Just a few days left to submit your abstracts ... Call for Contributors (2/7/2020 Abstracts; 8/15/2020 Essays) Journeys into Terror Adventure! Danger! Romance! Explorers, adventurers, and travelers have captured popular imagination since ancient times. Their encounters with the exotic and unknown are the stuff of legends, as they journey over the next ridge, far across the ocean, or outward to the stars. Those who journey leave behind the safety and certainty of the familiar, placing themselves in the company of strangers—or in solitude—and rendering themselves vulnerable, in order to experience the new and unexpected. But sometimes, journeys go horribly wrong, and the traveler stumbles into a nightmare world filled with unexpected dangers that they barely understand and have few resources to combat. Stories of such journeys into terror have a long and rich history that stretches from folktales to contemporary media narratives, and for more than a century, film—with its ability to bring our shared nightmares to vivid life—has provided a particularly fertile ground for conveying these tales. This collection seeks essays on films whose characters’ journeys into the unknown bring them face-to-face with terror. It will explore the ways in which these texts reflect—and shape—our ambivalent attitudes toward travel, exploration, the strange, and the unfamiliar: presenting them as sources of excitement and fulfillment, but also of mortal danger. It will also pose new questions about “geographies of evil,” and the constant and shifting terrain of fear, as our notions of “terrible places” and their inhabitants change over time. The collection will be divided into three sections designed to explore distinct types of stories about terrible journeys. The films listed under each theme are intended to be suggestions, not limits. Off the Edge of the Map: Films about journeys into exotic, uncharted areas and where the horrors are far greater than imagined (Cannibal Holocaust, Apollo 18, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Apocalypse Now) Highways to Hell: Films about travelers who embark on what they imagine will be routine journeys, but find themselves in dark and terrifying places (The Hills Have Eyes, Alien, Children of the Corn, The Hitcher, Dead End) Postcards from the Edge: Films about travelers going to what they imagine will be places of relaxation and restoration, but finding terror instead (Midsommar, Cabin in the Woods, Chernobyl Diaries, The Shallows, Hostel) While genre horror is a ready vehicle for these images, proposals looking at films from other genres, such as suspense, science fiction, and genre hybrids or mash-ups are also very welcome. We seek proposals for intelligent, accessible chapters—rigorous scholarship and innovative ideas expressed in clear, vigorous, jargon-free prose—that examine and critically analyze the relationship between travel and horror as it is portrayed in the horror genre across a range of films and eras. Proposals for both topical essays and close readings of a single text are welcome. Proposals on films produced outside the US are very welcome. Previously unpublished work only, please. Please send your 500-word abstract to both co-editors, Cindy Miller ( [log in to unmask]) and Bow Van Riper ([log in to unmask]). 07 Feb - Abstracts Due 15 Feb - Decisions Announced 15 Aug - First Drafts Due 01 Nov - First Revisions Back 02 Jan 2021 - Second Drafts Due 30 Jan - Second Revisions [if needed] Back 15 Feb - Final Drafts Due 15 Mar - Manuscript Submission (for fall 2021 publication) ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.ScreenSite.org