Keywords

Fiction, Horror, Literary, Abuse, Speculative, Family, Connection

Abstract

Between the Living and the Dead is a collection of short stories and flash fiction that explores loss, generational abuse, abandonment, the sometimes brutal power of familial ties, and love in its many forms—both good and evil. This thesis aims to tease out, in the reader, moments of reflection, compassion and revelation. “Falling,” centers on a mother’s grief after her son dies by suicide and her attempt to move beyond perceived culpability and shame. She does this by jumping from a plane to embody his last moments and make the same decision…to live or to die. “And Baby Makes One,” follows a woman left by her partner during a miscarriage who discovers strength in the kindness of a stranger. “Hunting Season” explores how far one daughter will go to keep her father close, providing the reader a heartbroken understanding of both the hunted and the hunter. “Didi” mines the depths of a disparate, exploitive relationship that ends in betrayal and her subsequent obsession that causes the protagonist to weigh the value of life or vengeance. The three flash fiction pieces explore love, hate, and unfulfillment, and are followed by the titular story, “The Living and the Dead.” The last work uses the first-person plural to traverse relationships, both past and present, unearthing a twisted dependence between this un-family of three. Together these eight pieces attempt to excite, disquiet, and stretch our understanding of humanity..

Completion Date

2026

Semester

Spring

Committee Chair

David Schwartz

Degree

Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Identifier

DP0053205

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