The Uncanny and The Haunting of Hill House

One example of the uncanny which is popular today is the Netflix adaptation of Shirley Jackson's gothic horror tale The Haunting of Hill House. The show follows the Crane family as they reflect on their time spent as children in Hill House and how it still affects them as adults. Some examples of the uncanny in the series are the double, as well as the idea of an inanimate object, the house, becoming animate, and childhood repressed memories appearing in adulthood.

The double appears throughout the show as Nelly Crane is plagued with the sighting of 'the bent neck lady' from childhood and again when she is an adult. Nelly struggles with these visions and even attributes them to the cause of adverse events in her life. Freud's idea that the double becomes a 'harbinger of death' becomes clear when viewers learn that bent neck lady is, in fact, Nelly herself.

The most uncanny character throughout the series is the house itself. Throughout the show each episode slowly reveals that the house somehow has a motive of its own for its residents and manipulates them into acting out its plans. We learn toward the end that the house wants to keep the Crane family, essentially absorbing their essence or soul in some way so that they reside within its walls forever. The house relates to Freud's idea of being fearful of something which is usually familiar, and also the notion that an inanimate object like a house can become alive.

The most obvious theme throughout the series is how childhood memories resurface in adulthood and cause fear and uneasiness among the siblings. The Crane's have spent most of their lives trying to forget Hill House and how it affected them as children causing them to lose their mother. After Nelly dies in the house, the sibling's memories and fears of the house begin to return to them, and they have to face fears that they have spent their lives trying to avoid.

There are many examples of the Uncanny in Shirley Jackson's Haunting of Hill House. However, these examples are the most obvious to viewers throughout the series. The house itself is probably the most creepy aspect of the show knowing that something that is not living and represents stability, togetherness, and safety could become a sinister character is a disturbing thought.

The Uncanny

The Uncanny was a very interesting story to me because I’ve always thought about the “what ifs” and supernatural things that occurs in life. It’s learned that the “home” for Freud is something like a secret place, and the unhomely, “uncanny”, is something that was a secret but has been revealed. In Freud’s Uncanny text, it states “ an uncanny effect arises when the boundary between fantasy and reality is blurred, when we are faced with the reality of something that we have until now considered imaginary…(150)”. A good example of something along the lines of the uncanny is the evil chucky doll in Child’s Play. The doll was possessed by a murderer name Charles Lee Ray in which he performed a ritual causing his spirit to live inside of the chucky doll. People started dying because of the doll, and noone wanted to believe the owner of the doll, Andy, when he tried warning people that the doll was possessed and were the reasons for all of the killings happening. People only started seeing the doll in action when they were either going to be killed, or when the doll made an attempt to kill them and wasn’t successful in doing so because Andy would help them get away in time. I feel that this helps us understand the supernatural because just like Freud explained with things being familiar but unfamiliar at the same time, and you’re uncertainty especially when there's a life or death situation and there aren’t clear answers to what is causing these horrific events. It also helps understand the fears because it gives us something to think about much more than human life like what if my doll had the ability to turn on a switch and come to life killing people and people looking at me sideways because they’re convinced that I committed the crime. Growing up watching disney movies like the Toy Story, I always wondered if toys were really alive and socialized like humans when humans weren’t present. Crazy as it sounds I use to talk to my toys to try and see if it would talk to me back. I was so intrigued with the Toy Story movie that I even went overboard once when I was a kid by putting all of my toys on my bed and I set up a camera in my room and watched the toys for hours hoping that they would move, talk, or do something that showed some form of life.

The Uncanny

The concept of uncanny helps people distinguished what they are familiar with from what they believe in. Many people don’t find some horror movies or film as uncanny, but others do, depending on the context and its underlying portrayal. I think for the most part when a person identifies a certain thing/person as uncanny, they are using the characterization of past or unconscious memories to challenge what they know or think they know, but really are unsure of what to expect next.

I rarely watch horror movies, but I remember growing up I used to watch SCREAM and although it is marked as a horror film, to me it does not have that uncanny affect because of the ridiculous costume the killer wears, and in the most recent SCREAM the humor overpowers the horror, in my opinion. 

