Bloomsbury Gothic Remixed: Monster Mashups and Frankenfictions in 21st-Century Culture

The bestselling genre of Frankenfiction sees classic literature turned into commercial narratives invaded by zombies, vampires, werewolves, and other fantastical monsters. Too engaged with tradition for some and not traditional enough for others, these ‘monster mashups’ are often criticized as a sign of the artistic and moral degeneration of contemporary culture. These hybrid creations are the ‘monsters’ of our age, lurking at the limits of responsible consumption and acceptable appropriation. This book explores the boundaries and connections between contemporary remix and related modes, including adaptation, parody, the Gothic, Romanticism, and postmodernism. Taking a multimedia approach, case studies range from novels like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club series, to television programmes such as Penny Dreadful, to popular visual artworks like Kevin J. Weir’s Flux Machine GIFs. Megen de Bruin-Molé uses these monstrous and liminal works to show how the thrill of transgression has been contained within safe and familiar formats, resulting in the mashups that dominate Western popular culture. Review Molé’s book is a treasure trove of fascinating perspectives and analysis and is accessible to all levels of the interested reader ... It provides a brilliant methodology for thinking through collage. I wholeheartedly recommend Molé’s book. --Collage Research NetworkI found Gothic Remixed hugely thought-provoking and enlightening, with de Bruin-Molé’s obvious enthusiasm for both the works cited as case studies and the concepts she talks about shining through ... Gothic Remixed comes highly recommended not just for those interested specifically in the world of Frankenfiction but anyone who wants to look at authenticity, author privilege and how the present deals (or fails to deal) with the injustices of the past. --Sublime Horror[T]he first full-length study of the monster mashup genre ... De Bruin-Molé’s study of the “‘literary mashup craze” makes a strong case for Frankenfiction as an important twenty-first-century cultural phenomenon ... Where the book really shines is not in its laudable engagement with high theory, but in its astute and approachable analysis of particular Frankenfictions. --The Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts About the Author Megen de Bruin-Molé is a scholar and university lecturer working in the UK. She specialises in adaptation, (neo-)Victorian fiction, popular feminism, and contemporary remix culture.