American Horror Story Observation (History)

All episodes of American Horror Story is based on real life stories, Season 5 is loosely associated with the origins of two actual hotels, the “Cecil” and “Murder Castle”. In Season 5 it features a hotel named “Hotel Cortez” and it takes place in Los Angeles, California during 2015. Most of the scenes focuses on the staff and guests of this supernatural hotel.
Hotel “Cecil” and “Murder Castle” were known to be both homes to serial killers, murderers, brutal killings and tortures during the 1920s and 1980s. Hotel Cecil was rumored to be the residence of serial killer Richard Ramirez, who gained the nickname “Night Stalker”. This is similar to the unknown serial killer character “10 Commandments” in “Hotel Cortez”. He/She undoubtedly takes pleasure in keeping these dark secrets of killing and torturing others. Just like the movie “Murder Castle” however was much more sinister in nature as it was well planned and executed by a man who was claimed to be possessed by the devil. From secret staircases and trap-doors, these features can also be seen throughout the series as characters and victims find themselves caught in familiar and unfamiliar spaces depicting the “uncanny”.
This was my first time actually watching this series, my first impression after learning about the history of series is that the director probably studied the mind of a serial killer. The layout of the set and story lines are unimaginable and makes you cringe at times. He forces you emerge in horrific, torturous scenes that even question your logic of what’s real and fiction. It has definitely had a lasting effect on me, the director deliberately takes you into a world of the unexpected. This movie is not for the faint at heart, he purposely portrays each characters point of view by highlighting the grimmest scenes without censorship. There were up close shots of a scene where Lady Gaga and her lover are having relations with another couple, once they were finished they killed them. Blood is scattered everywhere which is followed by intense music and moans of satisfaction from Lady Gaga and her lover. This scene is both erotic and grotesque at the same time, the director does this throughout the series displaying graphic scenes that is both grotesque and beautiful. This also reminds me of Bram Stroker’s Dracula when Lucy was killed by Arthur. He (“drives a stake through Lucy’s heart, whilst Van Helsing then fills her mouth with garlic and decapitates her, freeing her soul from Dracula’s curse”). pg 185. Lucy is now free and can be at peace, this was an excellent movie choice because it has many scenes that connects to the gothic genre and vampires we’ve discussed in class. You can find several moments of the uncanny and fantastic hesitation.

Stoker, Bram. “Dracula”. 1897. New c: Oxford University Press, 1990.

The statue in The Castle of Otranto brings about the death of Conrad and marks his place of burial much like the statue in greenwood marks the burial of the mayor of the City of Brooklyn. Conrad was “buried” underneath the helmet that fell on him. “Shocked with these lamentable sounds, and dreading he knew not what, he advanced hastily, – but what a sight for a father’s eyes! – he beheld his child dashed to pieces, and almost buried under an enormous helmet, a hundred times more large than any casque ever made for a human being and shaded with a proportion-able quantity of black feathers.” (Walpole 5) This passage is referencing when Conrad was slain by the falling helmet that essentially buried him beneath. This is very similar to how the mayor of the City of Brooklyn and his wife are buried beneath the statue. Both the statue and the helmet in the text mark their final resting places. Its worthy to note as well that both the angel statue and the helmet are representative of “protection”. Angels are seen as protectors and bring others security. Suits of armor and helmets also provide one with protection and security.

Jeremy Diaz & Brianna Thomas

Atmospheric Concept: Decaying Grandeur and Idyllic

Architectural Concept: Medieval, Castle, and Library

The outside of the building was red bricked with an arched entrance way with intricate designs carved into the stone above the arch way. On the inside on the first floor, the floor had patterned tiling and the bottom half of the wall was covered in decorated wood with one wooden bench. The top half of the wall was white and covered in either portraits of various historical figures that lived in Brooklyn or landscape paintings. There was an old wooden staircase that would groan under even the lightest footstep. This staircase lead directly into the library whose doors were also arched with decorated wood. The library was grand. The space had gothic elements stained glass windows, high vaulted ceiling, Corinthian style columns that surrounded the base floor, bookshelves twice our size and paintings whose eyes just followed you around the room. Every shelf had books that were new and old but all books were written about Brooklyn or written by someone who lived in Brooklyn.

