Participation Type
Poster
Session Title
Poster
Presentation #1 Title
Breathless and Unexplainable Dread: Locating Manly Wade Wellman in the Weird and Appalachian Fiction Traditions.
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Manly Wade Wellman (1903-1986) was a prolific and potent Appalachian writer who emerged from the pulp weird fiction movement of the 1930s and 1940s with a distinctive voice that places him outside of the H.P. Lovecraft-influenced work which continues to dominate the genre to this day. Wellman's style fuses weird fiction's "breathless and unexplainable dread of outer, unknown forces" with the Appalachian oral tradition of booger, haint and witch stories to produce a distinctly South-Central Appalachian variation of the weird fiction genre. This paper will differentiate Wellman's Appalachian Weird from Lovecraft's New England tradition, discuss his use of the Anglo-Appalachian ballad tradition, consider his mastery of the subtleties of Appalachian dialect, and celebrate his vision of the Appalachian people and land as redolent of magic and mystery. It will also include biographical information firmly establishing Wellman as an Appalachian writer and historian, an advocate for traditional music, an aficionado of bootleg whiskey, and a source of regional pride.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Daniel Schnopp-Wyatt teaches for Lindsey Wilson College at branch campuses throughout East Kentucky and SouthWestern Viginia. His research interests exist at the intersection of history, literature, and psychology.
Breathless and Unexplainable Dread: Locating Manly Wade Wellman in the Weird and Appalachian Fiction Traditions.
Manly Wade Wellman (1903-1986) was a prolific and potent Appalachian writer who emerged from the pulp weird fiction movement of the 1930s and 1940s with a distinctive voice that places him outside of the H.P. Lovecraft-influenced work which continues to dominate the genre to this day. Wellman's style fuses weird fiction's "breathless and unexplainable dread of outer, unknown forces" with the Appalachian oral tradition of booger, haint and witch stories to produce a distinctly South-Central Appalachian variation of the weird fiction genre. This paper will differentiate Wellman's Appalachian Weird from Lovecraft's New England tradition, discuss his use of the Anglo-Appalachian ballad tradition, consider his mastery of the subtleties of Appalachian dialect, and celebrate his vision of the Appalachian people and land as redolent of magic and mystery. It will also include biographical information firmly establishing Wellman as an Appalachian writer and historian, an advocate for traditional music, an aficionado of bootleg whiskey, and a source of regional pride.
