror is a protean genre, spawning numerous subgenres and hybrid variants, including gothic horror, supernatural horror, monster movies, psychological horror, splatter films, slasher films, body horror, comedy horror, serial killer films, and postmodern horror.
The horror film’s antecedents in the European gothic literary tradition and Grand‐Guignol theatre are evident in its archaic settings, its fascination with the supernatural, and its melodramatic narratives. Early examples include L’Auberge ensorcelée/The Bewitched Inn (Georges Méliès, France, 1897), Frankenstein (J. Searle Dawley, US, 1910), and Der Golem/The Golem (Paul Wegener and Henrik Galeen, Germany, 1913). The roots of the genre can be traced back to German Expressionism, which influenced the mise‐en‐scene of Das Kabinett des Dr Caligari/The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1920) and Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens/Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (F.W. Murnau, 1922). Influences have also been noted in the Surrealist movement, as seen in films such as La chute de la maison Usher/The Fall of the House of Usher (Jean Epstein, US/France, 1928) (see surrealism). ...
Kuhn, A., & Westwell, G. (2020). Horror film. In A Dictionary of Film Studies. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 7 Aug. 2023
Getting started with the Library's collections
To find horror films in the Library's collections, you can click on the subject headings below:
- horror filmsCall number range PN 1995.9 .H6 on Baker Level 4.
- horror films italyAlso known as giallo films.
Introductory reading(s)
The A-Z of horror films by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .H6 M3245 1997ISBN: 9780253211071The complete inside guide to the horror movie, from its beginnings in the early years of cinema to the to shock and spatter movies of today. It's all here. Universal, RKO, Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Hammer, Roger Corman, George Romero, Dario Argento, Wes Craven and beyond. Howard Maxford has assembled a treasure trove of detailed and previously unpublished information on horror film-makers from Britain, America, Spain, Germany, Japan, South America, South-East Asia - every part of the world where the genre has flourished. ...
American silent horror, science fiction and fantasy feature films, 1913-1929 by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .H6 S6195 2012 v. 1-2ISBN: 9780786435814During the Silent Era, when most films dealt with dramatic or comedic takes on the boy meets girl, boy loses girl theme, other motion pictures dared to tackle such topics as rejuvenation, revivication, mesmerism, the supernatural and the grotesque. ...
The BFI companion to horror by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .H6 B5 1996ISBN: 9780304332168Focusing primarily on the cinema, but encompassing literature, television, radio, popular music, history and folklore, this text provides a secret history of the horror genre from its pre-cinema beginnings in the 18th-century gothic novel and the Victorian ghost story through 100 years of film. In addition to entries on actors, directors, writers, technicians, entries on horror-themed films and television series, the book provides essays on classic horror characters like Frankenstein and Dracula, and on recurrent situations like decapitation and body-snatching.
Historical dictionary of horror cinema by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .H6 H836 2008ISBN: 9780810855854The Historical Dictionary of Horror Cinema traces the development of the genre from its beginnings to the present. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries. The entries cover all major movie villains, including Frankenstein and his monsters, the vampire, the werewolf, the mummy, the zombie, the ghost and the serial killer; film directors, producers, writers, actors, cinematographers, make-up artists, special-effects technicians, and composers who have helped shape horror history; significant production companies; major films that are milestones in the development of the horror genre; and different national traditions in horror cinema – as well as popular themes, formats, conventions, and cycles.
A history of horror by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9781978833623Publication Date: 2nd ed.Ever since horror leapt from popular fiction to the silver screen in the late 1890s, viewers have experienced fear and pleasure in exquisite combination. Wheeler Winston Dixon's fully revised and updated A History of Horror is still the only book to offer a comprehensive survey of this ever-popular film genre. Arranged by decades, with outliers and franchise films overlapping some years, this one-stop sourcebook unearths the historical origins of characters such as Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolfman and their various incarnations in film from the silent era to comedic sequels. In covering the last decade, this new edition includes coverage of the resurgence of the genre, covering the swath of new groundbreaking horror films directed by women, Black and queer horror films, and a new international wave in body horror films. ...