The sublime in gothic literature is when an object, be it place, item and/or person elicits awe in the majesty of it’s being but also the feeling of fear and terror. It is also used as a sign to eldritch behaviour in characters that at first would otherwise seem normal.“Gothic literature is a combination of horror fiction and Romantic thought; Romantic thought encompasses awe toward nature. Essentially, Romanticism is a reaction against the Enlightenment, a time that revolutionized scientific thought, and emphasizes emotional response and intuition over clinical knowledge. Romantic literature elicits personal pleasure from natural beauty, and Gothic fiction takes this aesthetic reaction and subverts it by creating delight and confusion from terror. This use of terror is called the sublime, which is an important tool in these narratives.” – Emily Deibler. The Brooklyn Historical Society is a place that fits the definition of the sublime. The sublime is a place of such excellence, grandeur, or beauty as to inspire great admiration or awe but also terrifying in the fact that it’s silence is haunting and the paintings seem to follow you around as though they were alive.

The gothic novel that shares the same theoretical concept of the sublime as the Brooklyn Historical Society is Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto. Both of the buildings with a magnificent and imposing appearance for such odd buildings. For example, their portraits and paintings inside. In The Castle of Otranto there is a painting of Alfonso the Great that stares down on the conversation that Manfred and Isabella are having and when Isabella flees the painting leaps from the wall to lead Manfred through his castle.”

At  that instant the portrait of his grandfather, which hung over the bench where they had been sitting, uttered a deep sigh, and heaved its breast. Isabella, whose back was turned to the picture, saw not the motion, nor knew whence the sound came, but started, and said— “Hark, my Lord!  What sound was that?” and at the same time made towards the door. Manfred, distracted between the flight of Isabella, who had now reached the stairs, and yet unable to keep his eyes from the picture, which began to move, had, however, advanced some steps after her, still looking backwards on the portrait, when he saw it quit its panel, and descend on the floor with a grave and melancholy air. The painting in the Historical Society might look haunting and weird at first but once you take a step back and take a moment to recognizes it is splendid piece of work and a wondrous part of the history of Brooklyn.  

The Haunting of Hill House

Greenwood Cemetery is as beautiful as it is eerie, as one would sometimes forget that they were in a massive graveyard that spans for miles due the the gorgeous scenery. Walking towards the entrance of the graveyard is a journey by itself, the walk is quite long but it’s length is negated by the greenery peering through the fences. This makes your imagination run wild as you may wonder what really lies within the cemetery. This is akin to Elanor’s imagination wondering during her travels to hill house ” The journey itself was her positive action, her destination vague, unimagined, perhaps nonexistent. She meant to savor each turn of her traveling, loving the road and the trees” (The Haunting of Hill House ).

Once inside the cemetery, the sheer magnitude and sublime scenery will simply blow you away, but as you venture further passing gravestone by gravestone an uncanny feeling takes hold of you. You’ll come to the realization that you are in a graveyard despite the gorgeous greenery, surrounded by thousands upon thousands of graves spanning in a 478 acres radius; questioning why you set foot in such a behemoth of a place. This is comparable to Elanor’s first visit to Hill House, “Why am I here? She thought helplessly and at once; why am I here? The gate was tall and ominous and heavy, set strongly into a stone wall which went off through the trees.” (The Haunting of Hill House).

The Castle of Otranto

The statue in The Castle of Otranto brings about the death of Conrad and marks his place of burial much like the statue in Greenwood marks the burial of the mayor of the City of Brooklyn. Conrad was “buried” underneath the helmet that fell on him. “Shocked with these lamentable sounds, and dreading he knew not what, he advanced hastily, – but what a sight for a father’s eyes! – he beheld his child dashed to pieces, and almost buried under an enormous helmet, a hundred times more large than any casque ever made for a human being and shaded with a proportion-able quantity of black feathers.” (Walpole 5) This passage is referencing when Conrad was slain by the falling helmet that essentially buried him beneath. This is very similar to how the mayor of the City of Brooklyn and his wife are buried beneath the statue. Both the statue and the helmet in the text mark their final resting places. Its worthy to note as well that both the angel statue and the helmet are representative of “protection”. Angels are seen as protectors and bring others security. Suits of armor and helmets also provide one with protection and security.

History

Established in 1838, Greenwood cemetery was designed by architect  David Bates Douglass as a response to the rotting corpse problem in Manhattan and served as a resting place for many New Yorkers.

The gates were designed by an English architect Richard Upjohn in “gothic revival style” which was also the same style that Strawberry Hill(Castle of Otranto) was based upon. The gothic revival style contains medieval designs which means that the castle of Castle of Otranto was based on the same style as the gates of Greenwood Cemetery.

The entrance of the cemetery was build in 1861 to 1865 which is during the Civil War. That is no coincidence of course as it is a resting place for many Civil War veterans since the burials for the veterans were free.

