Science fiction, fantasy and horror Books
Hachette Books Yours Cruelly Elvira
Book Synopsis The woman behind the icon known as the undisputed Queen of Halloween, reveals her full story, filled with intimate bombshells, told by the bombshell herself. The paperback includes 32 new images and an original poem composed by Cassandra when she was 16, perfect for fans to collect. At only eighteen months old, Cassandra Peterson reached for a pot on the stove and doused herself in boiling water, resulting in third-degree burns over 35 percent of her body. She miraculously survived, but burned and scarred, the impact would stay with her and become an obstacle she was determined to overcome. Cassandra left home at fourteen and supported herself as a go-go dancer. By age seventeen, she was performing as a showgirl in Las Vegas. Then a chance encounter with the “King” himself, Elvis Presley, inspired her to travel to Europe where she worked in film and toured Italy as lead singer of a band. She eventually made her way to Los Angeles, where she joined the famed comedy improv group, The Groundlings. In 1981, as a struggling actress considered past her prime, Cassandra auditioned for a local LA station as hostess for their late-night horror movies. She got the job as “Elvira,” never imagining it would lead to fame and a forty-year career. Yours Cruelly, Elvira is an unforgettably wild memoir. Cassandra doesn’t shy away from revealing exactly who she is and how she overcame seemingly insurmountable odds. Always original and sometimes outrageous, her story is loaded with twists, travails, revelry, and downright shocking experiences. It is the candid, often hilarious, and sometimes heartbreaking tale of a Midwest farm girl’s long, strange trip to become the world’s sexiest, sassiest Halloween icon. Instant New York Times Bestseller, Los Angeles Times Bestseller, USA Today Bestseller, and Publishers Weekly Bestseller. A New York Times Best Books to Give This Season selection.
£14.24
Penguin Putnam Inc Phasers on Stun
Book SynopsisAn Esquire Best Book of 2022!Written with inside access, comprehensive research, and a down-to-earth perspective, Phasers on Stun! chronicles the entire history of Star Trek, revealing that its enduring place in pop culture is all thanks to innovative pivots and radical change. For over five decades, the heart of Star Trek’s pro-science, anti-racist, and inclusive messaging has been its willingness to take big risks. Across thirteen feature films, and twelve TV series—including five shows currently airing or in production—the brilliance of Star Trek is in its endless ability to be rethought, rebooted, and remade. Author and Star Trek expert Ryan Britt charts an approachable and entertaining course through Star Trek history; from its groundbreaking origins amid the tumultuous 1960s, to its influence on diversifying the space program, to its contemporary history-making turns with LGBTQ+ representation, this bo
£18.53
DK The Star Trek Book New Edition
Book Synopsis
£25.19
DK Star Wars Timelines
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£40.00
DK Star Wars 100 Objects
Book Synopsis
£21.25
DK Marvel Studios Be More SpiderMan
Book SynopsisSpider-Man is the most relatable hero in the MCU—he’s the hero who could be you!Be inspired by Spider-Man, the neighborhood hero who balances his great powers with great responsibility. This web-swinging Avenger will stop at nothing to save those in need and is hugely loyal to friends and family. In the pages of this book, learn to think on your feet and, like Spider-Man, always have a witty comeback at the ready, even when backed into a corner Packed with iconic movie scenes, inspiring quotes, and handy lifestyle tips from Marvel Studios’ blockbuster movies, such as 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home and 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, Be More Spider-Man is the ideal gift for your family, friends, colleagues – in fact, your whole neighborhood! © 2022 MARVEL © 2022 CPII.
£12.34
DK The Avengers Assembled
Book Synopsis
£27.00
DK Star Wars Dawn of Rebellion The Visual Guide
Book Synopsis
£22.50
DK Star Wars La cronología definitiva Star Wars
Book Synopsis
£45.00
Running Press,U.S. TCM Underground
Book SynopsisBased on the Turner Classic Movies series, TCM Underground is the movie-lover's guide to 50 of the most campy, kitschy, shocking, and weirdly wonderful cult films you need to see.In the pages of this book, you'll explore this unique order of films—primarily from the 1960s, '70s, and '80s—with insightful reviews, behind-the-scenes stories, subgenre sidebars, and full-color and black-and-white photography throughout. Go along for the ride with new takes on crime films, including The Honeymoon Killers and The Harder They Come. Witness one-of-a-kind horror in Bill Gunn's landmark vampire film Ganja and Hess and Nobuhiko Obayashi’s infamous and indescribable Hausu. Absorb the boundary-pushing documentary-style trilogy The Decline of Western Civilization, which throws you into indelible moments in the punk and metal music scenes. And marvel at pure '80s oddities like Mac and M
£19.00
Running Press,U.S. Out There
Book SynopsisExplore the science behind some of your favorite popular science fiction tropes--from escaping a black hole to riding a space elevator to the stars—in this illustrated guide from NASA advisor and host of the popular Tested podcast Offworld. Whether it's researching new technology, theories, or possible extraterrestrial situations, the showrunners and directors of our favorite science fiction shows and films are often extending the boundaries of real science, leaving viewers and fans to wonder, 'Could this really happen?' In Out There: The Science Behind Sci-Fi Film and TV, author and filmmaker Ariel Waldman dives into the fascinating real science behind some of the most beloved space-themed science fiction tropes, from faster-than-light travel to AI ships, hypersleep, and imagining life on other planets. Each chapter dives into particular situations or scientific questi
£16.50
Schiffer Publishing Ltd Lets Get Monster Smashed
Book Synopsis
£17.09
Louisiana State University Press The Dirty South
Book SynopsisWith a focus on media forms through which southern identity gets articulated and questioned - including horror movies, Swamp Thing comics, and popular music - The Dirty South probes the sustained fascination with southern dirtiness while reflecting on its causes and consequences since the end of the civil rights era.Trade ReviewA unique and multilayered analysis of what and who makes the South legible in its modern iterations, The Dirty South offers some new language and approaches to push back against the lazy assertions of the region being a singularly white, conservative, and monolithic experience. . . . It's a helluva read." - Regina N. Bradley, author of Chronicling Stankonia: The Rise of the Hip-Hop South
£35.06
The University Press of Kentucky Monsters on Maple Street
Book SynopsisNow considered an enduring classic, the allegorical nature of the show provides a window into the many overlooked issues that plagued Cold War America.In Monsters on Maple Street: The Twilight Zone and the Postwar American Dream, David J.Table of ContentsIntroduction Living in the Shadows of White Supremacy Fighting a War, Combating a Myth Cold War Space and Technology Duck, Cover, and Accuse Cold War Childhood White Collar Weariness Consuming Conformity Conclusion
£64.80
Cambridge University Press An Introduction to Fantasy
Book SynopsisThis accessible new introduction to Fantasy literature, media and culture delves into pasts, presents, practices and communities. It considers Fantasy as a deep-rooted form, discusses a wide range of media permutations and reflects on the ways in which fantasies draw from and return ideas to a dynamic, ever-shifting commons.Trade Review'Matthew Sangster offers us an entirely new way to look at fantasy and its cultural significance. Drawing on a wide range of examples, from 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' to Dungeons and Dragons, and gracefully integrating ideas from a number of disciplines, Sangster offers a convincing account of one of the major cultural phenomena of the past century and a half.' Brian Attebery, Emeritus Professor of English, Idaho State University'On all accounts, this is a wonderful book. The range of texts considered is amazing. Sangster examines written narratives, films, TV series, fan fiction, graphic narratives, comics, role-playing games, and other web manifestations of fantasy, and invokes Asian, African, and Near Eastern examples alongside Western ones. The teeming variety, and Sangster's own uniquely positive approach, support claims to the importance of fantasy in human experience and enforce the sense that collaboration and shared experience is an integral element of human interaction, and one that fantasy encourages.' Kathryn Hume, Emerita Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of English, The Pennsylvania State University'Matthew Sangster's modestly titled An Introduction to Fantasy is much more than an introduction to a single genre. It is a powerful meditation on a communal mode of artistic creativity that has shaped culture for thousands of years and now finds expression in textual, visual and interactive forms all across the world.' Anna Vaninskaya, Senior Lecturer in English Literature, University of Edinburgh'Although it's one of the oldest modes of storytelling, fantasy has exploded in popularity over the last half-century, and critical and historical commentary about it has expanded almost as dramatically. In An Introduction to Fantasy: Imagination, Iteration and Community, Matthew Sangster demonstrates a keen understanding both of the source material—drawing not only on literature but on films, TV, gaming, and art—and of the critical discourse around it. His eminently readable study is both historically grounded as far back as Plato, and as contemporary as Kelly Link and Nghi Vo.' Gary K. Wolfe, Emeritus Professor of Humanities, Roosevelt University'An insightful and engaging exploration into the broad landscape of fantasy. Brilliantly written and comprehensive, Sangster delves deftly into the signal importance of the genre throughout human history and in our fraught contemporary moment. Thought-provoking and timely, this volume belongs on every fantasist's bookshelf.' Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, Associate Professor, Joint Program in English and Education, University of Michigan, author of The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to The Hunger GamesTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Fantasy, Language and the Shaping of Culture; 2. The Value of Iteration; 3. Root Formations; 4. Enlightenment and its Shadows; 5. Fashioning Worlds; 6. Fantastic Communities and Common Ground; Envoi.
