Undead in the West: Vampires, Zombies, Mummies, and Ghosts on the Cinematic Frontier - Hardcover

by Cynthia J. Miller (Editor), A. Bowdoin Van Riper (Editor)

Undead in the West is a collection of essays that explore the many tropes and themes through which undead Westerns make the genre's inner plagues and demons visible, and lay siege to a frontier tied to myths of strength, ingenuity, freedom, and independence. Featuring several illustrations and a filmography, the volume is divided into three sections: "Reanimating Classic Western Tropes" examines traditional Western characters, symbolism, and plot devices and how they are given new life in undead Westerns; "The Moral Order Under Siege" explores the ways in which the undead confront classic values and morality tales embodied in Western films; and "And Hell Followed with Him" looks at justice, retribution, and retaliation at the hands of undead angels and avengers.

Back Jacket

The American West serves not only as the country's heartland but also as a setting for morality tales, a proving ground for mainstream values and ideals, and a point of encounter between order and chaos, progress and ruin, humanity and the "wild." From the silent era to the present, Western cinema has portrayed these multiple and intersecting functions in increasingly complex ways. In Undead in the West: Vampires, Zombies, Mummies, and Ghosts on the Cinematic Frontier, Cynthia J. Miller and A. Bowdoin Van Riper have assembled a collection of essays that explore the many tropes and themes through which undead Westerns make the genre's inner plagues and demons visible. The volume examines the ways in which traditional Western characters, symbolism, and plot devices are given new life and lay siege to a frontier tied to myths of strength, ingenuity, freedom, and independence. These essays explore how classic values embodied in Western films--justice, retribution, and retaliation--are delivered at the hands of undead angels and avengers. Subjects run the gamut from B films such as Curse of the Undead and Billy the Kid vs. Dracula to A-list features including From Dusk Till Dawn and Jonah Hex, as well as animated films (Rango) and television programs (The Walking Dead and Supernatural). Other films discussed include Bubba Ho-Tep, Vampires, Land of the Dead, and Once Upon a Time in the West. Featuring illustrations and a filmography, Undead in the West will appeal to film scholars, as well as to fans of Westerns and the supernatural in cinema.

Author Biography

Cynthia J. Miller is the Film Review Editor of Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies, and she serves as President of the Literature/Film Association, as well as editorial advisory board member for The Encyclopedia of Women and Popular Culture. She is the editor of Too Bold for the Box Office: The Mockumentary from Big Screen to Small (Scarecrow, 2012). A. Bowdoin Van Riper is a historian who specializes in depictions of science and technology in popular culture. His publications include Rockets and Missiles: The Life Story of a Technology (2007) and A Biographical Encyclopedia of Scientists and Inventors in American Film and Television (Scarecrow, 2011). Van Riper and Miller are coeditors of 1950's Rocketman" TV Series and Their Fans: Cadets, Rangers, and Junior Space Men (2012).