Erin Harrington

Guest writer

Erin Harrington is an academic and critic who works as senior lecturer at University of Canterbury Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha. Her arts criticism has appeared in print and on air in a variety of academic and popular spaces, including Theatreview, The Pantograph Punch, RNZ National, Stuff and The Playmarket Annual. She appears regularly as a speaker and panelist, and is the author of Women, Monstrosity and Horror Film: Gynaehorror (Routledge, 2017).

Review: Head South is a rich, messy nostalgia trip through post-punk Ōtautahi

Review: Head South is a rich, messy nostalgia trip through post-punk Ōtautahi

It's both a warm tribute to Christchurch’s vibrant underground music scene, and a celebration of the intensity and mess of adolescence.

By Erin Harrington | 19th August, 2024

The author’s Point Horror collection (Photo: Erin Harrington / Design: Tina Tiller)

Pleasure in the pulp: The tweenage thrills of early-90s Point Horror novels

In the early-1990s Point Horrors were a sensation. Re-reading them as an adult reveals some unsettling truths.

By Erin Harrington | 22nd January, 2023

Review: When a City Rises is a celebration of a fallen city and its people

Review: When a City Rises is a celebration of a fallen city and its people

The follow-up to When A City Falls celebrates the people of Christchurch and the wins of the rebuild, but loses some nuance in the edit.

By Erin Harrington | 15th February, 2021

Carl Nixon wrote The Tally Stick in France, after being awarded the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship (Photo: Supplied)

Into the wild: A review of Carl Nixon’s astonishing novel, The Tally Stick

A car goes off a cliff deep on the West Coast. Three children survive. The story of what happens next is absolutely compelling.

By Erin Harrington | 1st September, 2020

Photo: C_sar Carduso, via Getty

Review: Imaginary Friend, a blood-soaked novel that recalls Stranger Things

Ten years ago Stephen Chbosky had a massive hit with coming-of-age novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Now the director/producer/scriptwriter is back with an epic, kid-centric horror.

By Erin Harrington | 21st October, 2019

A new horror: Thomas Harris’s Cari Mora, reviewed

A new horror: Thomas Harris’s Cari Mora, reviewed

Crocs, gold bars, birds of prey... and boobs. Erin Harrington, an academic specialising in horror and film, reviews the much-hyped new novel by the man who gave us Dr Hannibal Lecter.

By Erin Harrington | 27th May, 2019