Tag: CFP

Categories
News

Biweekly News Roundup 2024-04-21

Personal / Website News

Peplum Ponderings

I have a brand new Peplum Ponderings published!

I take a look at the 1961 sword and sandal film The Tartars. Check it out here.

Emmanuelle Legacy CFP Re-opened + Bibliography

Since garnering publisher interest, I’ve re-opened the CFP for the Emmanuelle legacy book. The updated CFP can be found here.

I’ve also started annotating Emmanuelle scholarship and posting it here at my website so other scholars have a nice bibliographic resource. The bibliography and annotations can be found here and it is a major WIP.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

Chopping Spree Re-release

Angela Sylvaine’s novella Chopping Spree is getting a re-release by Dark Matter Ink this upcoming autumn. Here is its sporty new cover:

I did a write up about this book back in 2021. If you’re curious about the book, give my review a read, and then consider pre-ordering the book directly from the publisher. There’s signed editions!

Call For Papers

Here is a collection of calls for papers/proposals for pop culture studies I want to help proliferate. If you have a CFP you need help proliferating and want me to add it to my news roundups, shoot me an email and I’ll get it added.

The Routledge Companion to Superhero Studies

Deadline for abstract submissions: 24th May 2024
Editors: Lorna Farnell and Carl Wilson

The editors have already commissioned a substantial number of chapters for The Routledge Companion to Superhero Studies and are seeking the last few essays that specifically consider the following topics:

  • Superhero tourism (including Disney parks)
  • Merchandise and toys
  • Superheroes in the Global South
  • Superheroes and refugees
  • Superheroes and the Anthropocene
  • Digital superheroes
  • British superheroes
  • Counterculture superheroes
  • Superhero narratives 1930-1970s, and offshoots/adaptations
  • Superhero origin stories
  • Superhero animations (including the X-Men, BTAS, She-Ra, He-Man, magical girls, and more)
  • Creators and the creative process
  • Fan communities

The editors invite abstracts of around 300 words on any of the above topics.

Final essays will be 5500 words in length, including references, and will be due two months after a provisional acceptance has been made.

Please email your abstracts (together with a short bio, 100 words max) for consideration to both editors: Lorna Piatti-Farnell, lorna.piatti-farnell@aut.ac.nz and Carl Wilson, carl@carl-wilson.com

The Cursed Archive: Dangerous Texts, Deadly Communications, and Gothic Media

A popular trope in horror and speculative fiction is a cursed archive: a textual communication that is dangerous, forbidden, or contagious. Medieval grimoires and alchemist treatises were early examples of such cursed or forbidden texts. However, in the age before widespread literacy, the cursed archive was limited to a few banned or heretical books. The trope came into its own with the rise of popular literature when the issue of dangerous ideas disseminated through mass media became a cultural and political concern. Early examples of cursed archives centered on printed or written texts, as in H. P. Lovecraft’s imaginary Necronomicon or G. K. Chesterton’s story “The Blast of the Book” (1933). But with the explosion of media technologies, contemporary cursed archives encompass haunted websites, contagious cellphones, entrapping video games, monster-infested TV sets, and killer movies. In this collection, we want to probe the implications of the cursed archive; its connection to the issues of censorship, book-banning, and freedom of expression; the notion of “contagious” ideas; the differences and similarities between the forbidden book and the dark web; and electronic media as a pandemic. The topics we want to address include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • The history of the cursed archive (early examples of book-banning or book-burning by the Church or other religious institutions).
  • The cursed archive and the rise of mass media.
  • Demonic books in Gothic and horror literature (Lovecraft’s Necronomicon; James Blish’s Black Easter; and similar texts).
  • The cursed archive and censorship.
  • Horror at the movies (Clive Barker’s “Son of Celluloid”)
  • Haunted media (such as video games in the Ring series; Stephen King’s Cell; dating apps in Jason Arnopp’s Ghoster).
  • Social media as contagion (including use of social media in crime fiction, such as novels by Ruth Ware and Matt Wesolowski)
  • The library as a gothic space (Borges’ “The Library of Babel”; Korner-Stace Archivist Wasp, Scott Hawkins’ The Library at Mount Char)
  • Alien communications as transforming or erasing humanity (Arrival; Cixin Liu’s Three-Body Problem).
  • Gendering the cursed archive.
  • Cross-cultural examples.
  • Cursed writing, languages, symbols.
  • Cursed means of recording such as tape cassettes, video cassettes, photos, paintings, vinyl records, databases, performance, choreography, etc.

Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words to Simon Bacon (baconetti@googlemail.com) and Elana Gomel (egomel@tauex.tau.ac.il) by June 30, 2024.

Deep State Conspiracies and the Gothic

This focuses on the intersection of recent conspiracy theories and horror/folk-horror/gothic texts featuring hidden societies /corporations (John Wick/Blade/Resident Evil) or secret cabals/cults (Hereditary/Empty Man/Paranormal Activity) whose aim is control/takeover/cause the end of the world. Ideally in any media, across cultures, since 2000 but historical perspectives welcome.

If interested send a 300 word abstract by end Sept 2024 to: baconetti@gmail.com

Categories
News

Biweekly News Roundup 2024-01-28

Personal / Website News

Book Review

First article for the new year is now online!

Check out my book review of Vilioti Vintage by Jimmy Vargas and Lady Medusa, which can be read here. he book contains an interview with Ken Holewczynski, the dude behind Exotica Moderne, a magazine I’ve contributed to many times. So, definitely check out the review and the book proper.

Fan2Fan Podcast Appearance

My first podcast guest appearance for 2024 is over at the Fan2Fan Podcast!

In this episode we talk about the classic Italian gothic horror film, Castle of Blood. This was a lot of fun to revisit as it has been years – I dived deep into this movie over a decade ago when writing my thesis and since then I’ve grown to appreciate it more.

The episode can be streamed at the Fan2Fan Libsyn website, via the embedded player below, or through your favorite podcast app.

Castle of Blood – Fan2Fan Podcast

And, of course, I’d be remiss without showing our copy of Castle of Blood, autographed to Michele and I from both Barbara Steele and Edoardo Margheriti, son of director Antonio Margheriti:

Emmanuelle Legacy CFP Re-opened + Bibliography

Since garnering publisher interest, I’ve re-opened the CFP for the Emmanuelle legacy book. The updated CFP can be found here.

I’ve also started annotating Emmanuelle scholarship and posting it here at my website so other scholars have a nice bibliographic resource. The bibliography and annotations can be found here and it’s a major WIP.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

New Edge Sword and Sorcery Issues 3 & 4

At the tail end of 2023 issues 1 and 2 of New Edge Sword and Sorcery, which has been previously Kickstarted, was unleashed upon the world. I received my copies:

The Fall 2023 issue has an advert for H. P. Lovecast, how cool is that! Also, a reminder, I did a write up about issue 0, which can be read here.

On February 15th there will be a new crowdfunding campaign to publish issues 3 and 4. You can sign up for when the campaign goes live at this link. There’s details there of what to expect from the new two issues. Check it out!

Recent Pepla Acquisitions

Recently plucked up copies of Gold for the Caesars and The Tartars, both from Warner’s Archive Collection. If it’s a peplum film Warner had a hand in back in the day, they kept decent prints of them over the years and give them decent releases:

The Tartars star pepla starlet Bella Cortez. Michele and I are probably going to do a retrospective of her pepla appearances, talking about different movies of the next few episodes of Scholars from the Edge of Time. I’ll be turning those discussions into articles for my Peplum Ponderings series which has been severely neglected.

