Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Speculating about our AI Future with Cory Doctorow, Ken Liu, and Martha Wells. After registering
This promises to be a terrific online event! Thursday, January 11, 2024.
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Dark Academia novel: The Good Girls by Claire Eliza Bartlett (2020)
From the cover:
secrets and lies, then somebody dies
Quote:
The end of my life starts here.
A rainy, sodden autumn has turned the river below into a roaring monster. Rocks jut out like jagged teeth, jet black against frothy white. My blood sings as the weathered wood sags behind me—someone has followed me onto the tiny bridge over Anna’s Run….
Legends say Anna’s Run takes one unlucky sacrifice every year. The wind wraps around my neck like a cord.
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Emily Strand, with whom I co-edited Star Wars: Essays Exploring a Galaxy Far, Far Away and Star Trek: Essays Exploring the Final Frontier (both from Vernon Press in 2023), is a cosplayer and costumer extraordinaire. Check out her latest essay!
A Defense of Dressing Like a Bad Guy
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Song: “Little Margaret”
Quote:
Is Little Margaret in her room Or is she in the hall? Little Margaret’s in her coal-black coffin With her face turned toward the wall.
Listen to the performance of Sheila Kay Adams…
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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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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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Song: “Ghost of Norma Jean”
Quote:
When you see another cross
By the road where she is lost,
You’ll know that she has some company.
Listen to the Steep Canyon Rangers’ performance…
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On my “Looking Back on Genre History” segment on the latest episode of the StarShipSofa podcast, I discuss the anniversary of the science fiction series Blake’s 7.
StarShipSofa 704 Ramez Yoakeim | StarShipSofa
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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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Escape Pod | The Original Science Fiction Podcast
I was delighted to narrate the wonderful science fiction story “The Contrary Gardener” by Christopher Rowe. Both parts are now available from the Escape Pod podcast!
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Song: “Little Omie Wise”
Quote:
Little Omie, little Omie, I’ll tell you my mind: My mind is to drown you and leave you behind.
Read the complete lyrics.
Listen to Doc Watson’s performance…
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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!
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On December 1, 1946, sophomore Bennington College student Paula Jean Welden vanished. Her disappearance remains an unsolved mystery.
I’m currently working on a book project that involves the Welden case. Today it feels especially important to say her name.
Note: If anyone would like a (very brief!) peek into my current book project, here is a video of my presentation “Missing Students and Their Fictional Afterlives: True Crime, Crime Fiction, and Dark Academia.“ I gave this talk earlier this year at the Popular Culture Research Network’s “Guilty Pleasures: Examining Crime in Popular Culture” conference.
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I am very happy to report that I will be presenting my paper “Missing Students and Their Fictional Afterlives: True Crime, Crime Fiction, and Dark Academia” at the Guilty Pleasures: Examining Crime in Popular Culture conference (May 2-3, 2024) sponsored by the Popular Culture Research Network. This talk is related to my current work-in-progress book project. I’m looking forward to it!
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I was delighted to talk Star Trek and Star Wars with Michael Boyce on the latest episode of the Geek4 podcast.
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Geek4 — Michael W. Boyce, PhD
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Song: “The Ghost of Eli Renfro”
Quote:
Can’t you hear? Can’t you hear?
When the moon is bright and clear
From time to time,
It’s old Eli dragging chains
And moaning people’s names.
I just hope and pray he never thinks of mine.
Read the complete lyrics.
Listen to The Nashville Bluegrass Band’s performance…
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I’m delighted to share that both of my co-edited academic anthologies with Vernon Press are now available: STAR TREK: ESSAYS EXPLORING THE FINAL FRONTIER and STAR WARS: ESSAYS EXPLORING A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY.
They are both available at major bookstores and can be requested via libraries in hardcover or ebook formats. The coupon code CFC10822213C4 provides a 24% “new release!” discount for both at the Vernon Press website.
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Vernon Press - Authors
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