Abstract
Television horror is often seen as inferior to cinematic horror. Not only has Gregory Waller claimed that television horror can be seen as a “revealing contrast to theatrical horror films” (145), in which the latter is presumed to be clearly superior, he also claims that “made for television horror would seem to be by definition impossible” (159). For Waller and others, horror is at odds with the television, the domestic setting of which is often “imagined as a haven from an unsettling, dangerous, impersonal and immoral public sphere” (Hollows 17) and is therefore supposed to require television programming to conform to this setting or at least to avoid material that threatens or disturbs this sense of security and comfort. As Stephen King has claimed, horror and television are incompatible, given that the former wants to “scare the audience” (253), while the latter is “dedicated to the pervasion of the status quo and the concept of the LOP-Least Objectionable Programming” (252). This presumed inferiority of television horror is also found in the common suggestion that television horror imitates cinematic horror rather than there being a process of exchange between the two.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Horror Television in the Age of Consumption |
Subtitle of host publication | Binging on Fear |
Editors | Kimberly Jackson, Linda Belau |
Place of Publication | New York |
Publisher | Routledge |
Chapter | 2 |
Pages | 29-44 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Edition | 1 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781351716284 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781138895652 |
Publication status | Published - 17 Nov 2017 |
Profiles
-
Mark Jancovich
- School of Politics, Philosophy and Area Studies - Emeritus Professor
- Comics Studies Research Group - Member
- Film, Television and Media - Member
Person: Honorary, Research Group Member, Academic, Teaching & Research