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eldritchhobbit

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Blog Entries posted by eldritchhobbit

  1. eldritchhobbit
    Dark Academia novel: Promise Boys by Nick Brooks (2023)
    From the cover:
    Perfection. Excellence. Discipline. Murder.
    Quote:
    Sometimes what’s obvious takes a while to see – the person who pulls a trigger doesn’t just disappear into the dark. They are right here among us once we decide we’re ready to question everything we think we know. They’re always closer than you think.
    ALT
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  2. eldritchhobbit
    I’m delighted to say I’ll be giving two presentations this autumn on Dark Academia topics at academic conferences. Both events have online options, and I hope to see some of you there!
    I’ll be giving the talk “A Vanished Student Leaves a Haunted Space: An Unsolved Mystery and the Gothic Imagination on the Dark Academia Campus” at Perilous Realms and Haunted Spaces: New England Moot 2023 sponsored by Signum University in October.
    I’ll be presenting the paper “Consumed by the Campus: Dark Academia, the Gothic Imagination, and the Missing Student" at the Consuming the Gothic Conference sponsored by Sheffield Gothic in November.
    ALT ALT
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  4. eldritchhobbit
    Dark Academia novel: The Narrow by Kate Alice Marshall (2023)
    From the cover:
    They say what the river takes never returns. They are wrong.
    Quote:
    The hours crawl by…. For me, it’s nothing. I have waited years….
    Then the sun makes its slow way below the horizon. Even in the glow of electric light, I can feel the night’s approach. The dead aren’t meant for daylight. I’m more awake in darkness. Not more alive – it’s a fallacy to suppose I could become less dead. But I am different in the dark. More powerful. 
    ALT
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  6. eldritchhobbit
    Dark Academia novel: Ghosts of Harvard by Francesca Serritella (2020)
    Quote:
    It was the place where Eric had eaten his last meal, dreamed his last dream, taken his last breath. The sight of the red brick dormitories, a picture postcard of collegiate perfection to so many, made her heart pound. For her, it wasn’t a college, it was a haunted house.
    ALT
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  7. eldritchhobbit
    Dark Academia work: “Presentation of an Intact Specimen” by Premee Mohamed, from Wilted Pages: An Anthology of Dark Academia edited by Ai Jiang and Christi Nogle (2023)
    Quote:
    No. This one is mine. This museum is mine. I worked too hard for this, and it belongs to me and if he intends to take anything of mine, I will not show the restraint I did when we were students. No one is watching me now. Only God, so they say; and He will, I think, forgive me this. Surely it is not a sin to remove a sinner from the face of the Earth to prevent future sins. Think of everything Bainbridge has done. Think of the oceans of blood on his hands.
    And the tiny, tiny bit that would be on hers.
    ___
    It was madness, it was all madness; but she examined the madness from every angle and it seemed good and sound, like an old tool of forged iron. She saw no weaknesses in it. It was merely the removal of something worthless from the museum — it was curation. She and Godfrey could find a more suitable assistant. It would only benefit the institution.
    ALT
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  8. eldritchhobbit
    So it begins! Each day of this dark and beautiful month I’ll be posting a different Dark Academia title with a haunting, atmospheric quote. I hope you’ll enjoy the recommendations!
    Dark Academia story: “X House” by J.T. Ellison, from In These Hallowed Halls: A Dark Academia Anthology edited by Paul Kane and Marie O’Regan (2023)
    Quote:
    There was a bog near the bridge, on the other side of the forest. The things that disappeared into that place… Animals. Trees. People.
    Yes, it was beautiful, but it was dangerous. So many were lost over the years, women who vanished into the woods and never returned. Why someone would build a school in this desolate area was a forever unknown.  
    ALT
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  10. eldritchhobbit
    In 2021, my Halloween Countdown focused on 31 Days of Dark Academia. I enjoyed that so much that I’ll be back in October 2023 to spotlight 31 different and new works of Dark Academia! As in 2021, I will be using the #31DaysofDA tag.
    Each day I’ll be posting a different DA title with a haunting/atmospheric quote. I hope you’ll enjoy the recommendations!
    ALT In the meantime, here are a few links related to my own Dark Academia-related doings, FYI!
    In 2022, I had the great delight of teaching a graduate course on Dark Academia for Signum University. This experience led me to write the 2023 article “Teaching Shirley Jackson’s Hangsaman (1951),” which appears at Reading Shirley Jackson in the 21st Century.
    I continue to be fascinated by — and am working on a new project related to — the key features of Dark Academia literature. To my mind, these include the use of Gothic modes of storytelling (as I define Dark Academia as a subset of the Gothic), a focus on an academic setting and educational experience, the cultivation of a dark mood with an emphasis on death, and an interrogation of imbalances in and abuses of power.
    For a longer discussion about defining the Dark Academia genre (as opposed to the aesthetic), there’s my discussion of DA 1) in my “Looking Back on Genre History segment on Episode 671 of the StarShipSofa podcast and 2) in my essay "Dark Arts and Secret Histories: Investigating Dark Academia” in the forthcoming Potterversity anthology.
    I have a new project in the works, as well, and will be discussing that soon! Right now, I can say that I’ll be giving a related paper (“Consumed by the Campus: Dark Academia, the Gothic Imagination, and the Missing Student”) in November at Sheffield Gothic’s “Consuming the Gothic” conference. I hope to see some of you there (virtually)!
    For now, I hope you will enjoy my 2023 Halloween Countdown starting tomorrow! The most wonderful time of the year is almost here! ?

