09/04/2026
CELTSS Scholarly/Creative Spotlight
Dr. Bryan Counter, Visiting Lecturer in the English Department, recently wrote two short essays revolving around horror, weird fiction, and wonder. "Empty and Full Rooms: the Punctum in Silent Hill f," published in Cleveland Review of Books, uses Roland Barthes's idea of the punctum to argue that the darkest moment in the 2025 survival horror game is actually a room in which no direct threat (for once) is posed to the player character. "'Of unearthly, of astounding beauty': A Fragment about Wonder," published in Oxford Literary Review, focuses on a moment in Arthur Machen's 1936 story "N," as well as Maurice Blanchot's work, to make a connection between fragmentary writing and the sense of wonder.
Don't miss the opportunity to see Bryan at our upcoming Scholarly and Creative Showcase on September 24. Click here to register for the event: https://bit.ly/CELTSS26Showcase
Click here to view the essays:
https://clereviewofbooks.com/empty-and-full-rooms-the-punctum-in-silent-hill-f/
https://doi.org/10.3366/olr.2026.0497
Framingham State University Framingham State English Department