After 9/11, the world felt the “shock and awe” of the War on Terror. But that war also exploded inside novels, films, comics, and gaming. Danel Olson investigates why the paranormal, ghostly, and conspiratorial entered such media between 2002-2022, and how this Gothic presence connects to the most recent theories on PTSD. Set in New York/Gotham, Afghanistan, Iraq, and CIA black sites, the traumatic and weird works interrogated here ask how killing affects the killers. The protagonists probed are artillery, infantry, and armored-cavalry soldiers; military intelligence; the Air Force; counter-terrorism officers of the NYPD, NCIS, FBI, and CIA; and even the ultimate crime-fighting vigilante, Batman.
Author(s): Danel Olson
Series: Palgrave Gothic
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 330
City: Cham
Acknowledgements
Praise for Gothic War on Terror
Contents
About the Author
List of Figures
Part I: Introduction: The Sandstorm of War
Chapter 1: Interpreting Gothic Presence Inside the Global War on Terror’s Novels, Comics, Movies, and Video Games Via Trauma Theory
References
Part II: Novels
Chapter 2: Jess Walter’s The Zero (2006): Terrorism, Lovers, & WTC Apparitions
Critical Reception
Autoimmunity Disease
Ghosts
Torture
Interrogation
Ghost Bars and Familiar Strangers
Conclusion
References
Chapter 3: J. Robert Lennon’s Castle (2009): Behaviorism, Protégés, & Ghost Detainees
References
Chapter 4: Joyce Carol Oates’ Carthage (2014): Death, Maidens, & Revenant Witnesses
Frankenstein’s Creature
References
Part III: Comics
Chapter 5: Rick Veitch and Gary Erskine’s Army@LOVE (2007–2009): Recruitment, Orgies, & Hairy Monsters
References
Chapter 6: Kyle Baker’s Special Forces (2009): Jihad, Infantrywomen, & Orphan Kidnappers
References
Chapter 7: Frank Marraffino and Henry Flint’s Haunted Tank (2009–2010): Bastards, Civil War, & Spectral Generals
References
Chapter 8: Tom King and Mitch Gerads’ The Sheriff of Babylon (2015–2016): Contracting, Insurgents, & Dead Policemen
References
Part IV: Films
Chapter 9: Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins (2005): Vigilantism, Poison, & Mad Doctors
The Rat, the Cat, and the Bat
The Dark Knight Trilogy
Orphans and Ghosts
Doctors and Flashbacks
References
Chapter 10: Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight (2008): Interrogations, Lies, & Anarchic Jokers
Torture and the Force Drift
References
Chapter 11: Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises (2012): Prisons, Bombs, & Catalytic Catwomen
References
Chapter 12: Matt Reeves’ The Batman (2022): Assassinations, Gangs, & Conspiracist Riddlers
References
Part V: Video Games
Chapter 13: Gonzalo Frasca’s Kabul Kaboom! (2002) and September 12th: A Toy World (2003): Motherhood, Blood, & Mortar Gunners
References
Chapter 14: Cory Davis and Francois Colon’s Spec Ops: The Line (2012): CIA, Renegades, & Missing Civilians
References
Chapter 15: Juan Benito and Jaime Griesemer’s Six Days in Fallujah (2022): Marines, Doors, & Furious Phantoms
References
Part VI: Coda
Chapter 16: Debriefing
References
Closer to Carthage: An Interview with Joyce Carol Oates (Conducted 15 July 2022 and Original to This Volume)
Index