£18.99
Taylor & Francis Ltd Contemporary American Science Fiction Film
Book SynopsisContemporary American Science Fiction Film explores and interrogates a diverse variety of popular and culturally relevant American science fiction films made in the first two decades of the new millennium, offering a ground-breaking investigation of the impactful role of genre cinema in the modern era.Placing one of the most popular and culturally resonant American film genres broadly within its rich social, historical, industrial, and political context, the book interrogates some of the defining critical debates of the era via an in-depth analysis of a range of important films. An international team of authors draw on case studies from across the science fiction genre to examine what these films can tell us about the time period, how the films themselves connect to the social and political context, how the fears and anxieties they portray resonate beyond the screen, and how the genre responds to the shifting coordinates of the Hollywood film industry.OfferingTrade Review"Contemporary American Science Fiction Film is an outstanding collection of essays on the power and provocation of those future orientated films that nonetheless conjure up the maelstrom of what it is like to dream and despair in the first two decades of the new millennium. Covering blockbuster, transmedia and independent science fiction film, the collection examines the long and refracted lens of the present through its concern with the geopolitical, the technological, the deadly traumatic, and the precariat economic. It also senses science fiction and the way it troubles selfhood and identity, so the intimate and the personal are woven into the collection’s articulations. With standout chapters on Arrival, Children of Men, Annihilation, and Black Panther, amongst others, Contemporary American Science Fiction Film is a profoundly important text for all time, or for as long as this world has left to live..."Professor Sean Redmond, Deakin University, Australia"McSweeney and Joy’s Contemporary American Science Fiction Film provides a fascinating foray into the strange and exciting allegorical world of science fiction film over the past two decades. The collection covers a key selection of widely popular films, from Black Panther to Blade Runner 2049, from Star Wars to Planet of the Apes. It is also a wide-ranging cultural and political history of the United States in the 21st century, providing deep explorations of the latent meanings and emotional resonances of the films, of their imagery, and of what they reveal about the sociopolitical worlds within which they were dreamt and projected."Jeremiah Morelock, Boston College, USA"Framing science fiction as the “allegorical mode” in 21st century cinema, Contemporary American Science Fiction Film ranges widely across the cultural landscape, tackling the War on Terror, “9/11,” global warming, a politicized media, diversity and inclusion efforts, and other defining moments and movements. The collection matches these haunting components of the cultural imaginary with the latest science fiction cinema in consistently stimulating ways. Voicing that treatment are a number of the genre’s most eloquent and considered commentators, who here demonstrate not just science fiction’s widespread popularity, but the crucial cultural function it serves for us today."J. P. Telotte, Professor Emeritus, Georgia Institute of Technology, USAIncluding case studies of various motion pictures, Contemporary American Science Fiction Film offers a superb investigation of the science fiction genre. McSweeney and Joy (both, Southampton Solent Univ., UK) argue that “science fiction films have often been both a valuable witness to and [an] interrogator of key moments of ideological tension” and that science fiction, working as allegory, possesses the ability to “manifest aspects of the cultural imaginary, which ... become[s] problematic to express explicitly in their political and social climates” (p. 1). Each of the 12 chapters centers on a film and explores how the film reflects its time of creation, works as a cultural artifact linked to historical moments, and expresses larger cultural anxieties. Treating films such as Children of Men (2006) and Interstellar (2014), the essays, all by eminent scholars, decipher the fictional worlds of time loops, alternative histories, clones, and dystopias. Of particular note are Carol Donelan’s examination of the Planet of the Apes reboot franchise; Andrew Schopp's reading of the eco-horror film Annihilation (2018) as hybridization, anxiety, and destruction in American identity; and Paul Petrovic’s interpretation of the dark comedy Sorry to Bother You (2018). Taken together, these essays contribute greatly to film scholarship and make for a solid text for science fiction film courses.--S. B. Skelton, Kansas State University, CHOICETable of ContentsIntroduction: The Fears and Fantasies of Science Fiction Film: Genre as Cultural ArtefactTerence McSweeney and Stuart Joy 1. A Tale as Old as Time: Steven Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) Christine Muller 2. Through the Lens of 9/11: Reflections of Bush Era Politics and the Post-9/11 Milieu in Minority Report (2002) and V for Vendetta (2006) Fran Pheasant-Kelly 3. Precarious Lives, Human Rights, and 'the sense of today': The Continuing Resonance and Relevance of Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men (2006) Terence McSweeney 4. Seeing and Touching the Bodies of Others: Evolving the Male Animal toward Secular Moral Enlightenment in the Planet of the Apes Reboot Franchise Carol Donelan 5. Time Travel, Trauma, and the Futility of Revenge in Looper (2012) Stuart Joy 6. Science Fiction Cinema between Arthouse and Blockbuster: From Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 to Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar (2014) Steffen Hantke 7. Twenty-first-Century Star Wars: Profiles in (Female) Courage Stacey Peebles 8. Rationality, emotionality, and geopolitics in Arrival (2016): From structural oppositions and reconciliations to mixed modalities and claims to "quality" status Geoff King 9. 'The World Is Built on A Wall': Deconstructing Blade Runner 2049 (2017) Will Brooker 10. Speculative Anger and Collective Economic Strength in Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You (2018) Paul Petrovic 11. Coping with the Deconstruction of American Identity: Hybridization and Self-destruction in Alex Garland’s Annihilation (2018) Andrew Schopp 12. Wakanda Forever? On Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther (2018) Gerry Canavan
£37.04
Taylor & Francis Ltd Epidemic Cinema
Book SynopsisThis book examines the recent trend in global cinema to feature infectious disease.As the global crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic materialised the anxieties and discourses of world risk that had long been portrayed in popular media, the book provides a novel definition of the epidemic film genre and offers a systematic look into the narrative and stylistic conventions that characterise it. Epidemic Cinema traces the evolution of the genre from its early cinematic origins to establish the founding principles of a genre standing at the crossroads between science-fiction and horror. It draws on close textual analysis to show how the pandemic reified one of the central predicaments of epidemic narratives: the constant tension existing between free-floating phenomena and the impulse to control and resist such phenomena, ultimately epitomised by the trope of the border. Showing how infectious diseases offer a rich allegorical frame which cinema uses to articulate timely anxieties ofTable of ContentsIntroductionChapter 1. Plague-Metaphors in the Age of the VirusChapter 2. The Origins of the GenreChapter 3. Defining the Epidemic GenreChapter 4. Connectivity: Contagion and Viral (Dis)InformationChapter 5. Territorial Conversion: Children of Men and Viral FearChapter 6. Bodily Conversion: Warm Bodies and Viral LoveChapter 7. Containment: Blindness and Viral MediaConclusion
£128.25
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Postfeminism and Contemporary Vampire Romance
