I am a Senior Lecturer in Film Studies and American Studies here at MMU. My background is in History, Politics and American Studies and consequently my work is largely rooted in socio-cultural, historical and Marxist approaches to Film Studies, Cultural Studies, Popular and Contemporary American Literature and Popular Cinema. I also specialise in Gothic Studies, Horror Cinema, with my research particularly focussed on Vampires (fiction, culture and film), and monster studies.
My approach to teaching is rooted in discussion. I like to examine multiple ideas and disciplines and nurture a continuing dialogue with students that explores the subject in a meaningful yet accessible way. I require my students to work hard, to show enthusiasm and to always ask questions. My approach is to encourage, advise and most importantly to impart of a love of the subjects I teach.
Beyond academia, I am a huge music fan with eclectic taste from Irish traditional fusion to classic rock (and Hair/Heavy Metal), and I foster a particular love of all things rooted in the 1980s (including its music and film scores!). As a history, politics and American Studies graduate I am acutely interested in current affairs, journalism, feminism, American culture and US politics - and I am an Oscars fanatic. I also adore detective fiction, Scandinavian gothic culture, Nordic Noir, and astronomy.
It is my aim to make an impact in terms of teaching and researching Film Studies, American Studies and Gothic Studies and to promote forms of critical thinking through which we better understand why we need to create films, books and tales of the macabre. We tell stories, create moving images and share ideas for countless reasons - it is our duty as critical thinkers to explore their meaning and importance in the world today.
Find the one thing that really spurs on your love for the subject and ask yourself, why do I love this? Why do I care about this subject? Why is it important? What is it trying to convey, communicate and articulate? These are the fundamental ideas that drive forward good students. Challenge yourself and you will find academia endlessly rewarding and exciting. Remember, texts (films, literature, culture at large) are puzzle boxes - it is our imperative to encourge you to discover and decipher them.
BA in Arts (History and Politics) - University College Dublin, Ireland
MA in American Studies - University College Dubin, Ireland.
PhD in English (Postmodern Vampires in Fiction, Culture, and Film from 1968 - ) - Trinity College, Dublin. Ireland
Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice - MMU
Fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
Trinity College, Dublin (Adjunct Lecturer and Tutor) in School of English. 2005-2012.
Taught on courses in American Literature, Popular Literature, and my research specialisms in Gothic Studies and Horror fiction and film.
University College, Dublin (Part-Time Lecturer in Film Studies) in School of English, Drama and Film. 2011-2013.
Module Leader on:
"Cinema of the 1980s (1980 - 1989)"
"Horror Cinema (1960-2012)"
At MMU:
MA English Studies Admissions Officer. 2013-
Previous Academic Service:
Hub leader for Evil and Human Wickedness Conference Projects for Inter-Disciplinary.net - a not-for-profit academic organisation. 2006-2012
Chief Duties included conference management and organisation, academic peer-review, editing, administrative duties and programming.
Irish (Gaelic/Gaeilge) and English.
In 2018/19:
Questions of Cinema - 1st Year Film Studies (Unit Leader)
Film Genre and Mode - 2nd Year Film Studies (Unit Leader)
Modern Gothic - 3rd Year Film Studies
In previous academic years, I have also taught on:
Cinema and Nation, Postwar to the Present, and Contemporary American Writing.
MA English Studies: The Gothic (2016 - ):
Teaching on courses/units:
20th Century Gothic (Vampires, serial killers, Faustian bargains/Clive Barker, and monsters)
Post-Millennial Gothic (mashups, vampire romance, Serial killing and Stephen King)
I am particularly interested in supervising dissertations (at MA and PhD level) on:
Vampires (novels, films, TV, folklore); Serial Killers (fiction, film, television, and including Slasher cinema); Cultural History (1960s onwards); Subjective monsters; Clive Barker (Fiction/Film); Stephen King (Fiction/Adaptation); Christopher Nolan (director); Horror Film Franchises; Hollywood film; Blockbusters; Science Fiction; Time Travel; Cyborgs; Alternate histories; Adaptation; Stars; Directors; Politics; Screen censorship.
MA Dissertation Topics (currently supervising)
TBC
Completed:
Homosocial desire in NBC's Hannibal (2013-15)
The Saw Franchise
Anne Rice's Vampire fiction
Corporate 1980s Cinema
Female Predators
Time Travel TV drama
Southern gothic in True Detective
Vampires as Southern Others
True Blood and Southern vampire Mysteries (as M.Phil Diss - TCD, Dublin).
PhD Supervision: (In progress)
Frustration and frustrated fiction in Postmodern Literature.
