This book analyzes 145 horror films grouped in 24 franchises. These franchises feature an antagonist, or villain, who has been present in all or most films. These antagonists are so iconic that they have, in all cases, generated multiple sequels. All movies included in this book are rated and ranked.

A scholar examines 14 everyday objects featured in horror films and how they manifest their power and speak to society’s fears. Take a tour of the house where a microwave killed a gremlin, a typewriter made Jack a dull boy, a sewing machine fashioned Carrie’s prom dress, and houseplants might kill you while you sleep. In Household Horror, Marc Olivier highlights the wonder, fear, and terrifying dimension of objects in horror cinema. Inspired by object-oriented ontology and the nonhuman turn in philosophy, Olivier places objects in film on par with humans, arguing, for example, that a sleeper sofa is as much the star of Sisters as Margot Kidder, that The Exorcist is about a possessed bed, and that Rosemary’s Baby is a conflict between herbal shakes and prenatal vitamins. Household Horror reinvigorates horror film criticism by investigating the unfathomable being of objects as seemingly benign as remotes, radiators, refrigerators, and dining tables. Olivier questions what Hitchcock’s Psycho tells us about shower curtains. What can we learn from Freddie Krueger’s greatest accomplice, the mattress? Room by room, Olivier considers the dark side of fourteen household objects to demonstrate how the objects in these films manifest their own power and connect with specific cultural fears and concerns. “Provides a lively and highly original contribution to horror studies. As a work on cinema, it introduces the reader to films that may be less well-known to casual fans and scholars; more conspicuously, it returns to horror staples, gleefully reanimating works that one might otherwise assume had been critically “done to death” (Psycho, The Exorcist, The Shining).” —Allan Cameron, University of Auckland

Steve Hutchison reviews 100 amazing horror procedurals from the 1980s. Each film is analyzed and discussed with a synopsis and a rating. The movies are ranked. How many have you seen?

Steve Hutchison reviews 100 amazing horror films from the 1990s. Each film is analyzed and discussed with a synopsis and a rating. The movies are ranked. How many have you seen?

Included in this book are 50 reviews of horror and horror-adjacent school films. School films take place in kindergartens, elementary schools, high schools, colleges, universities, and other academic institutions. Each book in the Subgenres of Terror 2020 collection contains a ranked thematic watchlist.

Steve Hutchison reviews 100 amazing horror procedurals from the 1990s. Each film is analyzed and discussed with a synopsis and a rating. The movies are ranked. How many have you seen?

Two popular subgenres converge. Film critic Steve Hutchison covers 50 excellent school slasher films and ranks them mathematically. A synopsis, five ratings, and a review are provided for each film. How many have you seen?