CFP: BBEC Conference, University of Timișoara, Romania, 23th-25th June, 2016

Posted on 11th February 2016 by Sam George

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I am pleased to announce that I am one of the Keynote Speakers at the Second International Conference ‘Beliefs and Behaviours in Education and Culture’ (BBEC) at the West University of Timișoara in Romania on 23th-25th June 2016. Professor Clive Bloom  will also be speaking. The call for papers is out until 1st March so there is still time to submit a proposal and join us in Romania for what promises to be a lively and pertinent few days!

The conference organiser is Dr.Marius-Mircea Crisan, who some of you may have met at the OGOM: Bram Stoker Centenary  Conference in 2012. He is the author of The Birth of the Dracula Myth: Bram Stoker’s Transylvania (2013) and was a very kind host to Kaja and I on our visit to Romania in 2015.

The aim of the conference is to explore beliefs from different perspectives and disciplines, particularly those that have a great impact upon education and culture. Topics include but are not limited to: the representation of mythical spaces in literature and the arts; Gothic and horror in contemporary entertainment media; aesthetic experience and emotional impact in relation to education, culture and belief.

Timişoara, the largest city in Western Romania, is the capital of the Timiş County, and the centre of the historical region of the Banat. Frequently referred to as “Little Vienna”, the city has a rich multicultural history, but is also an important economic modern centre. It boasts amongst its many sights this wonderful statue of Romulus and Remus suckled by a she wolf. I hope to see you there!

Capitoline-Wolf-statue-Timisoara

 

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CFP: Eating the Rude: Hannibal Lecter and the Fannibals, Criminals, and Legacy of America’s Favorite Cannibal

Posted on 10th February 2016 by firekrank

This CFP/ CFA is for an edited publication,  Eating the Rude: Hannibal Lecter and the Fannibals, Criminals and Legacy of America’s Favorite Cannibal. According to specifications: ‘Ideal proposals focusing on any aspect of Hannibal texts from any period will contain a clear thesis, an abstract which is two to three paragraphs long and a list of potential sources. Essays need to be MLA formatted – parenthetical citations, not footnotes’. Proposals and essays need to be submitted by 18th March 2016.

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Horror Scholarships

Posted on 10th February 2016 by firekrank

Applications have opened for five Horror Scholarships from the Horror Writers Association. The scholarships are: the Horror Writers Association Scholarship; the Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Scholarship; the Dark Poetry Scholarship; the Rocky Wood Memorial Scholarship for Non-fiction; and, the Scholarship from Hell (for StokerCon). Good luck with your applications!

 

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How to be an Extra on the New Twin Peaks

Posted on 10th February 2016 by firekrank

For those of you who are fans of the cult television programme ‘Twin Peaks’ (1990-1991), the website ‘Welcome to Twin Peaks’ gives you details on how you can be an extra on the new ‘Twin Peaks’. It is a charity auction which means there will be a hefty price tag involved.

However if you don’t have thousands of dollars to spare, you can snap up Return to Twin Peaks: New Approaches to Materiality, Theory, and Genre on Television (2016) edited by Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock and OGOM’s Catherine Spooner to tide you over before the new series begins.

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The Difference between British and American Children’s Fiction

Posted on 10th February 2016 by firekrank

I read this article, ‘Why the British Tell Better Children’s Stories’, yesterday and found it very intriguing. Don’t be misled by the title, though the author of the article compares American and British children’s literature, they don’t make a definitive comment about ‘which is better’ (thankfully). Like many articles of this nature there are some broad assumptions but it is an interesting starting point to compare the two. This is one of the few online articles where the comments are, currently, measured and engaged with the article. It’s definitely an interesting topic for discussion over a few drinks (or in the comments section below).

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CFP: World Vampire Congress 2016

Posted on 10th February 2016 by firekrank

The following CFP has been released for the World Vampire Congress 2016 which forms part of the Bram Stoker International Film Festival (BSIFF) which will be taking place 27th-30th October 2016, Whitby, Yorkshire. More information can be found below:

“World Vampire Congress 2016, part of the BSIFF. We invite all persons who are interested in speaking at the festival to submit an abstract of 200 words – max. Plus a genre related title indicating the planned content of your presentation. The final result will also depend on the number and the content of the submitted works for the seminars. All submitted proposals will be reviewed by the BSIFF management team. We will look for well constructed and researched stories. At the conference, your presentation can be supported by overhead projection of PDF files and illustrations or Power Point presentation. We strongly encourage such illustrated presentations, for ease and clarity for the audience. Speakers will be able to present costumes, poetry, fragments of short stories or novels, photography or graphic art, movie clips.Interested parties should send submissions of interest to info@bramstokerfilmfestival.com . Closing date 1st August 2016”.

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Open Graves, Open Minds: Representations of Vampires and the Undead from the Enlightenment to the Present Day (paperback)

Posted on 10th February 2016 by William the Bloody

We’re very pleased to announce that the first OGOM book, Open Graves, Open Minds: Representations of Vampires and the Undead from the Enlightenment to the Present Day (Manchester: MUP, 2013), will soon be appearing in paperback from Manchester University Press in June 2016 at the very reasonable price of £15.99.

Details can be found here.

And we are steadily working through the submissions for the next special journal issue and book of collected essays from the 2015 Company of Wolves conference; we have so many excellent pieces to work with!

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Walpole: The House and the Letters

Posted on 10th February 2016 by firekrank

The New York Review of Books has in its latest issue an article by Geoffrey Wheatley, ‘Walpole: The House & the Letters’. It as the name suggests a look at Strawberry Hill, the Gothic abode Walpole engineered for himself, and his writings. There is a pay wall so you will have to reach into your pockets in order to access the full article but the list of books featured at the beginning of the article is an excellent resource if you are studying your studies on Walpole or the early Gothic.

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New Publications: Dangerous Bodies and Evil Children

Posted on 9th February 2016 by firekrank

There are two excellent publications out at the moment. The first is Dangerous Bodies: Historicising the Corporeal Gothic (2016) by Marie Mulvey-Roberts which looks at how the body is oppressed and surpressed in Gothic texts. The other one is an edited book Little Horrors: Inter-Disciplinary Perspectives on Anomalous Children and the Construction of Monstrosity (2016) edited by Simon Bacon and Leo Ruickbie which looks at evil or monstrous children in horror and Gothic texts.

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Jane Austen vs. Zombies

Posted on 9th February 2016 by firekrank

This video considers what Jane Austen would think about the movie ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’ which is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Seth Grahame-Smith and, of course, Jane Austen. Once it has been released, I will do my darndest to to watch it at the cinema and write a review.

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