Uncanny Puppet Boy Meets Abject Werewolf Girl: The Gothic Horror Adaptation of Lou Wilson’s Pinocchio and Emily Axford’s Red Riding Hood in the Dimension 20 D&D Show Neverafter

Abstract

The Dungeons & Dragons show Neverafter tells the fairy tales of Pinocchio and Red Riding Hood, but reimagines their path to not follow moralistic goodness but instead undergo a grotesque transformation. The thesis investigates if this horrific reimagining is a Gothic adaptation of the original fairy tales following Linda Hutcheon and Siobhan O’Flynn’s adaptation principles of ‘transposition,’ ‘reimagination,’ and ‘intertextual’ to attempt a scholarly recognition of underrecognised role-playing narratives. The role-playing voice is multiplicitous, and so is the Gothic duality visualised through psychoanalytical theories of Sigmund Freud’s uncanny and Julia Kristeva’s abject. Through multiplicitous intertextual interaction, they can accept their uncanny/abject state and become ‘monstrous’ to oppose the hegemonic conformity of what a ‘perfect’ child should be, while engaging modern audiences to ‘heal’ with their positive social message. The literary analysis of role-playing narratives can acknowledge the medium for its scholarly, sociocultural, and subcultural worth.