ABSTRACT
I conclude the book with Chapter 10, “Representation, Recognition, and Renaissance: 2010s to Present,” in which I address the increased quantity and quality of Black representation in horror and how it relates to the decade’s high-profile instances of racial abuses and the subsequent push for social justice. I take deep dives into several landmark Black horror movies that unapologetically tackle sociopolitical topics of import to Black Americans. I discuss Jordan Peele’s Get Out (2017) and its repudiation of the notion that Obama’s election signaled a “post-racial” America. I then discuss Peele’s Us (2019), which shifts its focus from racial prejudice to classism and inequality. I follow that up with Nia DaCosta’s Candyman (2021), delving into its commentary on police abuse and urban gentrification of Black areas, and Gerard McMurray’s The First Purge (2018), which channels Black America’s frustrations into a violent spectacle. I then wade into the debate over Black horror turning into “trauma porn” by examining three controversial works that have been labeled as such: Antebellum (2020), Karen (2021), and the Amazon series Them (2021). I end with a look at how far the portrayals of Blacks in horror have come over the years, with Black representation now at an all-time high.
