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American Horror Story and Cult Television
Narratives, Histories and Discourses
Edited by Richard Hand & Mark O’Thomas
This collection of essays approaches the American Horror Story cult television series through a rich variety of critical perspectives within the broader field of television studies and its transections with other disciplines.
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About This Book
Over ten seasons since 2011, the television series American Horror Story (AHS), created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, has continued to push the boundaries of the televisual form in new and exciting ways. Emerging in a context which has seen a boom in popularity for horror series on television, AHS has distinguished itself from its ‘rivals’ such as The Walking Dead, Bates Motel or Penny Dreadful through its diverse strategies and storylines which have seen it explore archetypal narratives of horror culture as well as engaging with real historical events. Utilising a repertory company model for its casting, the show has challenged issues around contemporary politics, heteronormativity, violence on the screen, and disability to name but a few. This new collection of essays approaches the AHS anthology series through a variety of critical perspectives within the broader field of television studies and its transections with other disciplines.
The book includes sections on the industry context for the making of American Horror Story, the intertextual territory upon which the anthology series has been built, the societal and spatial aspects of American Horror Story, as well as its broader but specific relationship to otherness. The book accounts for the broad narratological sweep of AHS which crosses different times and locations while playfully exploring and openly acknowledging its internal linkages.
Reviews
“Richard J. Hand’s and Mark O’Thomas’ collection contributes important voices, original analyses, and insightful critical perspectives to existing scholarship surrounding not only the American Horror Story series but to genre, media, and television studies more broadly. Accessible and engaging, this volume is poised to become an essential ‘go to’ resource.” —Jay McRoy, Professor of Literary and Cinema Studies, Department of Literatures and Languages, University of Wisconsin - Parkside.
“Hand and O’Thomas have curated an original, interesting, and useful collection, exploring the delightful and depraved depth of AHS and television horror studies in general for both the fan and the scholar. The highest compliment I can pay to the volume is that it made me want to go back and rewatch all of AHS with these insights in mind. It’s that kind of book.” —Kevin Wetmore, Loyola Marymount University, USA.
Author Information
Richard J. Hand is Professor of Media Practice and Head of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, UK. He has a particular interest in popular culture, especially horror.
Mark O’Thomas is Principal and CEO of the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Arts (LAMDA) and Visiting Professor of Theatre and Performance at the University of Greenwich, UK. He has a particular interest in popular culture, especially television dystopias.
Mark O’Thomas is Principal and CEO of the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Arts (LAMDA) and Visiting Professor of Theatre and Performance at the University of Greenwich, UK. He has a particular interest in popular culture, especially television dystopias.
Series
Anthem Series on Television Studies
Table of Contents
Preliminary Matter and Acknowledgements; Contributors; Introduction, Richard J. Hand and Mark O’Thomas; Section 1. INDUSTRIES/CONTEXTS/CONSUMPTION, Chapter 1. ‘I’m really not trying to be cheesy in this moustache twisty way, but it gets really bad. Things that you can’t even really imagine…’ (Sarah Paulson): American Horror Story and the Horror Ensemble Paradigm -Richard J. Hand; Chapter 2. The American Horror Story Repertory Company- Mark O’Thomas; Section 2. INTERTEXTS AND REFERENTS: GOTHIC, VOODOO, WITCHES, Chapter 3. ‘Who’s the Baddest Witch in Town?’: Adaptation, Female Agency and Monstrous Representation in American Horror Story: ‘Coven’- Adam Herron and Ben Nicholson; Chapter 4. ‘I Know Your Body’: Trauma and the Frankenstein Myth in ‘Coven’- Catherine Pugh; Chapter 5. Science, Madness, and the Gothic in American Horror Story’s ‘Asylum’- Richard M Sheppard and LMK Sheppard; Chapter 6. ‘We’re more than just pins and dolls and seeing the future in chicken parts’: Channelling and Challenging Voodoo Stereotypes In ‘Coven’ And ‘Apocalypse’- Mikaël Toulza; Section 3. SOCIETY, POLITICS, SPACE, Chapter 7. Desiring Horror and Desirable Retro Slashers: ‘1984’ and the Transformation of Sociocultural Intelligibility- Alvaro Lopez; Chapter 8. (Un)Dead Together: Hospitality, Hauntology and the ‘Happily Ever After’ in American Horror Story- Bethan Michael-Fox; Section 4. GENDER/OTHERNESS, Chapter 9. A Feminist and Queer Approach to American Horror Story’s Homonormative and US Nationalist Values in the ‘Asylum’ and ‘Cult’ Seasons- Daniel Berjano; Chapter 10. Scaring with Otherness: American Horror Story and the Other Identity- Özgür Çalışkan; Chapter 11. ‘Bitchcraft’: Adolescent Femininity and Fourth-Wave Feminism in Television Horror- Miranda Corcoran; Chapter 12. ‘Cut me and I Bleed Dior’: The Dark Side of Glamour in American Horror Story - Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns and Emiliano Aguilar; Chapter 13. Into The Womb: ‘Murder House’ and the Erotics of Oppression – An American Horror Story- Michele Trépanier; Index
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