Selected book title(s)
The Canadian horror film: terror of the soul by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .H6 C264 2015ISBN: 9781442628502From the cheaply made “tax-shelter” films of the 1970s to the latest wave of contemporary “eco-horror,” Canadian horror cinema has rarely received much critical attention. Gina Freitag and André Loiselle rectify that situation in The Canadian Horror Film with a series of thought-provoking reflections on Canada’s “terror of the soul,” a wasteland of docile damnation and prosaic pestilence where savage beasts and mad scientists rub elbows with pasty suburbanites, grumpy seamen, and baby-faced porn stars. ...
Chicago TV horror movie shows by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1992.8 .H67 O38 2007ISBN: 9781893121133Although the motion picture industry initially disparaged and feared television, by the late 1950s, studios saw the medium as a convenient dumping ground for thousands of films that had long been gathering dust in their vaults. As these films found their way to local TV stations, enterprising distributors grouped the titles by genre so programmers could showcase them accordingly. It was in this spirit that Chicago's tradition of TV horror movie shows was born. Ted Okuda and Mark Yurkiw's book is the first comprehensive look these horror movie programs, from their inception in 1957 to the present.
Deformed and destructive beings: the purpose of horror films by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .H6 O25 2011ISBN: 9780786463077Why are audiences drawn to horror films? Previous answers to that question have included everything from a need to experience fear to a hunger for psychotherapy. This critical text proposes that the horror film's primary purpose is to present monsters, best understood as deformed and destructive beings. These monsters satisfy the audience's desire to know these beings, in particular those beings too fantastic and dangerous to know in real life. The text illuminates many aspects of the horror film genre, including epistemology, ethics, evaluation, history, monster taxonomy, and filmmaking techniques.
The great monster magazines: a critical study of the black and white publications of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .M6 C66 2008ISBN: 9780786433896This is a critical overview of monster magazines from the 1950s through the 1970s. "Monster magazine" is a blanket term to describe both magazines that focus primarily on popular horror movies and magazines that contain stories featuring monsters, both of which are illustrated in comic book style and printed in black and white. The book describes the rise and fall of these magazines, examining the contributions of Marvel Comics and several other well-known companies, as well as evaluating the effect of the Comics Code Authority on both present and future efforts in the field. It identifies several sub-genres, including monster movies, zombies, vampires, sword-and-sorcery, and pulp-style fiction. The work includes several indexes and technical credits.
Horror After 9/11 by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780292726628Horror 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?
Horror film festivals and awards by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .H6 S535 2012ISBN: 9780786465729The rise of independent horror filmmaking has spurred a growth of indie horror film festivals, promising promotional and distribution opportunities for selected motion pictures.
Horror noir: where cinema's dark sisters meet by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .F54 M44 2011ISBN: 9780786445974This critical survey examines the historical and thematic relationships between two of the cinema's most popular genres: horror and film noir. The influence of 1930s- and 1940s-era horror films on the development of noir is detailed, with analyses of more than 100 motion pictures in which noir criminality and mystery meld with supernatural and psychological horror. Included are the films based on popular horror/mystery radio shows (The Whistler, Inner Sanctum), the works of RKO producer Val Lewton (Cat People, The Seventh Victim), and Alfred Hitchcock's psychological ghost stories. ...
Finding scholarly articles & journals
Articles and other writings about horror movies can be found in many publications. We don't have journals that look exclusively at horror films. However, you can use Film & Television Literature Index to find relevant articles.
Film & television literature index by Call Number: Electronic resourceUse this index to find articles about horror films.
Web of science citation databases by Call Number: Electronic resourceThe online version of 3 separate ISI indexes: Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index and, Social Sciences Citation Index.
A Selected list of horror films
Search the online catalog for more horror films.
301/302 by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #2862ISBN: 9781417200474The mysterious disappearance of one of two young women who live across the hall from each other provokes a police investigation that sets in motion a chain of flashbacks that illustrate the women's comically conflicted relationship. One is a compulsive cook and the other an anorexic.
Ansiktet = The magician by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #10753A traveling magician bringing his potions and mystical items with him is challenged by the Minister of Health, who believes the magician to be a charlatan.
