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Feeding the Monster

Why horror has a hold on us
By Anna Bogutskaya
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Brief Description
Zombies want brains. Vampires want blood. Cannibals want human flesh. All monsters need feeding. Horror has been embraced by mainstream pop culture more than ever before, with horror characters and aesthetics infecting TV, music videos and even TikTok trends. Yet even with the commercial and critical... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
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A captivating look at what draws us to the shocks and thrills of horror, by film critic and broadcaster Bogutskaya.

A captivating look at what draws us to the shocks and thrills of horror, by film critic and broadcaster Bogutskaya.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Zombies want brains. Vampires want blood. Cannibals want human flesh. All monsters need feeding.

Horror has been embraced by mainstream pop culture more than ever before, with horror characters and aesthetics infecting TV, music videos and even TikTok trends. Yet even with the commercial and critical success of The Babadook, Hereditary, Get Out, The Haunting of Hill House, Yellowjackets and countless other horror films and TV series over the last few years, loving the genre still prompts the question: what's wrong with you? Implying, of course, that there is something not quite right about the people who make and consume it. In Feeding the Monster, Anna Bogutskaya dispels this notion once and for all by examining how horror responds to and fuels our feelings of fear, anxiety, pain, hunger and power.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780571385775

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 25 September 2025

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Faber & Faber

Edition: Main

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 0g

Pages: 256

Collections

Anna Bogutskaya Arts & Culture Biography & Memoir Education & Reference Non-Fiction Sci-Fi & Fantasy

About the Author

Anna Bogutskaya is a freelance critic, author, film programmer and creative producer. She writes for BBC Culture, Guardian, MUBI, the Face, TimeOut, amongst others, and programmes films for BFI, Edinburgh Film Festival and Fantastic Fest. She produces and hosts The Final Girls podcast, created and produced the horror anthology podcast Eerie and has produced podcasts for Paramount, Studiocanal, BFI and Vertigo Releasing, as well as contributing to many others. Her first book, Unlikeable Female Characters: The Women Pop Culture Wants You to Hate, was published in the UK and US in May 2023.

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