Book SynopsisIn this book, Lea Gerhards traces connections between three recent vampire romance series; the Twilight film series (2008-2012), The Vampire Diaries (2009-2017) and True Blood (2008-2014), exploring their tremendous discursive and ideological power in order to understand the cultural politics of these extremely popular texts. She uses contemporary vampire romance to examine postfeminist ideologies and discuss gender, sexuality, subjectivity, agency and the body. Discussing a range of conflicting meanings contained in the narratives, Gerhards critically looks genre's engagement with everyday sexism and violence against women, power relations in heterosexual relationships, sexual autonomy and pleasure, (self-) empowerment, and (self-) surveillance. She asks: Why are these genre texts so popular right now, what specific desires, issues and fears are addressed and negotiated by them, and what kinds of pleasures do they offer?Trade ReviewInsightful, compelling and provocative, this book offers an enlightening analysis of the global phenomenon of vampire romance that has as much to tell us about gender, sexuality and post-feminism as it does the vampires that we love, or love to hate. A must-read for fans and scholars alike -- Stacey Abbott, University of Roehampton London, UK.Interrogating the tricky terrain of post-feminist discourse via a close reading of three vampire juggernauts of the early 2000s, Gerhard's book offers an incisive deep-dive into contemporary gender politics. -- Natalie Wilson, California State University San Marcos, USA.Gerhards offers a comprehensive look at three populist vampire texts that provides a strong introduction to vampire studies for undergraduates across the liberal arts. Using a sophisticated analysis, she reconstructs arguments from many well know feminist and cultural theorists to help guide new scholars through the ways vampire products can help students navigate gender and identity in the 21st century. -- Melissa Anyiwo, Curry College, USATable of ContentsAcknowledgements Series Editors’ Introduction Introduction: The Cultural Politics of Contemporary Vampire Romance 1. More than a Backlash: The Contradictions of Postfeminist Culture 2. Paranormal Romance: A Quintessentially Postfeminist Genre? 3. The Politics of Looking: Female Protagonists between Subject and Object 4. Vampire Transformation as Makeover: The Making of Ideal Postfeminist Subjects 5. Fantasy Solutions to Postfeminist Culture: Vampire Heroes and Postfeminist Masculinity Conclusion: Paradoxical Pleasures Notes Bibliography Index
£85.50
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Adventures Across Space and Time
Book SynopsisAdventures Across Space and Time brings together key academic, critic and fan writings about Doctor Who alongside newly-commissioned work addressing contemporary issues and debates to form a comprehensive guide to the wider Whoniverse.The perennially popular BBC series holds a unique place in the history of television and of TV fandom: the longest running science-fiction show, the series and its fan communities have tracked social and cultural changes over its 60 year lifetime. Adventures Across Space and Time presents classic writings on Who and its fandom by leading scholars including John Fiske, Henry Jenkins, John Tulloch and Matt Hills, but also represents writings and art by fans, including fans who went on to become showrunners, writers or even the Doctor himself, with contributions by Steven Moffat, Chris Chibnall, Douglas Adams and Peter Capaldi. This innovative anthology addresses Doctor Who''s showrunners, Doctors, companions, enemies and cTrade ReviewOver its sixty-year history, Doctor Who has inspired a vast array of commentary. The Doctor Who Reader gathers together a commendably representative range of such writing, academic and fan, classic and newly commissioned. An essential addition to the scholarship's unfolding text. -- Una McCormack, scriptwriter and author of Doctor Who: The Target Storybook (2019)A wonderful book by some wonderful people, about what we love about Doctor Who, why we love it, and how it loves us back. -- Steven Schapansky, host of Doctor Who: Radio Free Skaro, UKA brilliant compendium of the brilliance of Doctor Who fandom. Intelligent, insightful and incredibly wide-ranging, this is a really engaging collection. I love the mix of new analysis and older pieces to give a comprehensive overview. A perfect introduction for those new to Doctor Who scholarship, and packed with interest for more established scholars. There's so much here I'd never even thought of. I finished it then immediately wanted to start reading again. -- Simon Guerrier, producer and author of How The Doctor Changed My Life (2008)Table of ContentsList of Illustrations List of Tables Foreword by Matthew Sweet Acknowledgements List of Contributors Section I: Into the (Transmedia) Vortex: From Dalekmania to Time Lord Victorious - Paul Booth 1. Transmedia Doctor Who I From ‘Canonicity in Doctor Who’ by Paul Cornell From ‘Doctor Who and the Convergence of Media: A Case Study in “Transmedia Storytelling”’ by Neil Perryman 2. Early TV Scholarship From ‘Dr Who: Similarity and Difference’ by John Tulloch From ‘Dr Who: Ideology and the Reading of a Popular Narrative Text’ by John Fiske 3. Production Insights From The Making of Doctor Who by Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke From Triumph of a Time Lord: Regenerating Doctor Who in the Twenty-First Century by Matt Hills 4. The (In)definite Article From TARDISBound: Navigating the Universes of Doctor Who by Piers Britton From Design for Doctor Who: Vision and Revision in Science Fiction Television by Piers Britton 5. Bigger, Louder, and Now in Colour! From ‘Adapting Telefantasy: The Doctor Who and the Daleks Films’ by John R. Cook From ‘Televisuality Without Television?: The Big Finish Audios and Discourses of “Tele-centric” Doctor Who’ by Matt Hills From Love and Monsters: The Doctor Who Experience, 1979 to the Present by Miles Booy 6. The Legacy of Doctor Who Literature by Stacey Smith? 7. The Doctor Who Figurine Collection by Ross Garner 8. Doctor Who: Time Fracture – Process, Techniques and Principles of an Immersive Experience Production by Sarah Atkinson and Helen Kennedy 9. The Costs of the Doctor: Time Lord Victorious and Managing Transmedia Engagement by Elizabeth Evans Section II Studying Doctor Who's Audiences and Fans - Matt Hills 10. The Powerless Elite From Science Fiction Audiences by John Tulloch and Henry Jenkins 11. The Powerless Elite? From ‘Keeping the Elite Powerless: Fan-Producer Relations in the “Nu Who” (and New YOU) Era’ by Leora Hadas and Limor Shifman 12. The Eras of Doctor Who From ‘Periodising Doctor Who’ by Paul Booth 13. Political Doctor Who From ‘Is Doctor Who Political?’ by Alan McKee 14. Desiring Doctor Who From ‘Desiring the Doctor: Identity, Gender and Genre in Online Fandom’ by Rebecca Williams 15. Feminist Doctor Who From ‘“Finally, we get to play the Doctor”: Feminist Female Fans’ Reactions to the First Female Doctor Who’ by Neta Yodovich 16. Fans as Consumers: Psychographics and Tribalism in Doctor Who Fandom by Alison Lawson and David Lawson 17. The Controversy of the Thirteenth Doctor Announcement and Doctor Who Fandom on Tumblr by Alice de Freitas Gomes and Polyana Inácio Rezende Silva 18. Marginally Fannish: Fan Podcasts as Alternative Sites of Intersectional Education by Parinita Shetty 19. Casual Fans and Non-Fans in Flux: The Reception of ‘Once, Upon Time’ and Doctor Who’s Return to Serialization by Dominique Gagnon Section III: Doctor Who Fandom in the 21st Century - Joy Piedmont 20. Tumblr Fandom Is an Unknowable Anti-Monolith Cryptid by Lena Barkin 21. The Police Box From ‘Doctor Who’s TARDIS Has a Different Meaning for Black Fans’ by Constance Gibbs 22. Space Isn’t Always for Everyone: How Unconscious Racial Bias in Doctor Who Scripts Affects Fan Perception of Companions of Colour by Amanda-Rae Prescott 23. ‘Martha Jones is a lesbian’: Queer (Re)interpretations of Companions in Doctor Who by Océane I. Nyela and Anna Young 24. Fandom DIY: Doctor Who Fans in Poland by Magdalena Stonawska 25. ‘The Day of The Doctor’ and ‘Flux’ in Latin America: The Relationship between BBC’s Strategies and Brazilian Whovians by Eloy Vieira and Lilian França 26. Translating Doctor Who into Chinese: Fansubbing and Doctor Who Fandom in China by Ting Guo 27. The Girl Who Waited Survived: Fan Rewritings of Amy Pond by Bethan Jones 28. Forks in the Fandom Road: Divergent Views on the Social Politics of Doctor Who by Talia Franks 29. Postcolonial Doctor Who From ‘Through Coloured Eyes: An Alternative Viewing of Postcolonial Transition’ by Vanessa de Kauwe Section IV: Doctor Who’s Creative Intersections - Tansy Rayner Roberts 30. Fans for Hire From ‘Douglas Adams: The First Professional Doctor Who Fan’ by Eddie Robson 31. The Doctor Effect From ‘How Fanzines Helped Put Doctor Who Fans in Charge of Doctor Who’ by Nolan Feeney 32. Fannish Origin Stories From ‘Dalek-Builders’ by Peter Capaldi From rec.arts.drwho Post by Steven Moffat 33. Poachers Turned Cartographers by Ian Potter 34. Within Any Fan’s Dream From David J Richardson interviews Kate Orman 35. Run Fast, Love Hard, Be Kind: Twenty Years in Doctor Who Fandom by Lynne M Thomas 36. Popping into Fiction From ‘Where To Find the Doctor in All of My Historical Fantasy Novels’ by Mary Robinette Kowal 37. Sexism in Fandom From ‘The Uncomfortable Truth About Fandom Sexism’ by Claudia Boleyn 38. When Fans Become Showrunners by Julia Henken 39. Scripting Fandom in 21st Century Doctor Who by Paul Driscoll 40. The legacy of the fanzine Renaissance by Leslie McMurtry Index
£23.74
Amberley Publishing Irwin Allen Collectibles
Book SynopsisJohn Buss looks at the memorabilia of the popular Irwin Allen stable - Lost in Space, Land of the Giants and more.
