Supernatural mothers and wombs of discontent exploring horror's deviant reproductions edited by Ruth Barratt-Peacock

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Barratt-Peacock, Ruth, 1988- editor.

Series:

Research in horror studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Supernatural in literature.

Motherhood in popular culture.

Horror in mass media.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

New York Bloomsbury Academic 2026

Summary:

"An interdisciplinary and international roster of contributors discuss the womb and the mother as separate sources of supernatural reproduction in horror media, arguing that the alchemy of pregnancy and birth warrants a sustained examination of supernatural motherhood in diverse contexts. From television shows like Wanda Vision and films like The Witch (2015) to novels like Toni Morrison’sBelovedand Salman Rushdie’s Victory City, contributors analyze a variety of horror media texts, identifying and unpacking key themes including the monstrous feminine, gynae horror, and magical motherhood. As narratives foregrounding the Othering of the mother figure emerge from these texts on a broader scale, the volume ultimately brings these wide-ranging explorations together to interrogate motherhood as an expression of systemic power relations, positing that the supernatural functions as a foil against which the social constructions of birth, birthing, and motherhood may be reconsidered and perhaps even redefined"-- Bloomsbury Collections

Contents:

Introduction : the magic in the horror : spelling a different perspective on reproduction in horror / Ruth Barratt-Peacock

WandaVision : when horror (re)frames magical motherhood / Ruth Barratt-Peacock

The witch as anti-mother in Eggers's The Witch / Mark Henderson

Irish witches, familiars, and Mother Earth : exploitation of women, animals, and the environment in Irish history and modern media / Evelyn Suttle

M/othering and the abject in Molly Cochran's The Third Magic / Radhia Flah Gaich

Magical vulnerability and vulnerable magic : the witch (m)other in Salman Rushdie's Victory City / Sreelakshmy M

Fangs and phalluses : the barren, pregnant vampire / Evie Kendal

Wombs of discontent : unveiling gender abjection through dolls in Lucky McKee's May / Amylou Ahava

Gynae horror in select Hindi cinema : the womb as the element of horror / Shrenya Soni

A haunting healing in Toni Morrison's Beloved / Jeff Ambrose

Miscarriage in contemporary film : visualizing the unseen through the horror scene / Katherine Cottle

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Online resource; title from home page (Bloomsbury Collections, viewed July 1, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version Supernatural mothers and wombs of discontent

ISBN:

9798216365747

9798216365754

9798216365730

OCLC:

1594001255

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license