Tuesday 19 June 2018

Sheffield Gothic Profile Blog: Kathleen Hudson

The next instalment in Sheffield Gothic's series of profile blog focuses on Kathleen Hudson (Anne Arundel Community College), one of the founding members of Sheffield Gothic and eternally our Goth Queen. Read on to find out Kathleen's interest in the Gothic, her favourite Gothic text, and who she would like to invite to dinner! 


Introduction:

Greetings, goths! My name is Dr. Kathleen Hudson, and I’m a researcher studying Early Gothic Literature. I earned my undergraduate degree at the University of Scranton and my Masters and PhD degrees at the University of Sheffield. In addition to working as a web developer for the International Gothic Association and the Centre for the History of the Gothic, I have also been a member of the Sheffield Gothic Reading Group for several years and was one of the founding members of the Re-imagining the Gothic Project. I currently work as an adjunct faculty member at Anne Arundel Community College and my first book, entitled Servants and the Gothic: 1764-1831, A half-told tale, is scheduled to be published by University of Wales Press in January 2019. 


What do you research?

My main focus is on servant narratives in early Gothic novels, plays, and chapbook adaptations. Servant characters are frequently included in these works, and my research specifically looks at instances where Gothic servants tell stories or gossip to other characters. Such tales are often compact in-set Gothic narratives and offer fascinating insights into the way the Gothic mode is structured and into the gender and class identities that shape them. While my work mostly focuses on the early Gothic mode, it also has implications for books, TV shows, and movies up to the present day.


How did you become interested in the Gothic?

I actually became interested in the Gothic as a research area in a very roundabout way. I was never overly interested in scary or creepy things as a child, and it wasn’t until I went to university that I started looking seriously at Gothic and horror works. One of the first things I invested in as a new college student was a Netflix subscription. This was back in the days when the streaming service was still very limited, but many of the movies that you could watch whenever you wanted seemed to be cheesy, gory horror films from the 1970s and 80s. I watched Evil Dead, Reanimator, Dead Alive, The Thing, Alien, and all these great classic movies and was utterly fascinated by them. Curiosity about how the filmmakers managed to scare and shock turned into an interest in the reoccurring engagements with psychological issues and human fears and the way those elements were then represented visually in film. 

My interest in Gothic horror remained in the background of my academic life until I took the “Rise of the Gothic” course at the University of Sheffield while getting my Masters Degree in Nineteenth Century Studies. In that class I started to see where many of the elements of horror and humor I so appreciated in my favorite films came from. I learned about the literary origins of haunted houses and villainous parents and thoughtful heroines and developed a new appreciation for the mode as an evolving examination of the very basic building blocks of the human psyche. 

Servant characters and their narratives then emerged as an extension of this interest – they embody many of the elements that intrigued me and were key to understanding how fear and grief and family were reflected through narrative self-expression. I started to focus on why these characters kept popping up and how specific servants were similar or different from others, and that lead me to my fascination with Gothic servant narratives as a whole.


What Gothic texts (including shows, films, plays, music etc.) would you recommend and why?
The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe 

This is a classic text and it will probably surprise no one when I include it, but in all honesty, it is one of those books that I finish reading and then immediately want to reread again. Radcliffe’s work is an amazing collection of individual vignettes, complex set-pieces, and individual studies of people. She creates an amazing fictional world that is at once fantastic and very recognizable and personal, and this is absolutely my favorite novel of hers. 


Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 

This is another one that feels a bit cliched to include, but in terms of classic Gothic must-reads this is one of the essentials. Shelley’s work is just a profound study of humanity and it never ceases to blow me away. You think you know the story but it’s a tricky text with complex psychological implications – and watch out for the subtle political jabs and the undercurrent of feminist angst. 


Vampire City by Paul FĂ©val 

This one is cheesy and camp and wonderful, and despite some truly goofy moments it is also surprising creepy. It takes all of the more extreme elements of the Gothic and embeds them in an off-the-wall work of what is essentially nineteenth century fan fiction, and the results are a profoundly unsettling re-imaging of the mode. This book also includes my favorite depictions of vampires (which is saying a lot) – they depart from almost every recognizable trope and in some ways are very silly and outlandish, but they also violate and reshape their victims in terrifying ways that really speak to the spirit of the vampire myth. 


House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski 

Profoundly beautifully and profoundly unsettling re-imagining of the Gothic haunted house and the boundaries of space, time, and narrative. It’s one of the few books I’ve read that genuinely scared me, but it also makes you think. I reread it every year or so and I always find something new in it to chew on. 