Rest in Peplum Jesse Jane

This past week erotic actress Jesse Jane passed away. Jane appeared in many adult movies, including two pirate porno pepla: Pirates 1 and Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge. Had the honor, way back in the late aughts, to meet not only Jesse Jane, but co-stars Stoya and Riley Steele at a meet and greet: won a raffle and received copies of both of the Pirates films in which the actresses autographed. Here is a mini-slideshow (NSFW images):

I have a polaroid somewhere as well documenting the meet and greet, soon as I find it I’ll add that to the gallery.

Autographed Stuff

Here is a summary of some of the autographed stuff from my library over the past two weeks on social media.

Robot Jox

Actor Gary Graham passed away on the 22nd. He didn’t star in anything I’d consider peplum, but he starred in lots of sci-fi movies and shows. Michele and I met him at a Hollywood Collectors show way back in the day. I had him sign my copy of Robot Jox:

As you can see, I’ve had quite a few people autograph Robot Jox over the years: Graham, director Stuart Gordon (RIP), producer Charles Band, and writer Joe Haldeman. It’s a fun mecha film. We see lots of mechs in anime and video games, but live action, not so much (but the ones we get, like Pacific Rim, turn out to be cult hits later on).

The Plain Janes

Here are copies of The Plain Janes and Janes in Love signed by author extraordinaire Cecil Castellucci.

And:

When we lived in Orange we would see Castellucci at many of the local cons and she was always awesome to say hi to. Michele moderated a panel on Star Wars at a Long Beach Comic Con that Castellucci was a panelist on.

Categories
News

Biweekly News Roundup 2024-01-14

Personal / Website News

2023 Accomplishments

Michele and I recapped a majority of our accomplishments and projects on the last episode of the H. P. Lovecast Podcast, however I’d like to do a personal breakdown here.

Publication Accomplishments

Honoured to appear in five physical publications this year:

Sincere appreciation to Rachel Carazo, Jonathan Maberry, Evan Jordan, Michael Duda, and William Sloan for letting me be part of their projects.

Podcast Accomplishments

Links to all podcast appearances can be found on the Podcast Index page. Sincere thanks to Bernie Gonzalez, Peter Charbonneau, Hercules Invictus, and Sherri Nunn for having me be a part of their programs.

Conference Accomplishments

Michele and I attended CoKoCon 2023 and ere on two panels. It was also our first time ever vending at a con. Thank you to Hal and Dee Astell for having us.

2024 Looking Forward

I am hoping that 2024 will be as successful as 2023 was. This year will see a decade of me writing (since the publication of my first essay in James Bond in Popular Culture).

On the podcast front, Michele and I already have the first half of 2024 planned for H. P. Lovecast. We’ve also already recorded a few episodes with the folks at Fan2Fan Podcast, so expect those episodes to drop throughout 2024.

My essay on peplum cats, currently titled “Hic Sunt Leones: Peplum Strongmen and the Nemean Lion Legacy” was accepted last year by editor Simon Bacon for his collection, Cats: A Companion. The manuscript was sent to the publisher in early December, so hopefully this book winds up being published later this year! Nice to have a publication already on the docket.

I still have a pile of reviews I want to get done that have been piling up. I also have a list of essay ideas I have approval on, I just need to write and get out the door. It’s been a while since I’ve submitted to Exotica Moderne, so hopefully I can get an essay or two to them this year.

The main project for 2024, however, is the Emmanuelle Legacy book. On my timeline I have submit a manuscript to the publisher in October, which will be here before I know it. I have an intro and an essay to write, along with editing other folks’ essays. I’m super excited to try and realize this project, so it’s going to be nose to the grindstone for this one.

Thank you to all the folks who support me and my endeavors. You are sincerely appreciated!

Horror Literature.. Review

The collection, Horror Literature from Gothic to Post-Modern: Critical Essays, that Michele and I edited has just gotten a new review from the Journal of Ecohumanism, and it is a very positive one!

The review (along with the rest of the journal) can be read in its entirety here.

New Episode of H. P. Lovecast Podcast

New episode to kick off 2024! We kick off the new year interviewing Pat Shand about his three issue comic book miniseries I Summoned Cthulhu to Fund my Kickstarter.

The episode can be streamed at the HP Lovecast Podcast Buzzsprout site, via the embedded player below, or through your podcast app of preference.

HPLCP Transmissions – Ep 28 – Pat Shand and I Summoned Cthulhu to Fund my Kickstarter – H. P. Lovecast Podcast

H. P. Lovecast on BlueSky

H. P. Lovecast is now on Blue Sky. If you’re using that social media please consider giving us a follow there! The username is: @hplovecast.bsky.social .

Emmanuelle Legacy CFP Re-opened + Bibliography

Since garnering publisher interest, I’ve re-opened the CFP for the Emmanuelle legacy book. The updated CFP can be found here.

I’ve also started annotating Emmanuelle scholarship and posting it here at my website so other scholars have a nice bibliographic resource. The bibliography and annotations can be found here and it’s a major WIP.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

The Neverending Streamer Substack

My friend, Travis Lakata, has started a Substack called The Neverending Streamer. Give him support and subscribe – check it out here: https://travislakata.substack.com.

Rest in Peplum Jennell Jaquays

Fantasy artist Jennell Jaquays passed away last week. She did lots of fantastic work. Her covert art for the Dragon Mountain boxset is probably one of the most iconic pieces of 90s 2nd Edition Dungeons and Dragons.

My copy of the box proper hasn’t survived the 30+ years, but the contents have! Here is book 1 of the module which sports the legendary red dragon.

Legends of the Lance Newsletter

While digging through my old Second Edition stuff I happened upon these five issues of the Legends of the Lance Dragonlance newsletter. Apparently these are extremely rare! I love how they look though and the art on them is aces.

Endless Armies Jeff Grubb Autograph

For this roundup of autographs, since I was going through my D&D stuff, figured I would show of my copy of Endless Enemies autographed by Jeff Grubb.

Way back in the 2000s my comic book store was Spy Comics in Federal Way. Apparently that was also Jeff Grubb’s comic book store to go to as well. The owner, Richard, arranged an in store event with Jeff Grubb who was on hand to autograph stuff he wrote. I got a few things signed by him, Endless Armies being one of them. Somewhere there is a photo of the event, I hope I can find it!

Categories
News

Biweekly News Roundup 2023-12-03

Personal / Website News

New Publication: The Journal of Stoogeological Studies Vol 1

The debut issue of The Journal of Stoogeological Studies is out now!

I received a draft PDF of the first issue and its 88 pages of essays, reviews, and other musings all about the Three Stooges (and, as of 12/27, there’s supposed to be a bit more content added this week, so it’s getting even bigger!). I’m honored to have a short piece in this journal called “An Imperial Decree? Soitenly! Matri-Phony as Proto-Toga and Sandal Comedy.” I am no expert on The Three Stooges or a super fan or anything, but I love writing about sword n’ sandal stuff so this was a unique venue to talk about the genre in an eccentric way.

For information on procuring a copy of the zine contact editor Will Sloan (website is https://www.willsloan.ca).

UPDATE: Amazon product page here.

