Special interest group:
Horror Studies

Convenors:

• Shellie McMurdo (University of Hertfordshire)
• Laura Mee (University of Hertfordshire)

Links:

• Website
• ​Facebook
• Twitter: @BAFTSS_horror 

Overview

Since the pioneering historical research of scholars such as Peter Hutchings and Mark Jancovich in the 1990s, horror film, television and screen studies in the UK and Ireland has grown and developed rapidly. British and Irish scholars have explored both horror’s history and its contemporary development across a range of old and new media, and are increasingly employing a wide array of theoretical and methodological approaches in order to analyse and research this most enduring and culturally resonant of genres, from gender studies, transnational studies, film and television historiography, video game studies and film philosophy, to audience research, industry studies and practice-based research. The BAFTSS Horror Studies SIG aims to bring together UK and Irish researchers studying horror across this wide range of disciplines and approaches – from established scholars to the increasing number of early career researchers and doctoral students in the field – to exchange diverse ideas, to facilitate collaboration and to form a supportive and creative network.​​
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The purpose and aims of the Horror Studies SIG include:​

• To explore connections and approaches across the study of horror film, television and other screen media, and to foster a network of postgraduate, early career and established researchers working in the field in the UK and Ireland.
• To facilitate connection and discussion between members, and to encourage collaboration on projects which contribute to the culture of/help to shape the field (e.g. publications, conferences and events, major projects and funding bids as well as informal activities such as reading/screening groups).
• To represent researchers conducting scholarship and research on horror in the UK and Ireland, and to promote and support equality, diversity and inclusivity within this horror studies community.

The SIG Co-convenors are also Editors of Hidden Horror Histories: Creativity in the Horror Genre, a new book series published by Liverpool University Press. See the SIG website for more information about the series, including information regarding proposing a title: https://baftsshorror.weebly.com/book-series.html.

Reports on activities

Any relevant documentation will appear here.

Founding members

• Stacey Abbott (University of Roehampton)
• Xavier Aldana Reyes (Manchester Metropolitan University)
• Kev Bickerdike (Sheffield Hallam University)
• Aislinn Clarke (Queen’s University Belfast)
• Kate Egan (Northumbria University, founding co-convenor)
  
• Darren Elliott-Smith (University of Stirling)
• Kieran Foster (De Montfort University)
• Stella Gaynor (University of Salford)
• Lindsay Hallam (University of East London)
• Amy Harris (De Montfort University)
• Matt Hills (University of Huddersfield
• Leon Hunt (Brunel University)
• Russ Hunter (Northumbria University)
• Mark Jancovich (University of East Anglia)
• Derek Johnston (Queen’s University Belfast)
• Rhys Jones (University of Liverpool)
• Steve Jones (Northumbria University)
• Tanya Krzywinska (Falmouth University)
• Craig Ian Mann (Sheffield Hallam University)
• Mark Mckenna (Staffordshire University)
• Xavier Mendik (Birmingham City University)
• Bernice Murphy (Trinity College Dublin)
• Sorcha Ní Fhlainn (Manchester Metropolitan University)
• Ami Nisa (Northumbria University)
• Alison Peirse (University of Leeds)
• Iain Robert Smith (King's College, London)
• Johnny Walker (Northumbria University)
• Thomas Joseph Watson (Teesside University)