[Commlist] CFP: Obscura. International Conference on Horror and Contemporary Media Culture

CFP: Obscura. International Conference on Horror and Contemporary Media 
Culture
28-30 October 2026, Universidad de Sevilla (Seville, Spain)
Organised by the LIGAINCOM Research Group (SEJ694)

Horror has established itself as one of the defining modes of 
contemporary storytelling, extending its influence across a wide range 
of media, including film, television, and video games. Its enduring 
relevance has fostered growing academic interest, revealing the genre’s 
rich cultural significance and the multiple interpretative possibilities 
its narratives offer from social, political, and ideological 
perspectives. While horror is often defined primarily by the emotional 
effects it elicits in audiences (Carroll, 1990; Losilla, 1993; Roma, 
2009), its narratives also function as distorted mirrors through which 
cultural meanings surrounding identity, gender, social conflict, and 
other pressing concerns are reflected, contested, and reconstructed.
Although cinema has been closely associated with horror since its 
inception, the genre has often occupied a marginal position within 
academic and critical discourse, aside from canonical exceptions such as 
Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960), The Exorcist (Friedkin, 1973), and The Shining 
(Kubrick, 1980). In recent years, however, horror has undergone 
significant critical reassessment, gaining recognition for its artistic, 
political, and social dimensions, particularly through the phenomenon 
commonly referred to as elevated horror. The work of filmmakers such as 
Robert Eggers, Ari Aster, Jordan Peele, and Jennifer Kent exemplifies 
this development. At the same time, horror has expanded beyond cinema, 
with television series such as The Haunting of Hill House (Netflix, 
2018) and From (MGM+, 2022–), as well as video game franchises including 
Resident Evil (Capcom, 1998–) and Silent Hill (Konami, 1999–), 
demonstrating the genre’s continued cultural relevance and formal 
innovation.
Against this backdrop, Obscura. International Conference on Horror and 
Contemporary Media Culture seeks to establish itself as an international 
forum for the interdisciplinary study of these cultural manifestations, 
bringing together theoretical reflection, critical analysis, and 
professional practice. From an international perspective, the conference 
aims to foster dialogue between academia and industry while encouraging 
the development of collaborative networks and future research 
initiatives. To this end, the programme will combine traditional 
academic activities—including keynote lectures, paper sessions, and 
roundtable discussions—with practical and public-facing events. These 
activities will provide opportunities for collective reflection on 
significant contemporary audiovisual works, promoting dialogue between 
researchers and practitioners and encouraging critical engagement across 
theoretical analysis, cultural reception, and audiovisual production 
processes.
We welcome contributions from Film Studies, Media Studies, Cultural 
Studies, Communication Studies, Game Studies, Gender Studies, and 
related disciplines.

Key topics include, but are not limited to:
• Ethics, politics, and social discourse in audiovisual horror
• Aesthetics and poetics of contemporary horror
• Narratives of violence in film, television, and digital platforms
• Elevated horror, authorship, and cultural legitimisation
• Horror, identity, and gender
• Horror and historical memory
• Audience reception of horror and audiovisual violence
• Representations of trauma, fear, and psychological violence
• Monsters, bodies, and otherness
• Explicit violence, suggestion, and the limits of representation
• Horror and mental health
• Video games, immersive experiences, and interactive horror
• Emerging trends in audiovisual horror
• Professional practices in horror screenwriting, directing, and production
• Diversity, equity, inclusion, and representation in horror media

Abstracts of individual papers or panel proposals should be submitted 
through the website: https://eventos.us.es/go/obscura2026

Submission deadlines: 10 July 2026 (early round, notification by 31 
July) and 10 September 2026 (final deadline, notification by 25 
September). Abstracts will be reviewed on a rolling basis as they are 
received, and every effort will be made to communicate decisions as 
quickly as possible. Authors whose abstracts are submitted by 10 July 
2026 and accepted for presentation will qualify for the reduced 
registration rate.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Obscura is committed to fostering a 
respectful, inclusive, and accessible environment for all participants. 
We particularly encourage submissions from scholars belonging to groups 
historically underrepresented in academia and offer reduced registration 
fees and partial fee waivers to support broader participation. Further 
information is available on the conference website.

Conference directors: Víctor Hernández-Santaolalla e Irene Raya.

For further information, please contact us via the “Contact” section of 
the website or by email at (obscura /at/ us.es).
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