Gothic and Horror Short Fiction – Alexia Mandla Ainsworth

Course Description:

Gothic and horror novels, for the reader, each conjure up images of ghosts, monsters, and, centrally, haunted houses.  Less attention has been paid to the smaller corners and crevices in which these haunting texts have often made their homes: short fiction.  How can these texts create atmospheres of terror and tension so quickly?  And, what tropes and biases do these stories often rely upon as a kind of shorthand to create discomfort?  This class will explore not only Gothic and horror short fiction, but also the monsters that lurk behind partially closed doors.  Primary texts will include works by Mary Shelley, Nathaniel Hawthorne, H.P. Lovecraft, John Polidori, Flannery O’Connor, Stephen King, and others.  Centrally, considerations of the abject, orientalism, and who is painted into the role of the Other in tales of terror will underpin the discussions in this course, shining a light onto the systems and individually-perpetuated harms that re-haunt the Gothic.