The phenomenon of so-called 'snuff movies' (films that allegedly document real acts of murder, specifically designed to 'entertain' and sexually arouse the spectator) represents a fascinating socio-cultural paradox. At once unproven, yet accepted by many, as emblematic of the very worst extremes of pornography and horror, moral detractors have argued that the mere idea of snuff constitutes the logical (and terminal) extension of generic forms that are dependent primarily upon the excitement, stimulation and, ultimately, corruption of the senses. Snuff: Real Death and Screen Media brings together scholars from film and media studies to assess the longevity of one of screen media's most enduring cultural myths. Thorough, provocative, and well argued, the contributions to this volume address areas ranging from exploitation movies, the video industry, trends in contemporary horror cinema, pornography and Web 2.0.

List of FiguresForeword: A Culture of CHangeDavid Kerekes (Owner of Headpress and author of Killing For Culture)Acknowledgements Introduction: Shot, Cut and SlaughteredNeil Jackson (University of Lincoln, UK)Part I - The Changing Meaning of "Snuff" Chapter 1: The Way to Digital DeathJulian Petley (Brunel University, UK)Chapter 2: The Affective Reality of SnuffMisha Kavka (University of Auckland, New Zealand)Chapter 3: Animal SnuffSimon Hobbs (University of Portsmouth, UK)Chapter 4: Breathing New Life into Old Fears: Extreme Pornogrpahy and the Wider Politics of SnuffClarissa Smith (University of Sunderland, UK)Chapter 5: From Snuff to the South: The Global Reception of Cannibal HolocaustNicolo Gallio (University of Bologna, Italy) and Xavier Mendik (University of Brighton, UK)Chapter 6: A Murder Mystery in Black and Blue: The Marketing, Distribution and Cult Mythology of Snuff in the UKMark McKenna (University of Sunderland, UK)Chapter 7: Traces of Snuff: Black Markets, Fan Subcultures and Underground Horror in the 90sJohnny Walker (Northumbria University, UK)Chapter 8: SNuff 2.0: Real Death Goes HD ReadyMark Astley (Independent Scholar, UK)Part II - "Snuff" Across Film and TelevisionChapter 9: Unfound Footage and Unfounded Rumours: The Manson Family Murders and the Persistence of SnuffMark Jones & Gerry Carlin (University of Wolverhampton, UK)Chapter 10: Wild Eyes, Dead Ladies: The Snuff Filmmaker in Realist HorrorNeil Jackson (University of Lincoln, UK)Chapter 11: The Mediation of Death in Fictional Snuff: Reflexivity, Viewer Interpellation and Ethical ImplicationXavier Aldana Reyes (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK)Chatper 12: "Why Would you Film It?" Snuff, Sinister and Contemporary US Horror CinemaShaun Kimber (Bournemouth University, UK) Chapter 13: Cinema as Snuff: From Pre-Cinema to Shadow of the VampireLinda Badley (Middle Tennessee State University, USA)Chapter 14: AffectTina Kendall (Anglia Ruskin University, UK)Chapter 15: A View to Kill: Perspectives on Faux-Snuff and SelfSteve Jones (Northumbria University, UK)Select BibliographyContributors