Haunting Masculinity and Frightening Femininity: The Novels of John Bellairs

Abstract

While developing scholarship around children's horror fiction has focused on the works of contemporary writers, this essay provides a close reading of the novels of John Bellairs, a leading and early practitioner of the genre. It argues that the first three novels in his Lewis Barnevelt series may be understood as addressing some of the same anxieties related to gender and sexuality as those found in adult works of horror. Echoing changing discourses about masculinity at work in the late sixties and seventies, Bellair's novels propose a new form of manhood for young readers at the same time they continue to tie femininity to loss, lack and unspeakable desires.

Lewis Barnavelt and the Rainbow over New Zebedee: Queering The House with a Clock in Its Walls

“…It is also worth noting that Rose Rita has her own struggles with the era's ideal of what it means to be a 'girl' in the subsequent books in the series, especially in The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring (Bellairs, 1976(Bellairs, /1998c, in which she "looks for a magical escape from conventional femininity as she approaches adolescence" (Heinecken, 2011). 28 It is surprising then that in the film Rosa Rita always wears skirts, preppy cardigans, and a ribbon in her hair -also pink ones -which makes her far more stereotypically 'girlish' than her book predecessor.…”

“…28 It is surprising then that in the film Rosa Rita always wears skirts, preppy cardigans, and a ribbon in her hair -also pink ones -which makes her far more stereotypically 'girlish' than her book predecessor. Heinecken (2011) writes that:…”

“…Even though many children's literature and culture-oriented scholars criticise particular aspects of queer theory's approach towards juvenile cultural texts, such as the problematic issue of essentialising the 'proto-gay child' (Lesnik-Oberstein & Thompson, 2002) or that of the child's gender identity in general (Vassiloudi, 2016), others tend to approve or, at least, accept it. Some critics also stress the similarities between queer theory and children's literature 4 Although one might claim that the Lewis Barnavelt cycle is a young adult series (Hahn, 2015), these books are more often classified as children's literature (Broughton, 2001;Duffy, 2004;Heinecken, 2011;Huskey, 2010;Schmidt, 1987), targeted especially to middle grade preteens and early teens. studies.…”

“…Heinecken (2011), when discussing Bellairs's books, situates them also "against the mainstreaming of horror for adult audiences during the Post-Vietnam period […] tied to the upheaval of traditional gender and sexual relations brought about by the feminist, antiwar, civil rights and gay rights movements[…] [that] radically transformed discourses surrounding masculinity" (p. 119).…”

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“…For instance, young women in fairy tales typically have been portrayed as beautiful passive victims who need to be rescued by strong males from ugly evil crones (Bacchilega, 1997;Baker-Sperry & Grauerholz, 2003;Parsons, 2004;Trousdale & McMillan, 2003; for discussion of associated complexities see Haase, 2004;Harries, 2001). Heterosexist representations such as these are found in genres as diverse as diary cartoon novels (Taber & Woloshyn, 2011a), horror fiction (Heinecken, 2011), fantastical realism (Waller, 2004), novels about sisterhood (McInally, 2008), and award winning literature (Taber & Woloshyn, 2011b). While characters sometimes may appear to challenge the notions of emphasized femininity and hegemonic masculinity, heteronormative gendered norms usually are upheld for boys (Chaudri, 2011;Pugh & Wallace, 2008;Wannamaker, 2006) and girls (Taber & Woloshyn, 2011a;Taber & Woloshyn, 2011b;Hager, 2003;McInally, 2008).…”