Document Type
Book Chapter
Original Publication Date
2022
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Fantastic Cities: American Urban Spaces in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror
First Page
245
Last Page
257
Date of Submission
February 2023
Abstract
This book chapter considers the cosmic horror fiction of Laird Barron through a blended ecocritical/postcolonial lens, focusing on its representation of the Pacific Northwest and Olympia, Washington. Wilderness and consumption are both strongly represented concepts in Barron’s Old Leech Cycle of stories, aligning with colonial perceptions of the American West as a largely unpeopled space ripe for exploitation. The eldritch horrors of these tales align with well-established traditions in weird fiction, and they are also perfectly suited to locations historically identified with resource extraction.
Recommended Citation
Glover, John. “Olympia, Wilderness, and Consumption in Laird Barron’s Old Leech Cycle.” Fantastic Cities: American Urban Spaces in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror, edited by Stefan Rabitsch et al., University Press of Mississippi, 2022, pp. 245–57.
Is Part Of
VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications
Comments
The text presented here is that submitted by the book editors to the publisher.