{"id":124,"date":"2018-01-31T12:01:56","date_gmt":"2018-01-31T17:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/?p=124"},"modified":"2018-06-25T17:55:10","modified_gmt":"2018-06-25T21:55:10","slug":"winchester","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/2018\/01\/31\/winchester\/","title":{"rendered":"Guns, Ghosts, and Gothic Narratives: The Winchester Legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coming to theaters this Friday, February 2, is Winchester (2018)<\/span><\/a>, the new horror thriller by the Spiereg Brothers (Daybreakers, Jigsaw), starring Helen Mirren, Sarah Snook, and Jason Clarke.\u00a0 It\u2019s a film I\u2019m excited to see, not only because it offers the incomparable Helen Mirren another juicy role in a genre she hasn\u2019t explored much even in her diverse & distinguished career, but because the story itself is one that has haunted my imagination since I first encountered it in the pages of Alan Moore\u2019s Swamp Thing<\/em>, over 30 years ago (more on that in a moment).<\/p>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\"Move<\/a>

Move poster for Winchester (2018)<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n

\u00a0The film centers around\u00a0Sarah Winchester<\/a><\/span> (1840-1922), widow and heiress to the estate of her husband, William Wirt Winchester (yes, of THOSE Winchesters), which included a 50% stake in the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Needless to say, the Winchesters were among the wealthiest families in post-Civil War America, largely due to the success of the 1873 Winchester repeating rifle, commonly known as \u201cthe Gun that Won the West.\u201d\u00a0 By \u201cwon\u201d, of course, we mean \u201cslaughtered\u201d–mostly indigenous peoples, but also anyone else who got in the way of the nation\u2019s \u201cmanifest destiny\u201d: Mexicans, free black settlers, poor farmers, religious communities that didn\u2019t move along fast enough, or rivals for any piece of dirt likely to earn a reasonable profit. It was a distinctly American success story.<\/p>\r\n

After her husband\u2019s death, Sarah Winchester used her fortune to move from her home in Connecticut to San Jose, California, where she built and continued construction on the infamous Winchester Mansion<\/a><\/span> for nearly 38 years (continuously or on-and-off, depending on the source). Some believe that she did so out of a sense of guilt, or possibly a curse, brought on by the spirits of all those who had been killed by Winchester weapons. This was the age of Spiritualism<\/a><\/span>, after all, and the \u201ccurse\u201d was allegedly suggested to her by a Boston psychic who claimed that in order to remove it, she should move westward and build a house for herself and all the restless spirits\u2014but that she must never stop construction on the house lest those spirits seek revenge upon her and her remaining family. Other, less supernaturally-inclined biographers, have argued that the house was merely an ill-conceived and poorly executed architectural diversion for an eccentric rich woman. Whatever the truth, the house itself (now known as the Winchester Mystery House<\/a><\/span> and listed on the National Register of Historic Places) stands as a monument to a certain kind of obsession\u2014emotional, spiritual, or maybe artistic\u2014that could only be made real by that unique blend of American money, will, industry, imagination, and exploitation.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\"Cover<\/a>

Swamp Thing #45, February, 1985<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n

The history is fascinating in itself, and the film could probably do well as a straight biography. But it\u2019s obvious from the trailers that the filmmakers have taken their inspiration not only from the historical facts, but from the mysterious rumors, superstitions, and sensational speculations that surrounded Sarah Winchester for the better part of her life, and beyond. Among those speculative visions are two notable comic book tales inspired by the Winchester House and its owner.\u00a0 The first, which I mentioned earlier, was Alan Moore\u2019s \u201cGhost Dance,\u201d the final tale in his now-legendary run on Swamp Thing <\/em>(#45, February 1986). You can read a good summary of the tale here.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n

