Machen, “The White People”

Midterm

Can you connect a story to its historical context?
- Question 53
How well can you interpret a specific textual detail (i.e., close reading)?
- Question 54 about interruptions in “The Comet”
Can you apply theoretical concepts to specific texts?
- Question 55 on the function of impossibility in fantasy

Final will be similar to the midterm (will also be on Canvas)
Keep up with the reading
- Take notes by hand as you read
Read questions carefully
- e.g., Several students lost points on #53 because they missed the requirement to cite specific historical contexts for each story in their written response.
Treat practice quizzes like real exams
Check your quiz answers against the ones that are posted after class
Review old quizzes and slides while studying

Extra Credit Book Club participation is worth +2% to final grade per meeting you prepare for and attend
Only about 1 in 4 students registered for ECBC
If you are interested in ECBC after your midterm, email me
I will ask existing book clubs if they would be willing to take new members

If you are planning to play Disco Elysium for free at the New Media Game Lab, I recommend trying to play between November 16 and 25.

Due to Disco Elysium change and the practice final, the on-call schedule has been updated
You should have received it as an announcement on Canvas at the start of class.
Let me know if you have any questions about your days.

Horror can involve science fictional or fantastical elements
- Vampires are a fantastical element in supernatural horror derived from folklore
- Alien (1979) and Backrooms (2026) are science-fictional horror stories
But horror can be distinct from sci-fi and fantasy because it does not necessarily have to depart from consensus reality, though it continues to estrange readers
- Cults and the occult are a recurring horror trope for this reason
Psychological horror (as opposed to supernatural horror) need not depart from consensus reality
- e.g., Psycho (1960), Rosemary’s Baby (1968), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Black Swan (2010)

Arthur Machen influenced subsequent horror writers
Major influence on H.P. Lovecraft
“The White People” also influenced folk horror works like The Wicker Man (1973/2006), The Witch (2015), and Midsommar (2019)

This is the most challenging story to comprehend that we have read thus far in the class
That’s a function of the structure of the story (within a story, within a story) as well as Machen’s different writing styles
But it’s also part of how horror works: The monster is always scarier before you can see it.
Incomprehension makes horror horrifying
- Perfectly understanding motives and deeds suggests that things are in our control, at least insofar as they are comprehensible
- Horror demonstrates that there are things we cannot comprehend and cannot control

Take them on their own terms (e.g., the definition of sin)
Look for connections between different parts
- e.g., repeating words, images, ideas
“Don’t miss the forest for the trees”