In this movie, the killer has a mask/costume and goes around killing people unexpectedly, but one uncanny part about this film is that people are uncertain about whether the killer will get them next. However, the audience is aware of the tension buildup that something is about to happen, and the emotional reactions force the viewers to realize the fear that something is out there, and that they must be “alert” at all times.

For me, this relates to religion because we are afraid of the unknown, yet we go everyday living our normal lives, but when tragedy strikes we are forced to recognized that there is a something out there whether it be God or a certain killer, that we must be on alert for, and ready to face at any given time.

Another aspect of uncanny also applies to literature. For example, back in high school I was obsessed with the Twilight Saga, and the Vampire Diaries; both the books and the movie/tv show. In these two examples, uncanny is define as a doppelganger or a reflection of what we know versus what we don’t know as unfamiliar.  

For example, in the first twilight movie, Bella is being uproot from her hometown to a new mysterious town. Unfamiliar with the town, she finds herself attracted to this mysterious, odd looking guy (Edward), and from then on things go downhill. Immediately, readers and viewers are drawn in by the suspense as soon as she learns that he is a vampire. As Freud states, “one of the surest devices for producing slightly uncanny effects through storytelling writes Jentsch, ‘is to leave the reader wondering whether a particular figure is a real person or automaton” (135).  This is especially true for readers who have never seen the films, the suspense leads to the questioning if Edward really does possess these skills to stay awake for hundreds of thousands of years, or if the other character Jacob can really have the powers to change into a wolf.

The movie aspect really captures the uncanny is when in the third or fourth adaption, Bella must hide from the voltures, I think that’s what the group is called, but somehow, they catch onto her human scent.

The idea of suspense, the unknown, and familiarity all gives us the sense that something coming that we think we know, and can handle, but when face with the unknown we tend to question our familiarity and begin to have doubts about what’s real versus what is unreal. These movies/tv shows and literature help us see that whether we believe in ghosts vampires, or other aspects of supernatural, we as humans are wired to reacted without thinking, and then once that fear subsides we question the uncertainty of our beliefs and knowledge.

C2E2 Overview

C2E2 seems like an incredible atmosphere not only for fanatics of superhumans and fantasy, but for anyone looking for a place to feel accepted and have fun. Personally the only big-scale convention I've attended was the Wizard World Comic Con back in 2015, which had similar set of activities such as celebrity panels, encouraged cosplay contests, souvenir booths, etc. What I found most interesting when reading about this convention however was just how progressive their approach to popular culture was. Something that stuck out to me was a panel on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and why representation matters. The fact that this event is utilizing the mass attention from the pop culture phenomena to bring notice to societal issues makes it all the more appealing.

Along with the positive political aspects, there are also a plethora of exciting themed games and discussions ranging from comic legends discussing the impact of their works, theatrical workshops, as well as cast reunions from some of your favorite cult classics. What makes conventions like these so intriguing is really the fact that they are the epitome of "geek culture". So many around the world find themselves existing in a sort of subculture of the general public, much like the previous reading we had on Religion and Comic Con by Broadsky, explaining that feeling of belonging you feel amongst all of the hype around something you are passionate for. Growing up I was very connected with sci-fi and fantasy shows or films, and always found myself writing short stories within that same genre. Although I may not have felt that same connection with many of my peers, I knew I always had that part of my life to rely on. Events like these are important because they create a safe place for everyone to find joy and acceptance, especially those who dedicate the majority of their lives to these films, series', comics, artists, and so on and so forth. I think its incredible how progressive they have become as well, pushing a regime filled with equality, representation, and overall positivity for everyone involved.

The Uncanny

In our reading of Freud's essay on the "uncanny", we learned about the idea of the familiar being the slightest bit unsettling, much with the case of doppelgängers. This concept refers to essentially a double, although it may not be harmful, the idea of seeing yourself from an outside perspective can be extremely intriguing, as well as something somewhat haunting. It's just so out of the ordinary, it is best described as none other than uncanny. Along with this, uncanny opens up the possibility of more than just another version of yourself, but anything otherworldly. For instance, the thought of inanimate objects suddenly becoming animate, a trend in numerous horror flicks from old to contemporary. Some may just see these as entertaining plot twists, but many leave the film questioning whether there may be some reality to the concept. 

