Spectres des monstres: Post-postmodernisms, hauntology and creepypasta narratives as digital fiction

Horror has always been adaptable to developments in media and technology; this is clear in horror tales from Gothic epistolary novels to the 'found footage' explosion of the early 2000s via phantasmagoria and chilling radio broadcasts such as Orson Welles' infamous War of the Worlds (1938). It is no surprise, then, that the firm establishment of the digital age (i.e. the widespread use of Web2.0 spaces the proliferation of social media and its integration into everyday life) has created venues not just for interpersonal communication, shared interests and networking but also the potential for these venues to host a new type of horror fiction: creepypasta. However, much of the current academic attention enjoyed by digital horror fiction and creepypasta has focused on digital media's ability to remediate a 'folk-like' storytelling style and an emulation of word-of-mouth communication primarily associated with urban legends and folk tales. Here, I intend to argue that creepypasta should primarily be considered a form of digital fiction due to its ability to spread narratives in a way distinct to digital textuality and intrinsically linked to the affordances of digital media. In this article, I will treat creepypasta narratives as a genre specific to the form of digital fiction – specifically a 'fourth generation' of digital fiction – in which 'the [social media] platform is a significant part of the aesthetic expression and the meaning potential' of these stories. I will argue that the affordances of social media, and the way in which they are taken advantage of by creepypasta narratives situate the phenomenon as an example of post-postmodern storytelling that embodies traits of Jeffrey Nealon's 'Post-postmodernism', Alan Kirby's 'Digimodernism' and Timotheus Vermeulen and Robin van den Akker's 'Metamodernism'. I will suggest that this postpostmodern cultural turn works hand in hand with the resurgence of a cultural 'hauntology' to coalesce in creepypasta as a unique type of text. While creepypasta's hauntological qualities have previously been noted by Line Henriksen, this article will explore a relationship between creepypasta and post-postmodernism that has not yet been acknowledged. Ultimately, I will attest that the above theories describe (sometimes overlapping) symptoms of an emerging cultural period that relate to creepypasta's meaning potential and its formal and aesthetic properties. Observations from all three theories of a post-postmodern age coalesce in creepypasta narratives, from the specific qualities of digital textuality and the unique properties of different social media platforms on which these narratives are hosted (YouTube, Reddit, webforums and so on) to the metatextuality of creepypasta works and how they depart from and retain a dialogue with postmodern horror narratives. While the cultural landscape is still in flux and what will come after postmodernism has yet to be determined, creepypasta narratives tell us that a post-postmodern age has already arrived

Implementing Nonlinguistic Representations in Language Arts

This capstone project analyzes the use of nonlinguistic representation as both instructional and assessment strategies in a Language Arts unit. The project reports the effectiveness of nonlinguistic forms of representation that were integrated into a persuasive unit that focused on students’ comprehension of the modes of appeal, specifically in advertising. The persuasive unit included 12 lessons that were taught over a four-week period. This project analyzed the effectiveness of the implemented instructional and assessment strategies on student’s learning based on pre- and post- assessment scores. Following analysis of the pre- and post- assessment data, I discovered that nonlinguistic forms of representation are effective in increasing students’ learning

Digesting creepypasta: social media horror narratives as gothic fourth-generation digital fiction

