Reading American Horror Story: Essays on the Television Franchise by Rebecca Janicker


Reading American Horror Story: Essays on the Television Franchise
Title : Reading American Horror Story: Essays on the Television Franchise
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 1476663521
ISBN-10 : 9781476663524
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 228
Publication : Published April 3, 2017

Looming onto the television landscape in 2011, American Horror Story gave viewers a weekly dose of psychological unease and gruesome violence. Embracing the familiar horror conventions of spooky settings, unnerving manifestations and terrifying monsters, series co-creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk combine shocking visual effects with an engaging anthology format to provide a modern take on the horror genre. This collection of new essays examines the series' contribution to television horror, focusing on how the show speaks to social concerns, its use of classic horror tropes and its reinvention of the tale of terror for the 21st century.

Reading American Horror Story: Essays on the Television Franchise Reviews

  • Shadowdenizen

    Pre-read: Many thanks to Netgalley for the copy. I'm looking forward to reading some diverse perspectives on this complex series!

    REVIEW- 3.5 stars. This is an intriguing book that is relatively accessible to the average reader. It's a set of 10 essays that dig into the context, subtext and sociological aspects of the genre anthology show "American Horror Story."

    As with the best film/lit crit, this title is broadly focused, and has essays that appeal to a wide variety of topics about the show, which is something I always personally appreciate as a reader. Each of these essays, whether I agree or disagree with the premise and analysis, gave me something new to think about.

    While most of the essays are also fairly neutrally-voiced and analytical, the one that I liked the most and that really struck me was was the essay that dealt with the Season 4 "Freak Show" arc, which took (what I perceive to be) more of a critical tone.

  • Samantha Luce

    If you're a fan of AHS then you will enjoy this extensive look at the beginning and all seasons up to 7. The essayists keep things fairly neutral to positive for the series and its creators, which is fine by me. I'm a big fan. I learned quite a bit I didn't already know and had a lot of my own theories confirmed or challenged in a satisfying way. The writing is straightforward and not boring. I look forward to more seasons of the horror anthology and hopefully another volume of interesting essays.

    Received a Net Galley ARC for an unbiased review.

  • Kristen Roedel

    Some essays were definitely better than others. I especially enjoyed Carl Schottmiller's "'Wir Sind Alle Freaks': Elevating White Gay Male Oppression Through Representations of Disability." His essay was everything I was after in terms of a good analysis of disability, ethics of casting, and ableism.