BOOK LAUNCH: ORDINARY HORROR by Andrea Capra

We're thrilled to welcome Andrew Capra to The Twisted Spine on September 3 for the launch of ORDINARY HORROR! Joining Capra in conversation will be death doula Lauren Seeley and horror editor Stefan R. Dziemianowicz.

About ORDINARY HORROR
What is horror? Setting aside the implausible circumstances typical of the horror genre, Capra investigates what he terms "ordinary horror"—the horror that haunts our world, and that we may encounter firsthand. Drawing from ordinary language philosophy and phenomenology, he reframes horror as a common human experience tied to a sense of forced powerlessness—the shattering moment when our control over a given situation, and our very sense of reality, unravels. By tracing this experience across texts beyond the horror genre, Capra reveals its significance for our time.

Centering on modern Italian literature, Ordinary Horror shows a tradition not typically associated with horror to be rife with it. To this end, Capra emphasizes the centrality of the experience in canonical authors, as seen, for instance, in Giacomo Leopardi's pages on existential suffering, Primo Levi's writings on Auschwitz, and Elena Ferrante's descriptions of sexual violence. Literature, Capra argues, can convey horror's experiential magnitude through what he calls the "aesthetics of deformation"—scenes when otherwise realistic texts depart from verisimilitude and embrace a more disquieting style. Weaving together aesthetics and phenomenology, Capra shows that just as horror may rupture the fabric of everyday life, so too may it rupture the fabric of a literary text.

About the speakers:

Andrea Capra is a literary scholar, writer, and Assistant Professor of Italian Studies at New York University. His Ordinary Horror: The Aesthetics of Deformation from Leopardi to Ferrante is forthcoming with Stanford University Press. Focusing on horror beyond the horror genre, his book studies how “ordinary horror” — the horror haunting our world that we may encounter firsthand — manifests in our lives and literature, unpacking its significance for our time. He is currently working on a second book, entitled Weird New World, set for release in 2027. This work - a blend of narrative essay, media archeology, critical theory, and memoir - will explore the role of internet subcultures in the rise of the new American right.

Stefan Dziemianowicz has edited more than forty anthologies of horror, fantasy, mystery, and science fiction and has compiled collections of short fiction by dozens of authors. He served as an editor of Necrofile: The Review of Horror Fiction and Other Dimensions. His essays and critical writing have appeared in An Epicure in the Terrible: A Centennial Anthology of Essays in Honor of H.P. Lovecraft, Fantasy and Horror, The Thomas Ligotti Reader, and The Freedom of Fantastic Things: Selected Criticism on Clark Ashton Smith. He also co-edited Supernatural Literature of the World: An Encyclopedia.

Lauren Seeley is a death and grief doula for pets & humans. She is a death educator and facilitator of the Silent Book Club Of Death NYC, as well as the Ahhsweetdeath Book Club that hosts monthly author talks. She is a curator for funerals, altars, memorial spaces, designer, illustrator, reiki practitioner, and creative grief artist. She hosts regular grief & death discussions with musicians , artists, photographers, film directors, and authors. Lauren has partnered with institutions such as Historic Green-Wood Cemetery, The Met Cloisters, Morbid Anatomy, and more. She resides in Brooklyn, NY and works with a green funeral practice in Brooklyn as well.

Event guidelines:

Each ticket includes either a paperback copy of ORDINARY HORROR or a $15 Twisted Spine gift card.

Limited additional copies of the books will be available for purchase at the event.

A signing will follow the discussion.

If you have any questions about the guidelines or to request accessibility accommodations, please contact [email protected].