Overview

Horror films strive to make audiences scream, but they also make them laugh. Little work has been done, however, to explain precisely how horror's humor operates. Dead Funny: The Humor of American Horror offers a road map of key humorous devices that have been prominent in North American horror films since the 1930s. Author David Gillota argues that horror's humor does not operate as simple ""comic relief"" but instead functions in tandem with horror elements. Using humor theory to read horror, Gillota provides insight into several aspects of the genre that have long preoccupied critics: the figure of the monster, imperiled bodies, or gender and racial politics. In doing so, Dead Funny offers analysis of a vast array of films, including classic monster movies, effects-driven splatter films, and recent critical favorites like Get Out and Midsommar. The result demonstrates that humor is and has long been an integral part of the horror genre.

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9781978834170

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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 * author of Horror Film: A Critical Introduction * ""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 * author of Making a Monster: Jesse Pomeroy, the Boy Murderer of 1870s Boston *

"“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 * author of Horror Film: A Critical Introduction * ""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 * author of Making a Monster: Jesse Pomeroy, the Boy Murderer of 1870s Boston *"

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 author of Horror Film: A Critical Introduction (10/26/2022 12:00:00 AM)

"""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 ""author of Making a Monster: Jesse Pomeroy, the Boy Murderer of 1870s Boston"" ""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 ""author of Horror Film: A Critical Introduction"" (10/26/2022 12:00:00 AM)"

"“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, author of Horror Film: A Critical Introduction ""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, author of Making a Monster: Jesse Pomeroy, the Boy Murderer of 1870s Boston"

Author Information

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.  

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