Machine Made of Wood and Women: House as System and Symbol in Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle

In We Have Always Lived in the Castle, a pair of sisters take care of their family mansion, following a rigorous schedule of cleaning, cooking, and running errands. Through an examination of the novel, and critiques of both Shirley Jackson and her book, this paper considers the role of the mansion in We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Is it a "female” space, an environment in which females can exert power and influence, or a male vehicle, built from privilege and haunted with generations of traditional heteropatriarchal upkeep, serving the oppression of women

Hide and Shriek: Short Film Script

This short screenplay is about two monsters at a loss of what to do when a fearless ten-year-old is left behind in their haunted mansion. The story explores the notion of family with a unique blend of childhood wonder and thriller themes. With this creative work, I aim to examine the complicated nature of found family and death through cinematic storytelling

Trick Or Treat: Halloween Events Sure to Terrify the Campus

Horror films, pumpkin carving and the annual “fiend fest” highlight this year’s Halloween-related events at Winthrop University. Brush up on your Vincent Price impression with a free showing of House on Haunted Hill. The film is about a group of strangers lured to a mansion, where a millionaire has promised them money if they stay locked in there for an entire night

Spartan Daily, February 6, 2018

Volume 150, Issue 5https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartan_daily_2018/1004/thumbnail.jp

The Haunted House in Toni Morrison’s A Mercy

In A Mercy Toni Morrison tackles the multilayered and strikingly powerful Gothic “haunted” house metaphor from a female perspective. Her revenants and hauntings are not just individual, but also historical, political and cultural manifestations. Through the Gothic dwelling, Morrison explores the fragmented personal and familial identities, conventional gender arrangements, failed domestic ideology, racist and colonial past, etc., in a patriarchal society dominated by whites. Her transgressive rewriting draws attention to the impact of slavery and racism and, consequently, to the othering of ethnic females, especially blacks. Morrison not only depicts the unspeakable horrors of American history, but also provides ways for its regeneration, such as women’s empowerment and their struggle for self-definition. Morrison’s revisitation of the “haunted” house formula offers an alternative female perspective on American identity and history.En A Mercy Toni Morrison aborda la poderosa y compleja metáfora de la casa gótica “encantada” desde una perspectiva femenina. Sus fantasmas no son exclusivamente individuales, sino manifestaciones históricas, políticas y culturales. Mediante la mansión gótica, Morrison analiza la fragmentada identidad personal y familiar, las convenciones de género, la fallida ideología doméstica, el pasado racista y colonial, etc., en una sociedad patriarcal dominada por blancos. Su reescritura transgresora destaca el impacto de la esclavitud y el racismo y, consecuentemente, la alterización de la mujer étnica, especialmente las negras. Morrison no sólo describe los inefables horrores góticos de la historia americana, sino que también proporciona formas de regeneración, tales como el empoderamiento de la mujer y su lucha por autodefinición. La revisitación de Morrison de la fórmula de la casa “encantada” ofrece una perspectiva femenina alternativa de la identidad e historia americanas

Spartan Daily September 27, 2012

Volume 139, Issue 16https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/1332/thumbnail.jp

I grow so weary of the sound of screams : The Real Ghosts of Gettysburg

Down on Baltimore Street, in the front yard of the sprawling complex that calls itself the Farnsworth House, a tombstone used to sit. It was greyish-white, tall and arched at the top. In front of the marker, the dirt sat freshly turned, a single rose marking the grave. On the stone\u27s face was the motif of a cherub. And under the wings were inscribed, In Memory of Benajah Edwards who Departed this Life July 2 1863. [excerpt

Walt Disney and China: How Glocalization Shaped Shanghai Disneyland

This thesis applies the glocalization theory to a comparative study of the Disney theme parks in the United States and Shanghai, China. It argues that Walt Disney’s glocalization through integrating Chinese culture into the Shanghai Disney theme park brought commercial success to the company. Additionally, it also set up a good example for other businesses interested in global expansion

The Magic of the Magic Kingdom: Folklore and Fan Culture in Disneyland

As fandom studies are becoming more popular and important, one fandom yet remains largely unstudied: the fandom surrounding Disneyland. The Disneyland fandom is unique in a number of ways, chief among them the fans’ relationship to the content creators: unlike many other companies in similar positions, Disney seeks to put boundaries on fan participation and to discourage or stamp out behaviors it deems unacceptable. And yet, in spite of this official meddling, the fandom continues to thrive. I propose that the reason for this unique dynamic is the Disney “Magic”—that is, fans’ recognition of a unique emotional experience inherent in visiting the park, composed of a mix of nostalgia, immersion in the park experience, and the unique Disney atmosphere, all of which is often described using quasi-spiritual language. I posit that the Magic is what keeps fans coming back: they feel that something is special about the park, and seek to engage with it more deeply through various fan activities—activities which, paradoxically, seem to threaten that same Magic that inspires such dedication in the first place. In this thesis, I look at three specific fan activities, both to explore this concept of Magic further, and to learn more about this understudied fandom. The first topic is urban legends of ash scatterings in the Haunted Mansion ride, which appear to simultaneously be a commentary on harsh working conditions inside the park, and, more importantly, a perhaps-misguided attempt to pay respect to the deep connections fans have to Disneyland. The second is pin trading, which functions both as a folk activity guests can use to build their public identities, and also as a market for cheap fakes that tarnishe the Magic. The third is Disneybounding, a costuming activity that expresses fans’ love of the park, while carefully stepping around Disney’s regulations preventing such activities. Even in the diverse and fascinating array of fandoms, the Disneyland fandom deserves some additional attention. Disney Magic, and its resultant fan behavior, has no clear parallel elsewhere. Understanding what makes Disneyland fans tick will lead to a better understanding of how fandoms work in general

Affects and emotions in ghost tourism – A content analysis on tourist experiences at the LaLaurie Mansion

The concept of ghost tourism provides an interesting approach to dark tourism destinations. It has been largely overlooked by scholars in the social sciences and research as it has been determined as superstitious beliefs. The belief in ghosts, however, has remained the same throughout the history, and even grown in the last decades. This has been due to the growing media interest to the dark and macabre. Ghosts also provide an interesting window to other forms of tourism such as heritage tourism. They are also emotionally ladened as this research shows. The research is studying affects and emotions through the affect philosophy described first by Baruch Spinoza, and later continued by Henri Bergson, Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, and Brian Massumi. Affects are described as unconsciously experienced intensity, that when spiked can become more of an emotion that is then experienced consciously. Because of the unconscious nature of affects, they can escape retelling and can be hard to identify. The research in question is aiming to identify them in ghost tourism experiences and see in relation to what and whom they are experienced. The empirical study was conducted as a data triangulation. The data was gathered from interviews, videoblogs, and my own autoethnographic account. The data was analysed by using thematic content analysis method. The interviews were conducted online as semi-structured interviews with photo elicitation being used as a research method. My autoethnographic text was produced around my own experience at the site when I visited the city of New Orleans in 2016. The videoblogs depicted the bloggers experiences at the mansion as well as what sort of emotions were experienced during their visits. The purpose was to study what kind of affects and emotions are produced during the tourists’ visit to the LaLaurie Mansion, and in relation to what or whom they are experienced. The study findings indicate a big role in the affectivity of the tour guide and their storytelling, as well as in atmosphere of the site. The atmosphere of the site seemed to have been created together by the tour guide and their storytelling with the tour participants. How the atmosphere is built in lighter dark tourism destinations such as the LaLaurie Mansion, provides an interesting angle to be studied further