Nobody wants to be frightened in daily life, yet horror never runs short of an audience. Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock gathers the thinkers who have tried to explain why, from Aristotle to scholars writing now.

Readical Key Points

• Anthology of criticism and theory on why horror appeals, edited with an introduction by Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock
• 32 selections in three parts: early inquiries and quick takes, the paradox of horror, and different voices
• Contributors include Aristotle, David Hume, Ann Radcliffe, Stephen King, Alfred Hitchcock, H. P. Lovecraft, Noël Carroll, Robin Wood and Susan Stryker
• Paperback, 528 pages, University of Minnesota Press, 2026

Weinstock's introduction reads the history of horror against the moral panics it has repeatedly set off. Part I collects older explanations of why terror and tragedy give pleasure, from classical and Enlightenment philosophy through Gothic novelists to Lovecraft, Hitchcock and King. Part II takes up the modern philosophical debate over enjoying fear, alongside film criticism and a survey of psychological research. Part III turns to fans, gender, race, queerness and disability.

This is a book about horror rather than a collection of horror stories, and several selections are excerpts from longer works. It serves students and teachers of film, literature and genre studies, and fans curious about the arguments behind the monsters they watch. The monsters change with every century. The question of why anyone wants to meet them does not.

About the Editor

Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock founded the Society for the Study of the American Gothic and has taught English at Central Michigan University. His other books as author or editor include The Monster Theory Reader and The Age of Lovecraft.

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