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  11. eldritchhobbit
    ALT ALT Happy anniversary, Enterprise!
    On this day in 2001, Enterprise debuted. Happy 22nd anniversary to a chapter of Star Trek that has a lot to say and deserves greater attention.
    This year I was thrilled to put my essay on Enterprise out into the universe!
    Cue “Faith of the Heart”… ? ?

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  12. eldritchhobbit
    ALT It’s almost October, which means it’s almost time to start my annual re-reading of one of my all-time favorite books, A NIGHT IN THE LONESOME OCTOBER by Roger Zelazny. With 31 chapters, one for each day of the month, it is a fantastic mash-up of creepy seasonal goodness wrapped into a compelling story, a kind of literary advent calendar for Halloween.

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  14. eldritchhobbit
    I’m delighted to share that I will be presenting my paper “Consumed by the Campus: Dark Academia, the Gothic Imagination, and the Missing Student” at Sheffield Gothic’s “Consuming the Gothic” conference in November!
    ALT
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  21. eldritchhobbit
    Free Online Star Trek and Star Wars Book Events!
    Everyone is welcome! I’m delighted to announce a weekend of free online events celebrating two anthologies from Vernon Press, Star Trek: Essays Exploring the Final Frontier and Star Wars: Essays Exploring a Galaxy Far, Far Away, edited by Emily Strand and Yours Truly. We hope you’ll join us!
    Register for Sept. 9 event here.
    Register for Sept. 10 event here.
    See more about the books here.
    ALT
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  22. eldritchhobbit
    Everyone is invited on September 9 at noon Eastern for this free online event hosted by the The Digital Cultural Studies Cooperative!
    Join us for a Book Talk with the editors of the new anthology STAR WARS: ESSAYS EXPLORING A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY. We’ll be joined by the co-editors and contributors to discuss this exciting collection of essays that offer a compelling new take on the familiar and not-so-familiar corners of the Star Wars universe and media megatext.
    Star Wars: Essays Exploring a Galaxy Far, Far Away | Book Launch

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  23. eldritchhobbit
    Everyone is welcome! The Mythgard Institute at Signum University will be dedicating its upcoming “Mythgard Miscellany” Pub Night to a celebration of our two Vernon Press anthologies, Star Trek: Essays Exploring the Final Frontier and Star Wars: Essays Exploring a Galaxy Far, Far Away. You’re invited to this free and informal event, live on Zoom at 6pm Eastern on Sunday, September 10.
    Register here (it’s free)!
    ALT
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  24. eldritchhobbit
    It’s time for my periodic “Thank you!” to those in the Star Trek and Science Fiction communities who have helped us get the word out about our new anthology, Star Trek: Essays Exploring the Final Frontier, thus far.
    More details about our book (including the table of contents, reviews, etc.) are here on the Vernon Press website. (Note: The coupon code CFC10822213C4 provides a 24% “new release!” discount at the Vernon Press website. In addition, the book is also available from all major booksellers and for request via libraries as an ebook or hardcover. Library requests help us a great deal!)
    If you work with a periodical, podcast, blog, or website and might be interested in reviewing our book or talking to us or our contributors, please get in contact with me. I may be able to arrange a digital review copy for you! The easiest way to reach me is through this contact form on my website.
    Many thanks to @ashleywritesstuff and Mike Slamer of We Are Starfleet (hear the episode here), Brandi Jackola of Boldly Go (hear the episode here), Jarrah Hodge of Women At Warp (read the review here), and The Honorable Kavura of StarPodLog (read the review here) for their wonderful conversations, reviews, and support!
    ALT
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