{"product_id":"labors-of-fear-9781477327210","title":"Labors of Fear","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHow work and capitalism inspire horror in modern film.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e American ideals position work as a source of pride, opportunity, and meaning. Yet the ravages of labor are constant grist for horror films. Going back decades to the mad scientists of classic cinema, the menial motel job that prepares Norman Bates for his crimes in \u003ci\u003ePsycho\u003c\/i\u003e, and the unemployed slaughterhouse workers of \u003ci\u003eThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre\u003c\/i\u003e, horror movies have made the case that work is not so much a point of pride as a source of monstrosity. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Editors Aviva Briefel and Jason Middleton assemble the first study of horror’s critique of labor. In the 1970s and 1980s, films such as \u003ci\u003eThe Shining\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eDawn of the Dead\u003c\/i\u003e responded to deindustrialization, automation, globalization, and rising numbers of women in the workforce. \u003ci\u003eLabors of Fear\u003c\/i\u003e explores these critical issues and extends them in discussions of recent works such as \u003ci\u003eThe Autopsy of Jane Doe\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMidsommar\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn intriguing array of essays that consider horror and various forms of labor and work. . . By analyzing and reflecting on these films—and how labor and work in all their forms relate to the terror of the contemporary—this collection illuminates the fears and frights to be found not only in the cinema but also in one's own occupations. * CHOICE *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLabors of Fear\u003c\/i\u003e makes a strong case that the horror genre has, in fact, understood that work is a monstrous presence in most of our lives all along, and the genre has been offering the resources to help us rethink what work can and should be . . . Thus, one of the main accomplishments of \u003ci\u003eLabors of Fear\u003c\/i\u003e is the simple act of lingering on aspects of work . . . It’s all presented in clear, readable prose, with a minimum of footnotes—well suited for both academics looking to use these essays as jumping-off points for their own work and for horror viewers wanting to find new ways to pay attention to their favorite films. * Los Angeles Review of Books *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Acknowledgments \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Introduction (Jason Middleton and Aviva Briefel) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Part I. How Horror Works: Killing, Dying, Surviving \u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Chapter 1. Tools of the Trade: A Statistical Analysis of Slasher Hardware (Marc Olivier) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Chapter 2. Every Ritual Has Its Purpose: Laboring Bodies in The Autopsy of Jane Doe (David Church) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Chapter 3. George A. Romero and the Work of Survival (Adam Lowenstein) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Part II. Working from Home: Domestic, Gendered, and Emotional Labor \u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Chapter 4. Sonic Gothic: Listening to the Exhaustion of Gendered Domestic Labor in The Babadook and The Swerve (Lisa Coulthard) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Chapter 5. No Drama: Emotion Work in Midsommar (Jason Middleton) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Chapter 6. Reproductive Technics and Time: Ectogestational Labor, Biotechnological Horror, Social Reproduction (Alanna Thain) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Part III. Stolen Work, Stolen Play: Race and Racialized Labor \u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Chapter 7. “We Want to Take Our Time”: The Hard Work of Leisure in Jordan Peele’s Us (Aviva Briefel) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Chapter 8. Racing Work and Working Race in Buppie Horror (Mikal J. Gaines) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Chapter 9. The Horror of Stagnation; or, The Perspectival Dread of It Follows (Joel Burges) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Chapter 10. Fieldwork: Anthropology and Intellectual Labor in Ari Aster’s Midsommar (Anjuli Fatima Raza Kolb) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Afterword: The Work of Horror after Get Out (Catherine Zimmer) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e List of Contributors \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Index \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"University of Texas Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49408963543383,"sku":"9781477327210","price":40.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781477327210.jpg?v=1730504882","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/labors-of-fear-9781477327210","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}