“I Put a Spell on You” @ 70: 3rd Annual Goth Music and Subculture Symposium

Theme: “Hyphenated Hauntings: Examining Proto-goth and Goth-adjacent Bands” 

Submission Deadline: 

June 12, 2026 

Symposium Date: 

August 15, 2026

Format: 

Online (via Zoom, Pacific)

Abstract: 

• 200 words

• Biographical Statement, inclusive of position, institutional affiliation, previous publications, accolades, research interests, etc.  

• Time Zone

Submit to: 

Noah Gallego, M.A. @ noahrgallego@gmail.com 

Contact: 

Noah Gallego, M.A. @noahrgallego@gmail.com

Description

Goth Music Symposium. Goth Music Symposium. Goth Music Symposium! 

The Goth Music and Subculture Conference is coming back from the grave for a third round of critical discussion! Due to the success of the previous symposia, this third installment will continue to critically engage the music and other artifacts from the goth music genre and subculture. 

At the inaugural symposium, we commemorated the 45th anniversary of the release of the definitive goth anthem, “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” (1979) by the ur-goth band, Bauhaus. However, many would argue that goth does not begin with “Bela.” Rather, some credit Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ single, “I Put a Spell on You” (1956), which antedates “Bela” by almost twenty years, as the toll that released a thousand bats. Thus, in the spirit of celebrating the memory of this late “proto-gothic” figure, the theme of this year’s symposium is “Hyphenated Hauntings: Examining Proto-goth and Goth-adjacent Bands.” 

This symposium welcomes scholars from across the disciplines at any stage in their academic career to submit. Prospective presenters are encouraged to undertake critical inquiries into bands that either:

• predate Bauhaus and influenced the genre such as: The Velvet Underground, Nico, The Doors, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, The Damned, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Screamin’ Lord Sutch, David Bowie, Suicide, Brian Eno, etc., OR 

• bands that would not typically be classified as gothic but use (or have used) gothic tropes in their compositions. 

Disclaimer about Theme

While the primary topics of inquiry for this conference are proto-goth and goth-adjacent bands, this theme is not restrictive and interested parties are welcome to submit their work regardless if it is consistent with the specified theme or not. Overall, candidates are especially encouraged to explore non-canonical as well as contemporary acts. 

Potential Topics

Below is a list that is illustrative but certainly not exhaustive of topics that prospective candidates are encouraged to explore:

Criticism: 

• Gender, sexuality, queerness

• Disability 

• Monstrosity and Abjection

• Class 

• Race

• Postcolonialism, Decoloniality, (Neo-)Orientalism

• Religion, spirituality, the occult, theology 

• Ecocriticism 

• Nonhuman/Transhuman/Posthuman (Animals, cyborgs, A.I.)

• Feminism 

• Body image and corporeality 

• Trauma and psychoanalysis 

• Rhetoric  

• Memory, hauntology, and the archive

Intersections:

• Goth and literary influences 

• Goth and popular culture (film, television, comics, video games, etc.)

• Goth and/as performance (theatre, drag)

• Goth and Internet culture 

• Goth and fashion 

• Goth and festival culture (concerts, goth nites, graves, dance)

• Goth and musicology

• Goth outside of the West (lolita goth, visual kai, aboriginal goth, desi goth, etc.)

Instructions for Submitting

Please send abstracts of200 words to Noah Gallego @ noahrgallego@gmail.com, along with a biographical statement and time zone in order to best approximate presentation times for speakers. 

B.N. If certain obligations require you to be slated at a specific time, please also include those suggested times in your submission so you may be placed appropriately and do update me if plans change.

Other NotesPanels

There are no pre-formed panels, but if you would like to submit a proposal for a special topics session, please do! A minimum of two [2] papers would be required. Otherwise, you will be placed in a panel at the discretion of the organizer on the basis of theme and cohesion. 

Timeline

Candidates may expect a notification of acceptance or rejection up to a week following the deadline. 

Presentation Length

Presenters should aim to create papers/presentations of approximately 15-20 minutes in length. More time may be allotted depending on the amount of participants in a panel.

