Dr Megen de Bruin-Molé, Teaching Fellow at Winchester School of Art (WSA), takes a multimedia approach to so-called ‘monster mashups’ in her new book: Gothic Remixed: Monster Mashups and Frankenfiction in 21st Century Culture.
Fascinated by the appeal of monsters, Dr de Bruin-Molé explores the bestselling genre of ‘Frankenfiction’ where classic literature is turned into commercial narratives invaded by zombies, vampires, werewolves and other fantastical monsters.
Throughout the book, Dr de Brutin-Molé uses hybrid creations from film, television, comic books and other media to show how the thrill of transgression has been contained within safe and familiar formats, resulting in the mashups that dominate Western popular culture.
Dr de Brutin-Molé explained:
“We have this idea of monsters as ‘others’ and as objects of cult fandom but actually in the last 10-20 years they’re not cult anymore but more mainstream.
“I want people to think about what it means that monsters are now mainstream – is it even possible for a monster, which is inherently peripheral, to be mainstream? What do we do with that? What does that say about our contemporary culture?”
Read the full news story here.