From a personal experience, I remember being around nine or ten years old, a year or so before my aunt passed away, she told me I could take something home from her basement. Now this wasn't a strange concept at the time just because not only was that a furnished part of her home and actually her bedroom, but she also collected a lot of pop culture memorabilia throughout the years, so one section of her basement actually had a bunch of really cool things in it that I secretly wished I could have for myself. The one thing I did end up taking was a replica of a ventriloquist dummy from the old series Peewee's Playhouse, Billy Bologna. My parents liked to expose me to many different forms of entertainment so that was actually a show we watched together sometimes, making me all the more eager to take the dummy home, that along with my obsession with the R.L. Stine Goosebumps series. Although I was filled with excitement on the ride home, the second we got there I realized there was no way that dummy was staying in my room, because obviously it was destined to come to life as I slept. It was so crazy to me, how could I be so fascinated with something and yet be terrified to live amongst it?

This instance alone makes me think on numerous times I have had an experience like this, and how relevant the uncanny is to every day life. I also feel as though the familiarity concept makes it all the more intriguing in the horror and thriller genre. Portraying things that people often have experience with that makes them the slightest bit unsettling is a great way to grasp organic suspense and genuine reactions.

The Lottery

In class, we were given the reading The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. As I was reading this story it was familiar to me, however, I can not remember if I have read it before or if it was something similar to it. I will admit that while reading I was confused about what type of lottery this town was conducting and why everyone had to be there for it. It is mentioned that this "lottery" happens every year and has been a part of this community forever. In this community, you can tell that people care about tradition, especially since they continue to go to this lottery and have been using the same black box that is now described as shabby and splintered. Thoughts of a new box have arisen but nothing is ever done about it. As the story goes on, the type of lottery still isn't mentioned. All that is mentioned is that every head of household will come to the black box and receive a paper and they are not allowed to look at this paper until everyone has been given one. I, personally, don't know if I'd be able to not look at my paper if I were given one. Personally, eagerness would overcome me and I would have a sneak peek. Once everyone has been given a piece of paper they would be able to open and look. As I was reading I was shocked that no one was ecstatic about winning the lottery, once everyone opened their paper no one was surprised or even speaking. It took someone from another family to say something. That is the point of the story that I knew it was not a good lottery. It wasn't anything like Mega Millions or Powerball or anything that we would know as a lottery now. Throughout this whole story, we do not know what exactly is happening. Although the townspeople know what is happening they are still unsure of the outcome. The story itself is basically about peer pressure. The families all come together and in the end, they end up targeting one family and down to one person in that family. Although it may be a friend of theirs they will still stone them to death because it is their tradition. The unknown is a very uncomfortable place to be in and while reading this story you can tell that you as a reader are stuck in an unknown place.

c2e2

"Nerds, nerds everywhere, nerds dressed up as their favorite comic character" as described by a friend of mine who attended C2E2 this year. I personally have never been a person who was obsessed/interested with superheroes, anime, or anything related to those. So to me, C2E2 was just another comic event that I never heard of. As the weekend of the event passed I tried to ask my friend for more information about the event; things he did, things he saw, things he really enjoyed. And the response I got from him was that it's an event that brings people who enjoy the same type of comic together and allows them to feel as if they were a character in that story. It allows people with common interest to come together and support each other's fan art, comics, hobbies, etc. His response wasn't too far off to the description that is on the C2E2 website "if you've always dreamed of attending the biggest geek party in the Midwest, this is your weekend to get wild and cut loose with fellow Chicago nerds. The most epic memories and awesome lasting friendships are forged at Chicago's home of pop culture... C2E2!" The fact that his response was so close to the description of the actual event shows that this event really does hold to its mission statement and people truly believe that it is a place to come together. C2E2 has been an event held in Chicago for almost 10 years and continues to grow as the years go on. At the event there are many things held, celebrity guest comes, discussion panels, competitions, etc. Looking at the website you can see how this event has changed of the years, which celebrities have made appearances, who the event poster has changed, who the sponsors are, and more. C2E2 also auctions off art to raise money for St. Jude children's hospital. This is something special and continues to grow yearly. After looking into the event, it is something that i would like to experience one day.

