Beyond This Point Are Monsters is a creative work which establishes a fluid, unstable space between the mediated image and the written word. It addresses issues of repetition and difference in the TV melodrama and the inscribed surface of the house in the Gothic novel, performing the romantic and sensational tropes of the Gothic formula in order to subvert them. The project investigates and inhabits the soap opera Dark Shadows which aired daily on ABC from 1966 to 1971, and examines the manner in which the show defies its own genre conventions. I chose Dark Shadows as the foundational source for my text because it is a program which incessantly crosses its own boundaries. Conventionally, soap opera is a form of fictional realism, but the digressive concerns of Dark Shadows stray far from the everyday, while its necessarily fast production pace lacerates the program with constant failure and mistakes. Dark Shadows is flawed, but in a way which troubles the rules of genre and the viewer's relationship to the screen. My investigation is manifested in the form of fictional writings and photographs which borrow the conceptual metaphors and visual gestures of the show. Each \"episode\" of Beyond This Point Are Monsters mirrors a plot that is anterior to the show's own official plot, leaking language and images that are withheld and effaced in the original.
","abstract_html":"<p><em>Beyond This Point Are Monsters</em> is a creative work which establishes a fluid, unstable space between the mediated image and the written word. It addresses issues of repetition and difference in the TV melodrama and the inscribed surface of the house in the Gothic novel, performing the romantic and sensational tropes of the Gothic formula in order to subvert them. The project investigates and inhabits the soap opera <em>Dark Shadows</em> which aired daily on ABC from 1966 to 1971, and examines the manner in which the show defies its own genre conventions. I chose <em>Dark Shadows</em> as the foundational source for my text because it is a program which incessantly crosses its own boundaries. Conventionally, soap opera is a form of fictional realism, but the digressive concerns of <em>Dark Shadows</em> stray far from the everyday, while its necessarily fast production pace lacerates the program with constant failure and mistakes. <em>Dark Shadows</em> is flawed, but in a way which troubles the rules of genre and the viewer's relationship to the screen. My investigation is manifested in the form of fictional writings and photographs which borrow the conceptual metaphors and visual gestures of the show. Each "episode" of <em>Beyond This Point Are Monsters</em> mirrors a plot that is anterior to the show's own official plot, leaking language and images that are withheld and effaced in the original.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Carter, Roxanne M."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Selah Saterstrom","Brian Kiteley","Bin Ramke"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2011,"date_issued":"2011-06-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2011-06-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:03:19Z","subjects":["Creative","Gothic","Melodrama","Television","Writing","Film and Media Studies","Other Film and Media Studies"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/113","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Selah Saterstrom","Brian Kiteley","Bin Ramke"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Carter, Roxanne M."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2001-01-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Creative","Gothic","Melodrama","Television","Writing","Film and Media Studies","Other Film and Media Studies"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
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"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/113"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
"],"dc:subject":["Creative","Gothic","Melodrama","Television","Writing","Film and Media Studies","Other Film and Media Studies"],"dc:title":["Beyond This Point Are Monsters"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:03:19Z"}