Full Description
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.
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
