Where angels fear to hover

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Gothic and Horror have been perceived as intertwined ever since their coming into existence. Although initially emerging as clearly delineated literary genres, in the late 20th century we can speak of their transition into more open cultural categories. Gothic and Horror influences, previously limited to books and films, predominate in contemporary art, fashion, theatrical and performance art, video and multimedia installations, music, video and computer games. Gothic and Horror have invaded the language of politics and resulted in the formation of a number of subcultures styling their lives accordingly. The awareness of the above makes us realise that the insistence on the treatment of Gothic and Horror as separate genres is at least limiting, if not unacceptable. An alternative offered by this book, resulting from a thorough examination of the presence of Gothic and Horror conventions in contemporary culture, calls for an introduction of two new classificatory units, referred to in the book as Gothic and Horror syndromes, which can be brought down to the representations of disease and meat respectively.