£14.39
Edinburgh University Press Visceral Screens
Book SynopsisInvestigates how horror films have rendered the human body as a media artifact, dramatically dis-figuring it with optical effects and visual fragmentation.Trade Review"Visceral Screens argues eloquently for horror's centrality to essential debates in contemporary film and media studies theory. By framing horror beyond conventional notions of cautionary or anxious relations to media technologies, Allan Cameron presents a fascinating new account of horror as an 'intermediate' genre: between meanings encompassing bodies, images, and image-bodies." -Adam Lowenstein, University of Pittsburgh
£19.94
Peter Lang Publishing Inc Star Trek and Star Wars
Book SynopsisIn Star Trek and Star Wars: The Enlightenment versus the Anti-Enlightenment, George A. Gonzalez shows that these two behemoths of popular culture put the Enlightenment and anti-Enlightenment before the viewing public. Star Trek is arguably the popular culture vehicle most reflective of the Enlightenment: a belief in political and social progress, leading to a society that is modern, classless, and totally free of gender and ethnic biases. The Star Wars franchise, meanwhile, is seemingly the artistic embodiment of the anti-Enlightenment: societal progress (to the extent that it occurs) is solely a function of technology and not a perfecting of justice and fairness. Gonzalez shows that this reflects the pessimism and demoralization underlying the Trump phenomenon and the rise of anti-democratic, virulent nationalism.Table of ContentsIntroduction – The Hegel/ Marx Political Philosophy Paradigm – Praxis: Enlightenment versus the Anti- Enlightenment – Star Trek (Original Series) Against Patriarchy and Jim Crow – The Early Cold War and Star Trek (Original Series) – Star Trek and the Clash of Civilizations: Anti-Enlightenment versus Modernism (Universal Justice) – Nazi Takeover of America: The Man in the High Castle and Star Trek – Conclusion: The Trump Phenomenon and the Anti- Enlightenment – Bibliography – Index.
£28.50
Edinburgh University Press PostHorror
Book SynopsisPost-Horror is the first full-length study of one of the most important and divisive movements in twenty-first-century horror cinema.
£81.00
Edinburgh University Press Contemporary Thai Horror Film
Book SynopsisExamines Thai horror film and the central role this genre plays in Thailand's film industry
£85.00
McFarland & Co Inc Angels and Ministers of Grace Defend Us
Book Synopsis Like a lovingly guided midnight tour, this book covers the seductive shadows of the most fascinating horror films and melodramas from the 1930s and 1940s. From the bloody censorship battles behind 1935''s Bride of Frankenstein, to the sexual controversies of 1941''s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and the gruesome Nazi atrocities of 1943''s Women in Bondage, this book delves into newly excavated research to tell the behind-the-scenes sagas of some of Hollywood''s most frightening films. Peek behind the scenes, revel in on-the-set anecdotes and get a look at the script notes illuminating characters like WereWolf of London, Richard III, Panther Woman and Rasputin. Included are profiles of the performers and filmmakers who made the nightmares feel all too real in the darkened theaters of yesteryear, and an examination of the factors that have kept these films popular so many decades later.Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Bela, Bestiality and the Amours of Erik the Ape: Murders in the Rue Morgue 2. "Why Won't You Die?": Rasputin and the Empress 3. The Vanity of the Panther Woman: Island of Lost Souls 4. "A Sin Against the Holy Ghost!": Early Drafts, Studio Politics and Censorship Sagas of Bride of Frankenstein 5. "It's the Devil … Creeping Out of Hell": WereWolf of London 6. Procuring Mad Love 7. Unholy Royalty: Universal's Tower of London 8. "A Madman's Dream": Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) 9. Monogram's Nazi Horror Peep Show: Women in Bondage 10. The Odyssey of Mildred Davenport—to Acquanetta—to Paula the Ape Woman 11. How to Make a Monster Rally: The Production of House of Frankenstein 12. His 20-Year-Long Last Bow: The Final Act of Basil Rathbone 13. Horror Box Office Chapter Notes Bibliography Index
£32.39
McFarland & Co Inc The Self and Community in Star Trek Voyager
Book Synopsis After they are pulled 70,000 light-years away from Alpha Quadrant, the captain and crew of Star Trek: Voyager must travel homeward while exploring new challenges to their relationships, views of others, and themselves. As the first extended, critical study dedicated to Star Trek: Voyager, this book examines how the series uses the physical distance from the crew''s home quadrant and the effect this has on the dynamics among community formation, self-creation and a sense of place. Chapters cover topics such as time travel, leadership models, interspecies relationships, the impact of trauma, models of self-creation and individuality, environmental influences on groups and individuals, memory, nostalgia, and how spiritual experiences affect people. The holographic Doctor and the former Borg, Seven of Nine, stand out as complex and boundary-stretching figures.Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Part I: Shaping the Self through Memory, Narrative, and Love Chapter One. Memory and Identity: Reading Minds and Replacing Narratives Chapter Two. Programming Love, Art, and Loyalties: The Case of the Doctor Chapter Three. Alien Attraction and Interspecies Romance Part II: Examining the Past and Re-Creating the Self Chapter Four. Trauma, Disability, and Seven of Nine: Working through the Past and Imagining the Future Chapter Five. "I did not experience that timeline": Time Travel and the Importance of Community Chapter Six. From Ray-Guns to Costume Drama on the Holodeck: Technology, Nostalgia, and Losing Control Part III: Community, Environments, and the Self Chapter Seven. The Borg Collective and the Voyager Family: Building Communities Chapter Eight. Redefining Leadership and Alliances Chapter Nine. "There's Coffee in That Nebula": Energy, Exigency, and Ecosystems Chapter Ten. Spiritual Encounters in the Delta Quadrant Afterword. Star Trek: Discovery: Hybridity, Environments, and Multiverses List of Episodes Bibliography Index
£35.99
McFarland & Co Inc Apocalypse and Heroism in Popular Culture
Book Synopsis Stories of world-ending catastrophe have featured prominently in film and television. Zombie apocalypses, climate disasters, alien invasions, global pandemics and dystopian world orders fill our screens--typically with a singular figure or tenacious group tasked with saving or salvaging the world. Why are stories of End Times crisis so popular with audiences? And why is the hero so often a white man who overcomes personal struggles and major obstacles to lead humanity toward a restored future? This book examines the familiar trope of the hero and the recasting of contemporary anxieties in films like The Walking Dead, Snowpiercer and Mad Max: Fury Road. Some have familiar roots in Western cultural traditions yet many question popular assumptions about heroes and heroism to tell new and fascinating stories about race, gender and society and the power of individuals to change the world.Table of Contents Preface Introduction: White Masculinity and the Liberal Apocalypse Allegory in Popular Culture One. Neoliberal Apocalypse, Capitalist Realism, and the Status of Critique in Children of Men and Mad Max: Fury Road Two. Settler Colonialism, Gender, and Joss Whedon's Firefly/Serenity: The Limits of White Irony Three. Crises of Masculine and Neoliberal Subjection in The Walking Dead Four. Futurities and Speculative Fictions in Sci-Fi Cinema: Sleep Dealer and Snowpiercer Conclusion. Allegory with a Vengeance in The Girl with All the Gifts Chapter Notes Bibliography Index
£35.99
McFarland & Co Inc Hannibals Fairy Tale
Book Synopsis Much has been written about the aesthetics of the television series Hannibal and its devoted fans, and some have discussed its philosophical ideas and its Gothic characteristics, but until now there has been no in-depth reading of the show as a fairy tale. However, the show positions itself as a fairy tale in its third season. Recognizing it as a fairy tale provides an understanding of its appeal and forces us to consider its lessons. Like a fairy tale, Hannibal plays with time and reality and teaches its audience about their world and how to survive in it. From the show, the audience learns both the importance and the danger of family and friends, the complicated nature of humanity containing the capability for good and evil, and the arbitrariness of society''s definitions and taboos. As a fairy tale, it draws its viewers in and encourages them not only to come back time and again but to retell and even add to the story.Trade ReviewProvides a series of new insights into the television series and its literary and cinematic-televisual context. It is, to my knowledge, the best scholarly work focused exclusively on the groundbreaking TV series, Hannibal, available so far."—Joseph Westfall, professor of philosophy, University of Houston--DowntownTable of Contents Table of Contents Acknowledgments deletevi Preface Introduction Chapter 1. Fuller's Harris Remix Chapter 2. Season 1: "Perception's a tool that's pointed on both ends" Chapter 3. Season 2: "One thin barrier between us" Chapter 4. Season 3: "On occasion dissection is the only thing that will do" Chapter 5. "Observe or Participate?" Works Cited Index
£42.29
McFarland & Co Inc Power and Subversion in Game of Thrones
