When The Rocky Horror Picture Show was released in 1975, it initially received an indifferent reception in movie theatres, but it began to gain notoriety after it was embraced by audiences at midnight screenings in New York City and elsewhere. The movie tells of the misadventures of Brad and Janet, newly engaged, whose car breaks down in a rainstorm, forcing them to seek refuge in the castle of the bizarre and flamboyant Dr. Frank-N-Furter.

An homage to campy B-movies, sci-fi, and horror films, the movie was - and still is - more than the sum of its parts. Participatory and party-like, midnight showings attract moviegoers who dress as film characters, sing along with the catchy show tunes and interact with the action on screen. In the four decades since its release, it has become a cultural phenomenon, not to mention one of the most commercially successful films of all time.

In Fan Phenomena: The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Marisa C. Hayes brings together a diverse group of writers who explore the film's influence on the development of the pastiche tribute film, emerging queer activism of the 1970s, glam rock style and the creative use of audience dialogue in recreating and interacting with the spoken and sung language of the film.

Spotlighting a cult phenomenon and its fans, many of who count the number of times they've seen the movie in the hundreds, this contribution to the Fan Phenomena series covers never-before-explored topics related to The Rocky Horror Picture Show. For anyone who has ever done the 'Time Warp', this will be essential reading.

Marisa C. Hayes is a Franco-American film scholar specializing in dance films and genre cinema. Her writing has appeared in numerous books and journals.

Chapter 1: Fashion and Fetish: The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Dark Cabaret Aesthetics and Proto-Punk, Diana Heyne

Chapter 2: Doing the Time Warp: Youth Culture, Coming-of-Age and The Rocky Horror Picture Show Through the Years, Taos Glickman and Shawn DeMille

Chapter 3: Shadowing the Boss: Leadership and the Collective Creation of a Frank-N-Furter Identity in Rocky Horror Fan Casts, Tara Chittenden

Chapter 4:'A Strange Journey': Finding Carnival in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Molly McCourt

Chapter 5: Fishnet Economy: The Commerce of Costumes and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Aubrey L. C. Mishou

Chapter 6: Performing Promiscuity: Female Sexuality, Fandom and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Alissa Burger

Chapter 7: Philosophical Currents Through Film: The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Reuben C. Oreffo

Chapter 8: Sanity for Today: Brad and Janet's Post-Rocky Shock Treatment, Franck Boulègue

Chapter 9: 'Don't Dream it, Be it': The Method in the Madness of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Sarah Cleary

Chapter 10: Mercy Killing: Rocky Horror, the Loss of Innocence and the Death of Nostalgia, Andrew Howe