This edited collection explores the narrative, genre, nostalgia and fandoms of the phenomenally successful Netflix original series, Stranger Things. The book brings together scholars in the fields of media, humanities, communications and cultural studies to consider the various ways in which the Duffer Brothers' show both challenges and confirms pre-conceived notions of cult media. Through its three sections on texts, contexts and receptions, the collection examines all aspects of the series' presence in popular culture, engaging in debates surrounding cult horror, teen drama, fan practices, and contemporary anxieties in the era of Trump. Its chapters seek to address relatively neglected areas of scholarship in the realm of cult media, such as set design, fashion, and the immersive Secret Cinema Experience. These discussions also serve to demonstrate how cult texts are facilitated by the new age of television, where notions of medium specificity are fundamentally transformed and streaming platforms open up shows to extensive analysis in the now mainstream world of cult entertainment.

Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2018 Cartoons in Hard Times provides a comprehensive analysis of the short subject animation released by the Walt Disney and Warner Brothers from 1932 and 1945, one of the most turbulent periods in Unites States history. Through a combination of content analysis, historical understanding and archival research, this book sheds new light on a hitherto unexplored area of animation, suggesting the ways in which Disney and Warner Brothers animation engaged with historical, social, economic and political changes in this era. The book also traces the development of animation into a medium fit for propaganda in 1941 and the changes in characters, tone, music and narrative that took place to facilitate this transition. Animation transformed in this era from a medium of entertainment, to a socio-political commentator before finally undertaking government sponsored propaganda during the Second World War.

This edited collection explores the narrative, genre, nostalgia and fandoms of the phenomenally successful Netflix original series, Stranger Things. The book brings together scholars in the fields of media, humanities, communications and cultural studies to consider the various ways in which the Duffer Brothers' show both challenges and confirms pre-conceived notions of cult media. Through its three sections on texts, contexts and receptions, the collection examines all aspects of the series' presence in popular culture, engaging in debates surrounding cult horror, teen drama, fan practices, and contemporary anxieties in the era of Trump. Its chapters seek to address relatively neglected areas of scholarship in the realm of cult media, such as set design, fashion, and the immersive Secret Cinema Experience. These discussions also serve to demonstrate how cult texts are facilitated by the new age of television, where notions of medium specificity are fundamentally transformed and streaming platforms open up shows to extensive analysis in the now mainstream world of cult entertainment.

Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2018 Cartoons in Hard Times provides a comprehensive analysis of the short subject animation released by the Walt Disney and Warner Brothers from 1932 and 1945, one of the most turbulent periods in Unites States history. Through a combination of content analysis, historical understanding and archival research, this book sheds new light on a hitherto unexplored area of animation, suggesting the ways in which Disney and Warner Brothers animation engaged with historical, social, economic and political changes in this era. The book also traces the development of animation into a medium fit for propaganda in 1941 and the changes in characters, tone, music and narrative that took place to facilitate this transition. Animation transformed in this era from a medium of entertainment, to a socio-political commentator before finally undertaking government sponsored propaganda during the Second World War.