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Butterfly Husks

Abstract

Butterfly Husks is an exploratory draft of a gothic horror novel set in early twentieth-century Ireland. After dying of pneumonia, eleven-year-old Oliver awakens as a white butterfly, delicate and vulnerable in a world full of teeth. Drawn into the hands of a mysterious woman, he is carried to a decaying castle and discovers other children like him, dead before their time and remade into something not quite human. At first, the castle seems like a home where the children are given a purpose: to protect those still among the living. But as Oliver settles in, the illusion begins to fracture. Locked doors line the corridors, secrets linger in every corner, and those they are meant to save begin to disappear. The rules governing the castle feel less like protection and more like control, and as Oliver pushes against them, he begins to wonder if they are truly saviors or monsters just lurking in the dark. To uncover the truth, Oliver must decide whether to preserve the fragile order of the only home he has left or to destroy it before he loses the last of his humanity.

Advisor

Geoffrey Herbach

Committee Member

Robin Becker

Date of Degree

2026

Language

english

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Program of Study

Creative Writing

Department

English

College

Humanities and Social Sciences

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