From Vampire Apocalypses, Shark Attacks, Witches, And Ghosts, To Murderous Dolls Bent On Revenge, Horror Has Been Part Of The American Cinematic Imagination For Almost As Long As Pictures Have Moved On Screens. But Why Do They Captivate Us So? What Is The Drive To Be Frightened, And Why Is It So Perennially Popular? Why Horror Seduces Addresses These Questions Through Evolutionary Social Sciences.--book Cover Cover; Why Horror Seduces; Copyright; Contents; Acknowledgments; Introduction: Horror, Fear, And Evolution; Part 1: An Evolutionary Theory Of Horror; 1. Sizing Up The Beast: What Horror Is, And How It Is Studied; 2. How Horror Works, I: The Evolution And Stimulation Of Negative Emotion; 3. How Horror Works, Ii: Spooky Monsters, Scary Scenarios, And Terrified Characters; 4. Fear For Your Life: The Appeals, Functions, And Effects Of Horror; Part 2: Evolutionary Perspectives On American Horror; 5. Monsters Everywhere: A Very Brief Overview Of American Horror 6. Vampire Apocalypse: I Am Legend (1954)7. Trust No One: Rosemary's Baby (1967); 8. Fight The Dead, Fear The Living: Night Of The Living Dead (1968); 9. Never Go Swimming Again: Jaws (1975); 10. Haunted Houses, Haunted Minds: The Shining (1977); 11. Hack N' Slash: Halloween (1978); 12. Lost And Hunted In Bad Woods: The Blair Witch Project (1999); Part 3: Future Evolutions In Horror Entertainment And Horror Research; 13. The Future Of Horror; References; Index Mathias Clasen. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.