He is the author of
The Technical Delusion: Electronics, Power, Insanity, published by
Duke University Press in 2019, and
Haunted Media: Electronic Presence from Telegraphy to Television, published by Duke University Press in 2000. Chapters from
Haunted Media have been translated into French and German. He is also the editor of
Sleaze Artists: Cinema at the Margins of Taste, Style, and Financing, published by Duke University Press in 2007. As a media historian, Sconce's work concentrates primarily on the occult, supernatural, and psychotic accounts of electronic media technologies. His 1995 article, "Trashing the Academy: Taste, Excess and an Emerging Politics of Cinematic Style," introduced the concept of
paracinema, meaning an interest in low, tasteless and otherwise disreputable forms of cinema. "Trashing the Academy" has been reprinted in several anthologies on cult film. His 2002 article, "Irony, Nihilism, and the New American 'Smart' Cinema," introduced the concept of "smart cinema" to describe the stylistic and thematic interests of American independent filmmakers such as
Paul Thomas Anderson,
Todd Solondz,
Neil LaBute, and
Todd Haynes. Sconce has also written exhibition catalog essays for several contemporary visual artists, including
Tony Oursler,
Mike Kelley, Joshua Bonnetta, and Romeo Grünfelder. ==Awards==