Men with stakes : masculinity and the gothic in US television / Julia M. Wright.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wright, Julia M., author.

Series:

Manchester Gothic (Manchester, England).

Manchester Gothic

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Masculinity on television.

Masculinity in popular culture--United States.

Masculinity in popular culture.

Horror television programs--United States--History and criticism.

Horror television programs.

Horror television programs--Social aspects--United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (viii, 186 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Manchester : Manchester University Press, 2016.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Men with Stakes examines the ways in which the gothic mode is deployed specifically to call into question televisual realism and, with it, conventional depictions of masculinity, especially in relation to agency, power, and legitimated forms of knowledge (science in particular). In this context, it discusses in some depth seven series from the last two decades: American Gothic (CBS, 1995-1996), Millennium (Fox, 1996-1999), Angel (WB, 1999-2004), Carnivàle (HBO, 2003, 2005), Point Pleasant (Fox, 2005-2006), Supernatural (WB, 2005-2006; CW, 2006- ), and American Horror Story (FX, 2011- ). Instead of considering gothic television in terms of its adaptation of gothic literary precedents (another significant thread in gothic film and television studies), this study considers these series in light of gothic studies' conclusions about the mode itself-from Edmund Burke's idea of obscurity to the organization of the gothic around different gender questions, and from its allusiveness and challenge to verisimilitude to its emphasis on simulation and fakery.

Contents:

Bedeviling paternal discipline: fathers from American Gothic to Point Pleasant

Looking for daddy: Carnivàle, Supernatural, and Millennium

Latchkey hero: the horrors of class in Eric Kripke's Supernatural

Gothic foundations: "The Pest House," "Hell House," and "The Murder House"

Conclusion: gothic conspiracy and the eyes of Lara Means.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 15 May 2026).

Includes bibliographical references (pages 174-181) and index.

ISBN:

9781784996284

1784996289

9781526104113

1526104113

9781784996901

1784996904

OCLC:

981602167