Editors' Note
by Leah Richards and John R. Ziegler
Note: Page numbers from the print version are indicated in brackets and should not be considered part of the text of the article.
[page 7] Summer is winding down at Supernatural Studies HQ in New York, and spooky season is nearly upon us. We have a great issue for you to enjoy with whatever hot drink flavored with whatever combination of spices you’d like; in this issue, you will find articles, book reviews, and for the first time, poetry!
First, “Monsters at the End of the World” by Catherine Alber is a timely look at Mary Shelley’s The Last Man and political-economic theory of its time: in our own post-apocalypse, will survivors be Godwinian or Malthusian? Kirk R. Swenson gives us “The Great Mother Look,” an analysis of Algernon Blackwood’s short story “The Damned,” which features religious zealotry and a woman to whom everyone probably should have listened. Next, Gina Brandolino’s “The Devil Went Down to Norwich” reads medieval mystic Julian of Norwich’s near-deathbed encounter with the devil through in tandem with the seminal horror films Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist to argue that horror narratives were around long before they had a name. Blake Allmendinger asks, “Who’s Buried in Rebecca’s Crypt?” in his existential reading of Daphne du Maurier’s gothic classic Rebecca: Hell is definitely other people. Finally, Lisa Yamasaki takes us to Norway for “The Ghost as Psychological Disturbance,” which explores the ghostlike descriptions of women coping with past trauma in Knut Hamsun’s “Damen fra Tivoli” and Arne Dybfest’s Ira. Before a selection of book reviews, we have three poems from Mark Spitzer’s upcoming Cryptozarkia. As is befitting for a scholarly journal, Spitzer’s poems include endnotes and citations and, in “Howladdendum,” some detective work into the authority of sources.
We hope that you’ve had a chance to check out our summer special issue on the work of Jordan Peele, guest edited by Dr. Chesya Burke; we’re really proud to have had a small part in exploring Peele’s legacy! Our next issue has us returning to Twin Peaks with the proceedings from “It Is [page 8] In Our House Now,” the fantastic 2021 international online conference on Twin Peaks: The Return hosted by returning (see what we did there?) guest editors Franck Boulègue and Marisa C. Hayes. We were thrilled to be a part of the conference after working with Franck and Marisa on the Twin Peaks special issue in 2019, and now we get to share the papers with you!
While the return to something like normal means we may not be able to watch thirty-one horror movies in thirty-one days in October, we’ll do our best. Follow us on Twitter (@Superna81210483) and tell us what you’re doing to celebrate! And as always, stay spooky, fiends!
Leah Richards, Ph.D.
John R. Ziegler, Ph. D.
Executive Editors
MLA citation (print):
Richards, Leah, and John R. Ziegler. "Editors' Note." Supernatural Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Art, Media, and Culture, vol. 8, no. 1, 2022, pp. 7-8.