CFP for Grad Students: Power of Horror Compels You: Exploring Historic and Modern Iterations of Horror (Spec Issue of Scaffold) (05/31/2024)

The Power of Horror Compels You: Exploring Historic and Modern Iterations of Horror

deadline for submissions: May 31, 2024

full name / name of organization: Scaffold: Journal of the Institute for Comparative Studies in Literature, Art and Culture

contact email: scaffoldjournal@gmail.com

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2024/02/28/the-power-of-horror-compels-you-exploring-historic-and-modern-iterations-of-horror

The Power of Horror Compels You: Exploring Historic and Modern Iterations of Horror



Jack Halberstam argued of Bram Stoker’s seminal horror text that “Dracula is otherness itself.”In doing so, he contextualized the novel’s configuration of the period’s social anxieties towardsexuality, modernity, and antisemitism through the vampire figure. Further, Halberstam suggests that “Dracula is indeed not simply a monster, but a technology of monstrosity,” encompassing a perspective of the horror genre which recognizes its fundamental capacity to express anxieties and fears about the contemporary world.



Written eight decades before Dracula, Frankenstein often earns Mary Shelley the title “themother of science fiction.” At the same time, this novel also converges around conventions of Gothic fiction and horror to express anxieties about modern technology and science and its relationship to the human, concepts which remain integral to contemporary examples of the genre across mediums.



When writing about modern horror Mikal Gaines reflects how the genre has largely evolvedbeyond its historical depictions of Black and BIPOC individuals as casualties or monsters to thedriving force of the story. Gaines addresses how racism in Jordan Peele’s Get Out functions as the monster, and narrativizes the horror of racialization. Per Gaines’ argument, Peele draws on the tradition in the horror genre of complicating perspectives on race or class, as many argue George Romero’s original Night of the Living Dead film did.



The standards of monstrosity of a particular era manifest in its films, television series, novels,games, and other materials in or adjacent to the horror genre. The definition of horror or monstrousness changes continuously according to the evolution of culture and societal normsand as generic themes and modes of horror enter into the broader cultural consciousness. This call for papers seeks articles that explore what contemporary horror deems monstrous, in what ways, and how this presentation has changed over time. We hope to present an interdisciplinaryexploration of how the horror genre has influenced aspects of contemporary culture, including its narratives across media forms and beyond media.



Possible topics for exploration include but are not limited to:

• A close reading of modern (2010 and later) horror novels, films, television series, or games that critically analyze their relationship to modernity
• The evolution of an archetype: how have depictions of original horror icons (the vampire, the zombie, Frankenstein, etc.) changed over time? How have they been typified, particularly in their more modern iterations?
• The transition of depictions of horror icons across media - how have depictions of, for example, zombies, changed across media, such as in the Night of the Living Dead film, the Walking Dead comic or TV series, the Last of Us video game?
• Real-world ‘horror’ (climate themes, pandemic themes)
• How have modern horror video games tackled their subjects compared to older iterations in the same or similar series?
• Topics that explore how horror conventions change across media modes
• The true crime phenomenon - the rise in popularity of true crime media and its influence on the broader cultural consciousness
• Exploring the aesthetic differences in presentations of horror across different media modes
• Compare the evolution of horror in different national contexts
• Address the lineage of horror in relation to its Gothic origins to a contemporary understanding of the genres

We are seeking articles of 5000-7000 words for publication in the next issue of Scaffold: the Journal for the Institute of Comparative Studies of Literature, Art, and Culture, an open-access graduate student journal. Articles will be double-blind, peer-reviewed, and published digitally through OJS. More information can be found here: https://ojs.library.carleton.ca/index.php/J-ICSLAC/index

Please email proposals of approximately 300-500 words to scaffoldjournal@gmail.com, including a brief author bio, by April 29th 2024. Accepted authors will be informed by early May, with full articles due for review by August 5th 2024.



Issue publishes December 2024.


Last updated March 6, 2024

CFP Southern Gothic Area (6/15/2024; PCAS/ACAS 10/17-19/2024)

THE SOUTHERN GOTHIC AT PCAS/ ACAS 2024

deadline for submissions: June 15, 2024

full name / name of organization: Popular Culture / American Culture Association in the South

contact email: SouthernGothicPCAS@gmail.com

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2024/03/04/the-southern-gothic-at-pcas-acas-2024

Steeped in the wide-flung diaspora of the Gothic mode, the Southern Gothic is one of the most prominent ways the South is represented in media and culture. Represented in the works of writers as varied as Carson McCullers, Flannery O’Connor, and William Faulkner to Cormac McCarthy, Cherie Priest, and Jesmyn Ward, whether categorized as a form, a style, or a genre, the Southern Gothic is bound up with the specificity of regional cultural anxieties about race, class, gender, sexuality, history, and geographic identity itself. From its most stereotypical depictions to more nuanced, complex interpretations, the Southern Gothic shapes the wider perception of regional identities in ways that invite our contemporary scholarly engagement.



