Whether in scenes of the slime oozing from the walls of the house in The Amityville Horror or the blood-filled hotel elevator in The Shining, horror movies and the books that inspire them often make full use of the story’s bricks-and-mortar location.
For her latest research project, Edward Little Professor of the English and Cinema Studies Aviva Briefel is exploring the literary and cinematic trope of the haunted space and the importance these spaces—be they rooms, houses, or hotels—assume in the plotlines of horror stories.
“I'm really interested in the ways in which this focus on haunted spaces provokes a certain response," she explains, "both from the characters in the text and also from us, as the audience of those texts, whether we're watching a horror film or reading a scary novel.”
Briefel’s latest book is Ghosts and Things: The Material Culture of Nineteenth-Century Spiritualism (Cornell University Press, 2025).
Ghosts on Campus?
Bowdoin College, with its 231-year history, has experienced more than its fair share of ghost stories and alleged hauntings over the years.
Among the reputed possible haunted spaces on campus is Massachusetts Hall, where Aviva Briefel’s office is located—but has she ever seen one? Click here to find out.