Becca Boo #1 Review

New review up at my website! I take a gander at the first issue of the sex-comedy comic book Becca Boo the Bimbo Ghost.

The review can be read here. I enjoyed the comic and chipped in the for Kickstarter for issue 2, so expect a review of that when it is published. The issue 2 Kickstarter can be found here.

H. P. Lovecast Podcast

Brand new episode of H.P. Lovecast Podcast is now online!

Episode 59 Thumbnail by Michele Brittany.

Michele and I finally conclude our annual Mimic series discussion by talking about Mimic 3: Sentinel. The episode can be streamed at our Buzzsprout website, via the embedded player below, or via your podcast app of preference.

Ep 59 – J. T. Petty's Mimic 3: Sentinel – H. P. Lovecast Podcast

McFarland Christmas Sale

My publisher, McFarland, is doing a holiday sale on ALL their titles. Use code “HOLIDAY23” at checkout to receive 25% off your order. The sale appears to go on for the entire month of December, but McFarland suggests placing orders before the 16th in order to receive them in time for Yuletide.

This is a perfect opportunity to scoop up books I’ve participated in. For editing:

And for contributing:

If you pluck up a book, thank you for your support!

Emmanuelle Legacy CFP Re-opened + Bibliography

Since garnering publisher interest, I’ve re-opened the CFP for the Emmanuelle legacy book. The updated CFP can be found here.

Monique Gabrielle as Emmanuelle in Emmanuelle 5.

I’ve also started annotating Emmanuelle scholarship and posting it here at my website so other scholars have a nice bibliographic resource. The bibliography and annotations can be found here and it’s a major WIP.

Publishing Recap

Below is a recap of my publishing endeavors so far in 2023.

Published in February, this collection contains my essay “Dance or Dēcēdere: Gladiator and Industrial Music Sampling.”

Vernon Press Product Page

Published in May, this issue of Weird Tales contains my essay “When the Stars are Right.”

Weird Tales Product Page

Published in late March, the first issue of the zine Footage Fiends, contains my essay “Analisi Della Cosa: Found Footage in Caltiki and Italian Theater Going Practices.”

Limited to 50 physical copies.

Order via Patreon.

Published in early August, Dark Dead Things #2 contains my essay “Correlating the Contents: Mimetic Desire in H. P. Lovecraft’s ‘The Call of Cthulhu’.”

Order via Dark Dead Thingswebsite.

Published late November/early December of 2023, my essay “An Imperial Decree? Soitenly! Matri-Phony as Proto-Toga and Sandal Comedy” appears in the debut issue of The Journal of Stoogeological Studies.

Amazon product page.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

“Azathoth” song on Bandcamp

John 3:16, the composer of the HP Lovecast podcast theme song, “Azathoth,” has released the track on Bandcamp!

Here is the link to check it out, stream it, or purchase it via name your own price. Sincere thank you to John 3:16 for being a super supporter of our podcast, sharing our content, and of course, creating this awesome tune.

CFP: The Mummy Edited Collection

Michele is teaming up with Sean Woodard to do an edited collection on The Mummy series. They have a CFP listed at UPENN, but I am also sharing a copy below.

Editors: Michele Brittany and Sean Woodard

Contact email: mummybookproject@gmail.com

Abstract Deadline: December 15, 2023

Chapter Drafts Deadline: June 15, 2024

Essays sought for an edited collection focused on Universal Pictures’ The Mummy franchise.

The 1999 Universal reboot of The Mummy, starring the indelible duo of Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, remains a tentpole of ’90s popular culture and cinema. Not only did The Mummy launch two sequels, a spin-off series, and a reboot, but it has lived on as a cult film, loved by fans for its mixture of horror, action/adventure, and humor. The film has also developed a strong meme culture on social media — one of the most viral examples contains a photo of a car bumper sticker proclaiming: “Honk if you’d rather be watching the 1999 cinematic masterpiece ‘The Mummy’ starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz.”

While academic research has been focused on various releases of The Mummy (1932, 1959, 1999, and 2017), there has not been a singular scholarly text devoted to the film franchise. The recent “Brenaissance” in Fraser’s film career and the film’s anticipated 25th anniversary in 2024 make it an appropriate time to celebrate and re-evaluate the film.

The purpose of this edited collection is to place The Mummy into a cultural and theoretical context, as well as critically analyze the franchise, its connections to other genre films, and its continued influence.

We seek proposals for chapters that approach the subject matter with theoretical concepts that will appropriately meet the rigorous expectations of an academic work, but through a prose style that shall be accessible for both an academic audience and a general readership.  

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

  • Resurgent interest in Brendan Fraser/“Brenaissance”
  • Stephen Sommers as an auteur
  • Representation of Egypt in popular culture and early filmic representation
  • Eastern mythology/culture/religion
  • Exoticism of non-western cultures
  • Post/De-colonialism 
  • Heroic representation
  • Body horror
  • Eco-horror/Ecocriticism
  • Gender representation
  • Toxic depictions in film
  • Queer/LGBTQ+ representation
  • Meme/GIF culture
  • Psychoanalysis
  • Generational nostalgia 
  • Element of music/film scoring
  • Genre hybridity
  • Film cycles/reboots/retcons (such as The Scorpion King, The Mummy animated series, Universal Classic Monsters, Hammer Studios, Dark Universe, etc.) and related adventure/archaeological-driven films (such as Ark of the Sun God, The Sphinx, The Librarian franchise, etc.)

Please send abstracts of 300 – 500 words with a working title and five (5) keywords, accompanied by a short third-person author bio (100 words max), to mummybookproject@gmail.com as a Word document. Final essays should be 6,000 – 8,000 words in length, including endnotes and bibliography, and be formatted according to the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition. The collection is being considered by a leading academic press.

Proposed Timeline

  • October 1, 2023 thru December 15, 2023 — Call for Papers
  • January 15, 2024 — Notification of abstract acceptances sent to authors  
  • January 15, 2024 thru June 15, 2024 — Book chapters drafting period
  • June 15, 2024 thru July 15, 2024 — Initial editorial review of submitted chapter drafts
  • August 1, 2024 thru October 1, 2024 — Double-blind Peer Review Period
  • October 1, 2024 thru November 15, 2024 — Contributor revision period
  • December 1, 2024 — Final editorial acceptance decisions
  • December 1, 2024 thru January 15, 2025 — Layout design, indexing, and proofing stage
  • January 15, 2025 thru February 15, 2025 — Copies of chapter proofs sent to contributors for copyediting review
  • March 1, 2025 — Final manuscript submitted in hard copy and digital formats to publisher

Editor bios:

Michele Brittany is a writer, editor, podcaster, and artist. She edited James Bond and Popular Culture and the Bram Stoker Award-nominated Horror in Space: Critical Essays on a Film Subgenre. She co-edited Horror Literature from Gothic to Post-Modern: Critical Essays and co-hosts H. P. Lovecast podcast with Nicholas Diak. She lives in Glendale, Arizona.

Sean Woodard (MA | MFA) is a PhD candidate in English at University of Texas at Arlington. He also serves as the Assistant Editor for Global Insight: A Journal of Critical Human Science and Cultureand the Film Editor for Drunk Monkeys. He has contributed chapters to the edited collections Journeys Into Terror: Essays from the Cinematic Intersection of Travel and Horror and Bloodstained Narratives: The Giallo Film in Italy and Abroad. His research interests include horror cinema, the American West, psychoanalysis, fairy tales, and film scoring.

