This year’s Romancing the Gothic online conference celebrates the ‘birth’ of Carmilla, one of the most enduring vampiric figures, re-written an re-imagined over the years in fiction, film, web-series, podcasts, animated series and RPGs. This conference focuses on and celebrates Carmilla and its legacy, particularly the sapphic reclamation and queer celebration of its main character.

The conference will be held online on 3rd September 2022.

This conference welcomes creative and critical papers on a range of topics connected to Carmilla, including:

Sheridan Le Fanu and his wider writings and legacy

The history of the (female) vampire

The queer Gothic and horror

Adaptations and reiminagings of Carmilla

Gothic reimaginings

Gothic explorations of love and desire

The sapphic vampire

The sapphic Gothic

Queering the vampire

Sexuality in Victorian literature

Queer desire and transgression

Queering the supernatural

The Gothic and romance

We are interested in interdisciplinary papers and works from a range of disciplines including: queer studies, cultural studies, literature studies, Gothic studies, folklore studies, history, sociology, philosophy etc.

As usual with a Romancing the Gothic conference, there will be extra events including author roundtables, workshops and a social event. Keep your eye peeled for news.

We are accepting panel and individual paper proposals. There are two types of paper

10 minute ‘Lightning talk’ – This is a short talk to introduce a theme, or area of research or interest.

20 minute paper – This is a 20 minute paper on a topic of your choice. There are three talks to a panel, and you may submit an individual paper or panel proposal.

Please submit a 150-250 word abstract with short bio to sam@romancingthegothic.com by 1st January.

We welcome papers from both academics and non-academics with expertise of any type in the fields indicated above (critical, creative, professional, personal). For those who are unfamiliar with writing abstracts and academic conference applications, there will be a zoom tutorial to answer any questions on April 4th. Please email with a request for the link if you would like to join.