A corny comparison to break up all the hard work

As I've been researching, I've found some pretty neat things that I thought I would share. I read that a genius loci, which is from Roman mythology, is often depicted as a snake. And since I'm comparing "Genius Loci" to a vampire, I thought this was really interesting. Snakes kill their prey with fangs, as do vampires. Maybe that's a corny comparison, but that's the point I'm at right now. I also found how genius loci are, for the large part, intelligent spirits that inhabit a place — not spirits that draw you into your death, like from our readings. But, I guess a good ol' story about a magical, happy field would not be included in Straub's books.

This is NOT a source, of course, but if you want to see what Wikipedia has to say about genius loci, look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genius_loci.

"Invisible Flying Things"

So Andy asked me elaborate on what it I was referring to when I talked about the "invisible flying things" in class on wednesday and I had to do a little research. I remember hearing about it vaguely when I was younger on possibly the History Channel and only remembered snippets. It was some sort of conspiracy theory that went with UFO's or something similar. Well, after a little digging I found it! Here are a few links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_(cryptozoology_and_ufology)

http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4004

Basically, people thought an optical illusion on film was actually some sort of invisible flying insect. Not that long ago either, interestingly. I don't know why this stuck in my mind all these years after hearing about it, I couldn't have been very old when I heard of them. But this really reminded me of What Was It?

The IAFA conference program

Many people regularly go to conferences to present papers much like the ones you are writing. Many of these papers get published, as well. For example, if you visit the website of the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts and click on "Preliminary Online Program for ICFA-31" (in the right-hand column), you'll see the dozens of paper topics that will be presented at the association's conference in Orlando in March. (That's where I'll be during spring break, if the creek don't rise.) Topics of obvious interest to our class include, among many others:

Magical Numen vs. Magical Negro: A Defense of Stephen King

Latina Bodily Intersections: Woman on the Edge of Time and Pan’s Labyrinth

Heroic vs. Ordinary Virtues: The Role of Shadow in Neil Gaiman’s American Gods

Imagined Nation: Space, Place and National Identity in Neil Gaiman’s American Gods

Folklore and Intertextuality in the Works of Neil Gaiman

A Goddess or a Madwoman?: The Power of the Maternal in Stephen King’s Misery?

Doubled Selves, Shattered Tales: The Feminist Fairy-Tale Techniques of Kelly Link and Catherynne M. Valente

“Who Ever Said There Were Answers?”: Tim Underhill and the Fear of the Open in Peter Straub's lost boy lost girl

Revisioning the Gothic Other: Race in Peter Straub's Mr. X

Doorways to Liminal Spaces, Cartesian Doubt, and the Reproduction of Reality in Neil Gaiman’s Coraline

Race, Miscegenation & the Grammar(s) of the “Weird” in H. P. Lovecraft and China Miéville

Dancing the Macabray: Life and Death in The Graveyard Book

The Horror and Beauty of Miscegenation in H.P. Lovecraft and Octavia E. Butler

Tracing the Alternative City: Miéville, Gaiman, Zelazny, Spenser, et alia.

A Secret Society of Doppelgängers in Conspiracy: Fantastical Revenge and Paranoiac Pursuit in Poe and Maupassant

Should any of you at any point be interested in attending or presenting at this conference or any other such conference, I would be happy to hear from you.

Home of Nymphs and Vampires

Mary's paper idea inspires me to share the oddly bucolic cover of a 1929 book in my collection.The book flap describes some of the contents:

There are nereids in the Greek isles today and -- in a parlance not quite Homer's -- a man is out of luck if he marries one. There are dracos, too. Dracos have supernatural strength and are fond of roasted children, but are incredibly stupid. There are vampires also, male and female, who frequently try to be good citizens but who labor under handicaps, partly because they are swollen like drums and give forth the same sound when beaten.

Journalist turned diplomat George Horton lived for decades in Greece, where, among other things, he championed the revival of the Olympic Games and U.S. participation in them. He also was down on Muslims, especially Turks, so some of his writings have been controversial then and now.

Bermuda Triangle theories

As if on cue, because Kent got us talking about it in class Wednesday, Stephen Wagner's always interesting About.com: Paranormal Phenomena newsletter this week presented this fine roundup of theories to explain the Bermuda Triangle, from the obvious to the somewhat plausible to the absurd. Note the link to the text of the apparent first print reference to a "Bermuda Triangle," an article by Vincent Gaddis in the venerable pulp magazine Argosy in 1964, the year of my birth.

Queer fantasy resources

Claire's paper topic prompted me to do some poking around. The university libraries have both editions (1983 and 1990) of Uranian Worlds: A Reader's Guide to Alternative Science Fiction and Fantasy, a groundbreaking reference for LGBT fantasy. It's shelved in the annex, however, so better get your request in ASAP, Claire.

In the mid-1990s, about the time I was entering the field, White Wolf Publishing released three excellent original anthologies titled Bending the Landscape, each devoted to LGBT characters and themes; one was devoted to science fiction, one to fantasy and one to horror. Nicola Griffith and Stephen Pagel were the editors. The university libraries have the fantasy volume, but it's checked out at the moment -- perhaps to you, Claire? Hope so.

In fandom, the Gaylactic Network was founded to bring LGBT folks together and highlight LGBT issues. It has sponsored both conventions and awards.

Mark R. Kelly's invaluable Locus Index to SF Awards has thorough lists of winners and nominees for the Gaylactic Spectrum Award and the spec-fic categories of the Lambda Literary Award, which we mentioned in class.

Hope all this is helpful.

For Charlotte: Fairy tale links

Cinderella versions.

Little Red Riding Hood versions.

Snow White versions.