Eleanor Johnson is a professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University. She is the author of four books: Scream with Me, Practicing Literary Theory in the Middle Ages, Staging Contemplation, and the award-winning Waste and the Wasters, as well as two collections of poetry, The Dwell and Her Many Feathered Bones.

“In 10 propulsive essays, Eleanor Johnson illuminates how horror classics such as Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, and The Shining are driven by themes central to the second wave feminist movement, including reproductive control, domestic violence, and the legal and cultural ‘possession’ of women’s bodies. . . . An indispensable work of feminist criticism.” —ELLE “Johnson adeptly analyzes how six classic horror movies—Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, The Stepford Wives, The Omen, Alien, and The Shining—map onto real-world topics like domestic violence, bodily autonomy, and the oppression of women, forcing the viewer to be horrified by what they see.” —Vogue

Eleanor Johnson is a professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University. She is the author of four books: Scream with Me, Practicing Literary Theory in the Middle Ages, Staging Contemplation, and the award-winning Waste and the Wasters, as well as two collections of poetry, The Dwell and Her Many Feathered Bones.

“In 10 propulsive essays, Eleanor Johnson illuminates how horror classics such as Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, and The Shining are driven by themes central to the second wave feminist movement, including reproductive control, domestic violence, and the legal and cultural ‘possession’ of women’s bodies. . . . An indispensable work of feminist criticism.” —ELLE “Johnson adeptly analyzes how six classic horror movies—Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, The Stepford Wives, The Omen, Alien, and The Shining—map onto real-world topics like domestic violence, bodily autonomy, and the oppression of women, forcing the viewer to be horrified by what they see.” —Vogue