ICYMI, my talk “Whitechapel ‘What Ifs’: Evolving Perspectives on the Autumn of Terror in Science Fiction” is now on Rippercast.
Casebook: Jack the Ripper - Podcast - Dr. Amy Sturgis -Whitechapel What Ifs- Evolving Perspectives on the Autumn of Terror in Science Fictio
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Dark Academia novel: The Broken Girls by Simone St. James (2018)
Quote:
Written in pencil, the lines of a familiar rhyme looked back up at her: Mary Hand, Mary Hand, dead and buried under land. She’ll say she wants to be your friend. Do not let her in again!
ALT
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Part 1:
Song: “Bringing Mary Home”
Quote:
But 13 years ago today in a wreck just down the road
Our darling Mary lost her life, and we still miss her so.
So thank you for your trouble and the kindness you have shown;
You’re the 13th one who’s been here bringing Mary home.
Listen to The Country Gentlemen’s performance…
Part 2:
Song: “I’ve Come to Take You Home”
(Note: This song is a direct response to the song I posted above, “Bringing Mary Home.”)
Quote:
Though his life is swiftly fading, a memory remains
Of that chilly, ghostly evening while driving in the rain.
Listen to Seldom Scene’s performance…
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STAR WARS, HARRY POTTER, and More in the World of Academia
It me!
I was delighted to be interviewed about my undergraduate and graduate classes for this article in Nerdist.
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Website: http://amyhsturgis.com
Mastodon: http://universeodon.com/@drahsturgis
Twitter: http://twitter.com/drahsturgis
Dreamwidth: http://eldritchhobbit.dreamwidth.org
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On my latest “Looking Back on Genre History” segment on the StarShipSofa podcast (Episode 750), I revisit the brilliant The Tomorrow Series and other works by John Marsden and discuss the lasting contributions of science fiction scholar H. Bruce Franklin.
Here is the link!
StarShipSofa 750 Eris Young
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My two-part plan to fill the time between the end of Picard and the start of the new season of Strange New Worlds is going very well. Cheers for Una McCormack, John Jackson Miller, and Star Trek.
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Many thanks to Journals of the Whills for this wonderful review of our new anthology StarWars: Essays Exploring a Galaxy Far, Far Away!
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On this day in 1916, the great Shirley Jackson was born.
Here’s a little piece I wrote earlier this year about teaching Jackson’s remarkable novel Hangsaman. It’s posted at “Reading Shirley Jackson in the 21st Century,” an online resource investigating the past and future landscapes of Shirley Jackson studies.
I’m looking forward to teaching The Haunting of Hill House in January!
Teaching Shirley Jackson’s Hangsaman (1951) by Amy H. Sturgis
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Song: “Callie Calling”
Quote:
I hear my Callie callin’, callin’ every night. She stirs around each evenin’, but never in the light. Haunts me and she taunts me and fills my heart with fright. I hear my Callie callin’, callin’ every night.
Sometimes she whispers, other times she screams. It’s hard to tell the difference, if she’s real or in my dreams. She’s the creakin’ in the ceilin’, the knock upon the door, The wind outside the window, and the footsteps on the floor.
Listen to Milan Miller’s performance…
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Song: “Graveyard Blues”
Quote:
I got up this morning, With the blues all around my bed. I got up this morning, With blues all around my bed. I had a dream last night The one that I loved was dead.
Read the complete lyrics.
Listen to the performance of Roscoe Holcomb…
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Hello, all! I am looking for recommendations of Dark Academia works (novels, short stories, films, television series) based on true crime. I would be grateful for any suggestions for my list. Thank you!
I am intentionally casting my net widely, defining the Dark Academic genre (as opposed to the aesthetic) as one that focuses on an academic setting and educational experience, employs Gothic modes of storytelling, cultivates a dark mood by contemplating the subject of death, and offers critique for interrogating imbalances and abuses of power.*
ALT
Below the cut is my current list of Dark Academia Works Inspired by True Crime Cases. All suggestions are welcome!
Dark Academia Works Inspired/Informed by True Crime Cases
Note 1: “True crime” is defined here as a specific case (for example, a murder or missing person’s case), not as a larger historical event (for example, the Salem Witch Trials or the Opium Wars) or an amalgam of cases (for example, general hazing in fraternities). Note 2: This list is in chronological order based on the true crime case. Note 3: Some works that aren’t fully DA but incorporate DA sections are included.
