Little Boxes: A Gothic Horror Novella
Name: Zoe Dudack
Majors: English
Minor: Music
Advisors: Dr. Kate Beutner & Dr. Christopher Kang
As an avid fan of horror films and ghost stories, I knew I wanted to do something with the Gothic horror tradition. Drawing on both traditional and modern Gothic authors –Shirley Jackson, Carmen Maria Machado, Daphne de Maurier, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia for example –I put together my own Gothic horror novella, what is effectively Act One of a larger novel-length project. In my research for the critical section of my project, I investigated the representation of women within the genre as well as the haunted house as a domestic sphere, and how that relates to the expectations and fears of women over time. I am also fascinated by mother-daughter relationships in literature and have found that it is a recurring theme stretching across a lot of my work. By presenting a haunted house that only affects its female inhabitants, I wanted to explore how such an influence would affect the relationship, especially since, while being affected by the house, the mother still strives to protect her daughter from the same. After the conclusion of this semester, I would be excited to keep extending this project into the novel-length piece I see it becoming and working through the completed outline that I had drafted.
Posted in Comments Enabled, Independent Study, Symposium 2022 on April 26, 2022.
12 responses to “Little Boxes: A Gothic Horror Novella”
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Congratulations, Zoe!! So cool.
Hurrah, Zoe! Great intro & reading.
Thank you, Chris!!
Thanks Dr. Beutner (for your comment and everything else)! Pretty proud of the fact that I made it under the 10 minute time limit
We in the English Department are thrilled for you, Zoe! Congrats on this I.S. work —,and for winning a prestigious writing residency. KUDOS 👊🏾🙌🏾👍🏾.
Hi Zoe, Congratulations! What a great I.S. topic and presentation! You have many great things ahead of you, including a writing career!
Lovely reading and presentation, Zoe. Congratulations on the project!
A very gripping presentation, Zoe! You gave a fabulous and evocative reading. I’ve so enjoyed having you in my classes – congratulations on a great end to your senior year!
Yay Zoe!! This is amazing 🙂
Congratulations on your project and your award! Brava!
Congrats Zoe!
Shout out to Anna for making you do this so I could hear your presentation!! 🎉 Great job, Zoe! Such an interesting project and a fantastic presentation too. Your writing and speaking continues to impress.
Congratulations on finishing I.S. and have an amazing rest of your senior year!