Horror at the Heart of 26th Annual Margaret Laurence Lecture
Professor Suzette Mayr challenges the way we think about horror novels
It’s more horrifying than it is horror. Imagine being unable to distinguish between your workspace and home space. In modern day jargon it might be referred to as “finding work/life balance.”
Take it one step further and imagine that the building you work in, that is consuming your life, is in fact killing your colleagues… and you fear you might be next. That is, very loosely, the premise for Dr. Suzette Mayr’s fifth novel Dr. Edith Vane and the Hares of Crawly Hall.
Professor Mayr discussed her latest work in a paper entitled, “Birds in Houses: Transforming Haunted Domestic Space Into Haunted Work Space in Canadian Horror Fiction” for the 26th annual Margaret Laurence Lecture at Trent University on March 16, 2018.
In her lecture, Prof. Mayr admitted to participating in the culture where work is all that mattered. “Your office is in your bag or your pocket these days. You never leave.” The University of Calgary Creative Writing professor drew comparisons to The Dwelling by horror writer Susie Moloney, and her recent novel as two Canadian works that revisit the haunted house genre with the inclusion of haunted workspaces.
“The lecture gave me a new way to think of horror novels. I used to read them just to get scared, but she brought in a new perspective, thinking about haunted workspaces,” said Candace Snoddon, a graduate student at Trent.
This annual lecture honours Trent's fourth chancellor, Margaret Laurence, and acknowledges her contributions to literature, feminism, ecology, and the peace movement. Organized by the Gender and Women's Studies department, past speakers include Roberta Jamieson (2010-11), Jane Urquhart (2008-09), Naomi Klein (2003-04), Shirley Douglas (2002-03), June Callwood (1989-90), and Ursula Franklin (1988-89).