Feeding the Monster: Why Horror Has A Hold On Us by Anna Bogutskaya, A book review by
Natalie Wall
Anna Bogutskaya’s Feeding the Monster: Why Horror Has A Hold On Us explores why horror is such a seductive genre for so many people, why we are drawn to the gothic, the gory, and the grotesque. Bogutskaya’s knowledge of horror is vast and this helps her create really rich and nuanced takes on the big questions of horror enjoyment. The book primarily focuses on films and TV series made in the last two decades, since the advent of the ‘elevated horror’ label in the 2010s, while making references and links to much older works and some literature.
Horror fans will be familiar with most, if not all, of the media mentioned here but those new to the genre will find a wealth of recommendations to go and seek out, especially with extensive recommendations list at the back of the book. As a lover of horror literature, I did feel that exploration of this was a bit lacking in favour of TV and film, there are specific novels mentioned but nearly always in relation to other media they share themes with. There is so much more to explore in, for example, cannibalism through looking at its representation in horror literature. However, despite the light touch on literature the book still managed to put forth persuasive arguments, perhaps made more lucid for their tight focus – I’m just a literature lover.
Even if you are familiar with the media mentioned the way the book is organised means that you may come away with some fresh takes or new ways of looking at your old favourites. Each chapter centres around a particular emotional or physical feeling (fear, hunger, anxiety, and pain) and this provides interesting ways into the films or TV being analysed, such as the focus on anxious women in much contemporary horror or the link between pain and obsessive artistry. It may not be obvious from the title or blurb but much of the media Bogutskaya looks at in the book is centred around women and their representation in and reception of horror. It was a great way of productively narrowing the scope of the book while still being able to talk about iconic pieces of horror media.
The chapter ‘Pain’ was particularly striking to me because it took a very specific and perhaps unexpected look at pain in horror. Pain is a feature of so much horror media but Bogutskaya’s choice to focus on dance horror movies, namely Black Swan, Suspiria and Climax, means that we get a really unique look at pain’s relationship to beauty and artistry. Bogutskaya makes a persuasive argument that dancing and body horror are very closely related, that contorting the body and pushing it to its physical limits easily moves from the beautiful to the grotesque. The use of Julia Kristeva’s theory of abjection here was an excellent addition as Bogutskaya illustrates that the ‘abject’ need not only be the disgusting or the shameful, but it can also be seen in the body pushed to the limits of beauty, motion and expression.
One of my favourite takeaways was that fear is not felt equally, it’s more circumstantial than the universal experience of cold sweats and an increased heart rate. The mixing of personal anecdotes with the astute analysis of horror media makes for an immensely readable as well as impressively analytical work. Bogutskaya touches upon lot of the nuances of horror around marginalised groups and outsider experiences. At times these additions can feel slightly rushed in favour of fitting more examples into the book’s slim 220 pages, when a more extended look at these marginalised experiences intersecting with horror would have added to the persuasive readings Bogutskaya provides. However, this is a small critique as this book’s strength is in its breadth, illuminating wider trends in horror media grounded in specific examples.
Overall, this is a very enjoyable read for anyone interested in contemporary horror media or looking to get more into horror (although if this is the case then be careful of the many spoilers!).
Feeding the Monster: Why Horror Has A Hold On Us by Anna Bogutskaya

Horror has been embraced by mainstream pop culture more than ever before, with horror characters and aesthetics infecting TV, music videos and even TikTok trends. Yet even with the commercial and critical success of The Babadook, Hereditary, Get Out, The Haunting of Hill House, Yellowjackets and countless other horror films and TV series over the last few years, loving the genre still prompts the question: what’s wrong with you? Implying, of course, that there is something not quite right about the people who make and consume it. In Feeding the Monster, Anna Bogutskaya dispels this notion once and for all by examining how horror responds to and fuels our feelings of fear, anxiety, pain, hunger and power.
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