Book Synopsis This collection of essays examines the structures of power and the ways in which power is exercised and felt in the fantasy world of Game of Thrones. It considers how the expectations of viewers, particularly within the genre of epic fantasy, are subverted across the full 8 seasons of the series. The assembled team of international scholars, representing a variety of disciplines, addresses such topics as the power of speech and magic; the role of nationality and politics; disability, race and gender; and the ways in which each reinforces or subverts power in Westeros and Essos.Trade ReviewThis book stands out as a collection of essays that together present a sweeping examination of the HBO series, with some attention to the books, from various disciplinary and theoretical perspectives. ...Collectively, the essays in this book demonstrate how the series is open to multiple readings and repeatedly explore how conflicts between readings may have shaped the audience's dissatisfaction with the final seasons....recommended"—ChoiceTable of Contents Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction A. Keith Kelly List of Seasons and Episodes: HBO's Game of Thrones Breaking the Wheel: Game of Thrones and the American Zeitgeist Daniel Vollaro Dangerous Nostalgia: Fantasies of Medievalism, Race, and Identity Robert Allen Rouse Game of Victims and Monsters: Representation of Sexual and Female Violence Sylwia Borowska-Szerszun Subversion or Reinforcement? Patriarchy and Masculinity Andrew Howe "I'll go with anger": Female Rage in and at Game of Thrones Lindsey Mantoan The Developing Verbal Power of Daenerys: A Pragmatics Analysis Graham P. Johnson "Who has a better story than Bran the Broken?": The Power of Disability Narratives Jan Doolittle Wilson Magic's Failure to Reanimate Fantasy Jason M. Embry A Brief Conclusion on the Conclusion A. Keith Kelly About the Contributors Index
£27.54
McFarland & Co Inc Grimms Trailer Full of Secrets
Book Synopsis NBC''s Grimm is an understudied series full of compelling characters, including Monroe, the charmingly knowledgeable vegetarian who looks like a werewolf; Wu, the funny cop who beats his way to the truth; Adalind, the enjoyably vengeful, risk-taking witch; Trubel, the furious young loner accused of insanity; Kelly, a powerful older warrior-woman; Nick, a compassionate detective; Hank, Juliette, Rosalee and others. This book, which includes a chapter on each key figure, explores the fascinating world of characterization in television. The storyline, as well as the dialogue, acting, costumes, scenery, lighting and music, contribute to in-depth depictions that evolve over time. Grimm''s figures confound our perceptions of race, age and gender. They demonstrate the ability of TV characters to build unforgettable, meaningful connections.Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Characters Full of SecretsOne. "The dark does have its bright side": Monroe and the Liminal Hero-Sidekick Tradition of Spock, Spike, and Illya KuryakinTwo. "I don't have a problem with it": Killing, Sex, and the African American Cop—HankThree. "I'm in control": Sergeant Wu, Wit, and Sexual AmbiguityFour. "I never choose sides": Prince-Father-Captain Sean Renard and the Gothic Hero-Villain of PatriarchyFive. "You know, Nick—he's a sensitive Grimm": Nick Burkhardt, Emotional Engagement, and Male MelodramaSix. "Women become aware sooner than men": Marie Kessler, Kelly Burkhardt, and the Crones of PortlandSeven. "Smoking that hat": The Shape of Power for Fred/Illyria in Angel and Juliette/Eve in GrimmEight. "I've seen this before": Rosalee Calvert and Practical MagicNine—"I just drank my mother": The Abjection of Adalind SchadeTen. "I really didn't expect to live this long": Trubel and the Combative FemaleEleven. "You haven't named her yet?": Diana as Demon ChildConclusion: Character and AuteurismAppendix: Grimm Episode ListChapter NotesWorks CitedIndex
£27.54
McFarland & Co Inc The Netflix Vision of Horror
Book Synopsis Since the emergence of on-demand streaming platforms, television as a storytelling medium has drastically changed. The lines between TV and cinema are blurred. Traditionally, television relied on narrative forms and genres that were highly formulaic, striving to tease the viewer onward with a series of cliffhangers while still maintaining viewer comprehension. Now, on platforms such as Netflix, the lack of commercial breaks and the practice of binge-watching have led to a new type of television flow that urges viewers to see and consume a series as a whole and not as a fragmented narrative. This book examines the structuring methods of 13 Netflix original horror series, including Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Stranger Things, Hemlock Grove, The Haunting of Hill House, and Santa Clarita Diet. Although these shows use television as the medium of storytelling, they are structured according to the classical rules of film. Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionOne. Netflix Original Horror Series: Films in DisguiseTwo. The Narrative Structure of the Complex Discovery PlotThree. The Narrative Structures of Triple and Double Function PlotsConclusionFilmographyAppendix A: Series CorpusAppendix B: Three-Act StructuresAppendix C: Types of Plot and HorrorChapter NotesBibliographyIndex
£27.54
McFarland & Co Inc Journeys into Terror
Book Synopsis Since ancient times, explorers and adventurers have captured popular imagination with their frightening narratives of travels gone wrong. Usually, these stories heavily feature the exotic or unknown, and can transform any journey into a nightmare. Stories of such horrific happenings have a long and rich history that stretches from folktales to contemporary media narratives. This work presents eighteen essays that explore the ways in which these texts reflect and shape our fear and fascination surrounding travel, posing new questions about the geographies of evil and how our notions of terrible places and their inhabitants change over time. The volume''s five thematic sections offer new insights into how power, privilege, uncanny landscapes, misbegotten quests, hellish commutes and deadly vacations can turn our travels into terror.Trade ReviewThe essays that make up this original book offer interesting and well-written arguments that touch on very different cultural and geographical areas of the globe, thus making this volume very attractive and appetizing to different audiences all over the world. This book will certainly be of interest to film studies scholars and students as well, fans of the various directors' works and scholars of travel literature."—Dr. Antonio Sanna, co-editor of the Lexington Books series Critical Companions to Contemporary Directors; Cultore della materia, Università degli Studi di SassariTable of Contents Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Cynthia J. Miller and A. Bowdoin Van Riper I. Power and Privilege Vengeance, Voyage, and Identity Deconstruction in Jordan Peele's Michael C. Reiff "The line is broken": The River and the Road to Cultural Extinction in Ciro Guerra's Embrace of the Serpent (El abrazo de la serpiente, 2015) Thomas Prasch Clashing Routes: Horror, Violence, and Resistance in Bacurau (2019) Alexandre Busko Valim and Rafaela Arienti Barbieri Journeys into Depravity in (Post)Colonial Australia: Colonizer versus Colonized Identity and "Otherness" in Wake in Fright and The Nightingale Sean Woodard II. Journeys to Hell Heterotopic Hell Ride on The Midnight Meat Train Ana Došen Facing the Inhuman on the Train to Busan Susan L. Boulanger Flights from Hell: "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" and the Horrors of Aviation Lindsey Michael Banco The Road Goes On Forever, and the Horror Never Ends Cynthia J. Miller III. Uncanny Landscapes Irradiated, Irrational, Irreclaimable: Post-Soviet Adventures in Chernobyl Diaries and Devil's Pass Sara Jo Powell Uncharted Waters: Island of Lost Souls (1932), Horror Island (1941), Isle of the Dead (1945) James J. Ward (Don't) Go East: Eastern Europe as the Land of Horrors Barbara Plotz Not Without My Terror: The Middle East as a Fertile Crescent of Western Dread Mat Hardy and Sally Totman IV. Postcards from the Edge Midsommar's Journey of Moral Terror Benjamin Franz "We are not who we are": (Re)Visiting Reflexive Horror Landscapes in The Cabin in the Woods and The Final Girls Catherine Pugh "Any chance we're ever gonna get out of here?" Southern Comfort and the Horrors of Southern (In)Hospitality Karen Horsley V. Quests Fraught with Terror "Give a bad boy enough rope…": Body Horror at Journey's End in Disney's Pinocchio Richard J. Leskosky Off the Edge of the Map: The Descent Phil Hobbins-White Out of Time: Missed Connections and Existential Horrors in The Langoliers (1995) A. Bowdoin Van Riper About the Contributors Index
£32.39
McFarland & Co Inc Hosted Horror on Television
Book Synopsis In October 1957, Screen Gems made numerous horror movies available to local television stations around the country as part of a package of films called Shock Theater. These movies became a huge sensation with TV viewers, as did the horror hosts who introduced the films and offered insight--often humorous--into the plots, the actors, and the directors. This history of hosted horror walks readers through the best TV horror films, beginning with the 1930s black-and-white classics from Universal Studios and ending with the grislier color films of the early 1970s. It also covers and explores the horror hosts who presented them, some of whom faded into obscurity while others became iconic within the genre.
