Horror Genres in Modern Fiction

Dear Colleagues,

Horror is found across various types of media. Stemming from the Gothic, a mode which drew on written, visual, and performative systems, horror themes and tropes have appeared in forms ranging from written fiction and graphic arts through mass media offerings to contemporary technologies such as videogames. Variety in textual experiences means innovative ways to invoke age-old pleasures—the thrill of fear linked with horror—and to explore cultural and historical anxieties that have long found expression in this genre. Established conventions of Gothic horror, such as disturbing locations, supernatural beings, and the hold of the past on the present, can be discerned in the Gothic trope of haunting.

Recognizing the significance of horror in media culture, this Special Issue seeks original research articles that interrogate treatments of haunting. From issues of identity and representation to wider reflections on history and society, haunting provides insight into cultural touchpoints. Moving out from more literary origins, whether through the shared experience of cinema, the pleasure of a new streaming event, or the immersive properties of games and experiences, haunting has proved a perennial attraction for contemporary audiences. Ghosts and the spaces they haunt have flourished across cinema (The Innocents, 1961; Presence, 2024), television and streaming (A Ghost Story for Christmas [BBC strand]; The Haunting of Hill House, 2018), theatre (The Woman in Black, 1989–; Ghost Stories, 2010–), videogames (Sylvio, 2015; Luigi’s Mansion, 2001–), and theme park rides (Disney’s Haunted Mansion; Alton Towers’ The Curse at Alton Manor), plus literature and comics. How and why has haunting persisted as such a fruitful means to provoke horror? As our lives have become increasingly digital and ephemeral, with notions of space and place shifting as a result, what does the continued fascination for ghost stories and haunted houses tell us about contemporary culture? To investigate this suggested case studies might include, though are not limited to, literature, film, TV, comics, theatre, videogames, the web, and experiential entertainment (e.g., rides, escape rooms, etc.). Haunting is about the past, but it is most definitely also about the ways we think about the present. With that, since haunting is now multimedia, it seems to be saying something about the future.

Dr. Rebecca Janicker
Guest Editor

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• culture
• ghosts
• Gothic
• haunting
• horror
• media