Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and Taxidermy

There are numerous scholarly works on Alfred Hitchcock's <i>Psycho</i>(1960). Some of these works have explored its Gothic potentials. However no detailed effort has yet been made to explore one of its major motifs - taxidermy. Taxidermy as an art of corporeal preservation has effectively been used in mainstream body horror films years after <i>Psycho</i>was released. Yet <i>Psycho</i>was one of the first films to explore its potentials in the Gothic genre at a time when it was relegated to a low form of art. <i>Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and Taxidermy</i>focuses on taxidermy as a cultural practice in both Victorian and modern times and how it has been employed both metaphorically and literally in Hitchcock's films especially <i>Psycho</i>. It also situates <i>Psycho</i>as a crucial film in the filmic continuum of body horrors where death and docility share a troubled relationship.