Biblical figures play an important role in the cemetery as well as it tells the story of Jesus’ resurrection. The gates symbolize the miracle of Christ. Just like how the gates depict the light of Christ, there is a dark side to the cemetery as well.

Another one of the many focal points of this cemetery that caught my eye was the Angel of death that is located above Charles Schieren’s grave.he was the mayor of Brooklyn so it’s not like he was some sort of devils worshiper. The Azrael figure shouldn’t be hard to spot even though it’s is concealed in a hooded cloak, her face deeply recessed and only visible to one willing to kneel below the overall 40-inch height of the piece on its granite plinth. Her arms are stretched out to each side with fingertips touching large closed books, symbolizing the “fullness of their years.” The sculptor, who was a personal friend of the Schieren family, was inspired to create a unique work, very different from cemetery memorials of the period. It is quite the eerie sight one because it is unusual I mean not for a cemetery but who puts the grim reaper on there grave. The statue shows great oxidation because it has not been kept or protected which gives it character. It is to guard them in the afterlife? The cemetery itself is very quiet and for Nyc finding a quiet place isn’t usually an easy task. You can hear the wind howling and its almost like you can hear the voices of people which is a bone-chilling experience if you’re into that. The statue itself isn’t very distinct and at first, when I saw it I didn’t really know what it was. It wasn’t until I looked under the hood that I saw a face and was kinda fascinated. I would love to visit it in the evening with the sun setting I’d recommend it at that hour if of course, you can get in past closing time. But its risky and I don’t advise it but even In the day time it is quite the place to visit.

The Angel above Schierens grave is both sublime and queer in that there is a beauty in death. In Gothic storytelling, the word sublime refers to the natural beauty that which surrounds us. This can sometimes cause confusion or intrigue, for example, the fact that we no longer have to worry about any worldly desires. Any fear, hate, pain, sorrow, or grief. On the flip side, there also is not any curiosity, love, pleasure, happiness, or joy to look forward to either. So some people might, in fact, look forward to the bittersweet release of death.

This can then also be seen as sublime since death is a natural occurrence that most people fear while others wish for it. On the other hand, queer, in the normal sense of the word, is when something is not what the average person would consider normal. On the contrary to the sublime nature of death where many fear death, the ones who actively seek it would be considered queer. Knowing this, it can be seen as queer because it is not normal for someone to want and actually get a reaper as their gravestone as most people acknowledge the angel of death as a being they don’t want to meet. So seeing this, it can be seen as even an altar or shrine to the angel. The queerest thing though would have to be the face of Azreal. It can only be seen properly when laying on the grave. Most people would not want to do this feat but never fear, it was done for you reader!

One day while touring the Brooklyn Bridge, Me and my classmates came across a building that seemed out of place. It was located under the Bridge and lay on water St. It was divided in to two parts, one part a garden/courtyard and the other half seemed like a warehouse. It looked like an abandoned warehouse to us because of the half finished windows, gates, there not being a roof on a certain part of the building and the way others treated the building.  Everyone in that area just walked by the building and didn’t even acknowledge that it was there. The building it’s self looks really old and run down. There were many black X marks posted all around the building aswell. .

When we got close to the building, we saw that no one was in either part of the building. We tried to get inside the building but could not because everything was blocked off. We could tell that this building is trying to isolate itself from the world because everything is blocked off. The warehouse part of the building had windows & doors but the glass that was used was really dark and we couldn’t really see inside the building. This building is being converted into a theater currently. When we looked into the garden, we saw a bunch of plants and trees that were planted and still growing. The walls that surrounded the building were really old because the bricks that were used were turning white. “This is known as Efflorescence. It is an accumulation of minerals and salts on masonry surfaces, such as brick, cement, and sometimes stone.”(Decker 1). There was a lot of this white material on the inside of the building which meant the building has been there for along time. This meant that this building has been here for a very long time and is getting old. Another characteristic that stood out was there was a black cloth on certain windows and gates. This warehouse was trying to block out something from the outside world or just trying to isolate it’s self from the outside world.

