Sign-In
Cart
Why We Love Our Nightmares
Paperback
Series: Dennis at the Movies, Book 3
Film & Video ArtFilm StudiesGeneral Sociology
Publisher: Dennis Santaniello
Published: Mar 9 2025
Pages: 166
Weight: 0.37
Height: 0.35 Width: 5.00 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
You were afraid of Freddy Krueger. Dennis Santaniello was terrified.
In Why We Love Our Nightmares, Santaniello confronts his own childhood terror to figure out why a burned, wisecracking killer in a striped sweater became a permanent part of American pop culture. Forget the franchise retrospective - this is about why A Nightmare on Elm Street hit a nerve that's still raw forty years later.
The false security of suburban life. The generational divide between Baby Boomers and their children. The cracks in the American Dream that an entire decade preferred to ignore. Freddy didn't just exploit fear - he embodied a specific cultural anxiety, and Wes Craven knew exactly what he was doing.
The psychological power of Freddy's design. The feminist evolution of the final girl. The commercial cash grab of Freddy merchandise and his strange second life as an anti-hero. This book combines personal anecdotes with sharp cultural analysis to examine every angle of the franchise.
If you've ever wondered why this particular monster won't die - this is the answer.
Also from
Santaniello, Dennis
Also in
Film & Video Art
Homosexuality in Cold War America: Resistance and the Crisis of Masculinity
Corber, Robert J.
Paperback
Dreaming of Cinema: Spectatorship, Surrealism, and the Age of Digital Media
Lowenstein, Adam
Paperback
The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg--And the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema
Fischer, Paul
Hardcover
The World of Black Film: A Journey Through Cinematic Blackness in 100 Films with a Foreword by John Akomfrah
Clark, Ashley
Hardcover
The Magic of Minalima: Celebrating the Graphic Design Studio Behind the Harry Potter & Fantastic Beasts Films
Minalima
Denton, Nell
Hardcover
Godzilla: The Encyclopedia: Shinji Nishikawa Unravels the Depths of Godzilla
Nishikawa Shinji
Paperback
Avatar: The Last Airbender the Art of the Animated Series (Second Edition)
DiMartino, Michael Dante
Koneitzko, Bryan
Hardcover
Guillermo del Toro: Cabinet of Curiosities [Reissue]: My Notebooks, Collections, and Other Obsessions
del Toro, Guillermo
Hardcover
Framed Ink 2: Frame Format, Energy, and Composition for Visual Storytellers
Mateu-Mestre, Marcos
Paperback
Framed Perspective Vol. 1: Technical Perspective and Visual Storytelling
Mateu-Mestre, Marcos
Paperback
F1 the Movie: The Making of the Most Authentic Racing Film of All Time
Salisbury, Mark
Medland, Chris
Hardcover
Cinematic Immunity: An Oral History of New York Filmmaking as Told by the Crews That Got the Shot
Nirenberg, Michael Lee
Paperback
Avatar: The Last Airbender--The Lost Adventures and Team Avatar Tales Library Edition
Yang, Gene Luen
Erin Hicks, Faith
Hardcover
Castlevania: Nocturne--The Art of the Animated Series
Ratcliffe, Amy
Powerhouse Animation Studios
Hardcover
The Museum of Wes Anderson: His Movies and the Works That Inspired Them
Mathieu, Camille
Chiaramonte, Johan
Hardcover
Middle-Earth from Script to Screen: Building the World of the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit
Rice, K. M.
Falconer, Daniel
Hardcover
Interstellar: The Complete Screenplay with Selected Storyboards
Nolan, Christopher
Nolan, Jonathan
Paperback
Boisterous Beasts & Deadly Dragons: The Art of Nico Marlet
Miller-Zarneke, Tracey
Serrand, Kristof
Hardcover
The Art of Futurama: A Visual History of Matt Groening's Cult Classic Animated Series
Groening, Matt
Hardcover
Tarantino Town: His Movies and the Works That Inspired Them
Chiaramonte, Johan
Mathieu, Camille
Hardcover
The Scream Writer's Handbook: How to Write a Terrifying Screenplay in 10 Bloody Steps
Fenton, Thomas
Paperback
Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse. the Ultimate History. 45th Ed.
Iger, Bob
Gerstein, David
Kaufman, J. B.
Hardcover
Doug Chiang: The Cinematic Legacy (Volume I) & the Star Wars Legacy (Volume II)
Poncet, Alexandre
Penso, Gilles
Hardcover
A Chronology of Film: A Cultural Timeline from the Magic Lantern to the Digital Screen
Smith, Ian Haydn
Paperback
Nouvelles Femmes: Modern Women of the French New Wave and Their Enduring Contribution to Cinema
Knudson, Ericka
Hardcover
Behind the Scenes of the Golden Age of Hollywood and Broadway: The Legacy of Robert Allen
Baehr, Ted
Paperback
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock the Making of the Classic Film
Tenuto, John
Tenuto, Maria Jose
Hardcover
Harry Potter World of Stickers: Art from the Wizarding World Archive
Editors of Thunder Bay Press
Hardcover
Make Your Own Movies: A Beginner's Guide to Filmmaking with Whatever Equipment You Have
Parga, Migue
Paperback
Star Trek: The U.S.S. Enterprise Ncc-1701 Illustrated Handbook
Hugo, Simon
Robinson, Ben
Reily, Marcus
Hardcover
Lair: Radical Homes and Hideouts of Movie Villains (Trade Edition)
Gollin, Andrea
Oppenheim, Chad
Hardcover
Video Generation with AI: Working with Diffusion Transformers and Multimodal Learning
Enochs, Joseph
Paperback
Animation for the People: An Illustrated History of the National Film Board of Canada
Solomon, Charles
Hardcover
The Animation Atlas: The Ghibliotheque Guide to the World of Animated Film
Cunningham, Jake
Leader, Michael
Hardcover
The Wire: The Complete Visual History: (The Wire Book, Television History, Photography Coffee Table Books)
Watkins, D.
Hardcover
Cinema Symbolism: A Guide to Esoteric Imagery in Popular Movies, Second Edition
Sullivan, Robert W., IV
Paperback
The Legend of Korra: The Art of the Animated Series--Book One: Air (Second Edition)
DiMartino, Michael Dante
Koneitzko, Bryan
Hardcover
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: A Character Guide and World Compendium
Staples, Val
Lioncourt, Josh De
Eatock, James
Hardcover
Marvel Studios' the Fantastic Four: First Steps - Family Portraits: Photos from the Set
Harrold, Jess
Hardcover