Post-Millennial Gothic: Comedy, Romance and the Rise of Happy Gothic

by Catherine Spooner

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781441101211
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	02/23/2017
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Catherine Spooner is Professor of Literature and Culture at Lancaster University, UK. She is co-editor (with Emma McEvoy) of The Routledge Companion to Gothic (2007) and author of Post-Millennial Gothic (2017), Contemporary Gothic (2006) and Fashioning Gothic Bodies (2004).

Table of Contents

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

Editorial Reviews

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

From the Publisher