Recent years have seen a rise in horror and horror-adjacent narratives about the recovery and horrors of lost media. Paul Tremblay’s Horror Movie (2024) revolves around the reshoot of a cult classic horror movie with an unreleased ending. Horror podcasts such as The Magnus Archives (2016-2020) involve the cataloging of supernatural narratives or the use of tapes to solve a disappearance as in The Sheridan Tapes (2020-2024). Likewise, the broader rise in Analog Horror speaks to the presence of undead media and mediums within the current cultural moment. This panel seeks to interrogate this cultural moment fascinated with acts of recovery and the mediums haunting the present moment from a range of genres, perspectives, theories, methods, and disciplines. We encourage papers within and outside the areas of horror and gothic studies, and encompassing a range of digital and analog mediums such as those on the explosive rise in communities dedicated to locating lost media such as episodes of TV shows or songs such as with r/lostwave, pieces missing from archival collections such as photographs and manuscripts, or works that haunt the cultural zeitgeist through adaptations and sequels.
Submission Instructions
Please submit abstracts to [email protected] with the panel name as the subject. Abstracts should be between 200-300 words in length and be accompanied by a short bio. Additionally, please indicate whether you would be willing to serve as a presider. Please submit proposals by March 15th, 2025.