[Commlist] CFP: Folk Horror on Television

***REMINDER - DEADLINE APPROACHING** - Closing date for proposals is 15 
January 2026*

*Folk Horror on Television: Call for Proposals for an Edited Collection*
Editors: Derek Johnston and Diane A. Rodgers
Since the first academic conference on the subject in 2014 to the 
present day, there has been a blossoming interest in the genre or mode 
of folk horror. There has been a particular boom in academic 
publishing on the subject in the past few years, including edited 
collections (Bayman and Donnelly, 2023; Edgar and Johnson, 2024; Bacon, 
2023) and monographs (Smith, Edgar and Marland, 2023). However, this 
work has tended to focus on folk horror in film and literature, despite 
there being many televisual texts which can be seen as part of or 
closely related to the genre. The shared importance of ideas of identity 
of region and nation form a particular connection 
between television and folk horror.
This collection would seek to address some of this gap, 
building on Diane Rodgers work in Wyrd TV, approaching texts both well 
known, such as /Robin Redbreast/ (UK, 1970), to the less well-known, 
such as /K-9 and Company/ (UK, 1981), from the proto-folk horror of /The 
Owl Service/ (UK, 1969) to the knowingly folk horror of /The Red 
King/ (UK, 2024) or episodes of /Inside No.9/ (UK, 2014-2024). Authors 
are encouraged to engage with examples from a range of national and 
transnational contexts, from US TV movies like /The Dark Secret of 
Harvest Home/ (USA, 1978) to the Danish /Elves /(Denmark, 2021) or the 
pan-Asian /Folklore /(Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, 
South Korea, Taiwan, Philippiines, 2018-2022). Contributors are also 
urged to consider the breadth of different definitions of and approaches 
to folk horror, taking into account the concept of genres as cultural 
categories, defined by their usage rather than by particular textual 
characteristics. This can lead to a consideration not just of a wider 
selection of texts, but also to look beyond the text to consider what 
different audiences may be doing by claiming particular productions as 
'folk horror'. We use here the broadest understanding of folk horror as 
that which also embraces the ‘wyrd’: texts which may be considered 
uncanny or unsettling rather than necessarily ‘horrific’. We are also 
keen to include a wide range of approaches to folk horror on television, 
whether textual studies, histories, fan studies, folkloristics, or other 
suitable approaches to broaden and deepen our understanding of the 
connections between folk horror and television.
Indicative topics for coverage include, but are not limited to:

  *
    Folk horror and culture.
  *
    Folk horror and class.
  *
    National histories of television folk horror.
  *
    Television folk horror and connections to folk horror in other media.
  *
    Folk horror and children.
  *
    Folk horror and mass-mediated ostension.
  *
    Folklore and contemporary legend.
  *
    Folk horror and conceptions of the past.
  *
    Folk horror and community.
  *
    Folk horror and genre.
  *
    Folk horror in news/documentary/advertising/public information films.
  *
    Folk horror and gender.
  *
    Folk horror and colonialism / post-colonialism.
  *
    International / National / regional / local.
  *
    The folk of folk horror.
  *
    The horror of folk horror.
  *
    Folk horror and horror culture.
  *
    Fear, trauma and folk horror.
  *
    Folk horror and folk culture.
  *
    Folk horror and popular culture.
  *
    Folk horror and music.
  *
    Folk horror and landscape.
  *
    Folk horror and the urban wyrd.
  *
    Folk horror and hauntology.
  *
    Folk horror and Nigel Kneale.
  *
    Folk horror and Doctor Who.
  *
    TV listings and folk horror.
  *

We are currently seeking proposals of 500 words for an edited collection 
for which we have strong interest for publication from Bloomsbury’s 
/Spectres,////Hauntings and Horrors/ series. Proposals should be emailed 
to (derek.johnston /at/ qub.ac.uk) AND (d.rodgers /at/ shu.ac.uk). Closing date for 
proposals is 15 January 2026, and we intend to respond by 23 February 2026.


---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please use it responsibly and wisely.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ commlist.org)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------