Disrupting and Restorying Horror Tropes Through Critical Fan Engagement With the Video Game Until Dawn

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 11:25 am
  In Roundtable Session: Literary Empowerment: Disrupting Tropes, Reimagining Worlds, and Fostering Equity Through Reading and Writing (Table 16)

Abstract

Until Dawn is a critically acclaimed horror video game that reproduces stereotypes around gender, race, and mental illness related to horror archetypes. Looking across fans’ livestreaming interactions, cosplaying, and fanfiction, this paper juxtaposes fans’ many critical engagements with female and mentally-ill characters with its minimal uptake around Indigenous appropriation, suggesting a collective hesitance toward speculative restorying for Indigenous storylines. We present this analysis as an example of a context where educators could support youth in applying critical perspectives to texts that are meaningful to them, evaluating the extent to which surrounding fandoms engage in collective critical endeavors and contributing in ways that address collective hesitance.

Authors

• Karis Michelle Jones, Baylor University

• Sahara Kruidenier