Davies cares for the function and value of spaces and places in Spanish gothic and horror cinema: haunted houses and orphanages, woods and beaches, rural spots and cityscapes. Drawing on cultural geography, critical theory, film studies and gothic studies, Nightmares of Presence provides a comprehensive and nuanced close reading of key representative films of the genre of the last eighty years. Engaging and insightful, Davies ventures where other critics daren't go.

Antonio Lázaro-Reboll, Reader in Film Studies, University of Kent, UK

An insightful and resourceful study of space and place as indirect and thematized characters and seminal factors in Spanish horror films. Through a rich and rigorously documented lens, with the understanding of the sociohistorical and literary background as well as the updated theories of the fantastic, Davies studies the role of sentient spatial setting as a literal and figurative agent in the idiosyncratic discourse of Spanish horror cinema, considering major films and constants of directors within the genre. Benefiting from a holistic and interdisciplinary methodology, The Nightmares of Presence is a must in the trend of filmic studies which “puts the matter in place”.

Julio Ángel Olivares Merino, Associate Professor, University of Jaén, Spain

In a continuum of the engaging research on Spanish film that Professor Ann Davis has been doing, The Nightmares of Presence offers an insightful study on the crucial role landscapes, spaces, and places play in executing and delivering the pathos in Gothic/Horror audiovisual texts. Such landscapes, spaces, and places are mediated by the screen, and, whichever form this may take, serves as a portal to better understand our world through Horror and Gothic. This book promises to be a great companion for Spanish film readers and/or horror film readers of all levels.

Sohyun Lee, Associate Professor of Spanish and Hispanic Studies, Texas Christian University, USA

Combining spatial theories and philosophy with perceptive textual analyses, The Nightmares of Presence carries out a careful exploration of the negative spaces of Gothic and horror cinema. Wide-ranging, critically informed and remarkably up to date, this book reminds us why Ann Davies is a leading voice in the study of the national and historical nuances of Spanish film. For those interested in the interaction between subjectivity and hostile locales, there is no better place to start.

Xavier Aldana Reyes, Reader in English Literature and Film, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, and author of Gothic Cinema (2020) and Spanish Gothic (2017)