What stuck with me about Moore\u2019s story wasn\u2019t the supernatural horror element (although this was part of its interest for me as a 14 year-old), but its evocation of a dark past in American history that is eerily reflected in the emotional lives of the present characters.\u00a0 I would later learn that the term for this particular kind of fiction is \u201cthe gothic<\/span>\u201d. In fact, this story is part of the Swamp Thing\u2019s \u201cAmerican Gothic\u201d story-arc, in which he faces supernatural threats that evoke a number of America\u2019s deep-rooted and very real horrors: domestic violence, sexual abuse, drugs, racial tensions, and, of course, guns. In this story, the thinly-veiled \u201cCambridge House\u201d uses both the real and speculative history of the Winchester House to provide a context for understanding how gun violence is situated in a cultural and psychological complex of desires, resentments, power, and perceived \u201cmanhood.\u201d David, the most emotionally and spiritually sensitive of the characters, seems incapable of violence or even self-assertion, until he feels himself humiliated, dominated, and ultimately driven to seek revenge through the \u201csecret fraternity\u201d of the gun. It is an all-too familiar story in the current climate of mass-shootings, toxic masculinity, and violence against women. While the Swamp Thing is well-equipped to handle the literal ghosts and monsters in these tales, he is powerless to stop the more insidious spirits that haunt these human characters. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\"Cover<\/a>

House of Penance trade paperback edition (2016)<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n

Another more recent and possibly direct inspiration for the film is Peter J. Tomasi & Ian Bertram\u2019s extraordinary House of Penance<\/a><\/span> (2016). This limited series, now available in trade paperback, offers a more historical, though still fictionalized, re-telling of the Winchester House story.\u00a0 It puts Sarah Winchester back at the center\u2014a large-eyed, waif-like, Bronte-esque figure who nonetheless possesses an iron will in her dedication to her obsession. In this case, that obsession isn\u2019t just with building the house, but with protecting her already-dead husband and daughter, whose souls are likewise trapped in the house that bears their name.\u00a0 Like Poe\u2019s House of Usher, this version of the Winchester House is as much a manifestation of Sarah\u2019s own troubled spirit as it is a place haunted by vengeful ghosts. What\u2019s more, the workers that she hires to construct the house likewise bring ghosts and demons with them: they are all violent men seeking their own form of \u201cpenance,\u201d either through hard labor or the forced renunciation of guns and violence, Sarah\u2019s one requirement for employment.\u00a0 One of these men, Warren Peck, has a particularly dark history that is directly related to the Winchester legacy (no spoilers).\u00a0 Together, Sarah and Warren must face their own guilty terrors in the Winchester house, as well as the equally dangerous prospect of allowing themselves to care for someone again.\u00a0 In many ways, this is a redemption story\u2014or at least a longing-for-redemption story–but it\u2019s one that we know is shadowed, not just by the past, but by the succeeding century of even more horrific and world-shattering violence.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Both comics offer nuanced and intriguing insights into the history and cultural valences of the Winchester House. Here’s hoping that the film adds more interesting layers to this compelling story.<\/p>\r\n

