In the 1960s, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals intervened in and influenced cinema culture in unprecedented ways, changing how films were conceived, produced, censored, exhibited and received by audiences. Drawing upon extensive archival research, Demons of the Mind provides the first interdisciplinary account of the complex contestations and cross-pollinations of the 'psy' sciences (psychiatry, psychoanalysis, psychology) and cinema in Britain and America during the defining 'long 1960s' period of the late-1950s to early-1970s. This interdisciplinary book incorporates expertise from film studies, history of science and medicine, and science communication. The originality of this book is not solely its interdisciplinarity and exploration beyond the narrow study of representational practices - typically the primary focus of other books on cinema and the psy professions. In large part, this book's originality rests on its investigation of situated practices and interplay between ideas, expertise and professionals that constitute the fields of mental health and media.

Defying industry logic and gender expectations, women started flocking to see horror films in the early 1940s. The departure of the young male audience and the surprise success of the film "Cat People" convinced studios that there was an untapped female audience for horror movies, and they adjusted their production and marketing strategies accordingly.
"Phantom Ladies" reveals the untold story of how the Hollywood horror film changed dramatically in the early 1940s, including both female heroines and female monsters while incorporating elements of "women's genres" like the gothic mystery. Drawing from a wealth of newly unearthed archival material, from production records to audience surveys, Tim Snelson challenges long-held assumptions about gender and horror film viewership.
Examining a wide range of classic horror movies, Snelson offers us a new appreciation of how dynamic this genre could be, as it underwent seismic shifts in a matter of months. "Phantom Ladies," therefore, not only includes horror films made in the early 1940s, but also those produced immediately after the war ended, films in which the female monster was replaced by neurotic, psychotic, or hysterical women who could be cured and domesticated. "Phantom Ladies" is a spine-tingling, eye-opening read about gender and horror, and the complex relationship between industry and audiences in the classical Hollywood era.