Why We Want To Be Afraid

Language: English

Published by NBM House, 2026

9798237003451

  • Softcover
  • New
See all details

Seller: AHA-BUCH GmbH, Einbeck, GermanyAHA-BUCH GmbH

5-star seller

AbeBooks seller since August 14, 2006

Softcover

Condition: New

£ 34.01

£ 29.57 shipping 
Ships from Germany to U.S.A.

Quantity: 2 available

Add to basket
Free 30-day returns

Item description from seller

nach der Bestellung gedruckt Neuware - Printed after ordering - Someone sits alone in the dark, heart racing, muscles tensed, watching a fictional murder unfold-and then says, with genuine satisfaction: 'That was great.'Why does an organism built to detect and escape danger deliberately seek out representations of the very things that would kill it Why do we pay money, allocate evenings, and invent ever more immersive technologies just to feel afraid under controlled conditions Why We Want to Be Afraid is a rigorous, wide-ranging investigation of that paradox. Drawing on Aristotle's original question about the pleasure of tragic suffering, Burke's and Kant's theories of the sublime, Freud's uncanny, Kristeva's abject, contemporary neuroscience of threat detection, and the evolving forms of horror from the Gothic novel through slashers, found footage, true crime, creepypasta, video games, and virtual reality, Calder Ash maps the strange territory of 'safe terror.'The book argues that the pleasure of horror lives in a narrow, carefully maintained gap:I am afraid.I know I am safe.I enjoy being afraid.In that dual awareness-threat signals firing while the mind simultaneously registers the frame of fiction, play, or elective exposure-fear is relocated from survival emergency to structured experience. We do not seek isolated terror. We seek the full arc of anticipation, escalation, confrontation, and the distinctive pleasure of surviving it.From the predictive brain's exploitation of ambiguous cues, to the retained control that makes approach possible, to the cosmic indifference that removes the human safety net, Ash shows how horror functions as a technology for temporarily abandoning the assumption that reality is safe, intelligible, predictable, and under our control-and then returning. The return is essential. The residual unease is part of the point.Clear-eyed, philosophically grounded, and written with the momentum of the best cultural criticism, Why We Want to Be Afraid is essential reading for anyone who has ever loved a horror film, a ghost story, a scary game, or the peculiar satisfaction of walking out of the dark knowing the monster stayed behind.…

Seller Inventory # 9798237003451

Title
Why We Want To Be Afraid
Author
Calder Ash
Publisher
NBM House
Publication year
2026
Condition
Neu
Binding
Taschenbuch
Language
English
ISBN 13
9798237003451
Item weight
237 grams
Dimensions
216x140x10 mm

AHA-BUCH GmbH

Einbeck, Germany

5-star seller

AbeBooks seller since August 14, 2006

Shipping rates from Germany to U.S.A.

Item7 to 10 business days5 to 7 business days
First item£ 29.57£ 38.02
Delivery times are set by sellers and vary by carrier and location. Orders passing through Customs may face delays and buyers are responsible for any associated duties or fees. Sellers may contact you regarding additional charges to cover any increased costs to ship your items.

Payment methods

  • Visa
  • Mastercard
  • American Express
  • Apple Pay
  • Google Pay
  • Bank Wire Transfer
  • Check
  • Paypal

Store description

Das Unternehmen AHA-BUCH GmbH: Seit der Gründung von AHA-BUCH im Juli 2005 ist unser Hauptziel, zufriedenen Kunden so schnell und so preisgünstig wie möglich ihren Bücherwunsch zu erfüllen. Unsere Firma beschäftigt 16 Mitarbeiter, die nur ein Ziel kennen: den Kunden und seine Wünsche! Auf über 3700 m2 Fläche haben wir über 100.000 Bücher, Modernes Antiquariat und Spiele auf Lager.

Specialty

Kinderbücher & Kinderhör Casetten, German Books, Software, Natur & Tiere, Ratgeber, Sachbücher, Englische Bücher, Medizin & Gesundheit, Universität & Studium

Seller's business information

AHA-BUCH GmbH

Garlebsen 48
Einbeck, Germany 37574