Investigating the Uncanny in the Gothic Fiction The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening (1979) by Lisa Jane Smith

Abstract

Vampires have a long, rich, and thriving history especially during the 18th century. As a myth, they are varied between origins and characteristics and spread around the world. This dissertation aims at shedding light on the emergence of the uncanny elements from an environment of fictional characters and events provided by this literary work where myths of vampirism and what relates to it contribute in this process. It follows an analytical approach for extracting the elements of the uncanny from Lisa Jane Smith’s The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening (1979). In three chapters, this study tries to examine both the myth and history played parts in the start of the vampires in literature in the early 19th century that went on to reach the world of cinema and television. With regard to all this, the analysis of The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening shows the contribution of vampiric myths and what they include in conjuring the uncanny elements due to the supernatural events and being of the characters.