Stories about dismembered hands that “act on their own accord” (Freud) are a rich symbol of the Uncanny, and movie makers have especially employed it to great — if not corny — effect. In chapter two of The Popular Uncanny, I present a cultural history of the changing function of this genre icon in horror cinema — from one of the earliest films (Vitagraph’s one-reeler, The Theiving Hand) to the present day (Flender’s stoner comedy, Idle Hands).