£27.54
McFarland & Co Inc Dead White and Blue
Book Synopsis Science fiction and horror television shows predict how the world might be different if zombies were real, or if artificial intelligence could develop consciousness. Pop culture critics reveal that these not-quite humans are often proxies for race, and the post-apocalyptic landscapes set the stage for reimagining social and political institutions. This book advances horror scholarship by placing those stories within a long tradition of mythologizing U.S. history. It demonstrates how Disney''s Zombies reenacts the civil rights movement, how The Walking Dead fulfills Thoreau''s fantasy against the backdrop of founding a new nation, and how Westworld permits visitors to experience the Old West while bearing witness to Indian Removal. Each of these narratives imagines a future that retells the past. The chapters within look at that tradition in order to understand the present.Trade ReviewClayton has provocatively situated a fresh range of zombie and zombie-adjacent texts in long-standing nationalist discourses within the American psyche. The analysis demonstrates the long reach of the zombie mythos in ideological roots of repression and resistance, unpacked with insight and wit."—Peter Dendle, author of The Zombie Movie EncyclopediaTable of Contents Table of Contents Acknowledgments deletevi Preface Introduction Chapter Myths of Colonial America Chapter Lakota Ghost Dance and the Imaginary Frontier Chapter Three Caribbean and Gothic Origins of the American Zombie Chapter Four Social Critique and the Modern Zombie Chapter Five Civil Rights Movement Retold in Disney Zombies Chapter Destiny Manifested in Westworld's Philosophical Zombies Conclusion Chapter Notes Bibliography Index
£27.54
McFarland & Co Inc Is Star Trek Utopia
Book Synopsis Star Trek has transcended science fiction through its use of elements that have crucial roles in classical utopian tradition. New technologies change a civilization, a miniature society unfolds on a spaceship, and an android teaches humanity. Star Trek has been answering many questions about our own world for 50+ years, and since the days of Captain Kirk, the franchise has become one of the world''s best-known cultural phenomena. This book documents what the Star Trek franchise has in common with classic utopias. Chapters analyze how technology changes society and how the Federation embodies utopian ideals. Also explored are the political relations among alien species that reflect past and present conflicts in our real world and how the Borg resembles an anti-utopian society.Table of Contents Table of Contents Preface 1 Introduction: Why Star Trek Matters 5 1. The Meaning of Utopia 11 2. How Technology Changes Society 41 3. Life in Space: Utopia on a Ship 57 4. Politics in Star Trek 73 5. Anti-Utopia: The Borg 125 6. Post-Utopia: Does Star Trek Become Darker? 141 7. How Utopian Is Star Trek? 158 Chapter Notes 165 Works Cited 175 Index 191
£38.18
McFarland & Co Inc Kong Godzilla and the Living Earth
Book Synopsis During the 2010s, science fiction''s immortal adversaries King Kong and Godzilla, representing our conflicts per Carl Sagan''s dream dragons analogy, made comebacks in American cinema. The blockbuster Kaiju resurged onto the screen, depicting these protectors of an Earth plagued by mankind''s hubris and folly. With Earth''s future hanging in the balance, their climactic 2021 staging settled a score between the two giant monsters, resolving Toho''s classic 1963 film King Kong vs. Godzilla. As formidable creatures emerging from Time''s Tomb on Mother Earth, metaphorical Kong and Godzilla are considered here in light of new millennial environmentalism''s stark reality. This book, nostalgic in tone, explores the meaning of Kong and Godzilla as planetary saviors--titanic protectors of a theoretical living Earth Gaia--defending the globe from a prehistoric plague of adversaries.Table of Contents Foreword by J. D. Lees Preface: A Future of Biblical Proportions Introduction: Two Towering Titans of Terror and Tumult One. King Kong and Godzilla: Immortal Adversaries—21st-Century Daikaiju Two. Dinosaur Movies and Cryptozoological, Anachronistic Prehistoric Monsters of Film and Literature (1853 to 1963): The Path to King Kong and/versus Gojira Three. Merciless Gaia in Geological Time Four. Kong-frontations: Introducing King Kong Five. Conjuring Classic Godzilla Six. Let Them Fight Seven. Godzilla and Kong: Primal Struggle Eight. Colossal Conflict Nine. Rematch Demanded Ten. Non-Classical Daikaiju: Godzilla in New Millennial Alternate Apocalyptic Media Eleven. Paleo-Apocalyptical Dino-Monsters: Reflections of Doomsday? Epilogue: C'mon. So What?—You Can Never Go Back. Appendix: An Assortment of Titans, Dino-Daikaiju and Dino-Monsters Chapter Notes Bibliography Index
£27.54
McFarland & Co Inc Alien Abduction in the Cinema
Book Synopsis The alien abduction phenomenon is one of the enduring enigmas of our time. While the reality of alien abductions is a hotly debated topic among UFO researchers, scientists, skeptics and true believers alike, the phenomenon indisputably exists as an artifact of popular culture. This book analyzes more than 75 films that draw their inspiration from allegedly fact-based accounts of alien contact, from 1951''s The Man from Planet X to Contactee in 2021. These films are examined in terms of both their cinematic qualities and their exploration of thematic elements derived from abduction reports. Abduction motifs that appear in science fiction classics such as The Day the Earth Stood Still, 2001 and Close Encounters are analyzed, as well as those in lesser-known films like The Stranger Within, Starship Invasions, Dark Skies and Proximity. Special attention is given to movies based on the famed experiences of abductees Betty and Barney Trade ReviewMeehan's research into the subjects of alien abduction and related cinema is fascinating"—Library JournalTable of Contents Preface Introduction: Birth of an Icon: Little Gray Men One. Anatomy of a Phenomenon: The Abduction Enigma Two. Invaders from Hollywood 1951–1958 Three. The British Invasion (and Others) of the 1960s Four. Close Encounters of the 1970s Five. The Reptilians Six. Case Histories Seven. Hybrids Eight. Tales from the Darkside Nine. The Terror That Comes in the Night Ten. New Dimensions Conclusion: "This means something!" Filmography Chapter Notes Bibliography Index
£32.39
McFarland & Co Inc Terror Down Under
Book Synopsis In 1948, the Australian government banned the production, importation and exhibition of horror films in a move to appease religious communities and entertainment watchdogs. Drawing upon previously unseen government documents, private letters and contemporary newspaper accounts, this book is the first to extensively cover the history of censorship and the early production of horror movies in Australia. Beginning its examination in the late 19th century, the book documents the earliest horror films like Georges Melies'' The Haunted Castle (1896), and how Australians enjoyed such films before the ban. The book then explains how certain imports, like 1954''s Creature from the Black Lagoon, were able to circumvent the ban while others were not. It also reveals how Australian television, though similarly impacted by government censorship, was occasionally able to broadcast films technically banned from cinematic release. The work concludes with a look at the firTrade ReviewBest explores Australian cinema through the lens of horror, a genre targeted by government censors in 1948 to appease religious groups and entertainment watchdogs. As a result, horror was ultimately banned for 20 years. The author spotlights what happened during and after the 1948 horror embargo. ... This title ably conveys the fickle nature of censorship and skillfully details the history and significance of horror films in Australia."—Library JournalTable of Contents Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Early Cinema: 1894–1900 2. The Silent Era: 1909–1929 3. The Golden Age: 1930–1948 Intermission: The Fall of the Cinema, the Rise of the Drive-In 4. The Ban Years: 1949–1969 5. Television: 1956–1973 6. Rebirth: The '70s and Beyond Epilogue Filmography, 1897–1973 Chapter Notes Bibliography Index
£27.54
McFarland & Co Inc Being a Girl with The Doctor
Book Synopsis Throughout the long running BBC series Doctor Who, the Doctor has rarely been alone, traveling with both female and male companions. The companion is essential to Doctor Who because he or she is a stand-in for the audience, providing information about the Doctor''s ongoing adventures. With the casting of a female actor in the role of the Doctor in 2018, one criticism of the series was finally resolved. After the shift in gender identity, the role of the Doctor and the companion also shifted--or has it? The continued focus on romantic relations between the TARDIS occupants has led to complaints from both male and female fans, reiterating and reinforcing myriad criticisms about the portrayal of the female companions. Essays in this book consider how gender is presented in Doctor Who and how certain female companions have been able to break out of the gendered roles usually assigned to them through the classic and new series.Table of Contents Table of Contents Preface—"Traveling" in the Time of Covid: Tenacious, Addlepated, Rumbustical, Daunting, Insuperable, Stupefying Sherry Ginn and Gillian I. Leitch Introduction—Boldly Going Where No Doctor Had Gone Before … Until Thirteen Sherry Ginn and Gillian I. Leitch Who Says the Doctor Ever Had a Penis? Caroline-Isabelle Caron "Come on, Ace! We've got work to do": The Development of the Modern Companion on Doctor Michael G. Robinson Femininity and Indigeneity: Leela in Doctor Gillian I. Leitch "Give me some of that Nitro-9 you're not carrying": Ace as an Intuitive Anarcha-Feminist in the Cartmel Lynne M. Thomas Reclaiming Her Agency: The Life and Times of Dr. Martha Jones Sherry Ginn "Is that really what we've learned today?" Revising Clara Oswald on Doctor Heather M. McHale The "Other" Women in the Whoniverse: The Social Significance of Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint, and Bill Potts Lynnette Porter Hope Persists: Overcoming Trauma as Thirteen, the Doctor of Hope Pamela Achenbach "Are you my mummy?" Mothering Monsters and the Contradictions of Motherhood in Doctor Zara T. Wilkinson Filmography About the Contributors Index