Stay tuned for \u201cA Closer Look\u201d posting<\/a><\/strong> on House of Penance<\/em>\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The upcoming film Winchester (2018) revisits a gothic tale that has had at least two previous treatments in comics: Alan Moore’s “Ghost Dance”(1986) and Peter J. Tomasi & Ian Bertram’s House of Penance (2016)","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5,4],"tags":[21,22,17],"class_list":["post-124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-reviews","tag-films","tag-horror-comics","tag-reviews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2018\/01\/winchester.jpg?fit=631%2C1000&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9noXX-20","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":138,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/2018\/02\/05\/a-closer-look-house-of-penance\/","url_meta":{"origin":124,"position":0},"title":"A Closer Look: House of Penance","author":"John","date":"February 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a continuation of my previous post on the film\u00a0Winchester (2018) and its earlier comic book adaptations. I want to take a look at a page from Peter J. Tomasi and Ian Bertram's\u00a0House of Penance (Dark Horse Comics, 2017) and think about how it brings together several elements of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A Closer Look"","block_context":{"text":"A Closer Look","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/category\/closer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Image from House of Penance trade paperback, Dark Horse Comics, 2017.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2018\/02\/HOP-page.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2018\/02\/HOP-page.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2018\/02\/HOP-page.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":236,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/2018\/06\/27\/crime-spree\/","url_meta":{"origin":124,"position":1},"title":"Crime Spree: Comics and Criminality in the Library","author":"John","date":"June 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019ve been on a bit of a crime spree lately\u2014in the library.\u00a0 It all started with my friend Krista Gehring\u2019s new graphic textbook series, CrimComics. Each issue offers insights into specific aspects of criminology and criminal justice, including history, theory, biographical and case studies, and contemporary issues in crime &\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comics in the library"","block_context":{"text":"Comics in the library","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/category\/libraries\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Page from Green River Killer","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2018\/06\/green-river-page.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2018\/06\/green-river-page.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2018\/06\/green-river-page.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2018\/06\/green-river-page.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":444,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/2020\/05\/25\/comics-in-the-time-of-covid\/","url_meta":{"origin":124,"position":2},"title":"Comics in the Time of COVID","author":"John","date":"May 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"At our recent Comics Studies Reading Group virtual meeting, we asked the question, \u201cWhat comics are getting you through the pandemic and why?\u201d. Some of the group\u2019s responses are shared below.","rel":"","context":"In "Comics in the library"","block_context":{"text":"Comics in the library","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/category\/libraries\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2020\/05\/bttm-fdrs.jpg?fit=247%2C204&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":303,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/2018\/12\/21\/reflections-on-spider-man-into-the-spider-verse\/","url_meta":{"origin":124,"position":3},"title":"Reflections on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse","author":"John","date":"December 21, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"If you haven\u2019t seen Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) yet, you might want to treat yourself and your kids to a viewing over the holidays.\u00a0 It\u2019s a fun, action-packed, visually stunning film for all ages, and one that should appeal to old-school and new Spider-fans alike.\u00a0 A few of our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comics in the news"","block_context":{"text":"Comics in the news","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Poster for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2018\/12\/spiderverse.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2018\/12\/spiderverse.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2018\/12\/spiderverse.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2018\/12\/spiderverse.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2018\/12\/spiderverse.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":827,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/2024\/08\/15\/whats-happening-with-comics-studies-at-unt\/","url_meta":{"origin":124,"position":4},"title":"What’s happening with Comics Studies at UNT?","author":"John","date":"August 15, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome back, everyone, to the Fall 2024 semester and a new year of school, work, and Comics Studies at UNT! We've got lots of updates on our Comics Studies initiative and other comics-related events and activities happening at UNT. Over the last two years, our Comics Studies community has grown\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comics Events"","block_context":{"text":"Comics Events","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/category\/comics-events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2024\/08\/Comic-Studies-Blog_F17_Event-Banner.png?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2024\/08\/Comic-Studies-Blog_F17_Event-Banner.png?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2024\/08\/Comic-Studies-Blog_F17_Event-Banner.png?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2024\/08\/Comic-Studies-Blog_F17_Event-Banner.png?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":333,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/2019\/03\/11\/cheryl-blossom-too-liberated-for-riverdale\/","url_meta":{"origin":124,"position":5},"title":"Cheryl Blossom: Too “Liberated” for Riverdale","author":"Spencer","date":"March 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Fan\u2019s of the CW\u2019s Riverdale know Cheryl Blossom as the unscrupulous rich girl with serious fashion sense who lives by her own moral code. But many viewers might not know that Cheryl has a longer history in the Archieverse than her latest TV incarnation. Cheryl Blossom \u00a0#1 (Archie Comics, December\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A Closer Look"","block_context":{"text":"A Closer Look","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/category\/closer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"gif image of Riverdale's Cheryl Blossom extending a black invitation envelope.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/03\/cheryl-invitation.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":293,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124\/revisions\/293"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}