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The Slasher, the Final Girl and the Anti-Denouement

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Abstract

Wes Craven’s 1994 film Wes Craven’s New Nightmare presents a Bettelheimian thesis about why children desire to keep hearing horrible fairy tales. Telling the stories staves off their realization. A fantasy of anxiety prevents actual anxiety and its consequences. Moreover, the successful resolution of the tale reassures the child that he or she can securely progress through the surrounding violence.

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© 2015 Janet Staiger

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Staiger, J. (2015). The Slasher, the Final Girl and the Anti-Denouement. In: Clayton, W. (eds) Style and Form in the Hollywood Slasher Film. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137496478_15

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