Researchers working in the broad field of “Horror Studies” are invited to submit abstracts about their research for an in-person conference, hosted by the Horror Studies Research Group at Northumbria University (UK), on 30-31 May 2024. The event will be free to attend.

Speakers will each deliver a 15-minute talk about their research, followed by extended discussion and questions from the conference delegation. We invite submissions from scholars at any career stage, but we particularly welcome abstracts from early career researchers and new voices in the field. The event is intended to provide a supportive space in which to develop new ideas, network, and forge new collaborations with fellow Horror Studies researchers.

The event seeks to explore ideas and approaches that have not yet been adequately accounted for or represented in the field, encompassing (but not limited to):
– The diversity of perspectives, identities, and voices that comprise Horror Studies and horror production
– Independent horror production, alternative histories, and horror originating from outside of Europe and North America – The field’s methodological richness, including archival research, audience research, practice-based research, and new theoretical approaches
– The breadth of cultural perspectives that inform Horror Studies and horror media
– Horror in all its media forms including games, film, comics, music, social media, television, literature, art, and so forth

We seek to foreground scholarly excellence within the field by embracing a wide range of approaches, confronting representational biases within the canon, highlighting strategies to counter these biases, and contributing to a more diverse and inclusive academic landscape. We encourage and welcome expressions of interest from members of the global majority and people from underrepresented or marginalised groups.
Other events across the two days will include:
– Keynote lectures by Professor Alison Peirse (University of Leeds; editor of 2020’s award-winning anthology, Women Make Horror: Filmmaking, Feminism, Genre, and the 2024 special issue of MAI, “Doing Women’s Global Horror Film History”) and Dr Kartik Nair (Temple University, Philadelphia; author of 2024’s Seeing Things: Spectral Materialities of Bombay Horror)
– A masterclass about “hidden horror histories”, with Adam Hussam Murray (founder of Bristol Black Horror Club) and Dr Laura Mee (University of Hertfordshire; co-editor of Liverpool University Press’s Hidden Horror Histories book series and author of 2023’s Reanimated: The Contemporary American Horror Remake)
– A publishing workshop with Dr Erin Weigand (interim commissioning editor for Film and Television Studies at Palgrave Macmillan, and recent alum of Northumbria’s Horror Studies Research Group)

To improve access to the event, a small number of travel bursaries (of £150 each) will be available to PhD researchers, independent researchers, and scholars who do not have institutional funding for travel.

The deadline for abstracts (250 words) is 23:59 (GMT) Friday 31 March 2024. Abstracts should be accompanied by a biographical statement (50-100 words). To submit an abstract, please complete the form at the following link: https://forms.office.com/e/cziKBQfJbv
Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their proposal within 7 days of the deadline.

Any questions should be directed to horrorstudies@northumbria.ac.uk