£32.39
McFarland & Co Inc 21st Century Kaiju
Book Synopsis Once dismissed as a fading genre with little to say to contemporary audiences, the giant monster movie roared back to life in the new millennium. In one of modern cinema''s most surprising turnarounds, a wave of 21st-century kaiju films has delivered exciting and thought-provoking viewing to global audiences. In a variety of works that range from action-packed CGI spectacles to more personal, introspective productions commenting on real-world issues of the day, the new millennium has witnessed some of the most intriguing films in any genre, including movies from such acclaimed directors such as Guillermo del Toro, Bong Joon-ho and Peter Jackson. This book takes a sober, multidimensional look at the new class of giant monster movies. It examines the making of these films and their sometimes-obscure meanings. It also covers efforts to reinvent storied kaiju characters from the past, including Godzilla and King Kong, and to transform the genre with movies such as CloverfTable of Contents Table of Contents Preface Introduction 1. Kaiju Rising: Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) 2. Last Gasp: Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) 3. Return of the King: King Kong (2005) 4. A Coming-of-Age Story: Gamera the Brave (2006) 5. A Korean Vision: The Host (2006) 6. A Return to Horror: The Mist (2007) 7. Reflecting an Era: Cloverfield (2008) 8. Improvising with Monsters: Monsters (2010) 9. For the Love of Kaiju: Pacific Rim (2013) 10. Hollywood Tries Again: Godzilla (2014) 11. Reclaiming a Monster's Legacy: Shin Godzilla (2016) 12. A Monster Within: Colossal (2016) 13. Reimagining the Beginning: Kong: Skull Island (2017) 14. To a Battle Royale: Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) and Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) Conclusion Chapter Notes Bibliography Index
£27.54
McFarland and Company, Inc. What Ought to Scare You
Book Synopsis
£48.59
McFarland & Co Inc Potterversity
Book Synopsis Potterversity: Essays Exploring the World of Harry Potter presents a written companion to the popular, Hermione-Approved MuggleNet podcast by the same name. Selected from the top Potter Studies scholars in the field, the diverse authors in the volume provide a range of interpretations of wizarding world stories. Essays include analysis of genre conventions, literary and religious symbolism, the role of games in the series, pedagogical approaches, and politically challenging issues like U.S. race relations, colonialism, and gender and sexuality--including direct attention to J.K. Rowling''s controversial statements about trans people. Grouped into the sections Occult Knowledge, Ancient Magic, A Question of Character, Self and Other, Playing Potter, and Teaching, the Hogwarts Way, partnered essays precede transcripts of podcast conversations, led by the hosts of Potterversity. The book''s essays and conversations aim to engage not only the mind but the spiriTrade ReviewThis collection takes a unique and exciting approach that is new to academic studies of Harry Potter. Every one of the essays taught me something new. This book is an extremely valuable contribution to the field."—Beth Sutton-Ramspeck, associate professor emerita, The Ohio State University at LimaTable of Contents Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: Your Potterversity Orientation Kathryn N. McDaniel and Emily Strand Occult Knowledge Good Men and Monsters: Bram Stoker's Dracula and Harry Potter Beatrice Groves Dark Arts and Secret Histories: Investigating Dark Academia Amy H. Sturgis Conversation: Occult Knowledge Ancient Magic Here Be Dragons and Phoenixes: A Thematic Direction for the Fantastic Beasts Series Lana A. Whited The Real Magic of Christmas in Harry Potter Emily Strand Conversation: Ancient Magic A Question of Character Padfoot Revelio! The Life and Love of Sirius Black Emma Nicholson The Weasley Witches: From Snitches to Stitches to "Not-My-Daughter-You-Bitches" Louise M. Freeman Arthur Weasley and the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Kathryn N. McDaniel Conversation: A Question of Character Self and Others The Problem with Loving Enemies: Kindness and Oppression in "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot" Travis Prinzi Uncle Remus's Shack: Tokenism in the Wizarding World Mark-Anthony Lewis Conversation: Self and Others Playing Potter It's All Fun and Games Until…: Leisurely and Competitive Pursuits in Harry Potter and Chivalric Romance Laurie Beckoff Gamifying the Harry Potter Studies Classroom Tison Pugh Conversation: Playing Potter Teaching, the Hogwarts Dumbledorisms: The Idiosyncratic Style of a Hogwarts Headmaster M'Balia Thomas Hem Hem... I Take Umbridge with Bigotry: Using the Witch-in-Pink to Counter Oppression Brent A. Satterly Conversation: Teaching, the Hogwarts Way Before the Dismissal Bell: Closing Thoughts Kathryn N. McDaniel Bibliography About the Contributors Index
£20.89
McFarland & Co Inc POV Horror
Book Synopsis Drawing together strands of film theory and psychology, this book offers a fresh assessment of the found footage horror subgenre. It reconceptualizes landmark films--including The Blair Witch Project (1999), Cloverfield (2008), Paranormal Activity (2009), and Man Bites Dog (1992)--as depictions of the lived experience and social legacy of psychological trauma. The author demonstrates how the frantic cinematography and ambiguous formulation of the monster evokes the shocked and disoriented cognition of the traumatized mind. Moreover, the frightening effect of trauma on society is shown to be a recurring theme across the subgenre. Close textual analysis is given to a wide range of films over several decades, including titles that have yet to receive any academic attention. Divided into four distinct sections, the book examines how found footage horror films represent the effects of historical and contemporary traumatic events on Western societieTrade ReviewWill be indispensable to the academic study of contemporary horror cinema."—Kevin Heffernan, author of Ghouls, Gimmicks and Gold: Horror Films and the American Movie Business, 1952–1968 "A significant contribution to the study of the connection between horror cinema and trauma studies."—Shellie McMurdo, University of HertfordshireTable of Contents Introduction One.Buried Tapes: The Belated Experience of Found Footage Horror Two.Into the Woods: American Historical Trauma in The Blair Witch Project, The Last Broadcast and Willow Creek Three.Out of the Rubble: Post-9/11 Global Trauma in Cloverfield, REC, Pandemic, and The Bay Four.Always Watching: Domestic Trauma in Paranormal Activity and Lake Mungo Five.The Monster's Gaze: Perpetrator Trauma in Cannibal Holocaust, Man Bites Dog, Gang Tapes, and Zero Day Conclusion Filmography Chapter Notes Bibliography Index
£42.29
McFarland & Co Inc Dark Dreams 2.0
Book Synopsis Greatly expanded and updated from the 1977 original, this new edition explores the evolution of the modern horror film, particularly as it reflects anxieties associated with the atomic bomb, the Cold War, 1960s violence, sexual liberation, the Reagan revolution, 9/11 and the Iraq War. It divides modern horror into three varieties (psychological, demonic and apocalyptic) and demonstrates how horror cinema represents the popular expression of everyday fears while revealing the forces that influence American ideological and political values. Directors given a close reading include Alfred Hitchcock, Brian De Palma, David Cronenberg, Guillermo Del Toro, Michael Haneke, Robert Aldrich, Mel Gibson and George A. Romero. Additional material discusses postmodern remakes, horror franchises and Asian millennial horror. This book also contains more than 950 frame grabs and a very extensive filmography.Trade ReviewAn insightful study...a good choice for film students and researchers"—Library Journal"Back and...it's bigger and better than ever...highly recommend...essential addition to any serious library"—Scarlet"A must read...highly recommended"—Choice"Everything about this volume is first rate.... This is a book that offers a refreshing approach to a well-worn genre. It is sure to please, delight, and excite a wide audience. Highly recommended."—Cinema Booklist"This is really an excellent book on the psychological reasons we go to horror films, what they mean to us, what the metaphors of various manifestations mean, and how our fears reflect in the films that are made"—Film World"This refreshingly original, intelligent, and serious study...manages to cover a large number of titles with commendable fullness and lucidity...this is one of the most important specialized horror books to appear recently, and deserves closer examination than present space permits. Highly recommended"—Film Review AnnualTable of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction to Dark Dreams 2.0 PART ONE: DARK DREAMS (1977) Foreword to the Original Edition, by John Russell Taylor Introduction 1—The Horror of Personality 2—The Horror of Armageddon 3—The Horror of the Demonic PART TWO: MILLENNIAL NIGHTMARES (2009) 4—A Context; and Why What's Not Happening in American Horror Isn't 5—The Horror of Personality, Revisited 6—Sequels and Insincerity 7—The Horror of the Demonic, Revisited 8—The Horror of Armageddon, Revisited 9—Asian Millennial Horror 10—Postmodern Remakes, the Averted Gaze, and Some Glimmerings of the New 11—Guillermo Del Toro 12—David Cronenberg 13—9/11 and Beyond Appendix I: A Proposed Canon of Modern Horror Appendix II: Interviews with Horror Directors: Aldrich, Castle, Harrington, Romero, Friedkin (1977) Appendix III: Filmographies (Compiled by Thomas G. Kohn) Notes Bibliography Index
