This essay examines Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, and Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves, texts featuring sentient house hauntings. The author focuses on how the family unit in each text undergoes drastic destruction, arguing that the breakdown of the family is the […]

“This edition provides critical insight into the classic Japanese folktale commonly referred to as “The Ghost of Sakura.” Themes include the narrative of the feudal peasant, the cultural importance of the collective good, and the Western view of Japanese culture. We have also included two original essays by Mitford and an article from The New […]

“All memorials offer solace to those who visit, but the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is particularly suited to this cause because of certain aspects of its design. As this article demonstrates, qualities such as its black reflective surface, its gradual increase height, and the ordering of the names work to create an emotional connection to the […]

“The following critical edition of Frank R. Stockton’s “The Transferred Ghost” focuses on the ways in which the rise in spiritualism parallels the emergence of the middle class and white-collar positions in the United States in the late 1800’s. By analyzing Stockton’s story along with other comedic ghost stories from the period, this edition will show […]

“This article explores an aspect of haunting and terror that surfaced after the Columbine school shooting, a specter crafted and refined through the journalistic practice of framing. This ghost inhabits the house of media, where it still continues to surface. American Horror Story: Murder House presents an incarnation of this ghost, opening a new way of thinking […]

“This paper examines motifs of ghostliness and haunting in representations of transsexuality, both in the violent and oppressive representations of transsexuality within a transphobic culture, and in the self-representation and narration of transsexuals themselves. Using scholar Avery Gordon’s definition of haunting–which characterizes haunting as the “knot” of oppression, self-representation, and knowledge production–this paper argues for […]

“This edition examines “The Tomb” in depth, including the historical context in which Lovecraft was writing, as well as the social and technological changes that occurred. It exposes multilayered ghosts housed within the text. It also examines Lovecraft’s fascination with the supernatural and the development of the horror genre, which he modeled after Poe’s work.” […]

“This essay explores how director Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining establishes the Overlook Hotel as an environment where conservative complacency has become the norm and all hope of progression is lost. By using a maze motif and the backdrop of Native American genocide, The Shining explores and critiques how modern America was constructed.” For more, read the full […]

“This article analyzes specific examples of magic found in two major artistic outlets of the Harlem Renaissance, jazz and literature. Characters use voodoo and hoodoo to seek power and revenge, control the supposed stronger party, and give meaning to seemingly insignificant occurrences, thus offering a way for the artists of the Harlem Renaissance to control […]

Note: We are pleased to offer this brief break in our hiatus to bring to you a post by our lead editor, Esther Wolfe. Keep an eye out for the abstract to her article later in the summer.