The Southern Gothic area of the Popular Culture / American Culture Association in the South (PCAS/ ACAS) invites proposals for individual presentations, roundtable discussions, or full panels of 3-4 papers at the 2024 PCAS/ ACAS Annual Conference, to be held October 17 - 19, 2024 in Greenville, SC.



Topics might include (but are in no way limited to):

• representations of the Southern Gothic in film, TV, and literature
• adaptation(s) of Southern Gothic literature
• the Southern Gothic in popular music
• Global elements of/ approaches to the Southern Gothic
• the Southern Gothic in new media (games, podcasts, graphic novels, etc.)
• the emergence of “Southern noir” as a subgenre
• race, class, gender, and/ or sexuality in the Southern Gothic
• Southern true crime as a cultural phenomenon
• documentary and the Southern Gothic
• Southern Gothic tourism
• monsters in the Southern Gothic: vampires, zombies, ghosts, etc.
• mental health narratives in the Southern Gothic
• specificity—or generality—in Southern Gothic geographies
• pedagogical approaches to/ uses of the Southern Gothic
• the spectre of history in the Southern Gothic
• sites of intersection between the Southern Gothic and other genres/ modes

PCAS/ ACAS is dedicated to working toward equity, diversity, and inclusion both within our organization and in academia at large. As such, we particularly welcome submissions by underrepresented and marginalized scholars across categories such as race, gender, sexuality, ability, and employment status (e.g., graduate students and non-tenure track or unaffiliated/ independent scholars).

To propose a presentation (of 20 minutes or less) or a roundtable discussion for the Southern Gothic Area, please send the following to Area Chair Stephanie Graves at SouthernGothicPCAS@gmail.com by June 15, 2024:

Name of presenter(s), institutional affiliation (if applicable), & email address for each presenter


Type of submission (individual paper, roundtable, or full panel)


Presentation abstract (250 words or fewer)


Indication if you need access to A/V (not all rooms have A/V available—if you don’t indicate the need, you may be scheduled in a room without AV)

Submission deadline is June 15, 2024; notifications of acceptance will be sent by July 1, 2024.

PLEASE NOTE: In order to be considered for the Southern Gothic Area, please follow the instructions above rather than submitting through the PCAS/ ACAS website.Everyone is invited to submit one academic paper and can, in addition, participate in one round-table discussion or creative session. Only those proposals intended for the Southern Gothic area should be submitted as outlined above; the PCAS/ ACAS website has an online submission form for the General Call.



Last updated March 6, 2024

CFP Preternatural in Popular Culture (6/15/2024; NEPCA Online and Dudley, MA 10/3-5/2024)

Call for Papers: Preternatural in Popular Culture

Monsters & the Monstrous Area of the Northeast Popular Culture Association

2024 Annual Conference of the Northeast Popular Culture Association

Nichols College (Dudley, MA) and Zoom, 3-5 October 2024

Proposals due by 15 June 2024

The Monsters & the Monstrous Area of the Northeast Popular Culture Association (NEPCA) invites submissions under the general theme of the Preternatural in Popular Culture.


For this year, submissions should focus on creatures and/or creations that exist above, beyond, and/or outside the natural world and the ways these entities are represented in popular culture (anime, comics, fiction, film, manga, streaming video, television, etc.) from across time and space.


The Monsters & the Monstrous Area is among NEPCA’s largest areas, and we often have blocks of sessions running across the full event. To best accommodate everyone, single presentation submissions are preferred over panel submissions.


Please direct any questions or concerns to Michael A. Torregrossa, Monsters & the Monstrous Area Chair, at popular.preternaturaliana@gmail.com, and check out our blog Popular Preternaturaliana: Studying the Monstrous in Popular Culture for ideas and past sessions. The blog can be accessed at https://popularpreternaturaliana.blogspot.com/.

Conference Information

The 2024 Northeast Popular Culture Association (NEPCA) will host its annual conference this fall as a hybrid conference from Thursday, 3 October, through Saturday, 5 October. Presenters will be required to become members of NEPCA for the year.


Virtual sessions will take place on Thursday evening and Friday morning via Zoom, and in-person sessions will take place on Friday evening and Saturday morning at Nichols College, in Dudley, Massachusetts.


For more information about the conference and to submit a proposal, please visit our NEPCA’s dedicated Conference site at https://nepca.blog/2024-conference-page/. Be prepared to answer the following questions about your proposal:

• Proposal Type (Single Presentation or Panel)
• Modality (in person or virtual)
• Subject Area
• Working Title
• Academic Affiliation (if any)
• Abstract (250 words)
• Short bio (50-200 words)
• Accommodations
• Preferences for when to present

The submissions site will be open until 11:59 PM (EDT) on 15 June 2024.

