This edited collection considers The Nightmare Before Christmas as a milestone in animation and film history, considering the different layers of meaning and history of the film from pre-production to the present day.The Nightmare Before Christmas (Henry Selick, 1993) has become a key point of reference in negotiations of genre and the boundaries between mainstream and cult cultures, both on screen and in the spaces of fandom, and in original and retrospective reception contexts where it often becomes tangled with nostalgia. Contributors to this edited collection consider the film as a cultural object with significant impact on animation, representations of family and horror, and fandom and subcultures. Covering topics including representations of fairy tales, Christmas media, cultural appropriation, family horror, merchandise, theme parks, and food, this work explores the film's ongoing cultural impact.

IntroductionPart I: Genre and Aesthetics1. "What's This?": The Nightmare Before Christmas as a Musical Animated FilmRyan Bunch (Rutgers-University Camden, USA)2. The Nightmare Before Christmas: A Moralistic Tale on Cultural AppropriationBrittany Eldridge (University College London, UK)3. "How Horrible, How Jolly": The Nightmare Before Christmas in Holiday MediaSarah Whitney (Pennsylvania State University, USA)Part II: Brands and Meanings4. Whose Nightmare Before Christmas? Authorship and Patron Brands in Contemporary Stop-motionFilipa Antunes (University of East Anglia, UK)5. From Art House to Attraction: Haunted Mansion Holiday and Rebranding Disney's The Nightmare Before ChristmasNick Benson (Augustana College, USA)6. "Somehow [It] Works": Action Figures and the Contextual Reframing of Nightmare Before ChristmasAlec Plowman (University of East Anglia, UK)Part III: Beyond the Screen: Afterlives, Fandom and Transmedia7. Characters, Ani-embodiment, and Spatial Transmedia: Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas in Theme Parks and on StageRebecca Williams (University of South Wales, UK)8. Worm's Wort Optional: Mimetic Food Craft as Tactile Transmedia, Auteur Affirmation, and Transformative TranslocationJames Rendell (University of South Wales, UK)9. "I'm gonna do the best I can": Social Constructs and Adult FandomA. Luxx Mishou (independent scholar)10. Surreal Swirls, Goths, and Ghouls: Identity, Fashion, and Costumes Inspired by the World of BurtonNicole Lamerichs (Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands)A Guide to Further ResearchBibliographyIndex