Bernice M. Murphy – författare

An eclectic and insightful collection of essays predicated on the hypothesis that popular cultural documents provide unique insights into the concerns, anxieties and desires of their times. 1950s popular culture is analysed by leading scholars and critics such as Christopher Frayling, Mark Jancovich, Kim Newman and David J. Skal.

Shirley Jackson was one of America's most prominent female writers of the 1950s. Between 1948 and 1965 she published six novels, one best-selling story collection, two popular volumes of her family chronicles and many stories, which ranged from fairly conventional tales for the women's magazine market to the ambiguous, allusive, delicately sinister and more obviously literary stories that were closest to Jackson's heart and destined to end up in the more highbrow end of the market.Most critical discussions of Jackson tend to focus on "The Lottery" and The Haunting of Hill House. An author of such accomplishment--and one so fully engaged with the pressures and preoccupations of postwar America--merits fuller discussion. To that end, this collection of essays widens the scope of Jackson scholarship with new writing on such works as The Road through the Wall and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and topics ranging from Jackson's domestic fiction to ethics, cosmology, and eschatology. The book also makes newly available some of the most significant Jackson scholarship published in the last two decades.

The Highway Horror Film argues that 'Highway Horror' is a hither-to overlooked sub-genre of the American horror movie. In these films, the American landscape is by its very accessibility rendered terrifyingly hostile, and encounters with other travellers almost always have sinister outcomes.

An eclectic and insightful collection of essays predicated on the hypothesis that popular cultural documents provide unique insights into the concerns, anxieties and desires of their times. 1950s popular culture is analysed by leading scholars and critics such as Christopher Frayling, Mark Jancovich, Kim Newman and David J. Skal.

A jargon-free guide to the key terms, concepts, and theoretical approaches to contemporary popular fictionKey Concepts in Contemporary Popular Fiction represents an invaluable starting point for students wishing to familiarise themselves with this exciting and rapidly evolving area of literary studies. It provides an accessible, concise and reliable overview of core critical terminology, key theoretical approaches, and the major genres and sub-genres within popular fiction. Because popular fiction is significantly shaped by commercial forces, the book also provides critical and historical contexts for terminology related to e-books, e-publishing, and self-publishing platforms.  By using focusing in particular on post-2000 trends in popular fiction, the book provides a truly up-to-date snapshot of the subject area and its critical contexts.Key FeaturesProvides an engaging and knowledgeable overview of critical terminology and theoretical approaches used by critics working within the fieldIntroduces readers to the most recent trends and newest terms, including ‘Nordic Noir’, ‘New Adult Fiction’, ‘Cli-Fi’ (Climate Change Fiction), ‘Mash-up’ and ‘Flash Fiction’ as well as significant terms related to fan fiction and web-publishing platforms such as WattPadIncludes an annotated further reading list to crime; horror; romance; fantasy; Science Fiction and comic books/graphic novels Supplies a chronology, providing  readers with a historical overview of the major popular novels, critical approaches, and technological innovations

Provides a unique snapshot of themes and trends within popular fiction in the twenty-first centuryThis groundbreaking collection captures the state of popular fiction in present day. It features twenty new essays on key authors associated with a wide range of genres and sub-genres, providing chapter-length discussions of major post-2000 works of contemporary popular fiction. The lively, accessible and academically rigorous essays presented here cover a wider range of established popular fiction genres such as fantasy, horror and the romance, as well as more niche areas such as Domestic Noir, Steampunk, the New Weird, Nordic Noir and Zombie Lit. The collection will primarily appeal to undergraduate and postgraduate students but general readers may also find the focus on many of today's most prominent and influential authors to be of interest.Key FeaturesProvides students with a timely and accessible overview of current trends within contemporary popular fictionIncludes timely reassessments of recent fiction by established figures such as Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, Larry McMurtry, Neil Gaiman, J.K. Rowling, Jodi Picoult, China Mieville, Grant Morrison, Terry Pratchett and Nora Roberts as well as consideration of authors who have emerged more recently, amongst them Stephenie Meyer, Gillian Flynn, E.L. James, Hugh Howey, Cherie Priest, and Max BrooksIncludes supplementary material such recommended further reading at the end of each chapter

