Arthurian
Monster Mash:
The Undead
in Camelot from The Awntyrs off Arthure at the Terne Wathelyne to the
Fiction of Today
Michael A.
Torregrossa
monstrous.matter.of.britain@gmail.com
/ monstrous-matter-of-britain.blogspot.com
Biography:
I am a medievalist trained locally
at both Rhode Island College and the University of Connecticut at Storrs, and
my research focuses on the Arthurian tradition and its representation in
popular culture, especially comics. I am very intrigued by the more obscure aspects
of the modern Matter of Britain, and a colleague once introduced me at a
conference as, “a purveyor of weird
Arthuriana.” This tendency has inspired my ongoing work on monsters in
Arthurian texts, such as Lovecraft’s menaces (the subject of a presentation
this past summer at Necronomicon), a series of papers on vampires at meetings
of the Northeast Popular Culture / American Culture Association, where I have
served as Fantastic (Fantasy, Horror, and Science Fiction) Area Chair since
2008, and one paper on zombies at a meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Popular Culture
Association.
Works Cited:
“The Adventures of Arthur at Tarn Wadling.”
Five Middle English Arthurian Romances,
translated by Valerie Krishna, Routledge, 2014.
“The Awntyrs
off Arthure at the Terne Wathelyne.” TEAMS
Middle English Text Series, edited by Thomas Hahn, d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/hahn-sir-gawain-awntyrs-off-arthur.
Beranak, Adam,
and Christian Beranak. Dracula vs. King
Arthur four-issue comic book series (2005). (e-books on Amazon and
comiXology)
Flores, David
R. Dead Future King five-issue
e-comic series (2012). (formerly on Amazon)
Raimi, Sam.
Evil Dead franchise (1981-).
(multiple sites)
Robertson, Mark,
illustrator. “The Adventure of Tarn Wathelyne.”
The Unknown Arthur: Forgotten Tales of
the Round Table, by John Matthews, Blandford, 1995, between pp. 96 and 97.
Sinor, Bradley
H. Lancelot the vampire series of short stories (1996-). (multiple sites and
collections, including Echoes from the
Darkness, In the Shadows, and Where the Shadows Began & Other Stories)
Toorchen, Anthea,
illustrator. “The Adventures of Tarn Wathelyne.” The Unknown Arthur: Forgotten Tales of the Round Table, by John
Matthews, Blandford, 1995, back cover.
Wolfe, Ron,
and Dusty Higgins. Knights of the Living
Dead first three issues of e-comic series (2012). (comiXology)