Categories
News

Biweekly News Roundup 2023-11-19

Personal / Website News

Flesh Field Interview

New interview is online now!

I had the honor to interview Ian Ross from Flesh Field about their newest album, Voice of the Echo Chamber, their first album in album two decades! Back in the aughts I listened to Flesh Field all the time and even caught them live in Seattle in 2005. I’m so happy to see the project resurrected. So, check out the interview and check out the new album!

The New Peplum Citation

Dr. Connie Skibinski’s essay “Crazy Man-Killing Monsters: The Inimical Portrayal of the Amazons in Supernatural‘s ‘Slice Girls'” cites Valerie Estelle Frankel’s essay “Hercules, Xena and Genre: The Methodology Behind the Mashup” from The New Peplum.

Dr. Skibinski’s essay has been published in the open access journal Thersites and can be read here.

Emmanuelle Legacy CFP Re-opened + Bibliography

Since garnering publisher interest, I’ve re-opened the CFP for the Emmanuelle legacy book. The updated CFP can be found here.

I’ve also started annotating Emmanuelle scholarship and posting it here at my website so other scholars have a nice bibliographic resource. The bibliography and annotations can be found hereand it’s a major WIP.

Publishing Recap

Below is a recap of my publishing endeavors so far in 2023.

Published in February, this collection contains my essay “Dance or Dēcēdere: Gladiator and Industrial Music Sampling.”

Vernon Press Product Page

Published in May, this issue of Weird Tales contains my essay “When the Stars are Right.”

Weird Tales Product Page

Published in late March, the first issue of the zine Footage Fiends, contains my essay “Analisi Della Cosa: Found Footage in Caltiki and Italian Theater Going Practices.”

Limited to 50 physical copies.

Order via Patreon.

Published in early August, Dark Dead Things #2 contains my essay “Correlating the Contents: Mimetic Desire in H. P. Lovecraft’s ‘The Call of Cthulhu’.”

Order via Dark Dead Thingswebsite.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

Skinny Dipper Kickstarter

Will Penny (Tiki Surf Witches Want Blood) has a new Kickstarter going on for the next project via his Sex and Monsters endeavor: Skinny Dipper.

From the Press Release:

Chillwave pioneer Nite Jewel is making her comics debut alongside a variety of talented writers and artists in Skinny Dipper. This 32-page comic zine launches October 31, 2023 from Sex and Monsters and is accompanied by an original soundtrack single from the internationally lauded singer/songwriter.


Inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe, R.H. Barlow, and H.P. Lovecraft, Skinny Dipper is a meditation on love, death, and the mysterious lure of the ocean. The zine features the talents of Emily Roberts, April Snellings, Jelena Đorđević, and more – and is perfectly complimented by Nite Jewel’s hypnogogic
siren song, which serves as a haunting electro-pop soundtrack for

the story.

Both the Skinny Dipper zine and soundtrack single will be available from Sex and Monsters on Kickstarter starting October 31, 2023
(www.sexandmonsters.com/skinnydipper). The zine features 32-pages of art printed on silk matte stock with spot UV coating. The single will be available on 7” vinyl in a deluxe gatefold cover featuring artwork by Emily Roberts. The music will also be available to stream online and can be purchased digitally from Gloriette Records (https://nitejewel.bandcamp.com/music).

Skinny Dipper Press Release

The Kickstarter campaign can be found here.

Categories
News

Biweekly News Roundup 2023-11-05

Personal / Website News

Alicia Carter and Robot #2

Been a while but I’ve got new write up at my ol’ website here!

I’ve did a review of Alicia Carter and Robot #2 (I had previously done issue one as well). The third issue is currently being crowdfunded on Kickstarter so this seemed like a good opportunity to write about the series.

HP Lovecast Podcast

Our monthly Transmissions episode is now online!

For the month of October we have the honor to interview filmmaker Jesse Terrell about his Lovecraftian short film, Sights Unseen. The episode can be streamed via the embedded player below, at the HP Lovecast Buzzsprout website, or through your podcast app of preference.

HPLCP Transmissions – Ep 27 – Jesse Terrell and Sights Unseen – H. P. Lovecast Podcast

Scholars from the Edge of Time Episodes

In October Michele and I appeared on two episodes of Scholars from the Edge of Time.

First, for our typical 4th Thursday of the Month, we talked about the classic Mario Bava sword and sandal film Hercules in the Haunted World (1961), perfect for the Halloween season. That episode can be found on YouTube.

Next, on the 5th Tuesday, Michele talked about the neo-peplum film Centurion (2010) and I talked about Mondo Balordo (1962).

That episode can also be found on YouTube.

And finally, I made a good and forgot to share September’s Scholars from the Edge of Time episode. I flew solo on this one and talked about Ironmaster (19830. Here is its YouTube link.

Emmanuelle Legacy CFP Re-opened + Bibliography

Since garnering publisher interest, I’ve re-opened the CFP for the Emmanuelle legacy book. The updated CFP can be found here.

I’ve also started annotating Emmanuelle scholarship and posting it here at my website so other scholars have a nice bibliographic resource. The bibliography and annotations can be found here and it’s a major WIP.

Publishing Recap

Below is a recap of my publishing endeavors so far in 2023.

Published in February, this collection contains my essay “Dance or Dēcēdere: Gladiator and Industrial Music Sampling.”

Vernon Press Product Page

Published in May, this issue of Weird Tales contains my essay “When the Stars are Right.”

Weird Tales Product Page

Published in late March, the first issue of the zine Footage Fiends, contains my essay “Analisi Della Cosa: Found Footage in Caltiki and Italian Theater Going Practices.”

Limited to 50 physical copies.

Order via Patreon.

Published in early August, Dark Dead Things #2 contains my essay “Correlating the Contents: Mimetic Desire in H. P. Lovecraft’s ‘The Call of Cthulhu’.”

Order via Dark Dead Thingswebsite.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

I Am a Barbarian on Sale

Thomas Simmons’ titanic graphic novel, I Am a Barbarian is on Sale for $49.95 through the month of November.

I had the honor to interview Simmons and artist Mike Dubisch about their graphic novel which can be read here. Check out the interview if you want to know more about the comic and if you are interested in purchasing, contact Simmons at cedar.run.publications@gmail.com.

Samson at Bible Films Blog

Matt Page has a new article on a Biblical peplum film at his Bible Films Blog!

Check out his write up for Samson (1961) which can be read here.

Categories
News

Biweekly News Roundup 2023-10-08

Personal / Website News

New Episode of H. P. Lovecast Podcast

A new episode of our monthly HP Lovecast Podcast is online!

Angela Sylvaine returned to the podcast to talk about her debut novel, Frost Bite. The episode can be streamed at our Buzzsprout website, via the embedded player below, or through your podcast app of preference.

HPLCP Transmissions – Ep 26 – Angela Sylvaine and Frost Bite – H. P. Lovecast Podcast

Later this month we will be discussing Mimic 3 on the podcast, concluding our year tradition of diving into the Mimic franchise (Listen to Mimic and Mimic 2).

McFarland Horror Sale

My publisher, McFarland, is having a sale this month on their horror titles. If you use code HALLOWEEN2023 during check out you’ll get a 25% discount on the horror tiles. An entire list of eligible titles can be found here.

Numerous books I’ve been a part of are included in this sale. If you want to pluck something up I’ve either co-edited or contributed an essay to, now is a good time!