£34.19
McFarland & Co Inc The Kaiju Connection
Book Synopsis What makes a kaiju a kaiju? What makes an ape a large ape, and why do we sympathize with some, such as King Kong, and not with others, such as Konga? And what makes a giant person become a monster? This book provides a new perspective on kaiju and reveals that our boundaries for the genre are perhaps not so solid. This work focuses primarily on newer kaiju works, ranging from Colossal to Shin Godzilla to Godzilla vs. Kong, but also touches on classics such as King Kong, Mighty Joe Young, Godzilla Raids Again, and lesser-known works such as What to Do With the Dead Kaiju? and Agon. Like our ancestors we have collectively adopted giant monsters into our culture, especially our pop culture. Within the domains where giant monsters walk, we experience the rigidity of our moral structures, and the fleeting borders of our definitions of humanity. Within the kaiju film genre rest our own assumptions about what makes a monster a Table of Contents Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Categorizing the Kaiju 2. Toys and Dinosaurs and Nostalgia 3. An Appreciation of Godzilla Raids Again 4. Science and Faith: The Solo Kaiju Adventures 5. "The Third Fire": Agon, the Atomic Dragon 6. The Wor(l)ds Get Stuck in My Throat: Aliens from Sea and Space 7. Reigo, Raiga, Ohga: The (Sometimes Loving) Basement of Kaiju Film 8. An Ode to Baragon and Barugon 9. It Turns Out Gamera Is Really Neat: The Heisei Trilogy 10. The Legendary Dr. Serizawa 11. Kong, Again and Again: The Son[s] of Kong 12. Toward the Past and the Future at the Same Time: Colossal and Godzilla vs. Kong 13. Men as Kaiju: Big Man Japan and Kaiju Mono 14. When Even Humans Are (Almost) Kaiju: The Amazing Colossal Man and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman Conclusion Filmography Bibliography Index
£27.54
University of Texas Press Selling Science Fiction Cinema
Book SynopsisHow science fiction films in the 1950s were marketed and helped create the broader genre itself. For Hollywood, the golden age of science fiction was also an age of anxiety. Amid rising competition, fluid audience habits, and increasing government regulation, studios of the 1950s struggled to make and sell the kinds of films that once were surefire winners. These conditions, the leading media scholar J.P. Telotte argues, catalyzed the incredible rise of science fiction. Though science fiction films had existed since the earliest days of cinema, the SF genre as a whole continued to resist easy definition through the 1950s. In grappling with this developing genre, the industry began to consider new marketing approaches that viewed films as fluid texts and audiences as ever-changing. Drawing on trade reports, film reviews, pressbooks, trailers, and other archival materials, Selling Science Fiction Cinema reconstructs studio efforts to market a promisinTrade ReviewJ. P. Telotte offers a thoughtful, well-researched overview of how these films were marketed to audiences at their height in Selling Science Fiction Cinema...Telotte also offers a thought-provoking look at contemporary sci-fi marketing approaches during such a fascinating time in which so much content is available to users via streaming platforms rather than the past 'traditional' approach of attending the cinema. * Hometowns to Hollywood *Focusing on various promotional campaigns, publicity strategies, and cultural products, this fascinating study offers a material-based history of the selling of mid-20th-century science fiction cinema...Deploying precise critical insight and drawing on an array of archival findings, Telotte considers the marketing of such films as The Thing from Another World (1951), Forbidden Planet (1956), and Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1954), and he adroitly generates new insights and readings of these films and their significance to history and culture. Considering the discourse circulating around science fiction film’s place in literary fan culture, the genre’s position in society, and the shifting attitudes toward speculative cinema of studios in both Hollywood and Japan, Telotte’s work emerges as an engaging addition to film studies. * CHOICE *Table of Contents Acknowledgments Chapter 1. Marketing and Making Science Fiction Chapter 2. What Is This Thing? Framing and Unframing a New Genre Chapter 3. Pondering the “Pulp Paradox”: Pal, Paramount, and the SF Market Chapter 4. Moppets and Robots: MGM Markets Forbidden Planet Chapter 5. Another Form of Life: Audiences, Markets, and The Blob Chapter 6. Selling Japan: Making, Remaking, and Marketing Japanese SF Conclusion Notes Select Filmography Select Bibliography Index
£31.50
Skyhorse Publishing The Science of The Mandalorian: The Anatomy of a
Book SynopsisTake a trip beyond this Earth to explore the myths of The Mandalorian and uncover the anatomy of the newest space western in the Star Wars Universe.Star Wars dominates the film world. The combined box office revenue of the Star Wars movies equates to over $10 billion, making it the second highest-grossing film franchise of all time. But this franchise is no blaster from the past. Its fantastically successful films have now been followed by multiple television series set in that same galaxy far, far away. The franchise’s flagship television series, and likely the firmest fan favorite for some time to come, is The Mandalorian. Tracing the tale of the titular bounty hunter, traveling across the furthest reaches of that mythic galaxy, The Mandalorian has been greatly praised and highly acclaimed for creating characters with gravitas and originality, worlds with depth and impact, resulting in some of the best Star Wars content ever. Even though it’s set in deep space, The Mandalorian has as much in common with Western movies as it does with science fiction. Saloons. Bandits. “Gun” duels. Bounty hunters. Outlaws with a price on their heads. Space exploration as a “final frontier.” And a wild hero who doesn’t quite belong in a lawless part of the Galaxy after the fall of the Empire.The Science of The Mandalorian takes you on a badass journey with a mysterious, lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy, where your beskar armor will protect you from many things, but not the sight of a small, green, carnivorous humanoid with big black eyes and mysterious powers. This is the way.
£10.44
John Murray Press McCarthy's Field Guide to Grammar: Natural
Book SynopsisYou ain't gonna like it: bad grammar's not so bad. - The TimesRemember all those grammar rules from school? No? Most of us don't. Mike McCarthy, renowned corpus linguist and co-author of the 900-page Cambridge Grammar of English answers the awkward questions that regularly bother us about English grammar. In this helpful A-Z field guide, McCarthy tells us what the conventional rules are as well as shows us what people are writing or saying now and gives simple reasons why you might choose one or the other so that you can speak and write with confidence.Through witty and entertaining examples pulled from 50 years of teaching, 40 years of field notes picked from books, newspapers, letters, radio and TV, etc., and shamelessly eavesdropping on people's conversations in public spaces, and a British and American English computer database, McCarthy has created a book to browse and enjoy, as well as a useful reference to keep on your bookshelf.Why a Field Guide to grammar?- A to Z format makes it easy to access and to find what you're looking for- Presents solutions to a host of common, everyday grammatical problems- References current events to bring relevance to the grammar (fronted adverbials anyone?)- Looks at historical usage to illustrate how the English language has evolved, and continues to evolve- Gives guidance on appropriate usage where more than one way of saying something exists- Distinguishes between spoken and written grammar where appropriate- includes advice on vocabulary, spelling, pronunciation, punctuation and style- Compares North American and British grammar, and includes Englishes from around the world- Charming drawings to illustrate the playfulness in the English language- Grammar guide backed by data and researchTrue to the Chambers name, this field guide is as much quirky as it is informative. It is the perfect gift for any language lover, student, teacher, struggling parent or carer supporting their child's schooling, the grammar purist or the grammar descriptivist.
£10.44