History

“The building was originally built in 1865 as a warehouse for Tabaco by the Lorillard family.”(Creative 1)  “The total size of the warehouse is approximately 25,000 square feet, offering an 18,000 square-foot, column-free footprint.” (Frost 2). “The tobacco arrived via train or boat from the south and was stored at the warehouse before being distributed.  All though many of the surrounding warehouses and buildings were demolished in the 1940’s, this particular warehouse was spared a similar demise.  In 2013 the building was gutted leaving only the original walls, making space for a theater. inside.” (Creative 5)

“St. Ann’s Warehouse launched a $31 million campaign to transform the Tobacco Warehouse into a year-round performing arts facility and community hub. It was designed by a team of Marvel Architects and theater consultants. The Structure includes: A large, versatile theater space that can hold 300–700 people for St. Ann’s core theater and music programming, festivals, and special community events. A clerestory ribbon of clear glass bricks bridges the original brick walls and the roof of the new theater. A multi-use Studio, dedicated to local artists and community groups to help them with smaller scale programs and events. An open-air Triangle Garden forged within the existing brick walls will be open to the public during Brooklyn Bridge Park hours. It is Designed by the Brooklyn Bridge Park landscape architects, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. The Garden will provide shade in the summer and shelter from the wind in winter.” (Creative 2)

How It’s Gothic

The reason St. Ann’s Warehouse is Gothic is because of the characteristics of the building. The major one is how it is isolated or cut off from society. You cannot enter into the building in any way and there is no one inside the building either. Everything is blocked off. We can relate this to the creature in Frankenstein because he was isolated from society and felt lonely when his creator left him when he was born. The creature felt lonely and isolated from society and this was a major reason why he becomes a monster in the book. Another characteristic that stands out is the black X marks all over the building. Those black X marks all over the building tells us that this building is old because buildings in our time don’t have this. These marks give of a darkness/stay out kind of vibe to the audience/crowd looking from the outside to the inside.

Theoretical concept & Literary Texts

The Gothic Theoretical concept that relates to our Gothic space is “Looking Awry”. There were many characteristics of the building that could fit in with this. The one that stands out is a window located on the back side of the building. Right on top of the window, there is a outline of a person hanging off something and there is a lot of blood coming out of him/her that was formed by Efflorescence. This was formed naturally and was not physically made by someone. It’s not an obvious picture but if you look closely, you can see it. The blood seems to be coming out of the neck area. When you look at the back side of the building from a far, you won’t see this image right away. Once you get to a certain distance, you will be able to see the image and it’s very hard not to notice it once you see it. Another example of Looking Awry in our space is the walls inside the courtyard/Garden. When you see the brick walls from a far it looks somewhat normal but once you get closer to the building and get a better view of the inside, you can see that the brick walls are starting to turn white due to Efflorescence. Once you notice this about the brick walls on the inside, it’s something you can’t Unsee and you will always look at.

The text me and my group are going to use to compare it with is “The Castle Of Otranto”. In chapter 1, the son of Manfred, Conrad is killed in the courtyard by a Helmet. “Manfred, less apprehensive than enraged at the procrastination of the nuptials, and at the folly of his domestic, asked imperiously what was the matter? The fellow made no answer, but continued pointing towards the courtyard; and at last, after repeated questions put to him, cried out, “Oh! the helmet! the helmet!” (Walpole 28). In our Gothic space, when you look inside the part of the building with no roof, there is a courtyard inside of the building. There are trees and flowers growing all around the inside of the building. There was also a helmet laying down on the floor all the way in the back of the courtyard and also a few around the outside of the building because of construction that was taking place near by. This relates to the Castle of Otranto because the setting is very similar. The courtyard is a major setting in the book because it is where the helmet killed Conrad. Just like the novel, The courtyard in our space plays a big part in the gothic atmosphere. The characteristics of that half of the building is one of the key reasons why it is a Gothic building.

Work Cited

Creative, Flyleaf. “History – St. Ann’s Warehouse.” St. Ann’s Warehouse. Medium Rare Interactive, 3 Dec. 2015. Web. 04 May 2016.

Creative, Flyleaf. “Tobacco Warehouse – St. Ann’s Warehouse.” St. Ann’s Warehouse. Medium Rare Interactive, 3 Dec. 2015. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.

Decker, William, Nick Gromicko, Rob London, and Kenton Shepard. “Efflorescence, Causes, Problems and Solutions | Decker Home Inspection Services.” Efflorescence, Causes, Problems and Solutions | Decker Home Inspection Services. Decker Home Services, 2 Feb. 2010. Web. 04 May 2016.

Frost, Mary. “Designs Unveiled for Theater at Tobacco Warehouse in Brooklyn.” Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 20 Apr. 2013. Web. 04 May 2016.

Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Diana Gibson. Frankenstein. Madrid, España: Edimat Libros, 2000. Print.

Walpole, Horace, George Gordon Byron Byron, E. F. Bleiler, William Beckford, and John William Polidori. The Castle of Otranto. New York: Dover Publications, 1966. Print.