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Date of Award

Spring 2023

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Department or Program Affiliation

English

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Department

English

First Advisor

Magee, Kelly, 1976-

Second Advisor

Shipley, Ely

Third Advisor

Heim, Stefania

Abstract

All of This Will End is a short story collection that pays tribute to the suburban gothic subgenre popularized by Shirley Jackson in the 1950’s. Also drawing influence from contemporary writers such as Kelly Link, Kate Folk, and Blake Butler, among others, the collection aims to deconstruct conceptions of normality – both in and outside of the American suburb – by planting subtle signs of strangeness across its ten stories. Although most of the work wouldn’t fall into traditional genre conventions, the collection borrows from both horror and science fiction, blurring the line between traditional realism and genre work. Much of the writing contained could be categorized as literary horror, another subgenre Shirley Jackson helped popularize, and one recent writers like Carmen Maria Machado and Agustina Bazterrica have revitalized in contemporary fiction.

These ten stories aim to interrupt domestic realism by integrating unusual twists to their narratives. A family is visited by a tax collector searching for a bizarre tariff. After a slight shift in his rigid daily routine, a man discovers he is a minor character in someone else’s simulation. A man and his grandfather wait out the end of days in a living situation that may not be exactly as it seems. The stories in this collection are linked by a variety of qualities – abnormal metaphors, gaslit characters, characters experiencing feelings they’ve never felt. But the most ubiquitous element is a feeling that can be expressed in only three words: something isn’t right.

Type

Text

Keywords

Fiction, MFA, Thesis, Literary Horror, Short Stories

Publisher

Western Washington University

OCLC Number

1379988313

Subject – LCSH

Horror tales, American; Short stories, American; Science fiction, American

Format

application/pdf

Genre/Form

masters theses

Language

English

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.

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