Enabling a Speculative EcoGothic? Blood Moss, an Original Novella and a Critical Reflection

Blood Moss, an original novella, is influenced by thinking around speculative fiction, the eco/Gothic, and disability studies. The narrative follows a young woman who encounters a strange cultlike group in the forest outside her hometown, while she is investigating the disappearance of her sickly friend. The cult, Deus Ex Machina, is obsessed with creating a being envisaged as an expression of ideal humanity, unlimited by human imperfections and irrationalities. This narrative is set in relation to excerpts from the personal notebooks of Prof. Ngceni, a scientist whose research team is documenting field experiments in the same forest, leading him to hypothesise that the forest is sentient and agentive. Beyond mere setting, the forest emerges as a vital character in the novella, influencing my treatment of narrative structure. In addition to the novella, my project has a critical component in which I discuss Blood Moss in relation to a strategic selection of texts, both creative and scholarly, contemporary and historical.

Grantor dc:publisher

Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Gammon, Hana Nel

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Murray, Sally-Ann

Language dc:language.iso

en

Repository record dc:identifier.uri

https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/136004

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/136004