Fears of a Nation

This bold study offers critical attention to post-1945 German horror film and how, when studied as a genre, it sheds light on the nation's fears and anxieties beyond lingering fascism. Cinematic horror has been largely neglected in German film criticism, and this study theorizes the genre as a "cultural abject," where its censorship and relegation to the margins reveals a national reluctance to sit with the undercurrents of postwar society. With an examination of fifteen films as case studies, this book weaves together rich scene analysis and national history to excavate the country's emerging national consciousness as it reconciles the all-too-real horrors of its past with an uncertain future.