Ghost of an Idea

Hauntology, Folk Horror, and the Spectre of Nostalgia

William Burns

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English

Headpress
06 March 2025

Film, TV & Radio; Films, movies & cinema; Music: styles & genres; Popular culture; Nostalgia: general

Is nostalgia revitalising or killing 21st-century culture? The concept of nostalgia has seeped into almost all aspects of modern-day media, none more so than horror culture and its borderlands of Hauntology, Folk Horror, and found footage film. From film and TV franchises building endlessly on past glories, to musicians whose work now spans decades, modern media borrows heavily from the past. Ghost of an Idea: Hauntology, Folk Horror, and the Spectre of Nostalgia examines the use and effect of nostalgia in the Horror and Hauntological realms. It asks why these genres hold such a fascination in popular culture, often inspiring devoted fanbases. From Candyman to The Blair Witch Project, and Dark Shadows to American Horror Story, are the folk horror and found footage phenomena significant artistic responses to political, social, and economic conditions, or simply an aesthetic rebranding of what has come before? How has nostalgia become linked to other concepts (psychogeography, residual haunting) to influence Hauntological music such as Boards of Canada, The Rowan Amber Mill, Hawksmoor, or The Caretaker? What can the 'urban wyrd' or faux horror footage tell us about our idealised past? And how will these cultures of nostalgia shape the future? Combining the author's analysis with first-hand accounts of fans and creators, this book offers a critical analysis of our cultural quest to recognise, resurrect, and lay to rest the ghosts of past and present, also summoning up those spectres that may haunt the future.

By: William Burns
Imprint: Headpress
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 203mm, Width: 127mm, Spine: 19mm
Weight: 425g
ISBN: 9781915316318
ISBN 10: 1915316316
Pages: 286
Publication Date: 06 March 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

On the day William Burns was born, crucial scenes for both The Exorcist and The Wicker Man were being filmed, forever marking him as a member of the Haunted Generation. The strange, the eerie, the unsettling, and the obscure have bedevilled him ever since. In search of lost futures, he has stumbled upon many forgotten ghosts and shadowy remembrances. Ghost of an Idea: Hauntology, Folk Horror, and the Spectre of Nostalgia is the culmination of a journey that began in Burns' 2016 book, The Thrill of Repulsion: Excursions into Horror Culture.

Reviews for Ghost of an Idea: Hauntology, Folk Horror, and the Spectre of Nostalgia

""[Burns] is well-versed in cinema that goes bump in the night."" -- Rod Lott, Flick Attack on author's previous book The Thrill of Repulsion ""Burns brings up some great points about the [horror] genre, possibly making you think a little different."" -- Jon Kitley, Kitley's Krypt on author's previous book The Thrill of Repulsion ""William Burns' knowledge of the horror genre, its contents as well as its history, is staggering."" -- Jeff Tolbert, Horror DNA on author's previous book The Thrill of Repulsion