Gothic and Horror - Genre and Video Games

deadline for submissions: 
August 31, 2024
full name / name of organization: 
Sabrina Zacharias and Sara Smith

Genre and Video Games - Gothic and Horror

We are seeking short chapters of approximately 2500-2700 words for an edited collection on literary genres in video games. We invite submissions for the “Gothic and Horror Fiction” category of the collection. 

The collection fits into an ongoing genre studies series and will examine how literary genres function in video games, thereby bringing video games into the existing literary canon of genre studies. Each subsection will explore key themes in the existing canon while expanding on the interactive elements of video games that update and/or alter existing conversations about genre. The essays will be educational and accessible in nature with the aim of producing a comprehensive teaching companion for future courses in game studies, game development, or the digital humanities.

This section of the collection looks to explore a range of topics and games that engage with different areas of the Gothic and Horror genres.

  • Topics that might be considered (but are not limited to):

○      Queer Horror and the Monstrous ‘Other’

○      Gothic Games and the Undead Past

○      Haunted Digital Landscapes

○      Consumption Horror: Parasites, Vampires, and Cannibals

○      Speculation and Apocalyptic Horror

  • Games that might be considered (but are not limited to):

○       Season

○       Slender Man

○       Silent Hill

○       Last of Us

○       Atomic Heart

○       They Are Here

○       Still Wakes the Deep

Particular interest will be paid to pieces that engage with Indigenous and Non-Western perspectives in the chosen game or through the chapter’s proposed scholarship.

Please submit an abstract of 250-300 words alongside a brief (100 word) bio to genreandvideogames@gmail.com by the date below.

Abstract due by: August 31, 2024

Prospective draft due date: December 15, 2024