Haunted States : An American Gothic Guidebook

Haunted States is a unique guidebook that explores the dark, often horrifying, history ofthe US. Based on the author’s journey across the United States in summer 2022,it explores locations connected to Gothic fiction and film, tracking therelationship between the American landscapes and the various forms of fictional horrorthe nation has produced over the centuries. Part cultural history and part travelogue,Haunted States traces how the American Gothic draws inspiration from the natural andbuilt environments, with the astounding geographical variation of the landscapeinfluencing the distinctive forms of horror produced across its many diverse regions.
Thebook also investigates how the horrors of the American Gothic have their roots in thenation’s dark history of colonialism, slavery, violence and oppression – past sins thatcontinue to haunt the national consciousness to this day. Taking horror (inliterature, film and the visual arts) as its starting point, Haunted States investigates thelandscapes, places and cultures that produced it. Incorporating first-person travelnarrative, historical context and supplementary interviews, Haunted States journeysacross the USA to learn about its eclectic, regional forms of horror.