THE CHILDREN’S FINAL GIRL: EXPLORING FEMINISM, HORROR, AND ADOLESCENCE IN CORALINE, THE LAST CUENTISTA, AND A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS

Author

Hannah Rose Lussier

ORCID Identifier(s)

0009-0000-9913-1788

Graduation Semester and Year

2023

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in English

Department

English

First Advisor

Timothy Morris

Abstract

The uses of femininity throughout the horror genre have been widely studied in order to identify the role of the woman within these works. This thesis works to apply Carol Clover’s trope of the Final Girl to contemporary children’s horror texts in order to unveil the underlying schematics that shape adolescent characters. Using Neill Gaiman’s Coraline, Donna Barba Higuera’s The Last Cuentista, and Daniel Handler’s A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning, this thesis aims to position contemporary children’s protagonists as the Final Girl, which in turn attempts to explain the uses and misuses of common horror motifs such as femininity, race and culture, and sexuality citing authors Carol Clover and Barbara Creed amongst others who write in the realm of children’s literature and horror. I utilize close readings of the texts, as well as considering real world implications of children’s horror texts featuring an adolescent female protagonist.

Keywords

Feminism, Children's horror

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | English Language and Literature

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

Recommended Citation

Lussier, Hannah Rose, "THE CHILDREN’S FINAL GIRL: EXPLORING FEMINISM, HORROR, AND ADOLESCENCE IN CORALINE, THE LAST CUENTISTA, AND A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS" (2023). English Theses. 125.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/english_theses/125