Supernatural studies history book – “The Spectral Arctic” (UCL Press, 2018) – Shane McCorristine interview
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Dr. Shane McCorristine received his Ph.D. in history and now teaches at Newcastle University. His focus is on the “night side” of human experience. This means the study of social attitudes towards death, dreams, ghosts, hallucinations, and so on. We spoke about his latest book on how ideas of the supernatural and ghosts were applied to 19th century British polar expeditions.
1:19 – Shane talks about how he got into studying this subject. He was into polar fiction.
2:45 – Shane talks about how he’s laid the book out.
6:00 – Shane talks about the Shackleton expedition and the fourth presence.
11:05 – Shane talks about the public’s mystical perceptions of the arctic.
12:45 – Shane talks about ideas that the Arctic had gateways to the center of the Earth or to other dimensions or lands.
14:10 – Shane compares the supernatural to religious ideas.
17:20 – Shane talks about naval superstitions and their usefulness in maritime operations.
20:09 – Shane talks about ways in which the Inuits were represented in the media.
23:00 Shane talks about how strange it was for the Inuits to see Europeans in the Arctic.
32:00 – Shane talks about how the supernatural is created by society.
34:18 – Shane talks about the resources he used to do his research.
38:07 – Shane talks about a Dickens’ play titled the Frozen Deep about a lost polar expedition.
41:18 – Shane talks about some of the archives he used for his research.
44:45 – Shane most enjoyed being able to provide the female perspective on polar expeditions and what they meant.
51:30 – Shane conjectured how Europeans might react if Inuits showed up on their shores as explorers.
54:30 – Shane says Arctic and Antarctic exploration should not be conflated.
1:05:23 – Shane can be found at shanemccorristine.net. The book is available for free on pdf.
Links of interest
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ucl-press/browse-books/the-spectral-arctic
https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/S/bo34163665.html
https://www.shanemccorristine.net/
For more of “The Art and Design of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Mystery and Horror” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi
Guests: Shane McCorristine
Host: Cris Alvarez
Tags: ghosts, spirits, Satan, Franklin, Shackleton, arctic, middle ages, supernatural, Vikings, Greenland, polar, Greeks, Inuit, Aurora Aborealis, Royal Geographic Society, Charles Dickens, seances, shaman, clairvoyance, Charlotte Bronte, Arthur Conan Doyle
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Sean Moreland teaches English at the University of Ottowa. His main field of research is Anglo-American literature from the late 18th century to present. He particularly enjoys Gothic, horror and weird fiction and is involved with various journals and events on the subjects. We spoke about his latest editorial work on Lovecraft’s critical theories on horror.