This edited collection considers The Nightmare Before Christmas as a milestone in animation and film history, considering the different layers of meaning and history of the film from pre-production to the present day.

The Nightmare Before Christmas (Henry Selick, 1993) has become a key point of reference in negotiations of genre and the boundaries between mainstream and cult cultures, both on screen and in the spaces of fandom, and in original and retrospective reception contexts where it often becomes tangled with nostalgia. Contributors to this edited collection consider the film as a cultural object with significant impact on animation, representations of family and horror, and fandom and subcultures. Covering topics including representations of fairy tales, Christmas media, cultural appropriation, family horror, merchandise, theme parks, and food, this work explores the film's ongoing cultural impact.

Filipa Antunes is Lecturer in the Humanities at the University of East Anglia, UK. Her main research interests are childhood and popular culture, especially when the two intersect; ratings and other forms of media regulation; boundaries between childhood and adulthood (and the culture of children and adults); and representations of childhood, parenthood, and family.

Brittany (Bee) Eldridge is an instructor at Pennsylvania State University, USA, and holds a PhD from University College London, UK.

Rebecca Williams is Senior Lecturer in Communication, Cultural and Media Studies at the University of South Wales UK. She is the author of Post-Object Fandom (2015) and editor of Torchwood Declassified (2013), both published by Bloomsbury Academic.