Chicago Comic & Entertainment expo that's formally known as C2E2 is a three day log event that's involves pretty much anything that is related to pop culture entertainment from movies, video games, TV shows,  toys, and plenty of more. The events main purpose is to allow fans from across the world to come enjoy those special connections with people that have that same interest as them. People spend a lot of money on creating venues, displays, and dressing as up fan favorite characters sometimes just to win contests. There's people that prepare for a complete year to get ready for this event to win championships. I look at it is a competitive hobby in a way because it takes so much time and energy to get into character and design a costume. Not only do they give out cash prizes, but they also give out some sponsorship. I think its pretty cool when some of the famous celebrities even show up to interact with the fans giving speeches, signing autographs and taking pictures. C2E2 can be used as a platform for artist to represent themselves with their own artistic talents. I'm actually thinking about going to one of the events just based off the hype built up around it.

C2E2

         When reading about C2E2 I saw a few interesting things on the chicago tribune that had caught my attention was some of their focus on race, gender, and just overall diversity in the community. I realized that C2E2 isn't just based on showing off comics and showing off costumes like movies portray them, it's about coming together as one and sending out positive messages.

          I like how diversity is brought up on the website and how diversity is show in general among the audiences who were there and those who couldn't physically be there. It was highlighted near the end of the chicago tribune post that they really showed a lot of diversity in comics now then they ever had. As they stated on the website, there has been an increase of comics that are now centered around people of color. These comics would include spider into the spider verse, and Blank panther which is based around people of color.

          I previously went onto the website to get a better feel and understanding of the event and I can tell that they put a lot of effort into their advertising. As you're scrolling down the website you can tell that they strategy to set up the website and the design. I think the moving images helped in their attempt to attract people and that worked.


           They have many different kinds of guests from comic guests, entertainment guests, gaming guests, and Literary guests. Some guests that are going to be there are actors from clueless, blacklist, scrubs, ant-man, and marvels agent of shield.

            I also didn't see that much press coverage. I know this is a big event but the way it's advertised on the website was very lowkey and calm. I've seen other websites go even further for small events. But when you think about it, it's already so important that they don't have to go to the extreme to bring people in. I appreciate how they didn't go overboard with the advertising. It was very appealing to the eyes and made you want to delve deeper into what the event was about.

C2E2 is a convention for people that have a deep love for the comics, anime video games, popular movies, and tv shows, superheroes or just want to hear some of their fav celeb superhero actors speak about their character.

To me, this event just brings people that have the same common interest and it brings them together to see different things, hear different people speak about what they know about comics and any pop culture things relates to superheroes or anime. It becomes a panel for people to speak about how they may feel about certain comics that are out or any type of recent that has come out.

Witch Hunts

The term "witch hunt," and the act itself has been something that has been a significant part in U.S. history for quite a long time and continues to be till this day.

Although witch hunts were originally quite literally about hunting witches, the term has come to mean something not so literal but still has almost the exact same meaning, just with an ironic twist.

If you were to look up the phrase in the dictionary you would find two examples of things that are pretty closely related if you are able to use your imagination.

1. (Historical definition) A search for and subsequent persecution of a supposed witch
2. (Modern definition) A campaign directed against a person or group holding unorthodox or unpopular views

Back in the time of the Salem witch hunts, the people who were being accused of witchcraft weren't necessarily always witches but were still having fingers pointed at them without proof. This is a good example of what that term means in this century. The term witch hunt has come to be somewhat ironic.

In the reading ‘The Enemy Within,’ author John Demos writes about a handful of interesting examples throughout history of situations that could be considered “witch hunts,” and how most of the time the people being accused of fraternizing with the devil most likely weren’t, and the accusations in many cases were simply caused by mass hysteria brought on by mis-information and the strong sense that anything bad that happened without clear explanation had to have at least a few ties with demonic activity or witchcraft.

I found it interesting how Demos alludes to a thought  that although it does not erase the fact that witchcraft, evil/bad activity,  and demonic interference is real, most of the worlds witch hunts ended with historians coming to the conclusion that most events had nothing to do with any of that.

