It was a delight to join Emily Strand, with whom I co-edited the anthologies Star Trek: Essays Exploring the Final Frontier and Star Wars: Essays Exploring a Galaxy Far, Far Away (both 2023 from Vernon Press), to talk Star Trek and Star Wars with the Dice in Mind podcast. Dice in Mind is a podcast hosted by Brad Browne and Jason Kaufman that explores the intersection of life, games, science, music, philosophy, and creativity through interviews with leading creatives.
Episode 106: Drs. Amy Sturgis and Emily Strand | Dice in Mind
View the full post.
Thesis Theater: Laurel Stevens, “An Awareness of Debts: Dark Academia and its Source-Texts”
Congratulations to Laurel M. Stevens! It’s been a true joy to be Laurel’s M.A. thesis director.
View the full post.
Website: http://amyhsturgis.com
Mastodon: http://universeodon.com/@drahsturgis
Twitter: http://twitter.com/drahsturgis
Dreamwidth: http://eldritchhobbit.dreamwidth.org
View the full post.
Dark Academia novel: All These Beautiful Strangers by Elizabeth Klehfoth (2018)
Quote:
There was a story on campus about a student who had died many years ago—so long ago that no one remembered anymore what his name was or how he had died exactly, but there were reports every now and again of a sighting of his ghost. Some said he’d hanged himself in the showers of the senior boys’ dormitory over a broken heart; others said he’d overdosed on pills and fallen into an eternal slumber in his dorm bed over a failing exam grade. It was bad luck if you saw him, a harbinger of terrible things to come. Bryce Langston had reported seeing the ghost on his way home from the library one night. The next morning, he got a rejection letter from Harvard. Everyone had thought he would be a shoo-in, and he hadn’t even gotten on the waiting list. The next year, Amanda King supposedly saw the ghost right before she got in a fatal car accident. I always thought about the ghost when I was walking around campus at night by myself. I imagined seeing a white smear in the corner of my vision, but every time I turned my head, there was nothing there.
ALT
View the full post.
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.
View the full article
Song: “Knoxville Boy”
Quote:
When the moon is high the Knoxville boy Goes prowling out to kill. We don’t know why so many die To give that boy a thrill. A handsome lad with a wealthy dad And eyes of bluebird blue, He’s killed before, he’ll kill some more, And the next one could be you.
When the fog rolls into Knoxville And the river’s on the rise, Don’t go near the Knoxville boy There’s murder in his eyes.
Listen to Larry Stephenson’s performance…
View the full post.
My graduate course on the Dystopian Tradition will be offered again this summer online at Signum University if there’s sufficient interest. I hope the class will make, because it seems more relevant than ever.
ALT
The Dystopian Tradition - Signum University
View the full post.
Dark Academia novel: The Other Lives of Miss Emily White by A. J. Elwood (2023)
Quote:
It’s a ghost… a ghost of her.
I saw her again, standing in the entrance hall, dripping to the parquet; her hair a damp rope, her face pale, her eyes cast into darkness. I pushed my blanket away as if it were a shroud, smothering and heavy, weighting me into a grave. I felt cold right through. Emily was young and vibrant and alive. She was here. She’d touched my arm. She’d smiled at me and I had lived in that smile, just for a time. She couldn’t simply stop, couldn’t vanish…
I peered into the corners of the room, where the shadows lay deepest. I half expected a figure to be standing there, darkness spooling from its heart, like paint spiralling from a brush in a jar of water. I fervently wished it away.
ALT
View the full post.
Dark Academia novel: Fraternity by Andy Mientus (2022)
From the cover:
Be careful what you pledge.
Quote:
How to make a Perfect Storm:
1. Allow terrible, unholy powers to find their way into the hands of children. See that those children only half-translate their conjurations, missing key protective details.
2. Have them perform those conjurations at the very height of autumn, the dying of the year, when the veil between worlds is at its thinnest. Make sure they are coming to the work not soberly but at an emotional breaking point, dripping blood, hungry for violence. Aim their violence at another child.
3. Pray for those children.
Terrible consequences await them.
ALT
View the full post.
October 5: Grey Land Duology by Peadar Ó Guilín (2016-2018)
Quote from The Call (2016):
“Oh, they mean to do more than kill you, child. They want to twist you. To crumple you up like an old sheet of paper.”
View the full post.
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…
View the full post.
I’m excited to share more information about my Fall 2022 online class for Signum University. The course page is coming soon. I’ll be posting links and details!
View the full post.
Nominations are open for the 2024 Hugo Awards. Several works with which I’m involved are eligible, so here is my Hugos 2024 post.
Eligible for Best Related Work (both published by Vernon Press in 2023):
Star Trek: Essays Exploring the Final Frontier (edited by Amy H. Sturgis and Emily Strand for Vernon Press, 2023)
Star Wars: Essays Exploring a Galaxy Far, Far Away (edited by Emily Strand and Amy H. Sturgis for Vernon Press, 2023)
Also, StarShipSofa is eligible for Best Fancast!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all who have read and/or listened!
ALT
ALT
View the full post.
On November 18, 1897, junior student Bertha Lane Mellish vanished from Mount Holyoke College. Her disappearance remains an unsolved mystery.
I’m currently working on a book project that involves the Mellish 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.
ALT
ALT
View the full post.
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…
View the full post.
Song: “Sad Wind Sighs”
Quote:
Now the sad wind sighs in the lonesome graveyard. The cold rain falls, and the trees bow down. I can hear my darlin’ softly callin’, But she’s asleep in the cold cold ground.
Read the complete lyrics.
Listen to the performance of The Grascals…
View the full post.
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.
View the full post.