vamp
what is this prevalent partiality to the paranormal? how is it that in the past month I have 1. literally swallowed 1000+ pages of the twilight series (that includes the leaked release of midnight sun) 2. become hooked on true blood and 3. read a lovely (and very different) swedish vampire story? (and 4. Even Maisie Dobbs has an encounter with the paranormal in the last “cozy” I read)
this has (collective gasp) happened to me before: my final semester of college, I opted to take two classes while writing my thesis, both focused on the gothic (one art related, taught by the wonderful Sarah Burns, and one literature specific). however, rather than zeitgeist, this occurrence seemed much more an experience of myself and co-conspirator, nancy, bundled up to watch “the day of the triffids,” visit the winchester house, and read “the haunting of hill house” (over and over). which led to a good deal of H. Ryder Haggard, Wilkie Collins, and so on…
escapism? I do believe it to be the case. and why not? just as the victorian gothic spirit questioned the social structures of the time (exotic enemies to foil!) the combination of romance and horror created a liberating shiver (thrill and terror) in the collective attentive consciousness. entertainment spectacles such as ghost conujuring, messaging mediums, hypnotisms became all the rage.
so what has this to do with the current fascination? perhaps gothic revival is intricately tied to decadence: the grey matter of ebullient times. The stock characters are both frightening and inviting (Hello Bill, Eli, and Edward!), and we can’t get enough of them. Rather than fantasy, we lend human empathy to our imaginings of the anti-hero, written up in (yes! melodrama!) a pretty penny dreadful that we can’t put down until the last page is turned and the last episode is finished. (especially when the titles are so captivating)
The long story short: the gothic “embodies an appreciation of the joys of extreme emotion, the thrills of fearfulness and awe inherent in the sublime, and a quest for atmosphere” (thank you, wikipedia). Does that sound unlike what we’re seeking in everything we consume? Perhaps it is a product of the past ten years ( blind optimism, huge gambles, heavy money, questionable government, terrifying foreign policy, mind-numbing spectacle, to name a few), so intricately woven into our cultural curiosity that I couldn’t see it coming.