In today’s society, the word witch hunt is still very relevant and in the way it is used, it can be said that the meaning of the term didn’t change too much. Although sometimes used very flagrantly by politicians and people in the wrong who deserved to be called out for their mistakes, it is important to note that even without demons  or witchcraft being involved like in the old days, a witch hunt is simply a term for when the public creates a hysteria around something that wasn’t necessarily evil at all in the first place, due to the need to blame misfortune on something or someone.

Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo

Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, aka C2E2, is a three-day convention dedicated to all things entertainment and pop-culture such as comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, popular movies, television, and general "nerdy media."

This event serves as a place where fans of this specific genre can have a deeper connection with their favorite forms of media through things like dressing up as their favorite characters, purchasing various items that have to do with their favorite things, and listening to celebs who play a part in their favorite movies or tv shows speak in front of live audiences on panels, and opportunities to meet up with celebrities as well. The event hosts all sorts of things like movie premieres, celebrity interviews, games, escape rooms, concerts, raffles, interactive events throughout the convention with prizes involved, and autographs.

Con-goers can even participate in events such as costume contests that are judged by real celebs and even award real money prizes out for winning; a cash prize of up to $1,000 for winning something is not uncommon at these events. After the local costume contests, winners chosen are also eligible to participate in a global championship to compete against people from all over the world, particularly Australia, China, Austria, Singapore, Indonesia, India, and France. The winners of the global event not only just gain exposure, but can win up to $5,000, and even have the opportunity to gain sponsors.

Something that I found to be interesting is just how focused on art and artists that the event is. People can not only gather to share and view each other's art, but it is also a chance for aspiring comic-artists to get themselves out there in the comic world. The website features a whole page just for artists, and people can directly tag their own websites along with this.

Another thing that I found interesting and was made very clear on the C2E2 website was how much of the proceeds of these events go to charity and other various causes. Even if you're not into comic conventions, the one thing that you cannot deny is that they definitely do more good than not. Something the event really promotes is giving blood, and it even gives quests to donate blood at the event. Apparently, guests and celebrities are also encouraged to donate money at the event, and due to the massive amount of guests  (with an estimated attendance between 20,000 and 30,000 attendees in it's first year, and rising every year beyond) it's not wrong to guess that this event not only just profits for itself, but also most likely puts a significant amount of that money back into charity.

The belief in the unknown

Why are some people afraid of Horror movies, religion, the supernatural, and others believe in the power of good in these things? I never really took the time to stop and think about why others like myself choose to believe in certain aspects of things that can provoke fear, and others not so much. Fear can help and hinder our sense whether we realize it or not.

For some people fear provides that sense of excitement and arousal that in turn leads a person to seek out that source, but for others fear is what people often repressed. For example, a child growing up afraid of the dark, could fear that someone is out to get them when fear is just something that one is used to fearing.

I don’t remember fearing anything in my childhood like ghost, monsters, etc., but I do remember at the age of twelve I experience my grandmother’s death, and right to this day I cannot sleep in her room because I feel like the ghost of her spirit still lives on. Fear has a way to create suspicious and conspiracy in a way that forces a person to not only have that negative emotion, but to also believe in things that sound silly. 

Something about the intensity, the power, and the believing that something is out there only alerts our senses, and makes us want to jump in fear, or react in away that gets our senses awaken, that is what horror movies, and supernatural does to us. For example, nobody knows whether there is a devil, yet that fear of him is very strong. Why? Because we all have heard time after time again about who he is and what his purpose is. We have all seen those red fiery images of the devil and other creatures that are used to scared little children, so when people watch movies, especially horror movies, that familiarity jumps out at use causing us to categorize that image, description, or thing with what we know, and believe. 

Storytelling is also another way that fear can frighten or get people to believe in the unknown. I have heard so many stories from the time I was child about the spirits of the dead that I have come to believe that this “supernatural” voices and spirits are present in real life. For some people fear can lead to doubt, but that doubt in turns leads to a sense of unknown. It is hard to believe whether what we hear is true or not, but that fear that is often instilled into our brains forces us to protect what we believe in versus what we don’t know about.

For example, the short story, “The Lottery” is a perfect example of how we fear the unknown and never see how some things are coming. Everyday people go about their lives not expecting the unknown, but when the unknown does come then fear takes over.