A01=Eleanor Johnson
Author_Eleanor Johnson
Category=ATFA
Category=ATFG
Category=ATFN
Category=JBCC1
classic horror movies
domestic horror
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
female protagonist
feminism and film
feminist horror
film analysis
final girl
forthcoming
gender in horror
horror film analysis
horror genre
patriarchal oppression in horror
patriarchy
planned parenthood
reproductive agency
reproductive rights
roe v wade
Rosemary's Baby
The Exorcist
Product details
- ISBN 9781668087640
- Weight: 284g
- Dimensions: 140 x 213mm
- Publication Date: 22 Oct 2026
- Publisher: Atria Books
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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“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.
In May of 2022, Columbia University’s Dr. Eleanor Johnson watched along with her students as the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade. At the same time, her class was studying the 1968 horror film Rosemary’s Baby and Johnson had a sudden epiphany: horror cinema engages directly with the combustive politics of women’s rights and offer a light through the darkness and an outlet to scream.
With a voice as persuasive as it is insightful, Johnson reveals how classics like Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, and The Shining expose and critique issues of reproductive control, domestic violence, and patriarchal oppression. Scream with Me weaves these iconic films into the fabric of American feminism, revealing that true horror often lies not in the supernatural, but in the familiar confines of the home, exposing the deep-seated fears and realities of women’s lives.
While on the one hand a joyful celebration of seminal and beloved horror films, Scream with Me is also an unflinching and timely recognition of the power of this genre to shape and reflect cultural dialogues about gender and power.
“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.
In May of 2022, Columbia University’s Dr. Eleanor Johnson watched along with her students as the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade. At the same time, her class was studying the 1968 horror film Rosemary’s Baby and Johnson had a sudden epiphany: horror cinema engages directly with the combustive politics of women’s rights and offer a light through the darkness and an outlet to scream.
With a voice as persuasive as it is insightful, Johnson reveals how classics like Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, and The Shining expose and critique issues of reproductive control, domestic violence, and patriarchal oppression. Scream with Me weaves these iconic films into the fabric of American feminism, revealing that true horror often lies not in the supernatural, but in the familiar confines of the home, exposing the deep-seated fears and realities of women’s lives.
While on the one hand a joyful celebration of seminal and beloved horror films, Scream with Me is also an unflinching and timely recognition of the power of this 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 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.
