Under Night's Darkness

Author

Alexandra Fiege Ore, University of Montana

Year of Award

2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Degree Name

Creative Writing (Fiction)

Department or School/College

Department of English

Committee Chair

Emily Ruskovich

Committee Co-chair

Robert Stubblefield

Commitee Members

Eric Zimmer

Keywords

fiction, american west, noir, horror, romance, contemporary america

Subject Categories

Fiction

Abstract

Under Night’s Darkness follows Landry, who has recently been paroled from prison and returns to his family home in rural Montana. He has recently become a born-again Christian and is in the midst of a frantic final attempt to redeem himself after a lifetime dedicated to bullying and cruelty. He’s not only haunted by the specters of domestic abuse and sexual assault, but also by the ghosts of the recently dead. Enraged at the failure of his tragicomic attempts at redemption, Landry commits the sadistic murder of his own brother. The ensuing cycle of revenge destroys Landry’s family and Landry himself. Under Night’s Darkness interrogates America’s relationship with violence, power, and what kind of people we afford empathy. As a work of regional fiction set in the American West, this thesis attempts to reckon with a post-colonial society that sags under the weight of its own past violence. Just as Landry can’t escape from his past crimes, so the very landscape around him can’t be separated from its own tortured history. Regional fiction seeks to make larger social struggles manifest in the microcosm of a region, and the aim of this thesis is to make it clear that Landry’s haunted house is also our own.

Recommended Citation

Ore, Alexandra Fiege, "Under Night's Darkness" (2023). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 12100.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/12100