Reader Agency and Intimacy in Contemporary Horror Fiction
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“This Is Not For You” Reader Agency and Intimacy in Contemporary Horror Fiction Aslak Rustad Hauglid A Thesis Presented to The Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Master of Arts Degree UNIVERSITETET I OSLO Spring 2016 II “This Is Not For You” Reader Agency and Intimacy in Contemporary Horror Fiction Aslak Rustad Hauglid A Thesis Presented to The Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages University of Oslo In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Master of Arts Degree Spring 2016 III © Aslak Rustad Hauglid 2016 “This Is Not For You”: Reader Agency and Intimacy in Contemporary Horror Fiction Aslak Rustad Hauglid http://www.duo.uio.no/ Print: Reprosentralen, Universitetet i Oslo IV Abstract This thesis examines how recent/contemporary horror fiction uses the establishment of reader intimacy and challenges to reader agency in order to create experiences of horror. The discussion focuses on a selection of horror texts from different media published between 2000 and 2016. The thesis argues that these two techniques have come to be increasingly important horror tropes over this period, and examines how they are applied in order to propose a new perspective for understanding how contemporary horror operates. Two central arguments structure this discussion. The first argument is a claim that the aesthetic, narrative and in some case interactive dimensions of the examined horror texts illustrate how these texts seek to shorten the distance between reader and author, while simultaneously questioning the power the reader possesses in relation to the text. All of this takes place in the pursuit of creating an effective experience of horror. The second argument is that audiences of contemporary horror, in the shape of Internet communities, can to a much greater degree shape the genre and its texts than before, an agency that takes several forms. This thesis concludes that the experience of horror presented by these texts and their audiences call attention to the act of invoking the monstrous, an act which the reader is being made responsible for. V VI Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor, Erika Kvistad. She has been everything I could hope for from a supervisor: encouraging and open-minded about some of my more unorthodox ideas, extremely available, and always gently keeping me on track. Without her, this thesis would certainly have collapsed on itself at some point. She also deserves credit for “infecting” me with her passion for horror in the first place. I also owe many thanks to my good friends at the 8th floor. They kept me from spending quite a fair bit of the last year in solitude, and their constant encouragement, insights and helpful advice went a long way in making this thesis cross the finishing line. I am extremely grateful for the time we got to spend together. On that note, I would also like to thank the English Masters Society for reminding us that we are a community that can help each other along while still finding time for the occasional session of tea and cakes. Finally, I would like to thank my family for all that I owe them: Torill, Nina, Sverre, Signe, Frida and everyone else who were there when I needed them. They understood what it took to write this thesis, kept me in good spirits every step of the way, and provided much needed proofreading. Thank you so much. VII VIII Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 1 House of Leaves: The Interactive Novel .......................................................................... 15 1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 15 1.2 Cinematic Typography .............................................................................................. 17 1.3 The Narrative Labyrinth ............................................................................................ 22 1.4 Layers of Interpretation ............................................................................................. 27 1.5 The Community that Owns the House ...................................................................... 32 1.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 40 2 Creepypasta: Horrors From Cyberspace .......................................................................... 42 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 42 2.2 Creepypasta: the Horror Meme ................................................................................. 44 2.3 Smile.dog: The Meme as the Monster ....................................................................... 48 2.4 Marble Hornets: “Control is Being Taken Away” .................................................... 52 2.5 Interpretation and Creation ........................................................................................ 57 2.6 Horror as Open Source: Creating the Slender Man ................................................... 60 2.7 Negotiating Creepypasta as a Sub-Genre .................................................................. 67 2.8 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 72 3 Horror Video Games: Playing to Your Fears ................................................................... 74 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 74 3.1.1 Defining Horror Video Games as a Genre ......................................................... 76 3.2 The Customer is Always Right: Crowdfunding and Approval-Based Marketing..... 77 3.3 Who Survives the Survival Horror? .......................................................................... 89 3.4 The Hunt for Horror and Dangerous Agency .......................................................... 101 3.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 105 4 The End? ........................................................................................................................ 107 4.1 Questions for Further Research ............................................................................... 109 Works Cited ............................................................................................................................ 111 Endnotes ................................................................................................................................. 119 IX X Introduction This thesis aims to explore the role of reader intimacy and interaction, or reader agency, in contemporary horror fiction. Contemporary fiction here refers to texts published from the year 2000 up until the first half of 2016. The main argument presented is that the concept of reader intimacy, referring to literary texts which endeavor to shorten the distance between the reader and the narrative, has seen a surge in popularity within horror fiction over this period of time. Linked to this development is a rise in the number of texts which challenge the concept of reader agency. Through their aesthetic, narrative and sometimes meta-textual dimensions, the texts call attention to and then redefine the power over the text possessed by the reader. What I consider to be particularly interesting is that both these developments seem to have evolved for the shared purpose of creating a new form of horror experience for the reader. While older horror texts have also used familiarity, intimacy and reader involvement to create frightening experiences, these conventions have grown over the last decade to take up a much more central position within the genre, allowing us to consider this gradual development a reconsideration of that core question of horror: what exactly is it that audiences fear? Given that the answer to this question will likely dominate how horror develops as a genre in the years to come, I consider it important to examine how fostering intimacy and challenging agency plays into horror today. My interest in this perspective is substantiated when we consider how the development of these two conventions can be found in horror texts on several different media platforms, adapting to fit the aesthetic and narrative framework of each new platform they inhabit. Finally, a surge of audience-created and audience-moderated horror fiction, blurring the line between horror reader and horror writer, can only serve to emphasize what will become the conclusion of this paper: in order to understand the contemporary horror genre, we must understand both how horror texts interact with horror audiences, and how audiences in turn interact with the texts. Although horror is subject to the same problems of definition as any other genre, it is generally agreed within academic circles that horror fiction is written with the intention of providing readers with a frightening experience. It is this definition of horror, after all, which has led recognized scholars within the field, such as Noël Carrol (The Philosophy of Horror) and Matt Hills (The Pleasures of Horror) to consider at length why the genre has an audience at all. This thesis is not written