Research

Three pillars

Neuroscience of recreational fear, lived neurodivergent experience, and horror film theory. The white space is the combination.

Pillar 1 — Neuroscience and psychology of fear-as-regulation
Pillar 2 — Lived neurodivergent experience (qualitative core)
Pillar 3 — Horror film theory and genre analysis
Methodology
The checklist from the research plan
Literature review across the three pillars (ongoing)
Structured survey + 15–25 long-form interviews with neurodivergent horror fans
3–6 expert/researcher interviews
Optional: ND-identified genre writers (John Wiswell is realistic; del Toro is stretch)

Comparative titles

Lane A2025
Morbidly Curious: A Scientist Explains Why We Can't Look Away
Coltan Scrivner · Penguin Books

Closest living comp and freshest proof of commercial appetite. Recreational Fear Lab. NYT review. Read first and closely.

Lane A2022
Nightmare Fuel: The Science of Horror Films
Nina Nesseth · ECW Press

Physiology of fear into accessible, film-by-film storytelling.

Lane A2015
Scream: Chilling Adventures in the Science of Fear
Margee Kerr · PublicAffairs

Participatory, first-person science-writing model close to intended voice.

Lane A2017
Why Horror Seduces
Mathias Clasen · Oxford University Press

Academic backbone of recreational fear. Co-directs Aarhus Recreational Fear Lab. Read second.

Lane B2015
Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film
Carol J. Clover · Princeton University Press

Explicit north star. Academic book that reshaped mainstream conversation about identification. Original 1992.

Lane B2017
Paperbacks from Hell
Grady Hendrix · Quirk Books

Proof a researched, anecdote-rich horror history book can be a mainstream bestseller.

Lane B2025
Projected Fears: Horror Films and American Culture
Kendall R. Phillips · Bloomsbury Academic

Close reading of a handful of films reveals a cultural anxiety. 2nd ed. adds Get Out, Blair Witch, Saw.

Reading list

Horror theory

The Philosophy of Horror

Noël Carroll

The Monstrous-Feminine

Barbara Creed

Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess

Linda Williams

American Nightmare: Essays on the Horror Film

Robin Wood & Richard Lippe

Neurodivergence & media

Autism and Representation

Mark Osteen (ed.)

Narrative Prosthesis

David T. Mitchell & Sharon L. Snyder

Autism in Film and Television: On the Island

University of Texas Press anthology

Disability Media Studies

Elizabeth Ellcessor & Bill Kirkpatrick

The Neuro-Image

Patricia Pisters

Distorted screams, double lives: Autism and gothic horror cinema, 1931–1967

E. J. Lyon

Essays & journalism

Autism and Horror

Evolution of Horror

Autism Within Horror: Come Play and the Next Steps for Representation

W. Lara / Bloody Disgusting

On Autism In Horror

Fangoria (2024)

Why context matters at relaxed screenings

L. Crawford / BFI

Venues to monitor

Horror Studies journal

Intellect Books

PCA: Horror in Text, Media, and Culture

NEPCA: Monsters & the Monstrous