Fear in Front of the Screenprovides the results of two scientifically rigorous research studies providing an in-depth understanding of children and adolescent media-induced fear reactions across the globe. This book would be an excellent addition to the reading list of any graduate-level course on children and media. It would also serve as a useful text for undergraduate students taking courses on media effects, broadly speaking, or children and media, in particular. Parents may also find this book useful, as the presentation of results are clear and accessible to a wide variety of audiences, and the concluding chapter provides a clear set of guidelines on how to support children. Finally, scholars exploring children’s media-induced fear responses – or, children and emotion more broadly – would be well-served by reading and citing this book.

Journal of Children and Media

Fear in Front of the Screen is a comprehensive review of both the literature on media induced fear in childhood as well as a report of original cross-cultural research with children and adolescents. The authors adopt a developmental approach to what elicits fear reactions to media portrayals at different ages and how children and adolescents cope with fear and thrill inducing media experiences. The combination of survey and qualitative research offers a rich description of the phenomena and a thoughtful and well substantiated set of recommendations for how to aid children when they are frightened. This is a terrific book and I highly recommend it to students of children and media research.

Ellen Wartella, Al-Thani Professor of Communication; Director, Center on Media and Human Development, Northwestern University

Fear in Front of the Screen provides an in-depth review of literature on media and fear in childhood and covers results of two rigorous cross-cultural studies that provide both a retrospective perspective of childhood media experiences and contemporary children's nightmares caused by watching frightening television. This book is accessible and informative for a wide range of readers and offers an informed perspective to consider media production, media selection and research approaches.

Communication Research Trends