Publishing Recap

Below is a recap of my publishing endeavors so far in 2023.

Published in February, this collection contains my essay “Dance or Dēcēdere: Gladiator and Industrial Music Sampling.”

Vernon Press Product Page

Published in May, this issue of Weird Tales contains my essay “When the Stars are Right.”

Weird Tales Product Page

Published in late March, the first issue of the zine Footage Fiends, contains my essay “Analisi Della Cosa: Found Footage in Caltiki and Italian Theater Going Practices.”

Limited to 50 physical copies.

Order via Patreon.

Published in early August, Dark Dead Things #2 contains my essay “Correlating the Contents: Mimetic Desire in H. P. Lovecraft’s ‘The Call of Cthulhu’.”

Order via Dark Dead Thingswebsite.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

CFP: The Mummy Edited Collection

Michele is teaming up with Sean Woodard to do an edited collection on The Mummy series. They have a CFP listed at UPENN, but I am also sharing a copy below.

Editors: Michele Brittany and Sean Woodard

Contact email: mummybookproject@gmail.com

Abstract Deadline: December 15, 2023

Chapter Drafts Deadline: June 15, 2024

Essays sought for an edited collection focused on Universal Pictures’ The Mummy franchise.

The 1999 Universal reboot of The Mummy, starring the indelible duo of Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, remains a tentpole of ’90s popular culture and cinema. Not only did The Mummy launch two sequels, a spin-off series, and a reboot, but it has lived on as a cult film, loved by fans for its mixture of horror, action/adventure, and humor. The film has also developed a strong meme culture on social media — one of the most viral examples contains a photo of a car bumper sticker proclaiming: “Honk if you’d rather be watching the 1999 cinematic masterpiece ‘The Mummy’ starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz.”

While academic research has been focused on various releases of The Mummy (1932, 1959, 1999, and 2017), there has not been a singular scholarly text devoted to the film franchise. The recent “Brenaissance” in Fraser’s film career and the film’s anticipated 25th anniversary in 2024 make it an appropriate time to celebrate and re-evaluate the film.

The purpose of this edited collection is to place The Mummy into a cultural and theoretical context, as well as critically analyze the franchise, its connections to other genre films, and its continued influence.

We seek proposals for chapters that approach the subject matter with theoretical concepts that will appropriately meet the rigorous expectations of an academic work, but through a prose style that shall be accessible for both an academic audience and a general readership.  

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

  • Resurgent interest in Brendan Fraser/“Brenaissance”
  • Stephen Sommers as an auteur
  • Representation of Egypt in popular culture and early filmic representation
  • Eastern mythology/culture/religion
  • Exoticism of non-western cultures
  • Post/De-colonialism 
  • Heroic representation
  • Body horror
  • Eco-horror/Ecocriticism
  • Gender representation
  • Toxic depictions in film
  • Queer/LGBTQ+ representation
  • Meme/GIF culture
  • Psychoanalysis
  • Generational nostalgia 
  • Element of music/film scoring
  • Genre hybridity
  • Film cycles/reboots/retcons (such as The Scorpion King, The Mummy animated series, Universal Classic Monsters, Hammer Studios, Dark Universe, etc.) and related adventure/archaeological-driven films (such as Ark of the Sun God, The Sphinx, The Librarian franchise, etc.)

Please send abstracts of 300 – 500 words with a working title and five (5) keywords, accompanied by a short third-person author bio (100 words max), to mummybookproject@gmail.com as a Word document. Final essays should be 6,000 – 8,000 words in length, including endnotes and bibliography, and be formatted according to the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition. The collection is being considered by a leading academic press.

Proposed Timeline

  • October 1, 2023 thru December 15, 2023 — Call for Papers
  • January 15, 2024 — Notification of abstract acceptances sent to authors  
  • January 15, 2024 thru June 15, 2024 — Book chapters drafting period
  • June 15, 2024 thru July 15, 2024 — Initial editorial review of submitted chapter drafts
  • August 1, 2024 thru October 1, 2024 — Double-blind Peer Review Period
  • October 1, 2024 thru November 15, 2024 — Contributor revision period
  • December 1, 2024 — Final editorial acceptance decisions
  • December 1, 2024 thru January 15, 2025 — Layout design, indexing, and proofing stage
  • January 15, 2025 thru February 15, 2025 — Copies of chapter proofs sent to contributors for copyediting review
  • March 1, 2025 — Final manuscript submitted in hard copy and digital formats to publisher

Editor bios:

Michele Brittany is a writer, editor, podcaster, and artist. She edited James Bond and Popular Culture and the Bram Stoker Award-nominated Horror in Space: Critical Essays on a Film Subgenre. She co-edited Horror Literature from Gothic to Post-Modern: Critical Essays and co-hosts H. P. Lovecast podcast with Nicholas Diak. She lives in Glendale, Arizona.

Sean Woodard (MA | MFA) is a PhD candidate in English at University of Texas at Arlington. He also serves as the Assistant Editor for Global Insight: A Journal of Critical Human Science and Cultureand the Film Editor for Drunk Monkeys. He has contributed chapters to the edited collections Journeys Into Terror: Essays from the Cinematic Intersection of Travel and Horror and Bloodstained Narratives: The Giallo Film in Italy and Abroad. His research interests include horror cinema, the American West, psychoanalysis, fairy tales, and film scoring.

Autograph Stuff

Here are some of the autographed treasures I shared on social media these past two weeks.

First up is my copy of Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood Jr. signed by longtime Wood collaborator, Conrad Brooks.

In the latter 2000s I contacted Brooks via his website and he reached out to me via phone. He actually thought I was a lady, probably because of my less-than-masculine voice. He let me send him all my Ed wood stuff for him to autograph (this book included) and he also sent me back some of his movies he directed himself and released via Alpha Video. He was a charming dude and we talked on the phone a few times, but I lost contact with him after we moved to California. I was sad to find out he died, one of the last vanguards of singular era of exploitation films.

Next, following along with classic exploitation, is The Complete Night of the Living Dead Film book, signed by John Russo.

Back in the latter 2000s Michele and I lived in Federal Way and our comic book shop was Spy Comics owned by Richard Spychalski. Richard was the man and we go to his shop every week to pick up our orders we made from Previews and stay well after the shop closed, talking with him and petting his dog Ollie. The bulk of my comic book collection was bought from Richard during this time.

This book popped up as something to order through Previews. The book is actually from 1985. I suspect Avatar Press, which was publishing some NOTLD comics, probably got a box of these books from Russo who has them sitting in his garage and asked for the publisher to sell them. Slap an autograph on them and a certificate of authenticity and voila! Anywho, I liked NOTLD well enough so I ordered this book with one of my previews orders and Richard was able to get it in for me.

I really, really miss having a local comic book store.

To go with my Mike Nelson autographed copy of Plan 9 From Outer Space I shared on 8/27, here’s my copy of Carnival of Souls signed by the MST3K alumni.

I bought this way back in early 20004 while living in University Place. This was an era I was hungry for more MST3K stuff, and at the time only Mike Nelson was doing anything like it. This version of Carnival of Souls was the first time I ever seen the cult film. It’s a great one – a very slow burn one.

#HorrorGameOctober

For #HorrorGameOctober I’ll be (well, am currently) playing two games: The Evil Within and The House of the Dead Remake.

