What is it about?
Creepypasta, or scary stories that spread over the internet, has a tendency to focus on technological topics. Cursed images, haunted video games, and other forms of evil technology are staples of the genre. In this chapter, I analyze three famous creepypasta stories to see how they treat technology and its operators as agents of horror. Ultimately, I argue that the horror of technology in these tales is not in the monster machine, but rather the evil intentions of its human operator.
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Why is it important?
My analysis of this born-digital, post-2000s genre of horror story helps articulate how the internet generation processes and engages with technology as an element of horror. Significantly, this also positions the genre of creepypasta more accurately within the larger continuum of the Gothic.
Perspectives
I hope you find this to be a valuable and enjoyable addition to the growing field of studying internet-based narratives, especially creepypasta. Working on this chapter, I couldn't help but be reminded of all the work there still is to be done in studying these areas. If my work can provide a springboard to someone else, that's really all I can hope for!
Anni Perheentupa
University of California Riverside
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Cursed Tech as a Monstrous Mask: Creepypasta, Technological Threats, and the Cyber-Gothic, April 2024, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004698321_014.
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