This thesis examines, recontextualises, and provides a new methodology for analysing a collection of Internet phenomena known as ‘Creepypasta’. Critically engaging with its form and participation in the Gothic and horror literary traditions, I argue that creepypasta should be considered as an emergent genre that manifests through the form of digital fiction and derives a renewed horror and Gothic affect through that form. Existing as unnerving tales written for and spread across social media and Web2.0 websites, creepypasta is an acknowledged, but under-studied genre of fiction. The majority of scholarly attention has analysed creepypasta through the lens of folklore studies which, while aware of the affordances of its digital form, considers creepypasta as folklore first rather than being attentive to media specificity or situating its form and unnerving affective qualities at the centre of its definition. I attest that creepypasta is emblematic of fourth-generation digital fiction and a continuation of horror and Gothic literary traits. In particular, I forward that creepypasta leverages its form to reinvent and renew ways of engaging with the Gothic traits of threats and ontological ambiguity. This, I argue, is primarily achieved through what I define as “ontological flattening”, whereby real users and their responses, and the fictional story they are reading and responding to exist in the same textual space without borders, implied hierarchy, or explicit indicators of fictionality in the story text. Throughout my analyses of Candle Cove (2009), The Slender Man (2009), and The Interface Series (2016), I demonstrate how ontological flattening is central to how creepypasta renews Gothic characteristics. In chapter 4, I forward a development on Isabelle Klaiber’s “double plot model” of collaborative interactive fiction to take into account collaboration in ontologically flattened spaces. In chapter 5, I also introduce the concept of the techno-Weird as a new form of contemporary Gothic fiction that uses ontologically flattened spaces as a way to emphasise characteristics of weird fiction. I conclude by presenting my model of the relationship between readers, creepypasta, and ontologically flattened spaces, and indicating where future applications may lie

The relationships between changes in weight status, leptin, cortisol, growth hormone and insulin resistance in youth

PURPOSE: The purpose of this investigation was to examine the relationships between changes in weight status that occur over two years and changes in leptin, cortisol, human growth hormone (hGH), and insulin resistance in youth. Additionally, we examined the interrelationships among changes in leptin, cortisol and hGH as well as their relation to changes in insulin. PARTICIPANTS: Data were collected at baseline and two years later for 120 youth purposefully selected from a larger study (CHIC III, Cohort 5, J.S. Harrell, P.I.), to represent four groups: NO (normal weight, >5th and <85th BMI percentile, at baseline and overweight, [greater than or equal to] 85th BMI percentile, at follow-up), ON (overweight to normal weight), NN, or OO (normal weight or overweight at both time points, respectively). METHODS: Height and body mass were measured and used to determine BMI percentile. Fasting insulin, leptin, cortisol and hGH were analyzed from plasma via radioimmunoassay. Insulin resistance was estimated via the homeostatic model (HOMA-IR). RESULTS: Two-year changes in BMI percentile were related to: change in HOMA-IR (r=0.26) and changes in leptin (r=0.39), cortisol (r=-0.25) and hGH (r=0.24) (p<0.05). Youth in the NO group had a greater percent change in HOMA-IR (50%) than those in the ON group (-8%) (p<0.05). Additionally, the NO group had greater increases in leptin and greater decreases in cortisol compared to the ON group (p<0.05); likewise there was an inverse relationship between changes in leptin and cortisol (r=-0.23, p<0.05). No group differences for change in hGH were evident. Changes in leptin were associated with changes in insulin (r=0.29, p<0.05). In the regression model for change in insulin, change in leptin accounted for the greatest amount of variance (R2 = 0.09, p<0.05), followed by change in BMI percentile (R2 = 0.04, p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Change in BMI percentile was positively associated with changes in HOMA-IR, leptin and hGH, and negatively related to changes in cortisol. Moving from normal weight to overweight was associated with greater changes in HOMAIR, leptin and cortisol than moving from overweight to normal weight. These results suggest that natural changes in weight status are related to alterations in several hormones in youth

Temperatures of storage areas in large animal veterinary practice vehicles in the summer and comparison with drug manufacturers’ storage recommendations

