[Commlist] Call for Papers: The Slasher Studies Massacre conference

The Slasher Studies Massacre: An International Conference on Slasher 
Theory, History and Practice

Friday the 13th / Saturday the 14th / August 2021

CONFIRMED KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Professor Vera Dika (New Jersey City University, USA)

Dr Steve Jones (Northumbria University, UK)


Slasher, a disreputable offcut of the horror genre, has been the subject 
of intense criticism over the last 40 years. Despite an emergent body of 
scholarship that closely examines this subgenre across various forms and 
periods, seminal works from the 1980s and early 1990s still continue to 
monopolise the field, heavily referenced and applied to contemporary 
texts. It is undeniable that critics in film studies such as Robin Wood, 
Carol J. Clover, Vera Dika, Linda Williams and Barbara Creed provide us 
with important theoretical foundations that are still useful today. 
However, more needs to be done to examine the ways in which their works 
have been interpreted, developed and innovated by recent scholarship to 
create a critical discourse that appears to situate itself in “slasher 
studies,” a seemingly distinctive branch of horror studies that has 
gradually emerged over the last 20 years.
 By collating papers that consider the relationship between slasher 
theory, history and practice, this online conference interrogates the 
very notion of “slasher studies” and its potential definition(s). 
Indeed, this conference fundamentally asks if “slasher studies” is an 
academic discipline in its own right, distinctive from horror studies, 
and if so, how did it become? Alternatively, if “slasher studies” is not 
its own academic discipline, why not and what are the disciplinary 
politics at play?

In asking these questions, this conference is the first of its kind and 
provides a safe and supportive interdisciplinary space for scholars to 
present their research, share their ideas and build a network with 
others working in the field, questioning and rectifying a plethora of 
theoretical, historical and practical assumptions in the process.

​We welcome abstracts of 250 words for papers to be presented as part of 
this online conference to be held on Friday 13th and Saturday 14th 
August 2021, addressing any topics that develop theoretical, historical 
and practical traditions and analyses of the slasher subgenre.

Topics might include, but are not limited to:

slasher and the (inter)disciplinary politics of theory
style and form, aesthetics and narrative
film and the mechanics of cross-media platforms (television, video 
games, novels, music, etc.)
characterisation and identification
national cinema(s) and (trans)national reception
Hollywood, production and distribution
audience and reception
gender and sexuality
race and ethnicity
disability and the politics of representation
class and the politics of representation
psychoanalytic and cultural readings

Please email abstracts of no more than 250 words, and a short bio, to 
Daniel Sheppard ((daniel.sheppard /at/ bcu.ac.uk)) and Dr Wickham Clayton 
((wickscripts /at/ gmail.com)) by Friday 30th April 2021.

For more information and regular updates, follow The Slasher Studies 
Massacre on Twitter @SlasherStudies or visit our website: 
https://slasherstudiesmassacre.weebly.com/

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