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Interview: Cecilia Abate, aka Horror Scholar, Talks to Lizzy Walker

Cecelia Abate

We’re a little past Women in Horror Month, but why limit ourselves to one month a year? There are way too many awesome women who are a part of the horror community to do that. Monster Librarian primarily reviews fiction, but I actually like reading nonfiction, too, as it widens my knowledge of horror and I think makes me a better reviewer. Also, despite academic jargon, the ideas can be really compelling. Any researcher who doesn’t have the resources of a university or similar institution knows the challenge of actually getting your own stuff written, researched, and published. Enter Cecilia Abate, aka Horror Scholar, founder of Horror Scholar Journal, a new online journal that provides an avenue for independent researchers to get their work published. Reviewer Lizzy Walker had the opportunity to interview Cecilia recently, so read on to learn more about her!

 

Lizzy: Hi, Cecilia! Tell Monster Librarian readers about yourself.

Cecilia: Hi there! I’m an independent horror academic & researcher with a focus in data-heavy quantitative analysis. I run a research brand under the title Horror Scholar and am currently employed at Google during my daylight hours.

 

Lizzy: Describe your path to horror studies. How did this become an interest for you?

Cecilia: Actually, total accident. As I was getting through my BA, I remember *hating* pop culture studies and literary analysis. I was rereading Frankenstein for a sci-fi studies course and I bought an edition which had about 4 analytical essays included in the back. I remember flipping through them and just scoffing, being like, “Oh my god, who cares? The monster is a monster, leave it alone.”

Somehow, in the next few years, that opinion completely reversed. I did my last essay of my college career on colonialism in The Nightmare Before Christmas. And as I was laughing at myself writing it, I started to go “oh no… this is actually a lot of fun.”

 

Lizzy: What made you start Horror Scholar Journal?

Cecilia: Frustration and a drive to lead a project, honestly. At the time—I don’t fully remember the line of thought, but I remember being frustrated at the gap between being an independent academic (not backed by a university, therefore less credible) and needing my work published. And I sort of thought, “You know what? I’m gonna do it myself. I’m gonna make a change here.”

 

Lizzy: The inaugural Issue of Horror Scholar Journal which focuses on American Horror Story was great. Could you talk about your American Horror Story research you started prior to the journal?

Cecilia: Thank you! So in 2015, I started conceptualizing a thesis about the usage of sexual violence on AHS, but I didn’t have the numbers to back it up, which resulted in me starting a data project to record and process all the incidents of sexual violence on the show. I’ll be doing that until the show ends and I’m currently almost caught up – I’ve got to finish the numbers for the previous season.

 

Lizzy: So, Hannibal is the focus of Issue 2. What made you want to focus on this iconic horror figure?

Cecilia: One of the things that pushed me was the passion of his fans! The Hannibal fandom is SO ALIVE. While I know is most certainly due to the 2013 show, there are still tons and tons of classic Lecter fans out there. When I put the call for theme suggestions out on Twitter, the Hannibal fans answered strongest of all. It’s a rich canon, the books & movies are great, and it made for a bunch of very strong essays.

 

Lizzy: What can we expect for more themes of future issues of Horror Scholar Journal?

Cecilia: Phew. My girlfriend most recently suggested the Alien franchise, which is a pretty strong bid. Ideally, I’d like to take on things that aren’t the most obvious suggestions. Like, I’d never do “Dracula” or “Frankenstein” because the topics have been diced every which way already.

 

Lizzy: Why should librarians recommend Horror Scholar Journal as a resource?

Cecilia: I’ve always seen librarians as a particularly revolutionary and rebellious arm of academia, so I think my goals for Horror Scholar align with those sentiments – accessibility (both intellectually and financially), critical thought, creativity.

 

Lizzy: Do you have any upcoming projects you would like to mention?

Cecilia: I’m prepping a paper on vampire identity and social strata in What We Do In The Shadows and Being Human (UK). While I’m secretly not hyped for this paper, I AM hyped for attending the Popular Culture Association Conference for the first time to present it!

 

Lizzy: How can people get in touch with you for more information?

Cecilia: My email, horrorscholar@gmail.com is fine – OR we’re available on FB and Twitter! www.facebook.com/horrorscholar or www.twitter.com/scholarhorror.

Magazine Review: Horror Scholar Volume 1, edited by Cecelia Abate

Horror Scholar Journal Volume 1 edited by Cecilia Abate

Horror Scholar, 2019

Available: free and online at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-dPP15cficp5M8LxuSHz5K5TKLSqxo8J/view

This is a review for the first issue of Horror Scholar’s (Cecilia Abate) experimental themed literary magazine, Horror Scholar Journal, Volume 1. She launched the journal “in response to the intimidating process of pitching to formal literary magazines and the niche community of horror scholars looking to further their work” (p. 4). The focus of the first issue is American Horror Story.

Spinster Eskie, in the article titled “Coven’s Forgettable Witch”, discusses the blank canvas trope in horror, focusing on Zoe and how her role was “a safe bet for the series (white, boring, etc.)”. Rather than taking a chance on giving attention to Queenie or Nana would have rejected tradition, something the author argues that witches typically break.

In Dodie Miller-Gould’s article, “Gothic Representations of Mothers and Daughters in AHS: Freakshow“, uses Gothic tropes to discuss Elsa Mars and her mothering, or lack thereof, regarding Dot and Bette Tattler, and Barbara (Imma Wiggles).

Abate herself argues, in “The Pop-Horror Temporality of Cult and Apocalypse“, that these two seasons in particular stand out as being closer to the viewer than the others, as they address what was occurring and worrying people at that point in time. This is especially true of Cult and its political commentary.

The last article, Paula Ashe’s “Class Anxiety in Murder House“, presents good information, but is admittedly a dense read. Ashe argues that American Horror Story: Murder House is “an ideologically potent response to the realities of risk society colliding with the values of neoliberalism” (p. 25),  and that “at its heart, American Horror Story is a conservative morality tale about a neoliberal family in material crisis”(p. 22), making valuable points in that regard. Be prepared for a lot of information in this one.

I think the only criticism I have for this volume is that it could go through another edit, as I noticed a few typos, but other than that, this was a very solid first issue for Horror Scholar Journal. It is worth a read if you are interested in horror analysis, but be warned that if you have not viewed the seasons of American Horror Story that are discussed, there are spoilers ahead. I’m looking forward to the next issue. Highly recommended.

Contains: spoilers

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker