#Confessions of a Justified Sinner

[j-psilas]

Each row is curated around a theme or idea, designed to give you An Experience™ when you read/watch/play all five from left to right.

Places That Awaken Us: Halloween (1978), Little Nightmares (2017), The Lighthouse (2019), The Shining (1980), Silent Hill 2 (2001)

Trials of Possession: The Exorcist (1971) and Legion (1983), The Exorcist III (1990), Faith: The Unholy Trinity (2022), The Babadook (2014), When Evil Lurks (2023)

Fractured Self, Tortured Self: The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824), Perfect Blue (1997), Father of Lies (1998), Inside Mari (2012-2016), Slay the Princess (2023-2024)

The Dark Feminine: Carmilla (1872), The Witch (2015), The Bloody Chamber (1979), Ringu (1998), Rule of Rose (2006)

Now is the Time of Monsters: De Bello Civili, or Pharsalia (61-65 AD), Dracula (1897), Between Two Fires (2012), Fear & Hunger (2018), Fear & Hunger 2: Termina (2022)

Witness the Unspeakable: The Three Impostors (1895), The Great God Pan (1894) and The Hill of Dreams (1907), The King in Yellow (1895), "The Color Out of Space" (1927), Bloodborne (2015)

Family, Love, Obsession: "The Fall of the House of Usher" (1839), Crimson Peak (2015), Saltburn (2023), The Gift (2015), Creep (2014)

"Have You Read Devilman? Trick Question.": Devilman (1972-1973), Berserk (1989- ), Demon's Souls (2009), Death Note (2006-2007), Chainsaw Man (2018- )

Several of these categories have some crossover. Rule of Rose definitely also belongs in "Places That Awaken Us," and Devilman belongs in "Now is the Time of Monsters," as does Demon's Souls.

I could go on and on, but I won't list them all. Draw your own connections, if you like, and please recommend more texts to go in these categories!

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PLEASE LOOK UP CONTENT WARNINGS FOR EVERY SINGLE ITEM ON THESE LISTS. THERE ARE TOO MANY FOR ME TO LIST INDIVIDUALLY.

[quotation--marks]

‘Yes, I prayed you to grant me my life, which is in your power. The saving of it would not have cost you a plack, yet you refused to do it. The taking of it will cost you a great deal, and yet to that purpose you adhere. I can have no parley with such a spirit. I would not have my life in a present from its motions, nor would I exchange courtesies with its possessor.’

James Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner

[nymusings]

so excited to be able to talk about how pathetic Robert Wringham is next semester

[enbycrip]

Late-night conversation with my OH idea: a remake of Skippy the Bush Kangaroo in the mould of Confessions of a Justified Sinner, where the protagonist first slowly comes to realise that Skippy is pushing the kids into wells, into the path of bushfires etc etc, then even more slowly comes to realise that Skippy is either some part of himself, his dark alter ego, or the devil himself in the form of an increasingly homicidal mangaroo…

[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

[luckys-last-brain-cell]

When your new bestie has only a single parent he refuses to acknowledge, can change his face at will, asks you to kill members of the clergy, and speaks pretty much exclusively in riddles...definitely not Satan.

[ijustkindalikebooks]

Next classic I read.

[cmrosens]

Worldbuilding a Hellscape: Workshop

My most popular posts here seem to be my worldbuilding ones, so I thought I should let people know that I'm opening an online conference marking 200 years since the publication of James Hogg's Confessions of a Justified Sinner, with a creative writing "Building a Hellscape" workshop as a way of engaging with theology in SFF.

My workshop kicks off 09:30AM UK TIME - if you can't make that, it should be recorded so you should get the whole pack of recordings in your conference pack, post-conference when they are all uploaded and accessible.

It's a paid gig for me but as Romancing the Gothic is a project run entirely by one, very overworked person, and exists solely on donations, I've waived the fee.

I'll be getting you to think about some aspects of what a hellscape could be in a SFF context, using prompts like the ones I've posted here, and seeing what people come up with in the hour we have to dig in!

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE: Romancing the Gothic presents its fourth annual online conference over two days - 24th and 25th August. The conference celebrates 200 years of James Hogg's Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner with a series of talks, events and workshops.

The conference is designed to cover different time zones so the days are long. People are recommended to come for as long as they want. The talks and sessions are recorded so that you don't miss anything even if you can't be there in person for specific times/sessions.

Early Bird Tickets, Concessions and Free Tickets

There will be early bird discounts on tickets until 24th June 2024.

Concession tickets are for students, the unwaged, retired people or anyone whose economic situation makes it necessary.

You can donate a ticket for those who are unable to afford to come.

You can donate directly to a person you know providing their name and email, or, for a random donation to help someone attend, enter the name "Sam Hirst" or "AN Other" in the name fields and email the donation ticket to sam[at]romancingthegothic[dot]com to help cover the cost of a free space for someone who needs one. 

(We offer a limited number of free tickets for those who cannot pay the ticket price, please email sam[at]romancingthegothic[dot]com for more information.)

