Table of Contents

Part I Faces of the Monstrous-Feminine: Abjection and the Maternal INTRODUCTION 1 KRISTEVA, FEMININITY, ABJECTION 2 HORROR AND THE ARCHAIC MOTHER: ALIEN 3 WOMAN AS POSSESSED MONSTER: THE EXORCIST 4 WOMAN AS MONSTROUS WOMB: THE BROOD 5 WOMAN AS VAMPIRE: THE HUNGER 6 WOMAN AS WITCH: CARRIE Part II Medusa's Head: Psychoanalytic Theory and the Femme Castratrice, 7 'LITTLE HANS' RECONSIDERED: OR THE TALE OF MOTHERS TERRIFYING WIDDLER' 8 MEDUSA'S HEAD: THE VAGINA DENTATA ANDFREUDIAN THEORY 9 THE FEMME CASTRATRICE: I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE, SISTERS 10 THE CASTRATING MOTHER: PSYCHO 11 THE MEDUSA'S GAZE

Reviews

"By reinstating the repressed mother and "femme castratice in classic Freudian theory, and by extending Julia Kristeva's discussion of horror and abjection to fresh critical objects, Barbara Creed accessibly and convincingly demonstrates the relevance and productivity of psychoanalytic theory for cultural analysis."
-Annette Kuhn, University of Glasgow
"A substantial contribution to knowledge of the horror film . . . the first study to concentrate specifically on the monstrous-feminine."
-E. Ann Kaplan
"Witty, succinct, a pleasure to read. The critique of Freudian theory comprises a total re-conceptualization of the status of the feminine within psychoanalytic debate."
-Sneja Gunew