Titles of Interest: British Gothic Cinema
British Gothic Cinema by Barry Forshaw (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013). Forshaw provides a definitive, wide-ranging study of the British horror film produced by the Hammer studios and their rivals from the 1940s and 1950s up to the 21st century and the new popularity of the genre. Beginning with a lively discussion of the great literary antecedents, […]
Call for Papers – Sights and Frights: Victorian Visual Culture, Horror and the Supernatural
“Sights and Frights: Victorian Visual Culture, Horror and the Supernatural” University of Sussex June 19 2014 Deadline: December 16, 2013 “Sights and Frights” is a one day interdisciplinary conference, aimed at both academics and post-graduate students, whose aim is to explore and interrogate cultural cross-currents between nineteenth-century visual culture, science and social practice, particularly where […]
Visions of Enchantment: Occultism, Spirituality & Visual Culture
Although the deadline for this has passed, I wanted to make readers aware of the conference and the subject matter, art and esotericism. CALL FOR PAPERS (Deadline for submission: 31 October 2013) We invite proposals from a variety of disciplines and perspectives, provided that they present innovative insights into visual, symbolic or material aspects of […]
PCA/ACA Call for Participants: A Roundtable on Contemporary American Horror Cinema
Call for Participants: “‘Oh Yes, There Will Be Blood’: A Roundtable on Contemporary American Horror Cinema” Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association (PCA/ACA) National Conference Chicago, IL USA April 16-19, 2014 This roundtable discussion is centered upon recent scholarship, research and criticism concerning contemporary American horror cinema. Participants will read the volumes American Horror Film: The […]
Salt Lake Comic Con Expands to Include Second Event for 2014
I attended the 2013 Salt Lake Comic Con as a media representative, and was invited to their press conference today but was unable to attend. After the event they released the following press release. Salt Lake City will see not one, but two fan conventions in 2014! Salt Lake Comic Con Is Baaack! With Great […]
The Walking Dead: “Internment” episode looks again at Hershel’s faith
My chapter in the forthcoming volume Characters of The Walking Dead that I am co-editing with Kim Paffenroth under contract with McFarland, focuses on Hershel Greene. I look at his crisis of faith that arises in season 2 and his eventual recovery of hope. In tonight’s episode of The Walking Dead we saw the first […]
The Purge: Social Commentary for Right and Left
I finally had an opportunity to watch The Purge over the weekend. I heard good things about the film when it appeared in theaters, especially its phenomenal box office success, earning $87 million globally with a $3 million production budget. Part of the film’s success may have come from its political and social commentary. This […]
Fundraising Underway for Museum of Science Fiction in Washington, DC
Plans are underway for a Museum of Science Fiction in Washington, DC. Watch the video and then visit their Indiegogo campaign page if you want to support the project.
5 Sci-Fi and fantasy film remakes that worked
Sci-fi remakes or re-envisionings can be a controversial topic to those of us who grew up with versions of films that we tend to identify as the only appropriate treatment of the subject matter. But from time to time there have been a few out there that have managed to successfully re-imagine and re-contextualize the […]
TheoFantastique Podcast 4.1 (2013): An Interview with Ytasha Womack on her book ‘Afrofuturism’
In a previous post I’ve drawn attention to October is Black Speculative Fiction Month, and Afrofutrism. Now I am pleased to present an interview with Ytasha L. Womack, author of Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture (Lawrence Hill Books, 2013). Womack defines Afrofutrism by citing Ingrid LaFleur “as a way of imagining […]