Background: Large animal veterinarians carry drugs in their practice vehicles in storage areas that are not typically refrigerated. The most common upper limits of manufacturers’ storage temperatures for United States (U.S.)-approved non-refrigerated drugs are 25 or 30 °C. Because ambient temperatures in many locations in the U.S. exceed these temperatures during the summer, we measured storage area temperatures over 4 months in the summer of 2013 to evaluate the extent to which labeled storage temperatures are exceeded. Methods: A convenience sample of 12 vehicles from 5 central Texas practices and 12 vehicles from 4 south central Nebraska practices was used. Temperatures were recorded in one drug storage compartment in each vehicle from May 15 – September 16, 2013, at 15-minute intervals using a self-contained, battery operated temperature recording device. Results: The highest temperatures recorded in a storage unit were 54.4 and 47.7 °C in Texas and Nebraska, respectively. The mean temperature recorded across all 24 storage units was 29.1 °C, with a mean of 26.9 °C in Nebraska and 31.4 °C in Texas. In Nebraska, at least one temperature over 25 °C was recorded on a mean of 111/124 days and a mean of 63 % of total logger readings. In Texas, temperatures over 25 °C were recorded on a mean of 123/124 days and a mean of 95 % of total logger readings. Conclusions: Temperatures in storage units in participating veterinary practice vehicles exceeded labeled drug storage temperatures a significant portion of the summer of 2013. More research is needed to determine whether these excursions above the manufacturers’ recommended storage temperatures alter efficacy of stored drugs

Interrelationships Among Changes in Leptin, Insulin, Cortisol and Growth Hormone and Weight Status in Youth

Objective: While acute alterations in leptin, insulin, cortisol and growth hormone (GH) levels have been reported in children following weight change interventions, little is known about natural hormonal changes as children grow and how these changes are affected b

The Relationship between Changes in Weight Status and Insulin Resistance in Youth

This study examined changes in insulin resistance (IR) in 120 youth over two years. IR was quantified via homeostatic model (HOMA-IR), and weight status changes were quantified via body mass index (BMI). When all participants were considered, the mean HOMA-IR and BMI increased 13.4% and 1.65 units, respectively. Change in BMI z-score and percent change in HOMA-IR were moderately associated (r = 0.39). Follow-up analyses were performed for the following weight groups: NN (normal at baseline and two years later), NO (normal to overweight), ON (overweight to normal), and OO (overweight at both points). The NO group had a greater change in HOMA-IR (+50%) compared to other groups: ON (−8%), NN (+2%), and OO (−0.1%) (P < .05). The association between changes in BMI z-score and HOMA-IR was r = 0.49 when only the NO and ON groups were included. These results reinforce the importance of preventing youth from becoming overweight to control IR

Temperatures of storage areas in large animal veterinary practice vehicles in the summer and comparison with drug manufacturers’ storage recommendations

Background: Large animal veterinarians carry drugs in their practice vehicles in storage areas that are not typically refrigerated. The most common upper limits of manufacturers’ storage temperatures for United States (U.S.)-approved non-refrigerated drugs are 25 or 30 °C. Because ambient temperatures in many locations in the U.S. exceed these temperatures during the summer, we measured storage area temperatures over 4 months in the summer of 2013 to evaluate the extent to which labeled storage temperatures are exceeded. Methods: A convenience sample of 12 vehicles from 5 central Texas practices and 12 vehicles from 4 south central Nebraska practices was used. Temperatures were recorded in one drug storage compartment in each vehicle from May 15 – September 16, 2013, at 15-minute intervals using a self-contained, battery operated temperature recording device. Results: The highest temperatures recorded in a storage unit were 54.4 and 47.7 °C in Texas and Nebraska, respectively. The mean temperature recorded across all 24 storage units was 29.1 °C, with a mean of 26.9 °C in Nebraska and 31.4 °C in Texas. In Nebraska, at least one temperature over 25 °C was recorded on a mean of 111/124 days and a mean of 63 % of total logger readings. In Texas, temperatures over 25 °C were recorded on a mean of 123/124 days and a mean of 95 % of total logger readings. Conclusions: Temperatures in storage units in participating veterinary practice vehicles exceeded labeled drug storage temperatures a significant portion of the summer of 2013. More research is needed to determine whether these excursions above the manufacturers’ recommended storage temperatures alter efficacy of stored drugs

Metabolic characterization of overweight and obese adults

Traditional evaluations of metabolic health may overlook underlying dysfunction in individuals who show no signs of insulin resistance or dyslipidemia. The purpose of this study was to characterize metabolic health in overweight and obese adults using traditional and non-traditional metabolic variables. A secondary purpose was to evaluate differences between overweight/obese and male/female cohorts, respectively