My primary research area is horror films for children in Hollywood cinema. This was the basis of my PhD thesis and subsequently my first monograph entitled Horror Films for Children: Fear and Pleasure in American Cinema, published by Bloomsbury in 2021. The introduction is available to read for free. My journal article on children's horror for Velvet Light Trap (2016) was awarded runner-up for Best Doctoral Student Article 2018 by the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies and was short-listed for Screen’s Annette Kuhn Essay Award 2017.
My recent and current research continues to explore the intersections between children’s media and the horror genre outside of the scope of my monograph (U.S. horror films intended specifically for children). This research includes projects on children’s horror television, race and childhood in horror cinema, and various activities relating to the British animated film Watership Down (1978). This work on Watership Down began with a symposium in 2018 which explored the production, aesthetics, reception and ongoing cultural legacy of this landmark of British animation. This developed into an open access edited collection which was published by Bloomsbury in 2023 as part of the Animation: Key Films/Filmmakers series. I am also generally interested in issues of spectatorship, aesthetics, value and representation (especially of the intersection of childhood with other identity categories) in children's cinema, horror and animation.
I am Principal Investigator on the AHRC-funded Youth & Horror Research Network, which commences in September 2023.