TRUE CRIME: 1897 disappearance of student Bertha Mellish from Mount Holyoke College DA novels: The Button Field by Gail Husch (2014) Killingly by Katharine Beutner (2023)
TRUE CRIME: 1924 killing of Bobby Franks by University of Chicago students Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb DA Novels: Compulsion by Meyer Levin (1956) Nothing but the Night by James Yaffe (1957) Little Brother Fate by Mary-Carter Roberts (1957) These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever (2020) Hollow Fires by Samira Ahmed (2022) Jazzed by Jill Dearman (2022) DA films: Rope (1948), Compulsion (1959), and Murder by Numbers (2002)
TRUE CRIME: 1932 kidnapping and killing of Charles Lindbergh, Jr.; 1933 kidnapping and killing of Brooke Hart; and 1932-1934 crime spree of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow DA novels: Truly Devious books by Maureen Johnson (especially the first trilogy, 2018-2020)
TRUE CRIME: 1944 killing of David Kammerer by Columbia University student Lucien Carr DA film: Kill Your Darlings (2013)
TRUE CRIME: 1946 disappearance of student Paula Jean Welden from Bennington College DA novels: Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson (1951) Last Seen Wearing by Hillary Waugh (1952) The Secret History by Donna Tartt (1992) Shirley by Susan Scarf Merrell (2014) Quantum Girl Theory by Erin Kate Ryan (2022)
TRUE CRIME: 1973 killing of student Cynthia Hellman at Randolph-Macon Women’s College DA novel: Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison (2019)
TRUE CRIME: 1978 killing of students Margaret Bowman and Lisa Levy and attack of students Kathy Kleiner and Karen Chandler by Ted Bundy at Florida State University DA novel: Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll (2023)
TRUE CRIME: 1985 killing of Derek and Nancy Haysom by University of Virginia students Elizabeth Haysom and Jens Söring DA novel: With a Kiss We Die by L.R. Dorn (2023)
TRUE CRIME: 1999 killing of student Hae Min Lee from Woodlawn High School (by Adnan Syed? debated) DA novel: I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai (2023)
TRUE CRIME: 2022 killing of students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin from the University of Idaho (by Washington State University student Bryan Kohberger? currently awaiting trial) DA novel: This Book Will Bury Me by Ashley Winstead (2025)
*(I go into this definition in further detail in my segment here on the StarShipSofa podcast, my graduate course on Dark Academia, and my 2023 academic essay “Dark Arts and Secret Histories: Investigating Dark Academia.”)
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Song: “Bluestone Mountain”
Quote:
Sometimes I wonder if God watches. And sometimes life can turn in cruel ways ‘Cause on a cold autumn day in late October Little Jacob wandered in Scott Hollow Cave.
Now the caves of West Virginia run forever Like a maze of black ribbon through the ground. Cora went to search for little Jacob, But neither Jake nor Cora would be found.
Read the complete lyrics.
Listen to the performance of Bluestone County Bluegrass…
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It’s Halloween Eve, and this is a favorite of mine! This quote, in particular, is one of my favorite lines from any song.
Song: “Crazy Mary”
Quote:
That which you fear most could meet you halfway.
Read the complete lyrics.
Listen to the performance of Victoria Williams…
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Many thanks to Meg Dowell of “Now This Is Lit: A Star Wars Books Podcast” for having my co-editor Emily Strand and me on the latest episode to talk about our new scholarly anthology Star Wars: Essays Exploring A Galaxy Far, Far Away!
ALT
Here is the episode:
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Star Trek and the Final Frontier of Essays
Many thanks to The Honorable Kavura for this wonderful review of our new book STAR TREK: ESSAYS EXPLORING THE FINAL FRONTIER!
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Song: “Long Black Veil”
Quote:
Oh, the scaffold is high and eternity’s near.
She stood in the crowd and shed not a tear.
But late at night, when the north wind blows,
In a long black veil, she cries o'er my bones.
She walks these hills in a long black veil.
She visits my grave when the night winds wail.
Nobody knows. Nobody sees.
Nobody knows but me.
Read the complete lyrics.
Listen to Gillian Welch’s performance…
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