Surveying the widespread appropriations of the Gothic in contemporary literature and culture, Post-Millennial Gothic shows contemporary Gothic is often romantic, funny and celebratory. Reading a wide range of popular texts, from Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series through Tim Burton's Gothic film adaptations of Sweeney Todd, Alice in Wonderland and Dark Shadows, to the appearance of Gothic in fashion, advertising and television, Catherine Spooner argues that conventional academic and media accounts of Gothic culture have overlooked this celebratory strain of 'Happy Gothic'. Identifying a shift in subcultural sensibilities following media coverage of the Columbine shootings, Spooner suggests that changing perceptions of Goth subculture have shaped the development of 21st-century Gothic. Reading these contemporary trends back into their sources, Spooner also explores how they serve to highlight previously neglected strands of comedy and romance in earlier Gothic literature.
Surveying the widespread appropriations of the Gothic in contemporary literature and culture, Post-Millennial Gothic shows contemporary Gothic is often romantic, funny and celebratory. Reading a wide range of popular texts, from Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series through Tim Burton's Gothic film adaptations of Sweeney Todd, Alice in Wonderland and Dark Shadows, to the appearance of Gothic in fashion, advertising and television, Catherine Spooner argues that conventional academic and media accounts of Gothic culture have overlooked this celebratory strain of 'Happy Gothic'. Identifying a shift in subcultural sensibilities following media coverage of the Columbine shootings, Spooner suggests that changing perceptions of Goth subculture have shaped the development of 21st-century Gothic. Reading these contemporary trends back into their sources, Spooner also explores how they serve to highlight previously neglected strands of comedy and romance in earlier Gothic literature.
Introduction 1. Consuming the Edible Graveyard: Gothic Lifestyles and Lifestyle Gothic 2. 'The images, for me, are the story': Tim Burton's Gothic Aesthetics 3. 'Forget Nu Rave, We're Into Nu Grave!': High Street Style and the uses of Gothic Romance 4. Gothic Charm School, or, How Vampires Learned to Sparkle 5. Pretty in Black: The Goth Girl and the Whimsical Macabre 6. 'Happy Nights Are Here Again': Having a Laugh with Vampires and Other Monsters 7. 'I'm the Shoreditch Vampire': Making Over Goth Masculinities in Television Comedy 8. 'Swishing about and spookiness': Whitby and Gothic Literary Tourism from Bram Stoker's Dracula to Paul Magrs's Never the Bride Conclusion: Gothic Celebrations Works cited Index
Explores previously neglected elements of comedy, fantasy and romance in contemporary Gothic texts, from the Twilight books to the films of Tim Burton.
Catherine Spooner is Senior Lecturer in English Literature at Lancaster University, UK. She is co-editor (with Emma McEvoy) of The Routledge Companion to Gothic (2007) and author of Contemporary Gothic (2006) and Fashioning Gothic Bodies (2004).
The range of sources that Spooner uses to uncover this strand of
Gothic and the work it’s doing in the twenty-first century is as
impressive as the primary texts that she explores throughout the
book.
*Romantic Circles*
Spooner is especially persuasive in her argument that the rise in
the fusion of comedy and Gothic needs not to be viewed as on the
fringes of what is quintessentially Gothic, but rather a turn
toward a new form of Gothic altogether … Spooner’s writing style,
as well as her intriguing references and anecdotes, provides for a
very enjoyable and accessible read—for those inside and outside
academia.
*The Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts*
Post-Millennial Gothic is well rounded, accessible and very
readable study that arguably succeeds in its mission statement and
more.
*The Dark Arts Journal*
This book expands our understanding of the Gothic and uses lots of
interesting contemporary examples. I think this book would be of
interest to not just Gothic scholars, but also those interested in
post-millennial and material culture.
*Fantastika*
Don’t judge a book by its cover, or so the old adage goes; when it
comes to Catherine Spooner’s most recent publication,
Post-Millennial Gothic: Comedy, Romance and the Rise of Happy
Gothic, though, it is hard not to ... Post-Millennial Gothic is
foremost an academic study, but one that is pleasingly free of
convoluted jargon, which makes it an enjoyable whistle-stop tour of
post-millennial happy Gothic.
*Revenant*
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