Horror, Gothic, & Uncanny Studies
Subject Guide
Texts (and some videos) about the horror genre, the Gothic literary tradition, and/or the role of the uncanny in the arts. This list includes a range of approaches, from psychoanalysis to sociology to pure art history. Horror pops up everywhere, and you may also find some relevant reading in the Folklore, Myth, and Legend guide or even the Christianity and Judaism guide. I also have a list of horror fiction recommendations.
General
- Creed, Barbara.
The Monstrous-Feminine: Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis. Routledge, 1993. Library Genesis - Seminal psychoanalytic text analyzing various horror archetypes and their relationship to female bodies/femininity.
- Geller, Jacob.
"Fear of Cold." YouTube, 2022. - A phenomenal video essay exploring the existential terror of the hostile cold.
- Jentsch, Ernst.
"On the Psychology of the Uncanny." Psychiatrisch-Neurologische Wochenschrift, 1906. Translated by Roy Sellars. | PDF - If you're curious about what, exactly, "the uncanny" is, this is a great read to introduce you to the concept. Though the term was widely popularized by, and is often associated with, Freud, this essay actually predates Freud's treatment of the topic.
- Kerr, Margee.
Scream: Chilling Adventures in the Science of Fear . Public Affairs Books, 2015. | Library Genesis - This isn't so much about horror or literature as it is about fear itself. A very fun and interesting read, which gives an approachable overview of the psychology of fear-seeking behavior, which is certainly relevant to the genre of horror.
- Kristeva, Julia.
Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection . Le Seuil, 1980; translated by Leon Roudiez, 1982. | PDF - A highly influential piece of literary criticism which elaborates on the concept of abjection. For anyone interested in the scholarly study of horror, this is the place to start, as it informs so much of what came after it.
- Trigg, Dylan.
The Memory of Place: A Phenomenology of the Uncanny . Ohio University Press, 2012. | JSTOR, Library Genesis - This fascinating book brings the niche field of "place studies" into the realm of uncanny and eerie literature. I've only read a few chapters while I was researching for a paper, but it was a delightful read.
Subgenres & Subcultures
- Cooper, Julia.
"Goth Utopia: Charting the Coordinates of Nowhere" . SSENSE, 2019. - A truly beautiful and heartfelt exploration of Goth culture, paired with some really great photographs. While not directly about horror, there is plenty of overlap in the ethos of Goth culture and that of the horror genre.
- Janisse, Kier-La.
Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror . Severin Films, 2021. | Available on Kanopy. - A delightful documentary detailing the history of the folk horror subgenre within film, expanding beyond limited definitions that see folk horror as a necessarily British subgenre and exploring its many iterations around the globe.
- Wang, Evelyn.
"The Erotic Japanese Art Movement Born Out of Decadence." Dazed, 2016. - A decent introduction and overview of the Japanese art movement called "ero guro nansensu" (erotic grotesque nonsense).
About Specific Works
- Frank, Frederick S.
"Proto-Gothicism: The Infernal Iconography of Walpole's Castle of Otranto." Orbis Litter grum, 1986. | Free on the web - The Castle of Otranto is widely regarded as the first Gothic novel, and this essay explores the familiar set of icons and symbols that would be utilized regularly within the Gothic tradition for centuries afterward.
- Matek, Ljubica.
"The Architecture of Evil: H.P. Lovecraft's 'The Dreams in the Witch House' and Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House." CounterText, 2018. | Free on the web - Takes Lovecraft and Jackson's work as examples of how the Gothic tradition utilizes and subverts space in order to achieve a destabilizing effect.
- Mouseoleum.
"From Medieval History to Hellraiser: Mysticism and Sadomasochistic Desire." YouTube, 2025. - Video essay which traces a lineage of erotic body horror from early Christian mystics to Clive Barker's Hellraiser franchise.
- Wilson, Michael T.
"'Absolute Reality' and the Role of the Ineffable in Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House." The Journal of Popular Culture, 2015. | Cannot currently find a way to access this one for free. - Explores the concepts of madness, sanity, perception, and reality as presented and challenged in The Haunting of Hill House.