Provides a unique snapshot of themes and trends within popular fiction in the twenty-first centuryThis groundbreaking collection captures the state of popular fiction in present day. It features twenty new essays on key authors associated with a wide range of genres and sub-genres, providing chapter-length discussions of major post-2000 works of contemporary popular fiction. The lively, accessible and academically rigorous essays presented here cover a wider range of established popular fiction genres such as fantasy, horror and the romance, as well as more niche areas such as Domestic Noir, Steampunk, the New Weird, Nordic Noir and Zombie Lit. The collection will primarily appeal to undergraduate and postgraduate students but general readers may also find the focus on many of today's most prominent and influential authors to be of interest.Key FeaturesProvides students with a timely and accessible overview of current trends within contemporary popular fictionIncludes timely reassessments of recent fiction by established figures such as Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, Larry McMurtry, Neil Gaiman, J.K. Rowling, Jodi Picoult, China Mieville, Grant Morrison, Terry Pratchett and Nora Roberts as well as consideration of authors who have emerged more recently, amongst them Stephenie Meyer, Gillian Flynn, E.L. James, Hugh Howey, Cherie Priest, and Max BrooksIncludes supplementary material such recommended further reading at the end of each chapter

.During the latter half of the twentieth century the Gothic emerged as one of the liveliest and most significant areas of academic inquiry within literary, film, and popular culture studies. This volume covers the key concepts and developments associated with Twentieth-Century Gothic, tracing the development of the mode from the fin de siecle to 9/11. The eighteen chapters reflect the interdisciplinary and ever-evolving nature of the Gothic, which, during the century, migrated from literature and drama to the cinema and television. The volume has both a chronological and thematic focus and particular attention is paid to topics and themes related to race, identity, marginality and technology. Chapters on ecogothic, Gothic Studies as a discipline, Medical Humanities, Queer Studies, African American Studies and Russian Gothic ensure that the collection is up-to-date and wide-ranging. Suggested further readings at the end of each chapter are intended to facilitate further independent research by readers and researchers.

During the latter half of the twentieth century the Gothic emerged as one of the liveliest and most significant areas of academic inquiry within literary, film, and popular culture studies. This volume covers the key concepts and developments associated with Twentieth-Century Gothic, tracing the development of the mode from the fin de siecle to 9/11. The eighteen chapters reflect the interdisciplinary and ever-evolving nature of the Gothic, which, during the century, migrated from literature and drama to the cinema and television. The volume has both a chronological and thematic focus and particular attention is paid to topics and themes related to race, identity, marginality and technology. Chapters on ecoGothic, Gothic Studies as a discipline, Medical Humanities, Queer Studies, African American Studies and Russian Gothic ensure that the collection is up-to-date and wide-ranging. In addition to the Introduction by the editors, suggested further readings at the end of each chapter are intended to facilitate further independent research by readers and researchers.

This book positions the ‘California Gothic’ as a highly significant regional subgenre which articulates anxieties specific to the historical, cultural and geographical characteristics of the ‘Golden State’. California has long been perceived as a utopian space, but it is also haunted by the spectres of European and Anglo-American imperialism, genocide, racial and economic discrimination, natural disaster and aggressive infrastructural and commercial development. Drawing on the work of California historians and cultural commentators, this study explores the ways in which the nightmarish flipside of the ‘California Dream’ has been depicted within horror and Gothic.

This book positions the 'California Gothic' as a highly significant regional subgenre which articulates anxieties specific to the historical, cultural and geographical characteristics of the 'Golden State'. California has long been perceived as a utopian space, but it is also haunted by the spectres of European and Anglo-American imperialism, genocide, racial and economic discrimination, natural disaster and aggressive infrastructural and commercial development. Drawing on the work of California historians and cultural commentators, this study explores the ways in which the nightmarish flipside of the 'California Dream' has been depicted within horror and Gothic.