The bad seed by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #14462ISBN: 9780790792101A mother makes the tortuous discovery that her cherubic eight year old daughter harbors an innate desire to kill.
The Bela Lugosi collection by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #5624ISBN: 9781417058754This collection includes: Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), The Black Cat (1934), The Raven (1935), The Invisible Ray (1936), and Black Friday (1940), all on one disc!
The birds by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #246ISBN: 9780783240237A small California town is attacked by thousands of birds.
The brain that wouldn't die by Call Number: Streaming videoDr. Bill Cortner is a brilliant young surgeon who experiments illegally with the bodies and minds of fellow humans. When his fiancee is decapitated in a freak accident, he tries to transplant her still living head and brain to another body.
The bride of Frankenstein by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #925ISBN: 9780783235028Baron Frankenstein is blackmailed by Dr. Praetorious into reviving his monster and building a mate for it.
Burnt offerings by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #7929ISBN: 9780792857396Finding it hard to believe they rented a sprawling country mansion for $900, a family soon finds themselves surrounded by an evil, hypnotic, occult force that feeds on torture, fear and murder.
Carrie by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #553ISBN: 9780792839675Carrie White is a shy young girl who doesn't make friends easily. After her class mates taunt her about her horrified reaction to her totally unexpected first period one of them takes pity on her and gets Tommy Ross, her boyfriend and class hunk to invite Carrie to the senior prom. Meanwhile another girl who has been banned from the prom for her continued aggressive behaviour is not as forgiving and plans a trick to embarrass Carrie in front of the whole school. What she doesn't realise is that Carrie is-- gifted, and you really don't want to get her angry.
Cat people; The Curse of the cat peopleCall Number: Jones Media DVD #5416ISBN: 9780780650800Cat People : Irene Dubrovna, a beautiful and mysterious Serbian-born fashion artist living in New York City, falls in love with and marries average-Joe American Oliver Reed. Their marriage suffers though, as Irene believes that she suffers from an ancient curse-whenever emotionally aroused, she will turn into a panther and kill. The Curse of the Cat People : Amy is a very imaginative child who has trouble differentiating fantasy from reality, and has no friends her own age as a result. She makes an imaginary friend though, her father's dead first wife Irena.
Creature from the black lagoon by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #8755ISBN: 9780783240954In the upper reaches of the Amazon River, a scientific team discovers an amphibious creature, a living missing link. The creature is captured and falls in love with the female assistant of the leader of the research team. The lonely creature kidnaps her, and the scientist mounts an effort to reclaim his sweetheart and return the creature to his watery home.
Darkman by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #8568ISBN: 9780783226019A scientist is horribly disfigured when gangsters break in and destroy his laboratory. After being burned beyond recognition and altered by an experimental medical procedure, he is reborn as Darkman and seeks revenge on the criminals who were responsible.
Dorian Gray by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #13235ISBN: 9781417212743Upon arriving in London the young and powerful Dorian Gray becomes drawn into a would of debauchery and decadence by Lord Henry Wotton. Desperate to preserve the beauty captured in his portrait, Dorian trades his soul for eternal youth, leading him down a path of wickedness and murder in order to protect his horrifying secret.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #6187ISBN: 9780790785882A doctor experiments in order to turn himself into a fiend. This disc has both the 1931 (March) and 1941 (Tracy) versions.
Nope by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #23499Two siblings who run a California horse ranch discover something wonderful and sinister in the skies above, and the owner of an adjacent theme park tries to profit from the mysterious, otherworldly phenomenon.
Keeping up with Film Studies journal literature
Want an easy way to keep up with the journal literature for all facets of Film Studies? And you use a mobile device? You can install the BrowZine app and create a custom Bookshelf of your favorite journal titles. Then you will get the Table of Contents (ToCs) of your favorite journals automatically delivered to you when they become available. Once you have the ToC's, you can download and read the articles you want from the journals for which we have subscriptions.
You can get the app from the App Store or Google Play.
Don't own or use a mobile device? You can still use BrowZine! It's also available in a web version. You can get to it here. The web version works the same way as the app version. Find the journals you like, create a custom Bookshelf, get ToCs and read the articles you want.