This collection of new essays examines how the injection of supernatural creatures and mythologies transformed the hugely popular crime procedural television genre. These shows complicate the predictable and comforting patterns of the procedural with the inherently unknowable nature of the supernatural. From Sherlock to Supernatural, essays cover a range of topics including the gothic, the post-structural nature of The X-Files, the uncanny lure of Twin Peaks, trickster detectives, forensic fairy tales, the allure of the vampire detective, and even the devil himself.

About the Author
Ashley Szanter is an adjunct instructor of English at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. Her research focuses on monsters, monstrosity, popular culture, and media studies.

Reviews
"This pioneering collection sheds new light on what happens when television's familiar crime procedural lures us down a dark alley resistant to ordered understanding. Wielding an impressive array of critical approaches, Policing the Monstrous traces the shifting paradox of logical crime solving and elements of myth, magic, and the supernatural often embedded in the crime. As screens continue to showcase the "Stranger Things" happening across "Lovecraft Country," this useful volume investigates a hybrid television genre that subverts convention to pose profound questions of moral ballast and human failing."-Christine A. Jackson, professor emeritus, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, author of The Tell-Tale Art: Poe in Modern Popular Culture



Book Information
ISBN 9781476670539
Author Ashley Szanter
Format Paperback
Page Count 202
Imprint McFarland & Co Inc
Publisher McFarland & Co Inc
Weight(grams) 277g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 10mm