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Dead Funny
The Humor of American Horror
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Book Presentation:
Horror films strive to make audiences scream, but they also garner plenty of laughs. In fact, there is a long tradition of horror directors who are fluent in humor, from James Whale to John Landis to Jordan Peele. So how might horror and humor overlap more than we would expect?
Dead Funny locates humor as a key element in the American horror film, one that is not merely used for extraneous “comic relief” moments but often serves to underscore major themes, intensify suspense, and disorient viewers. Each chapter focuses on a different comic style or device, from the use of funny monsters and scary clowns in movies like A Nightmare on Elm Street to the physical humor and slapstick in movies ranging from The Evil Dead to Final Destination. Along the way, humor scholar David Gillota explores how horror films employ parody, satire, and camp to comment on gender, sexuality, and racial politics. Covering everything from the grotesque body in Freaks to the comedy of awkwardness in Midsommar, this book shows how integral humor has been to the development of the American horror film over the past century.
About the Author:
DAVID GILLOTA is an associate professor of English at University of Wisconsin, Platteville. He is the author of Ethnic Humor in Multiethnic America (Rutgers University Press) and is the editor of the journal Studies in American Humor.
Press Reviews:
"Historically, horror scholarship has often displayed an almost phobic disregard for horror-comedies and the comedy in horror. You almost would not know that horror is often intricately enmeshed with comedy. David Gillota's Dead Funny corrects this omission, taking on comedic horror from the silent era to Jordan Peele with care and rigor. And the best part: it is even funny."
— Murray Leeder
"Dead Funny offers a brilliant rethinking of the horror genre as profoundly comic. Exploring parody, the comic monster, body humor, queer camp, cringe comedy, and satire, Dead Funny serves up a comprehensive look at humor’s centrality to the structure and tone of U.S. horror film since the 1930s. You’ll be surprised at some of the films that come up in David Gillota’s provocative book—but I guarantee you’ll also be convinced."
— Dawn Keetley
See the publisher website: Rutgers University Press
> On a related topic:
Blood on the Lens (2022)
Trauma and Anxiety in American Found Footage Horror Cinema
Japanese and American Horror (2014)
A Comparative Study of Film, Fiction, Graphic Novels and Video Games
Fright Night on Channel 9 (2011)
Saturday Night Horror Films on New York's WOR-TV, 1973–1987
by James Arena
Nightmares in Red, White and Blue (2004)
The Evolution of the American Horror Film
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