Symposium LogisticsTime/Date/Time Zone/Charge

The conference will be held on August 15, 2026. The symposium will be free and held online over Zoom. The estimated time slot is 9:00 am - 5:00 pm Pacific, with a thirty-minute break for lunch in between. 

Registration

In the interest of maximizing accessibility, no registration is required; the symposium has an open-door policy; all are welcome to participate or simply audit by hopping on Zoom. 

After candidates have been accepted and a working schedule has been generated, a flier as well as a Zoom link will go out via email to be circulated among presenters’ respective networks. Do invite peers, colleagues, friends, family for this thrilling event!  

Disclaimer about Audio

Because Zoom can sometimes compromise the efficacy of audio, we recommend to refrain from including live play from your presentations. I understand this may sound counterintuitive for a symposium primarily about music but because we are working in a virtual environment where things are certain to go awry, I want to preemptively minimize any technical difficulties that may arise. I am, however, open to compiling a playlist for the symposium that will feature all the acts and tracks presenters will discuss which will be released before the conference date in order to prime prospective audiences. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I appreciate your understanding. 

Publishing Prospects

There are currently no plans to publish the accepted papers. However, depending on the success of the symposium, I am certainly open to the possibility of (co-)editing a collection or special issue based on the papers presented. If you would like to collaborate on this project, please let me know!

About the Host

Noah Gallego, M.A., is Adjunct English Faculty at Mt. San Antonio College and Santa Monica College and Adjunct Writing Faculty at University of La Verne. He received his B.A. in English Education and minors in Spanish and TESOL (2022) as well as his M.A. in English Literary Studies (2025) from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He is a jack-o’-lantern of all trades as his research interests spread across a wide cobweb that includes vampirism, orientalism, multimedia rhetorics, music criticism, queer horror, ecohorror, and monster studies. He has published with IGI Global, McFarland, Bloomsbury, Springer, and Peter Lang and has a forthcoming co-edited Goth-themed issue of American Book Review (see bibliography below). He has been the organizer and host of the annual Online Symposium on Goth Music and Subculture since its inception in 2024. He has presented at regional and (inter)national conferences such as PAMLA (Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association), NeMLA (Northeastern Modern Language Association), IGA (International Gothic Association), VSAWC (Victorian Studies Association of Western Canada), SSAG (Society of the Study of the American Gothic), and ASLE (Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment). When he’s not burning the midnight oil writing conference papers, lesson planning, composing drafts of articles or book chapters - or writing cfps for events such as this - he thrifts, antiques, collects records, goes to concerts and goth nites, and haunts his local cemetery.

Host Bibliography

Gallego, Noah. "Abject(ed) Bodies and Obscene Aesthetics." Sex Pistols and the Trajectory of Punk Rock, edited by Christopher Innes, McFarland, 2026.https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/Sex-Pistols-and-the-Trajectory-of-Punk-Rock/  

Gallego, Noah. “Emasculation, Masochism, and Medusa: Clan of Xymox and Gothic Masculinity.” American Book Review, vol. 47, no. 1, 2026. Forthcoming.

Gallego, Noah. "From Here to Eternity: Homo Viator and the Itinerant Constructions of Jerusalem in the Work of W. G. Sebald." Representing Jerusalem in World Literature and Art: Sacred Space and Sacred History, edited by Elena V. Shabily, Bloomsbury Academic, 2026.https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/representing-jerusalem-in-world-literature-and-art-9781666977998/

Gallego, Noah. "Ghosts in the Machine: A Cybergothic Approach to Online Learning." Redefining Education with Pandemic Pedagogies, edited by Teresa Lobalsamo and Dellannia Segreti, IGI Global, 2025.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/398736877_Ghosts_in_the_Machine_A_Cybergothic_Approach_to_Online_Learning

Gallego, Noah. "'Merely a dweller in the garden': Ecopoetics of Salubrity in W. G. Sebald." There's a Spirit in the Woods: Global Perspectives on Literature and Ecology, edited by Manju Jaidka et al., Springer Nature, 2026.https://link.springer.com/book/9789819562718

Gallego, Noah, and Bryan Counter. “Goth.” American Book Review, vol. 47, no. 1, 2026. Forthcoming.