Episode 128: Demon Workshop: On Victoria Nelson's 'Neighbor George'

Weird Studies

Phil Ford and J. F. Martel

Society & Culture, Arts, Philosophy

4.8 • 688 Ratings

🗓️ 19 July 2022

⏱️ 88 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The American writer and thinker Victoria Nelson is justly revered by afficionados of the Weird for The Secret Life of Puppets and its follow-up Gothicka. Both are masterful explorations the supernatural as it subsists in the "sub-Zeitgeist" of the modern secular West. In 2021, Strange Attractor Press released Neighbor George, Nelson's first novel. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss this gothic anti-romance with a mind to seeing how it contributes to Nelson's overall project of acquainting us with the eldritch undercurrents of contemporary life. Click here for more information on the Supernormal Festival, Aug 12-14, in Oxfordshire, England. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop References Victoria Nelson, Neighbor George Victoria Nelson, The Secret Life of Puppets Victoria Nelson, Gothicka Wendy Lesser, American critic Ward Sutton Onion cartoons Extension, metaphysical concept Terry Castle, The Female Thermometer Cessation of Miracles, theological belief E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic among the Azande Greg Anderson, “Retrieving the Lost Worlds of the Past: A Case for the Ontological Turn” Orcus Grotto, sculpture Margaret Atwood, The Edible Woman Nathalie Cooke, Margaret Atwood: A Biography Weird Studies, Episode 96 on Beauty and the Beast M. C. Richards, “Wrestling with the Daemonic” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Spectrevision Radio
0:03.3	Welcome to Weird Studies, an arts and philosophy podcast with hosts Phil Ford and J.F. Martel.
0:23.3	For more episodes or to support the podcast, go to weird'm J.F. Martel.
0:52.8	If there's one type of being in this universe that doesn't give a hoot whether or not you believe in them, it's monsters.
1:00.4	Unlike gods, monsters require no worship, though they might enjoy it from time to time.
1:05.7	They demand no sacrifice, though they do get hungry and rarely turn down a free meal.
1:12.3	No, all that monsters need from us is a space in which to manifest, a shadowy corner that becomes for them a portal into our
1:18.3	world. Nor does it make much difference whether that shadowy corner is a physical location
1:23.3	or a conveniently neglected spot in your unconscious mind. Such details are, as it were, immaterial.
1:30.7	Monsters are morphologically promiscuous, as happy to take the form of spirits or metaphors as they
1:36.2	are to appear in the form of things or beasts.
1:39.2	Like all things magical, monsters will adopt the most direct means of manifestation available
1:43.6	to them.
1:45.1	A space of manifestation for a monster amounts to a warm invitation.
1:49.7	The way the monster sees it, that space exists because someone wanted it to show up.
1:54.7	And show up it does.
1:56.2	The term monster shares etymological roots with the French verb Montri, to show, to reveal. Once through the
2:03.6	portal, the monster is content to remain in the shadows until the perfect opportunity to make a
2:08.7	memorable appearance presents itself. And when that happens, you will say, as we always do,
2:15.4	I don't believe in you. And the monster will reply, I don't care.
2:21.3	Victoria Nelson's novel, Neighbor George, is a rare example of a monster story that meets
2:26.4	its subject matter precisely on its own ground, that liminal zone between the physical and the
	...

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