Abstract
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores what has become an ever-burgeoning TV phenomenon that now spans all televisual realms: premium channels, network TV, specialized channels, and online streaming venues. It illuminates what makes the sub-genre so attractive, the factors that qualify it as a sub-genre, and the uniqueness and diversity of its manifestations. Film and television critics seem to agree that Gothic and horror are particularly well suited for television. The book argues against the notion that early television horror developed in a manner that characterizes it as inferior to cinematic horror. It examines the aesthetics of contemporary television horror as characterized by a form of visual and aural spectacle. Stacey Abbott focuses on Hannibal as an extreme example of the genre's penchant for narrative and stylistic innovation and transgression.