There’s a theme to these two games: they both have lenticular covers!

Michele bought me The Evil Within as a yuletide gift way back in 2015. I played it for a bit, but something stopped me from getting too far in it. Something wasn’t jiving? I got distracted by another game? I’m not sure, but here I am 8 years later giving it a legit go.

The House of the Dead I used to play when I was a teen in the arcade at the Three Rivers Mall in Kelso. I never got far. The game was for sale dirt cheap on Amazon this summer so I plucked it up. I was able to beat it a few times, something I would never think I would do! The game made me feel very nostalgic. I’m going to give it a few more play throughs this month and score a few more Xbox achievements.

I am going to try and fit in a proper write up about these two horror games before the month ends.

Categories
News

Biweekly News Roundup 2023-09-10

Personal / Website News

H. P. Lovecast Podcast

The monthly Transmissions episode of our H. P. Lovecast Podcast is online.

In this episodes we interview Ness Brown about their debut space horror novella, The Scourge Between Stars. The episode can be streamed at the HP Lovecast Buzzsprout page, via the embedded player below, or via your podcast app of preference.

HPLCP Transmissions – Ep 25 – Ness Brown – Scourge Between Stars – H. P. Lovecast Podcast

In September or October we *should* be resuming our twice a month schedule. This summer has been crazy with projects, obligations, work, and prepping for CoKoCon.

Scholars from the Edge of Time

Michele and I did a second episode of Scholars from the Edge of Time in August. Michele talked about The Swordsman and I talked about the video game Starsand. Check it out on YouTube.

Publishing Recap

Below is a recap of my publishing endeavors so far in 2023.

Published in February, this collection contains my essay “Dance or Dēcēdere: Gladiator and Industrial Music Sampling.”

Vernon Press Product Page

Published in May, this issue of Weird Tales contains my essay “When the Stars are Right.”

Weird Tales Product Page

Published in late March, the first issue of the zine Footage Fiends, contains my essay “Analisi Della Cosa: Found Footage in Caltiki and Italian Theater Going Practices.”

Limited to 50 physical copies.

Order via Patreon.

Published in early August, Dark Dead Things #2 contains my essay “Correlating the Contents: Mimetic Desire in H. P. Lovecraft’s ‘The Call of Cthulhu’.”

Order via Dark Dead Thingswebsite.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

Autograph Roundup

Here is a round of autographed ephemera I’ve shared on social media the last two weeks.

First up is my copy of Bizarre Sinema! Horror all’italiana 1957-1979:

This is an incredible book. There’s an entire chapter + interview with Antonio Margheriti which I’ve cited in my masters thesis on Castle of Blood and in other essays as well.

Michele and I met Barbara Steele at a Hollywood Collectors Show back in July of 2010. She signed many of my movies but also my copy of Bizarre Sinema! in which she penned the foreword:

And, here is a picture of all of us from way back when. Queen!

Next up, part of my comprehensive Oliver Gruner library, is Crackerjack 3.

This DVD is signed by Gruner along with Bo Svenson, director Lloyd Simandl and WWE Diva Amy Weber. We met Amy Weber back in 2010 at a celebrity show in Burbank:

The folks at Boundheat Films coordinated the director signing my DVD. His auteur elements of including WIP/Lesbian Slave elements in his films are found in Crackerjack 3.

Next is Bikini Beach signed by the grooviest babe of the AIP beauty party films, Donna Loren.

These movies are always a lot of fun, especially when old guard folks like Buster Keaton show up.

Any finally, for this week, I have The Year’s Best Fantasy Stories: 3 signed by Gary Myers and George R. R. Martin.

Gary Myers is the bloody man and I would say is the most instrumental of me getting into the work of Lovecraft and cosmic horror. Myers’ Dreamlands stories are the best iteration of the Dreamlands and I suggest folks check his collection out.

George R. R. Martin was the guest of honor at StokerCon 2017 and that is were I got his autograph. I’ve never read Game of Thrones or watched the series, so his short story here is the only work of his I am familiar with.

CFP List

Here are a few interesting CFPs I want to help proliferate.

Music Medievalism In Popular Culture at ICMS in Kalamazoo (May 9–11, 2024)

Sponsoring Organization: Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture
Organizer: Anna Czarnowus

Jonathan Le Cocq (forthcoming, 2024) defines music medievalism as either the influence of the medieval on later music, or the impact on medieval music (real or imagined) on any later cultural practice. In popular culture, we can find both the music that has been influenced by the actual medieval one and music influenced by some folk music imagined as medieval. Medievalist music such as pagan folk music (Troyer in: Meyer and Yri, 2020) can be used in various media and there are various genres of it. Some music videos can be an example of the cultural practice that is influenced by the imaginary medieval music. Medievalist video games also contain “medievalized” music.

Please consider such topics and similar ones:

  • medievalist music as background
  • medievalist music and similar videos
  • medievalist music/folk music as medievalist

Please send your abstract to: annaczarnowus@tlen.pl by September 1, 2023, but an official proposal can only be made and accepted through https://icms.confex.com/icms/2024/cfp.cgi by September 15th.

Creating Camelot(s): The Idea of Community in Arthurian Texts (virtual)

Sponsored by Alliance for the Promotion of Research on the Matter of Britain and International Arthurian Society, North American Branch (IAS/NAB)

Organizers: Michael A. Torregrossa and Joseph M. Sullivan

Call for Papers – Please Submit Proposals by 15 September 2023
59th International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, Michigan)
Hybrid event: Thursday, 9 May, through Saturday, 11 May, 2024

Session Objective

Although we often refer to the Matter of Britain as the Arthurian tradition, the figure of King Arthur is merely the center point of the story. The tales are in fact about the community that Arthur builds and the ways those inside it (and outside as well) interact with each other. Through Arthur and those he surrounds himself with, Camelot becomes a living thing, and we experience its birth, maturity, and death, as well as its re-creation across the ages.
In this session, we’d like to highlight the multiple ways that Arthur’s realm has been constructed from the Middle Ages to the present. Submissions can explore the Arthurian legends from across time
and/or space as represented through diverse genres and media.
We seek contributions from a range of scholars–those within the disciplines of Arthurian Studies and/or Medieval Studies as well as those in outside fields, including beyond the humanities–as they
consider at least one of the following questions:

● What are the origins of Camelot? How do Arthur’s literary and/or historic predecessors (Ambrosius Aurelius, Arthur of Dal Riada, Constantine, Fionn mac Cumhaill, Lucius Artorius Castus, Riothamus, Uther Pendragon, Vortigern, etc.) influence the creation of his home base? What real locales inspired the idea or site of Camelot?
● Moving forwards, how has Camelot been built as a physical place whether in the Arthurian past or in post-Arthurian re-creations? What does the site look like? How does it function as a space where
individuals live and work?
● Also, how has Camelot been shaped as a communal space, a location for people to come together in fellowship, and who has been included within this group? In what ways does the community grow and change under Arthur and/or his successors?
● Alternatively, who has been excluded and/or expelled from the space(s) of Camelot, and in what ways have those individuals dealt with this loss?
● Similarly, who has been invited to join the community at Camelot but resisted its entreaties and/or rebelled against Arthur and his rule (or that of his successors)? What are the reasons for their rejection
of Camelot? How do their actions impact the Arthurian world?
● Lastly, do those removed from and/or repelled by Camelot ever integrate (or re-integrate) and become part of the community? How does this acceptance shape them and/or the world of Camelot?

