Erica Joan Dymond 
Grief in Contemporary Horror Cinema 
Screening Loss

Over the course of the past two decades, horror cinema around the globe has become increasingly preoccupied with the concept of loss. Grief in Contemporary Horror Cinema: Screening Loss examines the theme of grief as it is represented in both indie and mainstream films, including works such as Jennifer Kents watershed film The Babadook, Juan Antonio Bayonas award-sweeping El orfanato, Ari Asters genre-straddling Midsommar, and Lars von Triers visually stunning Melancholia. Analyzing depictions of grief ranging from the intimate grief of a small family to the collective grief of an entire nation, the essays illustrate how these works serve to provide unity, catharsis, andsometimeshealing.