Bela Lugosi’s Haunted Mirror: Spontaneous Deployment of Lacanian Concepts in Rending Paranormal Experiences

The first aim of this article is to provide an example of the spontaneous deployment of Lacanian concepts in the rendition of disturbing experiences by narrators naïve to psychoanalytic theory. The second aim is to explore the applicability of Lacanian theory for understanding experiences of the paranormal. The text analysed is a 27-minute sequence from the television mini-series Deadly Possessions. In it, Cindy Lee and her daughter Irene relate a story about the murder of Cindy’s Uncle Bob, Frank Saletri, who lived in Bela Lugosi’s old house. They are experiencing traumatic disturbances around the mirror that, we are told, was in the bedroom during the murder and want to donate it to the host’s Haunted Museum. A Lacanian reading of the text is provided which draws on the following concepts: mirror stage, primal scene, the uncanny, objet a, and the fundamental fantasy. A reflection is then offered with regard to the aims of the analysis.