Slade House by David Mitchell 

Part anthology, part vampire story, and part revision of the classic haunted house trop, this book gave me massive existential dread. 


The Evil Dead Trilogy directed by Sam Raimi 

As some of the first films that really inspired my love of horror and the Gothic, these three movies – Evil Dead, Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn, and Army of Darkness – will always hold a very special place in my heart. They cross horror and gore and “The Three Stooges”-style comedy, but they also don’t shy away from exploring the fragile boundaries between humor and horror and the impact the absurd has on the unstable ‘self’. 



Who would you invite to dinner?
I’d probably invite Annette and Ludovico from The Mysteries of Udolpho and Theodore from The Monk to dinner – they’re all chatty servants and I imagine dinner would devolve into one big Gothic storytelling competition before too long.

5 comments:

  1. Hello there, here is a quick one this is solely for those in need of a change in their love life, those seeking for a trustworthy spell caster to help revive their crumbled/crumbling relationship and also ailments of different kinds, this Doctor is one who is truly versatile, compassionate and reliable when it comes to spell casting.. Doctor Egwali spell home is the right choice for you all you need do is just a Contact then I can assure you that the rest would be complete magic, my love life was on the verge of collapsing until I ordered for a love spell all due procedures were properly followed to ensure it works perfectly well. Today I'm a living witness that Doctor Egwali spell magic does work without any reasonable doubt that is why I'm using all medium to let the world know of this great Spell Doctor who brought back peace and unity to my home, Talk to him today and have your emotional setbacks wiped out totally.
    Reach him at these contacts!

    WhatsApp: +2348122948392
    Courier: dregwalispellbinder@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. My name is Tom cam!!! i am very grateful sharing this great testimonies with you all, The best thing that has ever happened in my life, is how i worn the Powerball lottery. I do believe that someday i will win the Powerball lottery. finally my dreams came through when i contacted Dr. OSE and tell him i needed the lottery winning special numbers cause i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never knew that winning was so easy with the help of Dr. OSE, until the day i meant the spell caster testimony online, which a lot of people has talked about that he is very powerful and has great powers in casting lottery spell, so i decided to give it a try. I emailed Dr. OSE and he did a spell and gave me the winning lottery special numbers 62, and co-incidentally I have be playing this same number for the past 23years without any winning, But believe me when I play the special number 62 this time and the draws were out i was the mega winner because the special 62 matched all five white-ball numbers as well as the Powerball, in the April 4 drawing to win the $70 million jackpot prize...… Dr. OSE, truly you are the best, with Dr. OSE you can will millions of money through lottery. i am a living testimony and so very happy i meant him, and i will forever be grateful to him...… you can Email him for your own winning special lottery numbers now oseremenspelltemple@gmail.com OR WHATSAPP him +2348136482342,     

    ReplyDelete
  3. Are you having issues in your relationship, or finding it difficult to have a child of your own or are you the type having any diseases in your body. I will advice you to contact Dr. Abolo of Abolospell@gmail.com . The potency of his spell is so effective and can reunite broken relationship and can also make one get pregnant know matter the situation and not only that, he also has the power to cure all type of diseases within the period of 48hours.. Contact him today and thank me later.

    Contact details : Abolospell@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN SCAMMED BEFORE ?
    WATCH PRECINCT CYBER SECURITY
    if you have ever been scanned before for an unfulfilled job and you are looking to recover those lost funds or you want to keep and eye on that unfaithful partner, increase your credit score, clear a record, improve your grades or looking to get a blank ATM card or invest in crypto with less risk and high reward? Watchprecinct@gmail.com Is here for you. What ever the job, if it's hacking we've got you covered. Just send us an email today at watchprecinct@gmail.com and we'll get it done. Let us put your worries to rest.
    Think hack think watchprecinct@gmail.com and our dedicated team of hackers will get it done in a heartbeat
    Looking forward to the excitement if working for you and with you.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I contacted herpes' I was told there is no herpes cure except treatment to
    control it. I totally lost hope. All I could think was losing my life it
    was so embarrassing to have this virus, few weeks ago I ready about a
    possible natural herbs cure which was guaranteed. And I ordered the natural
    herbs treatment from Dr voodoo after some weeks I got 100? cure. Now I'm so
    excited to share this testimony contact Dr voodoo WhatsApp number
    +2348140120719 also e-mail him at: voodoospelltemple66@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete