Spaces are determined not only by their physical qualities, but also by the narratives created during their occupation. These persistent yet ephemeral stories infuse our experience of space with meaning and can be the vehicle through which we consciously express our world view and explore our evolving identity. In architecture, the immaterial is explained as a ‘genius loci’, a spirit tied to a physical space that gives it a specific character and allows for deep connection and identification to occur. Through an exploration of metaphors that have traditionally conveyed the presence of immaterial forces, this thesis reveals how the relationship between psyche and space is embedded in a logic of the imagination; interpreting the experience of space in a language of light and shadow. Additionally this thesis examines how spaces are transformed through the psychological process of mental projection and explores how associations that are deeply rooted in the collective unconscious affect the inner world of the individual. Architecture is therefore seen not as a practice that is psychologically neutral but one that is filled with rich emotional content. To build, constitutes a way to bring order, to set boundaries, to transform the apparent chaos of the world into a comprehendible form. This thesis investigates how the experience of inhabiting can be a catalyst for the imagination to project layers of memory, myth and symbolism onto a location, thereby facilitating the translation of space into place. For Architects the conscious incorporation and evocation of the immaterial is seen as a vital and necessary process that can uniquely contribute to the ensouling of architecture, and the creation of meaningful places.

This dissertation begins with a critical preface that examines the haunted present and its impact on writing for third and fourth generation Holocaust survivors. Then follows a collection of poetry and prose that examine themes of intergenerational trauma, experiences of the Shoah, grief, and chronic illness.

Though the cinematic genre of horror was not designated until the twentieth century, elements of this genre have appeared onstage since the time of the Greeks. Theatre history is rife with examples of theatrical ghosts and horrors, whose ever-changing representation indicates society's evolving relationship to and expectation for horror onstage. In 2019, Virginia Tech presented the installation Poe's Shadows, which combined elements of traditional theatre, original art, and innovative technology to present an immersive experience of Edgar Allan Poe's work. This production was a unique collaborative work that combined the creative labor of both faculty and students, while also invoking past horror theatre techniques and technologies. The properties of the Cube performance space allowed the Poe's Shadows creative team to imitate hand-cranked panoramas, magic lantern shows, and shadow plays, while also using sound effects and narration that combined elements of theatrical tradition and ghost shows. By studying the history of Poe's Shadows, as well as the reception of the installation, one can see how the theatre's evolving relationship with horror is effected by audience demand and expectation, as well as newly available technologies. / Master of Arts / Though the horror genre is most often associated with books and films, elements of the genre have been present onstage for thousands of years. Furthermore, studying these theatrical ghosts and ghouls—and how they were represented onstage— can help contemporary audiences understand historical anxieties and expectations. In 2019, Virginia Tech presented the installation Poe’s Shadows, which combined elements of traditional theatre, original art, and innovative technology to present an immersive experience of Edgar Allan Poe’s work. This production was a unique collaborative work that combined the creative labor of both faculty and students, while also invoking past horror theatre techniques such as hand-cranked panoramas, magic lantern shows, and shadow plays, accompanied by with sound effects and narration that combined elements of theatrical tradition and ghost shows. By studying the history of Poe’s Shadows, as well as the reception of the installation, one can see how the theatre’s evolving relationship with horror is effected by audience expectation and newly available technologies.

When an aspiring interior designer embattled with insecurity about her dirt poor upbringing becomes enamored with her fiancé's family estate–the wedding venue–she finds herself embroiled in the literal rot and decay festering within the dream location after visions of a ghost threaten her fairytale ending.

Haunted heritage plays an important part in a late modern society in which death is supressed. Parallel with societal changes there is an upsurge of interest in the non-institutional paranormal beliefs. This thesis examines and analyses a museum named Haunted Museum in the town of Borås in Sweden. It is the only museum dedicated to haunted objects in the Nordic countries. This thesis examines what makes this museum special by using triangulation method. Haunted Museum is examined with a site visit, compared with a qualitative text analysis in which the content and meaning of texts surrounding the Haunted Museum are examined. The third triangulation method is a survey study that examines the motivations and factors influencing people visiting the museum. The results show that people visiting the Haunted Museum are motivated by personal interest in non-institutional paranormal beliefs. The museum uses an active and productive online community with other pedagogical methods to create a participatory, engaging and ever-changing museum. The museum also plays an important existential part for people donating haunted objects. Before entering the museum these haunted objects have been described to cause different problems in their homes. Haunted objects have an ability to create an uncanny atmosphere in the space surrounding them. The Haunted Museum and its owners of paranormal investigators uses the experience of the uncanny alongside with techno-scientific methods in an attempt to document and research paranormal phenomenon. They are driven by a desire to explore an outer-worldly and inner-worldly reality inhabited with spirits from the dead. This spiritual practice uses the two binary opposite worldviews created by the secularization process in the modern society. Thus dialectically transcending the two opposites reclaiming the importance of the immaterial reality and its spiritual heritage. This is a two years master´s thesis in Museum and Cultural Heritage Studies.

This thesis is focused on the intersection between horror, gender and politics in American haunted house films. Taking a “spherological” approach, the author argues that horror is evidence of a spherical breakdown, or a violation of existential space. Applying this approach to Hollywood haunted house films, the author demonstrates how those movies have, in the years since 2005, responded to a masculinity crisis discourse: by figuring haunting as a horrific disruption of paternal authority by violent masculine entities and powerful female ones, film-makers situate the movies in that discourse. By positing “security moms” (Grewal: 2006) and “paternal sovereigns” (Gunn: 2008) as responses to the crisis, the films construct a domestic space where women are militant mothers and men are sovereigns. Because the family is an important metaphor for the American nation (Lakoff: 2002), this construction can be seen as part of a paternalistic national politics. Cette thèse se concentre sur l’intersection de l’horreur, le genre et la politique dans des filmes américains de maison hantée. En prenant une approche “sphérologique,” l’auteur constate que l’éclatement d’une sphère existentielle s’accompagne du sentiment d’horreur. Concernant les films de maison hantée, l’auteur démontre comment ces objets-là se sont adressés, depuis 2005, au discours de la crise de masculinité: en figurant l’hantise comme la subversion de l’autorité du père par des menaces masculins et féminins, les réalisateurs mettent les films dans la trajectoire du discours de la crise. À fin de répondre à la crise, les films construisent l’espace doméstique de façon que les femmes soient des mères militantes (les “security moms”) (Grewal: 2006) et les pères soient souverains (les “souverains paternels”) (Gunn: 2008). Finalement, car la famille reste une métaphore importante de la nation Américaine (Lakoff: 2002), cette construction peut être vue comme partie de la paternalisme nationale.

This thesis is focused on the intersection between horror, gender and politics in American haunted house films. Taking a “spherological” approach, the author argues that horror is evidence of a spherical breakdown, or a violation of existential space. Applying this approach to Hollywood haunted house films, the author demonstrates how those movies have, in the years since 2005, responded to a masculinity crisis discourse: by figuring haunting as a horrific disruption of paternal authority by violent masculine entities and powerful female ones, film-makers situate the movies in that discourse. By positing “security moms” (Grewal: 2006) and “paternal sovereigns” (Gunn: 2008) as responses to the crisis, the films construct a domestic space where women are militant mothers and men are sovereigns. Because the family is an important metaphor for the American nation (Lakoff: 2002), this construction can be seen as part of a paternalistic national politics. Cette thèse se concentre sur l’intersection de l’horreur, le genre et la politique dans des filmes américains de maison hantée. En prenant une approche “sphérologique,” l’auteur constate que l’éclatement d’une sphère existentielle s’accompagne du sentiment d’horreur. Concernant les films de maison hantée, l’auteur démontre comment ces objets-là se sont adressés, depuis 2005, au discours de la crise de masculinité: en figurant l’hantise comme la subversion de l’autorité du père par des menaces masculins et féminins, les réalisateurs mettent les films dans la trajectoire du discours de la crise. À fin de répondre à la crise, les films construisent l’espace doméstique de façon que les femmes soient des mères militantes (les “security moms”) (Grewal: 2006) et les pères soient souverains (les “souverains paternels”) (Gunn: 2008). Finalement, car la famille reste une métaphore importante de la nation Américaine (Lakoff: 2002), cette construction peut être vue comme partie de la paternalisme nationale.

Houses in literature are an important signifier, and for Canadian author L.M. Montgomery, places and especially houses were deeply meaningful. This study explores the portrayal of houses and homes in a selection of L.M. Montgomery’s novels: Anne of Green Gables (1908), Anne of Avonlea (1909), Anne of the Island (1915), Anne’s House of Dreams (1917), Emily of New Moon (1923), The Blue Castle (1926), Emily Climbs (1927), Emily’s Quest (1928), A Tangled Web (1931), Pat of Silver Bush (1933), Mistress Pat (1935), Anne of Windy Willows (1936), and Jane of Lantern Hill (1937). Montgomery’s own attachment to houses and places is evident from The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, Volumes 1-5 (1985-2004), Mary Rubio’s biography, Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings (2008) and Montgomery’s letters, My Dear Mr. M: Letters to G.B. MacMillan from L.M. Montgomery (1980). This study argues that, given Montgomery’s emphasis on the physical environment of her own life, the environment which surrounds the characters of her novels is equally important for deciphering meanings conveyed in her books. Therefore, the study attempts to ascertain what houses in Montgomery’s fiction communicate, drawing on theories of place attachment and emotional relationships with places to explain the significance of the houses in these novels and Montgomery’s depiction of them and their relation to the characters. Research on place attachment and the meaning of home helps to clarify the significance of houses in these novels. Prior analysis of Montgomery’s novels is also taken into account, as well as studies on the house in other fiction. The study shows that the houses in Montgomery’s fiction often function as a symbol for the self. They also facilitate or prevent actions or events which involve the characters, and fulfil the needs of the characters, whether these needs be physical or emotional. I use these functions as an interpretive lens through which I attempt to illuminate aspects of Montgomery’s depiction of houses in these novels as dream houses, haunted houses, houses of nostalgia or escape. Montgomery uses houses to situate the characters in her novels, both physically and emotionally. Close analysis of the passages relating to houses in these novels reveals the depth of detail, the imagery and symbolism, and Montgomery’s careful selection of words and phrases. / Dissertation (MA (English))--University of Pretoria, 2017. / English / MA (English) / Unrestricted

Spiritualism was a popular cultural movement that flourished in the late-19th century across the United States and eventually Europe. While there were many facets of its philosophy, the primary conviction behind Spiritualism was that spirits of the dead could communicate with the living through human mediums. Although this basic definition of Spiritualism is virtually uncontested in contemporary scholarship, the cultural causes of the movement remain a highly debated topic. Historians have proposed a variety of theories for Spiritualism's inception, but none have yet to explore the economic motivations behind the movement. Spiritualism was, in fact, a vital commercial enterprise that spurred entrepreneurial and consumption opportunities for thousands of nascent capitalists. During the movement's prime, a host of Spiritualist merchandise was mass produced and marketed, including talking boards, spirit photographs, séances, and planchettes. Together, these products were produced and consumed in what became an "economy of the supernatural"--a thriving industry based on the desire to communicate with deceased humans. Through analysis of product advertisements and opinions raised about the issue found in mass media, this thesis will demonstrate that economic motivation was behind every aspect of Spiritualist practice. No part of the movement was left untouched by the desire for financial gain. Furthermore, this thesis argues that while various cultural forces influencing Spiritualism would diminish over time, the movement was able to sustain itself through the development of an economy of supernatural products and services, many of which continue to be produced to this very day. / History

Dark tourism, understood as the type of tourism that relates to a visit to real or recreated places associated with death,suffering,misfortune or the apparently macabre, is not a new concept even from the touristic point of view. As a matter of fact,sites of war, disaster, death and atrocities have always cut the human eye and which made these sites a place curious enough for tourists to visit. As human beings, we have long been drawn either purposefully or if not towards places, attractions or circumstances that are connected in one way or another with death, suffering, violence and disaster. The idea about dark tourism has been designed and studied for the last decade and many were about understanding the motivations behind going or coming a dark tourist and the experiences the dark tourist seeks. But there is little research about the emotions that are involved in dark tourism from the tourist point of view when part-taking in ghost tourism and visiting places and sites that are said to be haunted. This Study focuses on exploring the emotions individuals and tourists seek to experience when they engage in special interest tourism like dark tourism and its experience by visiting haunted attractions. Using a case study of the Baron Palace which is a haunted attraction in Egypt. Studies on emotions are very limited in the tourism industry and talkless of dark tourism which is travelling to sites associated with death, suffering and atrocities.