CFP Seventh Annual Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference at StokerCon 2024 (3/31/2024; San Diego/Online 5/31/2024)

The Seventh Annual Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference at StokerCon 2024

deadline for submissions: March 31, 2024

full name / name of organization: Horror Writers Association

contact email: AnnRadcliffeCon@gmail.com

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2024/02/28/the-seventh-annual-ann-radcliffe-academic-conference-at-stokercon-2024

The Seventh Annual Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference at StokerCon 2024

Conference Date: Friday, May 31, 2024

Conference Location: San Diego Mission Bay Marriott, 8757 Rio San Diego Drive, San Diego, California, USA, 92108 and via Hopin

Conference Website: https://www.stokercon2024.com



From the mysterious lights in the windows of the William Heath Davis House to the footsteps in the seemingly empty rooms of the Old Point Loma Lighthouse, San Diego has long been home to stories of the uncanny. The 2024 StokerCon convention is eager to channel the creative potential of San Diego’s history, culture, and communities.

Likewise, the co-organizers of the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference look forward to interrogating, exploring, and re-imagining the field of horror and gothic studies. The Ann Radcliffe Conference is intended as a research showcase within Stokercon, as well as an opportunity for building community and collaboration. Therefore, we invite all interested scholars, researchers, creators, academics, and non-fiction writers to submit presentation abstracts for completed research projects, works-in-progress, and projects invested in the academic analysis of the horror genre and its history in all its forms. As in previous years, this conference will be held in a hybrid format, with both in-person panels and recorded online presentations available via Hopin.

We are eager to receive abstracts that expand the scholarship across horror and gothic studies. This can include, but is by no means limited to, analyses and critiques of fields or formats such as:

• Art
• Cinema
• Comics/Manga
• Literature
• Music
• Poetry
• Television
• Video Games
• Cartoons/Anime

We invite papers that take an interdisciplinary approach to their subject matter and welcome scholarship that considers a diverse range of readings, interpretations, and application of theories. This includes work from a variety of interdisciplinary and transmedial fields including, but not limited to:

• Critical race theory
• Film theory and analysis
• Gender/LGBTQIA+ theory
• Historical analysis and interpretation
• Archival research
• Literary theory and analysis
• Pedagogical approaches to horror and the gothic
• Intersections with psychology, biology, and the history of medicine
• Philosophical approaches

Presentation and Submission Guidelines

Please upload a 250 – 300 word abstract to https://horrorwritersassociation.submittable.com/submit/96e2b49b-09f6-4c... by March 31, 2024. Responses will follow as soon as possible.


Presentations should adhere to a 15-minute time limit, in order to ensure adequate time for discussion and commentary.


Please note in your abstract whether you plan to present your work in person or virtually. For those presenting virtually, recordings will need to be sent by April 15, 2024.

Please address any questions to AnnRadcliffeCon@gmail.com



In support of HWA’s Diverse Works Inclusion Committee goals, the Ann Radcliffe Academic co-chairs encourage the widest possible diverse representation to apply and present their scholarship in a safe and supportive environment. For more information, please see the Diverse Works Inclusion Committee Mission Statement at: http://horror.org/category/the-seers-table/

The Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference is part of the Horror Writers Association’s Outreach Program. Created in 2016 by Michele Brittany and Nicholas Diak, the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference has been a venue for horror scholars to present their work alongside professional writers and editors in the publishing industry. The conference has also been the genesis of the Horror Writer Association’s first academic release, Horror Literature from Gothic to Post-Modern: Critical Essays, composed entirely of AnnRadCon presenters, released by McFarland in February, 2020.

Membership to the Horror Writers Association is not required to submit or present, however registration to StokerCon 2024 is required to be accepted and to present. Information regarding StokerCon registration, including day passes and full event registration, can be found on the Stokercon website: https://www.stokercon2024.com. There is no additional registration or fees for the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference outside StokerCon registration. If interested in applying to the Horror Writers Association as an academic member, please see www.horror.org/about/.



Last updated March 6, 2024

CFP Sixth Biennial Dr. Henry Armitage Memorial Scholarship Symposium of New Weird Fiction and Lovecraft-Related Research (5/24/2024; Providence, RI 8/15-18.2024)

The Sixth Biennial Dr. Henry Armitage Memorial Scholarship Symposium of New Weird Fiction and Lovecraft-Related Research

NecronomiCon Providence convention in Providence, RI
15-18 August, 2024
Location: Omni Hotel, Providence – Bristol/Kent Room, 3rd floor

Symposium Chairs: Dr. Elena Tchougounova-Paulson, editor of Lovecraftian Proceedings (Hippocampus Press)
Symposium Co-Chair: Prof. Dennis P. Quinn 

CALL FOR PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS:

