As American as Mom, Baseball, and Apple Pie: Constructing Community in Contemporary American Horror Fiction

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Popular Press, 2001 - Literary Criticism - 297 pages
This book does nothing less than redefine the very genre of horror fiction, calling into question the usual conventions, motifs, and elements. Unlike many critics of this genre, Linda Holland-Toll sees dis/affirmative horror fiction acting neither to soothe fears nor reduce them to the vicarious “thrills ‘n’ chills” mode, but as intensifying the fears inherent in everyday life.
 

Contents

The Strategies of Exclusion
14
Introduction
29
Breaking Down the Monster
54
Problems in Construction and Identity
76
Introduction
105
Community
122
We All Live on Maple Street
145
Introduction
177
Clapping the MindForged Manacles
199
Monstered Bodies the Body Politic
226
Worth Studying or Suitable for Wrapping the Garbage?
249
Bibliography
273
Index
289
Copyright

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