Frightful Witnessing:
The Rhetoric and (Re)Presentation of Fear

Observing the anguish of others — voyeuristically looking at their pain through the ‘keyhole’ of the media, eavesdropping on their stories of horror, or reading accounts of terror — can be a frightful experience; but it is also one that many of us seek out. Horror novels, horror films, and real-life horror stories circulated in the media are perennially popular. Our fascination with fear, horror, and terror is strong, and crosses generational, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. This volume contains the works of a wide array of authors who explore factual and fictional episodes of fear, horror and terror with subjects ranging from 9/11 to stories of ancient vampires. Although we come from disparate countries, we all share a desire to explore how fear, horror, and terror circulate within our global culture and how these emotions commonly affect us as human beings. We invite you to bear witness to our stories.