Neo-gothic trend in contemporary American teenage literature (John August's Arlo Finch trilogy)
The article analyzes the novels by a famous American screenwriter John August “Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire” (2018), “Arlo Finch in the Lake of the Moon” (2019) and “Arlo Finch in the Kingdom of Shadows” (2020). The trilogy of Arlo Finch is the author's literary debut. It is demonstrated that the author makes extensive use of literary allusions and reminiscences, images and motifs of mythology, and materials of European medieval legends. Written in praise of the scouts, reminding of fortitude, endurance, perseverance and group solidarity, the novel is filled with intense drama, as teenagers during a sports game fall into the world of the Long Woods, the world of death, understood as a transgressive transition to another world. The magical world serves as a means of testing the protagonist and his initiation. In contrast to a widespread theme of suicide in contemporary American literature for teenagers, John August's trilogy is filled with optimism, since it inspires the reader with confidence in the world and man. Despite the game setting, the book is open to the latest spiritual trends. John August places the novel in the genre system of fantasy, however, in our opinion, the genre specificity of a fairy tale and Neo-Gothic novel are clearly visible here. It is proved that the interference of the unknown supernatural forces in the characters' fates is interpreted as hidden, not yet known.