back to life

Tropes of reincarnation, reanimation and life after death

A pigeon's head - with orange, beady eye - peeps around a corner

Hereditary (2018) and the meaning of madness

Making sense of fun-size houses and larger-than-life horror in Hereditary

In the distance, two tiny figures wander near the edge of a cliff with a sheer drop

Rebecca (1940) explained: the ghost, the devil and Mrs Danvers

Decoding the three faces of Mrs de Winter in Hitchcock’s Rebecca

Arrival (2016) explained: the tyranny of choice

Sci-fi head-scratcher Arrival has an audacious twist – which it reveals in the film’s opening scenes

Making their mark: the rise of the vampire in folklore, film and fiction

Exploring the enduring appeal of the vampire in folklore, film and fiction … and why vampires are so sexy

The top half of the moon floats in a deep black, starless background.

Moon (2009) explained: echoes of future memory

A meaty read explaining the twists in sci-fi gem Moon – and what it says about isolation and us

Flatliners (1990) explained: hell and hallucination

How Flatliners draws on our fears of hell and isolation to weave its Gothic-inspired horror