Accessibility

We have live auto-generated captions. We provide slides and, where possible, scripts before the conference with alt-text for images. We have regular breaks and encourage people to take part in ways that are most comfortable for them. There is no forced participation.

If you have any accessibility needs, please get in touch at sam@romancingthegothic.com and I will do my best to make sure these accommodations are provided.

Book your ticket below:

PROGRAMME

(All times are UK time, BST. Please check your local timezone so you don't miss you chosen events)

Saturday 24th August

9am - Greetings and conference set up

9.30 - 10.30 - Writing Workshop with author CM Rosens - 'Create a Hellscape: Using Theology in World-Building'

10.30 - 10.45 - BREAK

10.45 - 12.30 - Panel 1 - James Hogg: Work and Legacy

Nick Smith - I have since been induced to look to you as my guardian angel': Hogg's Highland Journeys and their influence on the Jusfitied Sinner

Mizuki Tsutsui - An analysis of Ian Rankin and James Mavor's draft of the film script of James Hogg'sJustified Sinner:Demon, Union and Adaptation

Martina Jauch - Masculinities, Mania, and Modes of Religion - ETA Hoffman's and Goethe's impact on James Hogg's The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner

Laila Sougri - The parallax of Evil: Phenomenological Encounters with the Uncanny in the Works of James Hogg, Daphne du Maurier, and Mark Z. Danielewski

12.30 - 13.00 - BREAK

13.00 - 14.00 - Cooking Workshop and lunch with Allie Pino (co-author of The Gothic Cookbook) - 'Whistle While You Cook: Arepa-Making and Venezuelan Demonic Folklore with 'El Silbón' and the 'Dancing Devils of Yare'

14.00 - 14.15 - BREAK

14.15 - 15.45 - Panel 2 - Demonic Politics

Javier Mosqueda - Building the devil: indigenous and Christian elements in Jeronimo de Mendieta's concept of the demon

Jarrod DePrado - “A God is Not So Glorious As a King”: Religion as a Demonic Political Tool on Stage

Jan Marvin A. Goh - "holy mysteries/by the eyes of the dead': Exploring the Gothic in Divine Concept in Nick Joaquin's The Mass of St. Sylvester

Amy Coles - She has to be hammered into shape: Religion-Related Abuse and Female Suppression in Ray Russell's The Case Against Satan

15.45 - 16.00 - BREAK

16.00 - 17.45 - Women and the Demonic

Maria Belén Caparrós - ‘I’m not going to kill you. I’ m going to sacrifice you’: Patriarchal Spectrality, expressive violence and structural demons in Argentinian Contemporary Representation of Femicide

Vale McComb - WhatPuppet History didn't tell you: Examing a Trio of 17th cent. Possession Cases and What Happened Thereafter

Brenda Tolian - Down Into the Darkness of Anne Bannerman’s “Prologue”

Pauline Suwanban - Contemporary Devil Romances and Female Confidence (2020-2024)

17.45 - 18.00 - BREAK

18.00 - 19.00 - First Keynote - Adam Kotsko - 'Faust in the Anthropocene'

19.00 - 19.15 - Author Roundtable - The Modern Scottish Gothic

Anna Cheung, Helen Grant and further authors TBC

20.15 - 20.30 - BREAK

20.30 - 21.30 - Cocktail/Mocktail hours

SUNDAY 25th August

9.15 - Greeting

9.30 - 10.30 - Second Keynote - Martha McGill - "Evil Company": Internal and External Demons in Early Modern Scotland

10.30 - 10.45 - BREAK

10.45 - 12.15 - Panel 4 - Demons, Duality and Doubles

Gina Lyle - Literary Hauntings in Helen McClory's Bitterhall

Rowan McMonagle - 'Thrawn Janet'

Miranda Larsen - This is a merger, not a possession: Kurama's Complex Morality in Yu Yu Hakusho

12.15 - 13.00 - LUNCH BREAK

13.00 - 14.45 - Panel 5 - The Modern Demonic Imagination

Abhishek Sarkar - Religious Obsession and Murderous Zeal: The Fanaticism of the Serial Killer in Four Indian Films

Efram Sera-Shriar - From Demon World Village to Ghosts 'n Goblins: Popular Occulture, Videogame Censorship, and Satanic Panic in the 1980s

Máireéad Casey - Demon Possession, Sexual Grooming, and Resistance in We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (2021)

Kyria Van Gasse - I see his face but he's not me: the mental and emotional effect of playing the demonic and the monstrous in Live Action Role Play

14.45 - 15.00 - BREAK

15.00 - 16.45 - Panel 6 - Vampires and the Demonic

Mary Going - I Will not Lie Below: Demons, Vampires, and Contemporary Iterations of Lilith

Madhuchhanda Ray - At the Crossroads of the Hindu Demon and the Western Undead: Reading Satyajit Ray’s Quirky Vampire

Anca Simina Martin - The first Romanian Vampire Novel: The Case of the Vampire-priest Antagonist

Hayley Smith - Welcome to God's Army: Religion and Religious Extremism in Netflix's Midnight Mass

16.45 - 17.00 - BREAK

17.00 - 18.30 - Writing Workshop - Samantha Miles - Playwriting as Ritual: Summoning Demons and Constructing Hellscapes

18.30 - 19.00 - BREAK

19.00 - 20.45 - Panel 7 - Imagining Hell

Susan Vanderborg - "Hell is only a word": The Imperfect Demonic Translations of Event Horizon

Ruth-Anne Walbank - This deep hell of ills: Hellscapes and the Gothic in Lancashire Cotton Famine Poetry (1861-5)

Morgan Daimler - Tenants of Hell: Fairies, the Devil, and Folk Belief in Early Modern Scotland

Rebecca Marks - Blotting and Blurring Demons: Blake's Last Judgement

20.45 - 21.00 - FINAL REMARKS

As always, there is a code of conduct for our events. Please find it here. https://romancingthegothic.com/code-of-conduct/

TICKET PRICES

Early Bird Discount available now until 24th June 2024: £17.50 Full Price ticket after 24 July 2024: £25.00 (INCLUDES BOTH DAYS)

Concession for students, retired or unwaged Early Bird Discount available now until 24th June 2024: £10.00 (INCLUDES BOTH DAYS) Concession ticket for students, retired or unwaged: £15.00 (INCLUDES BOTH DAYS)

Donate a Ticket: £15.00 (for anyone at any time! to donate one, this price stays the same) (INCLUDES BOTH DAYS)

[quotation--marks]

But when the being spoke, both my mental and bodily frame received another shock more terrible than the first, for it was the voice of the great personage I had so long denominated my friend, of whom I had deemed myself for ever freed, and whose presence and counsels, I now dreaded more than hell. It was his voice, but so altered - I shall never forget it to my dying day. Nay, I can scarce conceive it possible that any earthly sounds could be so discordant, so repulsive to every feeling of a human soul, as the tones of the voice that grated on my ear at that moment. They were the sounds of the pit, wheezed through a grated cranny, or seemed so to my distempered imagination. 

James Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner

[divinefaultlines]

I write things sometimes, check this out if you like weird horror classics!

[murrphius]

Prayer

PROMPT: Write two prayers for your character: one to be said in private, one to be said in public.

(Note: inspiration shamelessly taken from my beloved, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner.)

In the square: O LORD GOD, we lift up this cherished soul to Your eternal throne of grace, and we entrust him to Your everlasting care, wrapped in the blessed bosom of Abraham and accounted among the righteous in that happy realm which awaits all Your faithful children. Although we grieve the sudden manner in which he was taken from us, and we know not the precise reasons or particularities behind his passing, we take comfort in the assurance that You will receive him with joy who has believed and partaken of the holy body of Christ, as we know he did in life. Grant him peace and life forevermore, Almighty God. Amen.

In the alcove: O my GOD, holy and JUST are Thy ways! I thank You and praise You with every fibre of my being. Thou hast given me the victory over this foul sinner, this fountain of anathemas and limb of antichrist. As a two-edged sword in Your hand, I have visited Your wrath upon this agent of destruction, cutting him down in the full strength of his iniquity and thereby cleansing this earth and preserving Your holy church in her sainted purity. I sing as one with the Psalmist, "You gave me my enemies' necks, and those who hated me I destroyed. Blessed be my rock...the God who gave me vengeance!" And now, O LORD, may the molten mouth of hell ope wide to receive a son of perdition, fitted for that destruction ordained for him from the beginning—for the sake of Your glory and almighty Name. May fiends infernal devour his flesh—may the glut of his sin be as fat for the flames, a hissing, crackling torment—and may the smoke of it rise up forever, a sweet scent to the righteous above. Amen.

image: detail from "An Angel Appears to Balaam" by Gustave Doré

[earnshawww]

James Hogg wrote an entire novel just to drag Calvinism and the doctrine of predestination. Dare I say wig

[weirdgirlpilled]

not enough robert x gil-martin content out there. come on guys they were so queer coded. be yaoipilled

[thenonesenseofladypole]

Things I'm noticing in my Justified Sinner reread...

it can feel like Hogg is on the Cavaliers' side a lot, but i think it's because its a farce where one both sides are ridiculous but one side is evil?

any profanity (d-n-t-n, by G-d, etc) is censored in the text which i didn't notice in the audiobook

i recently recommended this to an american, but tbh, if i was in their country rn, i'm not sure I'd find it all as funny

it feels like folk religion (for want of a better word), is consistently presented as the more humane and Christ-like position. it's what survives the farce, unridiculous.

Hogg is so fuckin funny and I will be locking you all in for my TedTalk on this...

[harrys-strutting-dad]

sie sind schwul, euer ehren

[kaggsy59]

"...a Christian's life is one of suffering..." #jameshogg #ajustifiedsinner

I blame Lizzy for me reading this one right now… 🤣🤣 “The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner” by James Hogg has been knocking about on the immediate TBR for a little while now, but I hadn’t particularly intended to read it at the moment. However, in her round up of her first visit to the Edinburgh International Book Festival this year, Lizzy mentioned that it was the 200th…