ABSTRACT
In a recent LA Times article, Chang queries, “has horror become the movie genre of the Trump era?” Indeed, it would seem so, as popular horror films continue to reflect, express, and validate the spirit of our epoch. The historic election of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States has had, and will continue to have, a significant impact on both America and the world at large. In this introductory chapter, the editor presents a varied collection of essays that examine horror films produced since the 2016 election. The contributors to these essays comment on a number of films in which chaos, femiphobia, gun-toting, and racism, to name but a few, are pivotal elements. In addition to discussing such texts as American Horror Story: Cult (2017), The First Purge (2018), The Shallows (2016), and 47 Meters Down (2017), McCollum examines how the horror genre has changed since the most dramatic, hotly contested, and consequential election in history and, conversely, how recent horror films construct and give meaning to the American nightmare that is Trump’s authoritarian populism in a way that other genres do not. Finally, the editor points to the quick turnaround of premeditated and deeply conservative narratives (in film and TV) since Trump took office, arguing that horror, once again, emerges as a counter-narrative in response to a turbulent political climate and thus could reopen and reinvigorate an active, contested public sphere.
