O Jo And Mike

Stephen King and the Uncanny Imaginary

Offering an insightful examination of Stephen King’s fiction, this book utilises a psychoanalytical approach drawing on Freud’s theory of the uncanny. It demonstrates how entrenched King’s work is in a literary tradition influenced by psychoanalytic theory, as well as the ways that King evades and amends Freud. Such an approach positions King’s texts not simply as objects of interpretation that might yield latent meaning, but as producers of meaning. King can certainly be read through the lens of the uncanny, but this book also aims to consider the uncanny through the lens of King. Organised around specific elements of the uncanny that can be found in King’s fiction, this book explores the themes of death and the return of the dead, monstrosity, telepathy, inanimate objects becoming menacingly animate, and spooky children. Popular texts are considered, such as IT, The Shining, and Pet Sematary, as well as less discussed work, including The Institute, The Regulators and Desperation. The book’s central argument is that King’s uncanny motifs offer insightful commentary on what is repressed in contemporary culture and insist on the failure of scientific rationalism to explain the world. King’s uncanny imaginary rejects dualistic notions of an experiencing self in an inert physical world and insists that psychic experience is bound up with the environmental. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of contemporary and popular literature, gothic and horror studies, and cultural studies.

The Missing Jesus

Oladipo Agboluaje: Plays One

This is the first collection of plays by award-winning playwright Oladipo Agboluaje, a significant force in Black British drama. Described as an ‘exciting, vital new voice’ (Time Out), Agboluaje demonstrates his versatility to write plays that transcend African and British cultures. Early Morning is a satirical comedy about three Nigerian office cleaners who decide to mount a coup to institute Blackocracy in Great Britain. ‘The comedy is witty, astute and sublimely irresponsible‘ The Spectator The Estate centres on the conflicts within the wealthy Adeyemi family as they make funeral arrangements for their late patriarch, Chief Adeyemi. The Estate is also a social study of class conflict in Nigeria. 'Agboluaje writes with a sharp, satiric eye.’ Guardian The Christ of Coldharbour Lane is the story of Omo who, believing he is the son of God, preaches to the people of Brixton to abandon the 'wilful peace' that is holding them down. ‘an often hilarious, and often profound, snapshot of modern London...[a] thought-provoking piece of original theatre.’ The Stage The Hounding of David Oluwale is based on Kester Aspden's award-winning book and reworks the tragic story of David Oluwale, who was hounded by two police officers in 1960s Leeds, and of the man who fought to get justice for him. ‘a shocking and engrossing story...a kind of In Cold Blood set in Leeds’ Financial Times Iyale (The First Wife) is the prequel to The Estate and tells the story of Helen Adeyemi's rise from being the servant to becoming the wife of the patriarch, Chief Adeyemi. ‘satirical yet sympathetic, brutal yet beautifully observed.‘ The Times