Submission Information

All proposals must be submitted into the Confex system at https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/call by 15 September 2023. You will be prompted to complete sections on Title and Presentation
Information, People, Abstract, and Short Description. Be advised of the following policies of the Congress: “You are invited to make one paper proposal to one session of papers. This may be to one of the Sponsored or Special Sessions of Papers, which are organized by colleagues around the world, OR to the General Sessions of Papers, which are organized by the Program Committee in Kalamazoo. You may propose an unlimited number of roundtable contributions. However, you will not be scheduled as an active participant (as a paper presenter, roundtable discussant, presider, respondent, workshop leader, or performer) in more than three sessions.”.

Thank you for your interest in our session. Please address questions and/or concerns to the organizers at KingArthurForever2000@gmail.com.

For more information on the Alliance for the Promotion of Research on the Matter of Britain, please visit our website at https://KingArthurForever.blogspot.com/.

For more information on the International Arthurian Society, North American Branch (IAS/NAB), please visit our website at https://www.international-arthurian-society-nab.org/ and consider becoming a member of our organization.

Categories
News

Biweekly News Roundup 2023-08-13

Personal / Website News

Black Emanuelle Boxset Unboxing

Severin Films recently released a titanic boxset of the Laura Gemser Black Emanuelle films. I, of course, did an unboxing article of it.

I also bring up prior incarnations of Black Emanuelle DVD releases. Check out the write up here.

Citation News

There’s been an uptick in work being cited lately and I am here for it!

Firstly, my essay “Lost Nights and Dangerous Days: Unraveling the Relationship Between Stranger Things and Synthwave” from Uncovering Stranger Things has been cited in the essay “‘Dad, every serial killer is somebody’s neighbor!’ The Problem of White Supremacy in Summer of ’84” by Erika Tiburcio Moreno and published in the edited collection The ’80s Resurrected: Essays on the Decade in Popular Culture Then and Now.

The book was published by McFarland in March earlier this year. More info can be found on the book’s product page at the McFarland website.

Next, Hannah Mueller’s essay “Male Nudity, Violence and the Disruption of Voyeuristic Pleasure in Starz’s Spartacus” from The New Peplum has been cited by James K. Beggan in his essay “Why is he there? Male presence in a sexually explicit magazine geared towards heterosexual men” that was published in the Porn Studies journal.

The New Peplum
Cover art for The New Peplum

If you have access the essay can be read at the journal’s page at Taylor and Francis.

New Episode of HP Lovecast

A new episode of our monthly Transmission program is now online.

For July we interviewed Chelsea Pumpkins, editor of the horror anthology AHH! That’s What I Call Horror: An Anthology of ’90s Horror. The episode can be streamed via our Buzzsprout page, the embedded player below, or through your podcast app of preference.

HPLCP Transmissions – Ep 24 – Chelsea Pumpkins – H. P. Lovecast Podcast

CoKoCon Schedule

The schedule for CoKoCon 2023 is starting to take shape! You can find Michele and I on the following panels:

  • Saturday Sept 2 9pm – Fiesta Ballroom 2: From EC Comics to Shudder: Horror Comics That Excite and Scare Us
  • Sunday Sept 3 6pm – Coronado: Creepy, Crawly, Otherworldly Bumps in the Night, or Cosmic Horror Films
  • Monday Sept 4 1pm – Coronado: 1pm: Weird West in Popular Culture

I’ll be on premises the entire con, so feel free to hunt me down to say hi! Michele and I will also have a table we were sill be selling and signing books.

Publishing Recap

Below is a recap of my publishing endeavors so far in 2023.

Published in February, this collection contains my essay “Dance or Dēcēdere: Gladiator and Industrial Music Sampling.”

Vernon Press Product Page

Published in May, this issue of Weird Tales contains my essay “When the Stars are Right.”

Weird Tales Product Page

Published in late March, the first issue of the zine Footage Fiends, contains my essay “Analisi Della Cosa: Found Footage in Caltiki and Italian Theater Going Practices.”

Limited to 50 physical copies.

Order via Patreon.

Essay about mimetic desire in Lovecraft’s Call of Cthulhu in Dark Dead Things #2/

Order via Dark Dead Things website.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

New Acquisitions

Kino Lorber just had a summer sale on their Blu-rays so I took the opportunity to pluck up some Italian films for the library.

The Last Hunter I already had on DVD, from Dark Sky Films. In fact, here is my copy autographed by Antonio Margheriti’s son, Edoardo Margheriti:

I did a presentation on The Last Hunter at the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association conference waaaaaaay back in 2010. Not my best presentation and still very green at being an academic, but the text of it can be read at my Academia.edu account.

Ironmaster I have not seen. It sounds like an Italian sword and sorcery flick, but in a prehistoric age. I am a fan of Umberto Lenzi’s work so this should be a fun watch.

Lastly is Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, which I also have not seen. I’ve seen the iconic image of Sophia Loren slipping off her stockings that I feel like I’ve seen the film. I always think of Mastroianni from Divorce, Italian Style.

Pasolini’s The Gospel According to St. Matthew Commentary

Matt Page, author of 100 Bible Films, has recorded a commentary for Paolini’s 1964 Biblical peplum, The Gospel According to St. Matthew. The commentary and be streamed from YouTube. Criterion Collection recently released a Pasolini boxset that contains this film.

Call for Papers

Michael Torregrossa has a few CFPs out there. I’m sharing them here to help get the word out. Check them out and consider submitting!

Beowulfs Beyond Beowulf: Transformations of Beowulf in Popular Culture (Panel)

Sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture and the Monsters & the Monstrous Area of the Northeast Popular Culture Association

Organized by Michael A. Torregrossa, Richard Fahey, Carl Sell, and Benjamin Hoover

Call for Papers – Please Submit Proposals by 30 September 2023

55th Annual Convention of Northeast Modern Language Association

Sheraton Boston Hotel (Boston, MA)

On-site event: 7-10 March 2024

The Old English epic Beowulf remains an important touchstone for connecting us to the medieval past, yet it also has continued relevance today through its various transformations in cultural texts (especially works of popular culture). Our hope with this session is to expand our knowledge of these works and assess their potential for research and teaching. 

Please visit our website Beowulf Transformed: Adaptations and Appropriations of the Beowulf Story (available at https://beowulf-transformed.blogspot.com/)  for resources and ideas. 

The full call for papers (with complete session and submission information) can be accessed at https://tinyurl.com/Beowulf-Transformed-NeMLA-2024.  

Session Information

Over a millennium old, the story of Beowulf is disseminated primarily through its editions and translations and its transformations. These three types of Beowulfiana represent a massive corpus of over 1000 works according to the Beowulf’s Afterlives Bibliographic Database; though, as medievalists, we tend to focus on the first two categories rather than the last concentrating on scholastic pursuits rather than entertainments. Consequently, many are often surprised by the variety and vitality of this corpus and its vast potential for research and teaching.

New versions of the Beowulf story feature in all forms of modern mediævalisms, yet (as is true with most medieval texts) research continues to focus primarily on depictions of Beowulf on screen (about 100 examples according to the Internet Movie Database). We hope in this session to expand our view of Beowulf’s reception by creators and look more deeply at the text’s wider use. 

