For decades, the horror genre has been a major popular entertainment and has dominated the publishing and film
industries. Yet there exists no philosophical examination of the genre - the time for its aesthetic analysis is
ripe.
Noel Carroll, film scholar and philosopher, offers the first serious look at the aesthetics of horror. In this
book he discusses the nature and narrative structures of the genre, dealing with horror as a "transmedia"
phenomenon. A fan and serious student of the horror genre, Carroll brings to bear his comprehensive knowledge of
obscure and forgotten works, as well as of the horror masterpieces. Working from a philosophical perspective, he
tries to account for how people can find pleasure in having their wits scared out of them. What, after all, are
those "paradoxes of the heart" that make us want to be horrified?
