This essay explores Alejandro Amenábar´s The Others (2001) from the perspective of the gothic genre and in connection with new transnational trends in the postmodern thriller. Whether these urban ghosts exist, of course, is another matter. Given the sheer number of these occurrences, what does this reveal about how we relate to our towns and cities? Do our large number of haunted cities and towns reflect an ongoing narrative tradition in our popular culture, or do haunted sites instead reflect a sense of alienation and disillusionment with our surroundings, be it in the form of shuttered pubs, the London Underground, or the nondescript environs of a semi-detached house with its own poltergeist? Other areas of interest in this paper include how press coverage both reflects and disseminate urban ghost narratives, alongside the rise of housing inequalities and entrenched poverty that increasingly define British towns and cities. It is fair to say, then, that paranormal urban landscapes loom large in British culture and its urban experience.
Locations ranging from Southampton to York to Cardiff, for example, are host to a wide range of venues and locations, from industrial estates to haunted theatres, all said to be host to spectral presences of one sort or another. Most if not all towns and cities in the UK have at least one haunted landmark, often several.
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