2025 Gothic and Horror Talks series (interdisciplinary)
Please note that all papers are accepted on a first come/first served basis so to guarantee the slot you want (subject to the paper being accepted), we recommend applying as early as possible.
I’m opening up the call for the 2025 Romancing the Gothic talk series! Each month has a theme but please interpret it liberally. We want a range of papers from different countries and traditions.
We welcome people from all stages of their academic career and from outside academia.
You can find a list of topics by month. If you don’t know where you’d fit, reach out anyway!
Additional note: A lot of talks that have been pitched so far have a lot of overlap with existing talks in the series. We keep and record the talks so please do have a look to see what is already there. You can find the previous talks (over 200) here.
January: Horror in the Sun
Have fun with this topic. We’re looking for talks on daytime horror, Gothic traditions where the sun plays a key role, texts which imagine the future of the sun (or its effects).
February: Medieval Month
We’re looking for papers on horror and the supernatural in the Medieval Period (approx. 400 – 1400 CE) from any country and tradition. Medieval murder, queer medieval histories, medieval monsters… We want it all!
March: Free Call!
If you don’t know where your paper fits, this is the month for you! Some requested topics from our regulars include papers on animals in horror, Gothic drama, Gothic landscape and more!
April: European Gothic
This month, we’d love talks that explore European Gothic traditions from any country except the UK and Ireland (we’ve had lots of talks on these before). You can focus on specific writers or broader traditions of Gothic and horror. (Europe was the only continent that we didn’t cover in our continent series in 2022)
May: Horror on Film
I’m looking for talks on different horror and Gothic traditions in film. This month isn’t about a deep dive into a single film but an overview of a genre, tradition, type of film (e.g. werewolf movies), horror histories etc. I’m particularly interesting in talks on horror traditions in film traditions outside of the UK, America and India. (I welcome talks on all of these two but they’re our most popular ones so far in terms of number of talks)
June: Terror in the Dark
This is another topic to have fun with! I’m looking for talks on the Gothic and horror which focus on ‘terrors in the dark’, whether that’s night-time, subterranean Gothic, the abyss of space…
July: Gothic Music
We’ve had some great talks on music and the Gothic from folk versions of the Brontë sisters’ poetry to the Gothic stylings of 90s music videos, Madonna and Taemin with talks on Taylor Swift and demonic anti-music to come… I want talks on any intersection of music and the Gothic!
Keep an eye peeled because we’ll also be running a Gothic summer course online in July…
August: Introduction to…
We’re looking for pitches on introductions to Gothic authors, eras, traditions. It’s a broad pitch and I’d ideally like people to pitch a broad overview but include some of their own original research!
September: American Gothics
I’m looking for talks on different ‘Gothics’ from countries in North and South America. Some topics that are currently underserved include: Black writing and the Southern Gothic, Canadian Gothic, Mexican Gothic, Cinema traditions (horror and the supernatural) from South and Central America, the work of Guillermo del Toro
October: Gothic Romantics
This month, I’m looking for talks that look at the Gothic in the Romantic period, Romantic/Gothic authors who write both Gothic and Romantic texts, Gothic and Romance
Another broad field!
November: Global Horror
We are looking for talks on horror, the Gothic, and the supernatural (including folklore) from around the world! Any country, any tradition. We willing be hosting 5 talks each representing a different country. This talk can be an overview or a deep dive into a specific author/director/creator or text.
December: The Returned Dead
December is a ghostly month but let’s not limit ourselves! Ghosts, zombies, vampires or any other form of the returning dead. Let’s be having it!
How to apply
Send an email to sam@romancingthegothic.com with a 150-250 word blurb (abstract for a general audience) on your chosen topic.
Please indicate which month you would like to go in (you can suggest multiple months)
We don’t ask for a biography. The paper proposal is assessed on its merits alone.
How does it work?
We run talks on Saturdays and run the same talk twice. This is to catch different time zones. The standard times for European and African speakers is 10am and 7pm BST/GMT, for North and South Speakers, it’s 4pm and 9pm BST/GMT, for Asian and Oceanian speakers it’s 10am BST/GMT and another time of your choice (if possible)
We pay a set honorarium of £80 plus any ticket sales.
We support first time and experienced speakers. If you have any accessibility requirements, please let me know and I will do my best to meet them as quickly as possible.