Horror aficionados will soon have some new lunchtime reading in the form of Ariel Powers-Schaub debut novel Millennial Nasties: Analyzing a Decade of Brutal Horror Film Violence. The book seeks to redefine the “Torture Porn” and Extreme Horror movies of the 2000s.
Torture porn, shock-for-shock’s sake, violence that doesn’t serve the plot, and characters you hate – what was going on in the 2000s in horror cinema? And why were audiences hungry for it? In Millennial Nasties, writer, podcaster, and film critic Ariel Powers-Schaub takes a critical but appreciative look at an oft-ignored subset of horror. “I wanted to read analyses of these films I love. But I couldn’t find much, so I decided I’d have to write it!” says author Ariel Powers-Schaub.
Millennial Nasties dissects the English-language horror films of the 2000s and the cultural events they were responding to. Processing tragedy and war throughout the world, keeping pace with films from other countries, and swinging wildly away from the safe horror of the 1990s, the 2000s brought grisly kills and shocking gore to cinema audiences and home viewers. Films once dismissed as torture porn, their nasty slasher friends, and the remakes of this era have found a new home, and that home is a subgenre called Millennial Nasties.
“Ariel’s approach to the 2000s era of ‘Extreme’ horror hooked us immediately. Her ability to dive deep into the culture and societal influences that birthed this subgenre is something rare in genre nonfiction, and Millennial Nasties delivers!” says Sean Duregger, Managing Editor of Encyclopocalypse Publications.
Encyclopocalypse Publications (Phantom Limbs: Dissecting Horror’s Lost Sequels and Remakes, Sausages: The Making of Dog Soldiers, Splice: The Novelization) will release Ariel Powers-Schaub’s Millennial Nasties in hardcover, paperback, audiobook, and eBook on 17th September 2024.
Millennial Nasties can be pre-ordered directly from Encyclopocalypse in eBook and Print at www.encyclopocalypse.com.
