Scream with Me: Horror Films and the Rise of American Feminism (1968-1980)

NATIONAL BESTSELLER
“An indispensable work of feminist criticism.” —Elle
“Convincing and illuminating.” —The Atlantic

A compelling, intelligent, and timely exploration of the horror genre from one of Columbia University’s most popular professors, shedding light on how classic horror films demonstrate larger cultural attitudes about women’s rights, bodily autonomy, and more.

When the Supreme Court decided to reverse Roe v. Wade in the spring of 2022, Dr. Eleanor Johnson and her class were in the middle of studying the 1968 horror classic Rosemary’s Baby, a film that understands reproductive coercion as the soul of horror. Teaching this film to her distraught students led Johnson to an epiphany: horror cinema engages directly with the combustive politics of women’s rights and the despotic atmosphere in America, both in the 1970s and today.

In ten “riveting, enlightening, and occasionally scream-inducing” (Shelf Awareness) essays, Johnson reveals with intellect and empathy how classics like Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, and The Shining expose and critique issues of reproductive control, domestic violence, and patriarchal oppression. By weaving these iconic films into the fabric of American feminism, Johnson reveals that true horror often lies not in the supernatural but in the familiar (and all too often, lethal) confines of the home. “With wit and relish” (BookPage), Scream with Me is an accessible and “thought-provoking” (Library Journal) recognition of the power of the horror genre to shape and reflect cultural dialogues about gender and power.

Eleanor Johnson is a professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University. She is the author of five books: Scream with Me, Monstrous Bitch, 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.