Haunting the Author: Gothic Authorship and Cinematic Adaptation in Bayard’s The Pale Blue Eye

Abstract

The article investigates how Scott Cooper’s film adaptation of The Pale Blue Eye reconstructs Edgar Allan Poe as a gothic authorial figure while transforming Bayard’s literary narrative into a visual gothic text. Grounded in adaptation theory, gothic film aesthetics, and authorship studies, the article examines how cinematic techniques re-author Poe through mise-en-scène such as lighting, sound, and narrative framing. Using a qualitative comparative method, the study argues that the film operates not only as a literary adaptation but as a cinematic act of authorial mythmaking. The findings reveal that Poe is reconstructed as a spectral cultural signifier through visual gothic codes, storytelling strategies, and intertextual memories.