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Scream With Me

Horror Films and the Rise of American Feminism (1968-1980)

by Eleanor Johnson

Length 8 hours 57 minutes

Language English

Narrators Andi Arndt & Eleanor Johnson

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Bookseller recommendation

“This book, in fact, made me want to scream! Not from fear but from anger. Scream with Me may be focused on the select time frame of second-wave feminism, but as we are facing the same issues again today, this collection couldn’t be more urgent. Eleanor Johnson has a keen eye for detail, and she dissects the nuances of each film with cutthroat precision. ”
— Nikole • Bookshop Santa Cruz

Bookseller recommendation

“This audiobook was a hit with me, and I will be recommending it widely! Eleanor Johnson created a fascinating framework in which to further explore the connections between feminist history, horror tropes, and cultural attitudes toward women. There's much to unpack here, and the author is a great guide. ”
— Sara • Reads & Company

Bookseller recommendation

““The only required qualification for being tormented and abused into bearing the Antichrist is being a woman of reproductive age.” - Johnson, Ch. 8. In this eye-opening and blood-filled meditation on horror films from the 1960s til now, this genius book offers unflinching connections to the movies that scare us and the underpinning feminist motives behind them. From forced pregnancy in Rosemary’s Baby, domestic violence in The Shining, and gender-bent sexual deviance in Alien, Eleanor Johnson puts the axe against views of horror films being vapid and soulless, as she educates the reader on art’s ability to create real cultural and political change.”
— Josh L. • The Underground Bookshop

Summary
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#2 in Bestselling Art Audiobooks

A SHELF AWARENESS BEST BOOK OF 2025 A LOS ANGELES TIMES MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2025 AN ELLE BEST BOOK OF FALL 2025 “Convincing and illuminating.” —The Atlantic A compelling, intelligent, and timely exploration of the horror genre from one of Columbia University’s most popular professors, shedding light on how classic horror films demonstrate larger cultural attitudes about women’s rights, bodily autonomy, and more.In May of 2022, Columbia University’s Dr. Eleanor Johnson watched along with her students as the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade. At the same time, her class was studying the 1968 horror film Rosemary’s Baby and Johnson had a sudden epiphany: horror cinema engages directly with the combustive politics of women’s rights and offer a light through the darkness and an outlet to scream. With a voice as persuasive as it is insightful, Johnson reveals how classics like Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, and The Shining expose and critique issues of reproductive control, domestic violence, and patriarchal oppression. Scream with Me weaves these iconic films into the fabric of American feminism, revealing that true horror often lies not in the supernatural, but in the familiar confines of the home, exposing the deep-seated fears and realities of women’s lives. While on the one hand a joyful celebration of seminal and beloved horror films, Scream with Me is also an unflinching and timely recognition of the power of this genre to shape and reflect cultural dialogues about gender and power.

History Art Horror Nonfiction Social Science

Eleanor Johnson is a professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University. She is the author of four books: Scream with Me, Practicing Literary Theory in the Middle Ages, Staging Contemplation, and the award-winning Waste and the Wasters, as well as two collections of poetry, The Dwell and Her Many Feathered Bones.