We are particularly interested in explorations of the adaptation and/or appropriation of the text, its characters, and its themes in works of fiction (at least 250 examples according to the Internet Speculative Fiction Database and much more recorded by the Beowulf’s Afterlives Bibliographic Database) and comics (at least 380 examples according to the Grand Comics Database), as well as their representations in new and neglected works on screen (including film, television, entertainment consoles, and the Internet). Additional versions of Beowulf can be found in works of creative, performative, and visual arts that also need more attention. 

We hope to make our conversation productive. Therefore, we request that submissions highlight the ways the new text transforms the old (for example as interpretations or appropriations of the poem or as an intertext for another work) as well as its value in furthering the Beowulf tradition rather than focusing solely on any perceived defects. 

Please see our website Beowulf Transformed: Adaptations and Appropriations of the Beowulf Story (at https://beowulf-transformed.blogspot.com/) for a growing list of ideas, resources, and support. 

All proposals will also be considered for a themed issue of the open-access journal The Heroic Age: A Journal of Early Medieval Northwestern Europe.

Please address questions and/or concerns to the organizers at popular.preternaturaliana@gmail.com.

Submission Information

All proposals must be submitted into the CFPList system at https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/20596 by 30 September 2023. You will be prompted to create an account with NeMLA (if you do not already have one) and, then, to complete sections on Title, Abstract, and Media Needs. 

Notification on the fate of your submission will be made prior to 16 October 2023. If favorable, please confirm your participation with chairs by accepting their invitations and by registering for the event. The deadline for Registration/Membership is 9 December 2023.

Be advised of the following policies of the Convention: All participants must be members of NeMLA for the year of the conference. Participants may present on up to two sessions of different types (panels/seminars are considered of the same type). Submitters to the CFP site cannot upload the same abstract twice.(See the NeMLA Presenter Policies page, at https://www.buffalo.edu/nemla/convention/policies.html, for further details,)

Thank you for your interest in our session. 

Again, please address questions and/or concerns to the organizers at popular.preternaturaliana@gmail.com.

For more information on the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture, please visit our website at https://MedievalinPopularCulture.blogspot.com/.  

For more information on the Monsters & the Monstrous Area of the Northeast Popular Culture Association, please visit our website at https://popularpreternaturaliana.blogspot.com/.

Categories
News

Biweekly News Roundup 2023-07-30

Personal / Website News

Dark Dead Things #2

The weird fiction/poetry literary magazine Dark Dead Things is publishing their second issue. I’m incredibly honored to be included in this issue with my essay on a Rene Girard reading of Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu.”

The issue can be ordered from the Dark Dead Things webshop as a bundle with a rad T-shirt of Meowlister Crowley. Issue 1 is still available, so check that out too and supporting this indie endeavor.

Sincere gratitude to Mike Salinas for including me in this issue.

Stranger Things Essay Citation

My essay, “Lost Nights and Dangerous Days: Unraveling the Relationship Between Stranger Things and Synthwave” that was published in Kevin Wetmore’s book, Uncovering Stranger Things, has been cited in Jutta Steiner’s book Nostalgie Im Upside Down: Das progressive Potenzial von Nostalgie in Der Retro-Serie Stranger Things.

My Stranger Things/synthwave essay continues to be my most cited piece of writing. Very flattered!

Bibliography Updates

I’m increasing seeing other texts aside from The New Peplum becoming cited and reviewed. Because of that I am creating subpages for some of these works with more detail. If you click the dropdown on the Bibliography menu you’ll start seeing them. These updates are a work in process, but I look forward to sharing more detail about these pieces I’ve composed or edited over the years.

Atlantis, the Lost Continent

A new episode of Scholars from the Edge of time is now online! In this episode Michele and I discuss the 1961 American sword and sandal film, Atlantis, the Lost Continent. Check it out on YouTube.

Publishing Recap

Below is a recap of my publishing endeavors so far in 2023.

Published in February, this collection contains my essay “Dance or Dēcēdere: Gladiator and Industrial Music Sampling.”

Vernon Press Product Page

Published in May, this issue of Weird Tales contains my essay “When the Stars are Right.”

Weird Tales Product Page

Published in late March, the first issue of the zine Footage Fiends, contains my essay “Analisi Della Cosa: Found Footage in Caltiki and Italian Theater Going Practices.”

Limited to 50 physical copies.

Order via Patreon.

Published in early August, the second issue of Dark Dead Things contains my essay “Correlating the Contents: Mimetic Desire in H. P. Lovecraft’s ‘The Call of Cthulhu’.”

Order at Dark Dead Things.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

CFP: Ancient World, Modern Music II at CAMWS 2024

Dr. Jeremy Swist has a new CFP that’s live:

An organized panel to be proposed for the 120th annual meeting of the Classical Association of the Middle West & South, April 3rd – 6th, 2024 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA at the invitation of Washington University, St. Louis.

After a successful 1st edition of the panel in 2022 at Winston Salem, we are seeking abstracts for another panel on the reception of antiquity in modern music. 15-minute papers on the topic may discuss any genre of modern & popular music, including folk & country, rock & metal, hip-hop & pop, and theater & soundtracks, and may focus on lyrics, album artwork, music videos, live performances, or the music itself. We are particularly interested in questions of how musicians integrate ancient culture, myth, and art into a modern medium, and how they read antiquity in response to the personal, the aesthetic, & the political.

Send 300-word abstracts and questions to Jeremy Swist (swistjj@miamioh.edu) by 15th August 2023. Potential panelists must commit to present in person if accepted.

Recent Peplum Acquisitions

I’ve plucked up two peplum films recently to add to the library.

First is Land of the Pharaohs which just got the Blu-ray treatment this past June. Michele and I recently talked about this movie on Scholars from the Edge of Time (YouTube video link here) and I really dug it! When I saw Warner Archive was going to do a new version of it I had to pre-order it.

Next is an old release of a movie called G2: Mortal Conquest. Apparently this movie is a re-worked version of the 1995 movie Gladiator Cop. A name like Gladiator Cop, I gotta watch it! However it’s OOP and kinda pricy, so I’ll pluck up a copy later. In the meantime, this alternate version in the form of G2 will have to do. I remember Daniel Bernhardt from Future War which was on MST3K, which was baaaaad. So, I am hoping this movie will be just as campy fun.

Secret Agent Barbie GBA Game

Last weekend was Barbenheimer – when two blockbuster films, Barbie and Oppenheimer, got released the same weekend. It looked like a pretty fun pop culture event, two movies at the polar opposites of tone and subject matter, but linked none-the-less.

I didn’t get a chance to partake, but I’ll definitely watch both movies when they are released on Blu-ray. In the meantime, just for fun, I’ll share the odd Barbie artifact in my collection: a complete, in box (CIB) copy of Secret Agent Barbie: Royal Jewels Mission.

I bought this game long ago, I believe at the SoCal Retro Gaming Expo in Ontario, CA. I don’t have many CIB retro games in my collection (then and now), and I recall this game being extremely cheap. It was also a time, I believe, I was knee deep in spy-fi studies when Michele was working on her James Bond book. So because of all of that, I plucked up this game when I happened upon it. I recall playing it for a bit on my Retron-5 and enjoying it. Perhaps I’ll have to give it a proper play through.

Anyways, a rare opportunity to see a CIB Barbie game: box, cartridge, poster, manual, and Nintendo booklet. Not pictured is my plastic case I keep the game in to keep it in the best condition I can (the outer box is a bit bent in though).