The Dr. Henry Armitage Memorial Scholarship Symposium seeks Lovecraftian and Weird Fiction related research for the NecronomiCon Providence convention. Providence, RI, August 15-18, 2024

The Lovecraft Arts and Sciences Council (the organizer of NecronomiCon Providence) invites submissions for the upcoming Armitage Symposium, a conference that will be held within the convention. The Symposium is substantially dedicated to the life and works of the Providence-based Weird fiction writer, the father of Cosmic horror, H.P. Lovecraft, but also to his milieu, his literary contemporaries, predecessors and successors in the Weird/horror/Gothic/Neo-Gothic lore. For many decades, Lovecraft’s legacy has been the central topic for challenging discussions, and many prominent scholars have joined in debates, followed by significant textual insights, great literary discoveries, and numerous high-quality academic publications. The Armitage Symposium in 2024 will continue to explore Lovecraft’s works in relation to classic and contemporary Weird fiction, science fiction, other similar genres of horror/Gothic/Neo-Gothic literature, modern philosophy (phenomenology and epistemology), literary theory, linguistics, cultural history and cultural theory, archaeology, ethnography, etc.


Possible topics for 15-minute papers might include:

• Lovecraft’s influence on the American or, broadly, Western literary canon
• Lovecraft and Cosmic mythology
• Lovecraftian Mythos as a cultural phenomenon
• Lovecraft and religion/mysticism, and race/gender studies
• Lovecraft and Eurocentrism: origins and complexities
• Lovecraft’s correspondence as pre-blogging/travelog
• “Arkham House” and its heritage: further discoveries in its archival history
• Horror/Supernatural/Gothic fiction: its origins, historical frames and defining terms
• The works of potent and influential masters such as Dunsany, M.R. James, and Clark Ashton Smith
• Modern literary and cinematic perspectives in Lovecraftiana and the Supernatural
• Women in Lovecraftiana/Weird fiction in the past, present, and future
• Contemporary philosophy of weird, horror, and the supernatural: interpretive approaches

Traditionally, the Armitage Symposium has aimed to foster explorations and disseminations of Lovecraft’s elaborate cosmic mythology, and how this mythology was influenced by, and has come to influence, numerous other fiction writers, historians, art critics, philosophers, archivists, bibliographers of the past and the present. However, all submissions that contribute to interconnecting new linguistic and literary theoretical concepts in academic Lovecraftiana/horror studies are very welcome.

Specifically for the Armitage Symposium, we are particularly interested in submitting works from academics: undergraduates, PhD students, post-graduates, independent scholars, established researchers. Presenters should be prepared to deliver a fifteen to twenty-minute oral presentation, and are invited to submit a manuscript for possible inclusion in the peer-reviewed Lovecraftian Proceedings no. 6.

For consideration, interested scholars should submit an abstract (of around 250-300 words) in Word format along with a short bio (around 100 words) to the symposium chair, Dr Elena Tchougounova-Paulson, at tch.elena15@gmail.com.

The deadline for submissions is May 24, 2024. Early submissions are encouraged.

In addition to these talks, NecronomiCon Providence will also feature numerous traditional panels and presentations, given by many of the top names in Lovecraftian studies and the global Weird Renaissance. For more information on the Armitage Symposium, or the overall convention and the themes to be explored, please, visit our website: necronomicon-providence.com.





About the Symposium:

The Lovecraft Arts and Sciences Council (the organizer of NecronomiCon Providence) hosts the Armitage Symposium to showcase academic works that explore all aspects weird fiction and art, from pop-culture to literature, including the writings and life of globally renowned weird fiction writer, H.P. Lovecraft. Topics of value include the influence of history, architecture, science, and popular culture on the weird fiction genre, as well as the impact that weird and Lovecraftian fiction has had on culture.

In past years, the Armitage Symposium has aimed to foster explorations of Lovecraft’s elaborate cosmic mythology, and how this mythology was influenced by, and has come to influence, numerous other authors and artists before and since. Additionally, we promote all works that foster a greater, critical, and nuanced understanding weird fiction and art (and related science fiction, fantasy, horror, etc.).

Selected talks will be presented together as part of the Armitage Symposium, a mini-conference within the overall convention framework of NecronomiCon Providence, 15-18 August 2024. Presenters will deliver fifteen-minute oral presentations summarizing their thesis, and are invited to submit a brief manuscript for possible inclusion in a proceedings publication.

For more information on the Armitage Symposium, or the overall convention and the themes to be explored, please visit our website: necronomicon-providence.com – where we will post updates and details as they develop over the final weeks leading to the convention. In addition to these talks, NecronomiCon Providence will feature numerous traditional panels and presentations given by many of the top names in the global weird renaissance.

The 2024 CALL FOR PRESENTATION PROPOSALS can be downloaded here: Armitage-Symposium-CFA-2024.pdf