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Contemporary Thai Horror Film
A Monstrous Hybrid
by Mary Ainslie
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Book Presentation:
Examines Thai horror film and the central role this genre plays in Thailand’s film industry
• The first book to study the prolific horror genre of Southeast Asia’s most internationally renowned film industry
• Provides an alternative way to examine Thai cinema through narrative structure and viewing context
• Considers how the social changes in Thailand since the post-WW2 period have impacted upon Thai film style
• Provides a new international case study of the horror genre
• Examines the changing political position of Thai horror
• Highlights the continuing significance of Thai horror films in the digital age and throughout the Southeast Asia region
This book focuses on the most significant and dominant characteristic of Thai cinema throughout its history: the Thai incarnation of the horror genre and the central role this plays in Thailand’s film industry.
Tracing the development of Thai cinema throughout wider contextual changes, the book explores the influence of audiences and viewing scenarios from previous decades upon this industry today. Most evident in the popular horror genre, close analysis of films demonstrates a specific style of Thai cinema as well as the wider social forces (both formal and thematic) that have shaped Thai cinema as a national industry. Looking at these films through a framework built from horror theory, this book questions our understanding of ‘horror’ as a generic category when we move outside of its traditional Euro-American origins and the voyeuristic viewing scenario often associated with the genre.
About the Author:
Mary Jane Ainslie is Associate Professor in Film and Media at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China Campus. She is the author of ‘Contemporary Thai Horror Film: A Monstrous Hybrid’ (EUP, 2023) and Anti-Semitism in Contemporary Malaysia: Malay Nationalism, Philosemitism and Pro-Israel Expressions (2019) as well as the co-editor of Southeast Asia On Screen: From Independence to Financial Crisis (1945-1998) (2020) and Thai Cinema: The Complete Guide’ (2015).
Press Reviews:
This book is a major contribution to the study of Thai cinema, offering a comprehensive analysis of one of its most popular genres and its key productions, emphasizing the industry dynamics and audience practices that contributed to its development. It is an essential text for any scholar engaging with Thai horror film.
– Katarzyna Ancuta, Chulalongkorn University
Ranging from the earliest days of Thai cinema to the streaming platforms of today’s digital age, this is a sophisticated and highly knowledgeable study of Thai horror cinema and the cultural contexts it both articulates and interrogates. Essential reading for those with an interest in the nation, the region, and the genre.
– Linnie Blake, Manchester Metropolitan University
See the publisher website: Edinburgh University Press
> From the same author:
Southeast Asia on Screen (2020)
From Independence to Financial Crisis (1945-1998)
Dir. Gaik Cheng Khoo, Thomas Barker and Mary Ainslie
Subject: Countries > Southeast Asia
> On a related topic:
South Asian Gothic (2021)
Haunted cultures, histories and media
Dir. Katarzyna Ancuta and Deimantas Valančiūnas
The Screen Chills Companion, 1940–1946 (2025)
Films of the Golden Age of Hollywood Horror
The Post-Zombie (2025)
Essays on the Evolving Undead
Dir. C. Wylie Lenz, Angela Tenga and Kyle William Bishop
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