The Horror Sensorium
Media and the Senses
$29.95
In stock
About the Book
Horror films, books and video games engage their audiences through combinations of storytelling practices, emotional experiences, cognitive responses and physicality that ignite the sensorium—the sensory mechanics of the body and the intellectual and cognitive functions connected to them. Through analyses of various mediums, this volume explores how the horror genre affects the mind and body of the spectator. Works explored include the films 28 Days Later and Death Proof, the video games Resident Evil 4 and Doom 3, the theme park ride The Revenge of the Mummy, transmedia experiences associated with The Dark Knight and True Blood, and paranormal romance novels featuring Anita Blake and Sookie Stackhouse. By examining how these diverse media generate medium-specific corporeal and sensory responses, it reveals how the sensorium interweaves sensory and intellectual encounters to produce powerful systems of perception.
About the Author(s)
Bibliographic Details
Angela Ndalianis
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 231
Bibliographic Info: 37 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2012
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6127-1
eISBN: 978-0-7864-9043-1
Imprint: McFarland
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Preface 1
Introduction 3
1. Horror Aesthetics and the Sensorium 15
2. Dancing with the Living Dead: Video Games, Avatars
and Arms on the Brain 40
3. Dark Rides, Hybrid Machines and the Multisensory Experience 56
4. Paranormal Romance: Anita Blake, Sookie Stackhouse and the Monsters Who Love Them 73
5. Payback’s a Bitch! Death Proof, Planet Terror and the Carnivalization of Grindhouse Cinema 107
6. Hail to the King! Techno-Intertexts, Video Game Horror and Doom 3 143
7. Transmedia and the Sensorium: From Blair Witch to True Blood 163
Chapter Notes 195
Bibliography 207
Index 217
Book Reviews & Awards
“a most welcome contribution…. In fact it may be one of the most persuasive and useful approaches yet…erudite and eloquent…an excellent introduction…highly recommended”—Screening the Past; “an incredibly fun read…a must read…fascinating…insightful…a perfect text with which to engage a wide range of students in the new media field”—Senses of Cinema; “a helpful resource for those pursuing scholarly interest in horror, sensory theory, or transmedia…Ndalianis presents a distinct way of looking at horror texts that transcends some of the hidebound assumptions common to much modern theory”—Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts.
