The Incredible Nineteenth Century: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Fairy Tale (I19) seeks to publish the best scholarship on the century that was, in many ways, the time period in which the modern genres of science fiction and fantasy began, and in which the academic study of fairy tale and folklore has its roots. 

The editors of I19 also welcome thoughtful, critically engaged 1000-2500 word media reviews of classic and contemporary films, streaming tv shows, video games and more that incorporate "incredible nineteenth-century" elements into both their forms and/or content. Blended historical genres like steampunk, neovictorianism, and magical realism are welcome. The media text might be set in the nineteenth century (dir. Guillermo del Toro [2015]) or 'haunted" by facets of nineteenth-century culture such as its legacy of slavery (Get Out, dir. Jordan Peele [2017]), its settler colonialism (Blood Quantum, dir. Jeff Baranaby [2019]), its fairy tales (the Bluebeard narratives of The Piano or In the Cut, dir. Jane Campion [1993]; 2003) or its literary traditions (The Invisible Man, dir. Leigh Wannell  [2020]).

While we are very happy to accept individual reviews of a classic or new film,  video game, or streaming series, we are also very excited to work with contributors who might want to provide an "overview" of some cultural trend that can be traced across two or three media texts or multiple works by an individual director. Contributors working on cultural production by marginalized communities are especially encouaged to submit.

Our Spring 2025 edition is coming out soon, and has reviews of Netflix's Creature, Poor Things, Lisa Frankenstein, Nosferatu, two recent War of the Worlds adaptations, and Life of P (steampunk Pinocchio video game).  

Some ideas one might consider thinking about include:

- Maritime Horror (ex. AMC's The Terror; video games like The Return of the Obra Dinn) 

- Frankenstein and Dracula (ex. The Frankenstein Chronicles, Guillermo Del Toro's upcoming Frankenstein, Sinners, Renfield, etc.) 

- Frontier Horror (Prey, Bone Tomahawk)

- The Afterlives of Slavery (Get Out, The Underground Railroad, Kindred)

- International Zombies (ex. Train to Busan, Ojuju) 

- Victoriana (The Nevers, The Irregulars)

- Steampunk and gaming 

- Media shaped by Fairy Tales like Bluebeard, Pinocchio, and more 

- 19th century Automata and the relation to contemporary AI

- Folk Horror (ex. The Lighthouse, Apostle, The Excavation of Hob's Barrow)

- Animation and the incredible 19th century (fairy tales and the Disney/Dreamworks tradition) 

- The Mike Flanagan universe

The editors are open to creative takes. We want your most intellectually challenging but also your most readable critical takes. Please contact the Media Review editor, Dr. Joe Conway (jpc0018@uah.edu), for any and all queries.  View our Author Guidelines for submissions and our About the Journal page for the journal's policies.

We accept submissions on a rolling basis, though to ensure inclusion in our Fall 2026 issue, please submit to jpc0018@uah.edu by August 1.