The horror film-a film genre that had fallen into disrepute-has experienced a true renaissance in recent years: With just a few films such as The Babadook (2014), The Witch (2015), or Hereditary (2018), a new generation of directors succeeded in spectacularly reviving and upgrading the aging horror genre. Critics were enthusiastic, using terms like "elevated", "intelligent" or "smart" to describe this identified subgenre of horror film. But what characterizes it? Can't ordinary horror flicks be smart? How is it different from other genres of horror film? This new generation of filmmakers combines arthouse with horror film, reviving a genre that can best be described by the term "art-horror"-horror film as a work of art. The two most important representatives of this movement, Robert Eggers (The Witch) and Ari Aster (Hereditary), are presented here in a double biography. The detailed analysis of their films shows what actually distinguishes "art horror".

Praise for the book

"The focus is (...) on the main works of the two filmmakers, which Gmelch analyzes in detail and provides some astonishing insights. For fans of the directors, the book can therefore be considered essential (...)."-VIRUS magazine, Issue 110, Dec/Jan 2023

"a light-footed march through contemporary horror culture."-Filmbulletin, 6/22, Nov/Dec

"In conclusion, Adrian Gmelch has once again succeeded in producing an excellent non-fiction book on a very specific film subject, which is well researched but also maintains interest throughout."-PRESSPLAY.AT, Nov 2022