Ramsey Campbell
Gothic Skin
The TV series and Films of Aaron Sorkin
Satanic Panic, Gothic Cinema, and Masculinity in Crisis (1980-2000)
I have served as External Examiner on PhDs on the following topics to date:
The Neo-Western, HBO and a Creative Novel (2018, University of East Anglia)
21st Century Vampire Literature and American Politics (2018, University of Hertfordshire)
Gothic and Horror Cinema; Vampire Studies, Teratology (Monster Studies).
Popular Cinema, Popular Culture. American Studies; Film Studies;
Decade Studies (1960s -); Popular Science Fiction and Time Travel; Cultural Materialism; Cultural History; Politics;
Screen Studies; Star Studies; Blockbusters.
Editor of Open Screens: The Journal of the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies (Open Library of Humanities)
Reviews Editor for Gothic Studies. Journal. Manchester University Press. (Aug 2015 - )
Board Member of the International Gothic Association
Member of the Irish Network for Gothic Studies (INGS) in collaboration with Limerick School of Art and Design, and Trinity College, Dublin.
S. Ní Fhlainn (2022). TWENTIETH CENTURY GOTHIC. EUP.
S. N� Fhlainn (2022). ‘Gothic Horror Films at the Fin-de-Millennium: From Nightmare Videos to Filtered Realities (1980 – 2000)’. S. Ni Fhlainn, BM. Murphy. In: Twentieth-Century Gothic: An Edinburgh Companion. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp.144-162.
S. Ni Fhlainn, S. N� Fhlainn (2022). 'Put on a Happy Face: The neoliberal horrors of Joker/s’. In: Breaking Down Joker Violence, Loneliness, Tragedy. Routledge,
S. N� Fhlainn (2021). ‘What happens to us in the future?’: Stranger Things 3 goes Back to the Future (1985). T. Mollet, L. Scott. In: Investigating Stranger Things Upside Down in the World of Mainstream Cult Entertainment. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp.109-129.
S. N� Fhlainn (2021). ‘Cruising the Vampire: Hollywood Gothic, star branding, and Interview with the Vampire (1994)’. S. Redmond. In: Starring Tom Cruise. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, pp.133-151.
SN. Fhlainn (2020). The eternal changeling: Dracula's transformations through the 1970s. PL. Yoder, PM. Kreuter. In: The Horrid Looking Glass: Reflections on Monstrosity. pp.151-167.
S. Ní Fhlainn (2019). Postmodern Vampires. Palgrave Macmillan UK.
S. Ní Fhlainn (2017). ‘A Very Special Vampire Episode: Vampires, archetypes, and postmodern turns in late-1980s and ‘90s cult TV shows.’. Horror Studies. 8(2), pp.255-274.
SN. Fhlainn (2017). The Devil and Clive Barker: Faustian bargains and gothic filigree. In: Clive Barker. Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp.208-229.
S. Ní Fhlainn (2017). Clive Barker: Dark Imaginer. S. Ní Fhlainn. Manchester University Press.
S. Ní Fhlainn (2017). 'To darken the day and brighten the night': Clive Barker, dark imaginer. S. Ni Fhlainn. In: Clive Barker: Dark imaginer. Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp.1-22.
S. Ní Fhlainn (2017). Entries on: Clive Barker (1952 - ); The Damnation Game (1985). M. McCardin. In: Horror Literature through History: An Encyclopedia of the Stories that Speak to Our Deepest Fears.. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO,
S. Ní Fhlainn (2016). 'There's Something Very Familiar About All This': Time Machines, Cultural Tangents, and Mastering Time in H.G Wells's The Time Machine and the Back to the Future trilogy. Adaptation. 9(2), pp.164-184.
S. Ní Fhlainn (2016). Screening the American gothic: Celluloid serial killers in American popular culture. In: American gothic culture: An Edinburgh companion. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp.187-202.
S. Ní Fhlainn (2015). “You keep telling yourself what you know, but what do you believe?”: Cultural Spin, Puzzle Films and Mind Games in the Cinema of Christopher Nolan. In: The Cinema of Christopher Nolan: Imagining the Impossible. New York: Columbia University Press, pp.147-162.
S. Ni Fhlainn (2014). “‘Old Things, Fine Things’: Of Vampires, Antique Dealers, and Timelessness.”. S. Bacon, K. Bronk,. In: Undead Memory: Vampires and Human Memory in Popular Culture. Oxford and Berlin: Peter Lang, pp.183-210.
S. Ní Fhlainn “Hating Others, (still) Othering Women? - Post 9/11 Torture Porn and its problematic gender politics’ or, ‘Why Torture Porn Fails as a classification’”. Dublin, Ireland, 17/5/2012.
S. Ni Fhlainn (2011). “‘All Dark Inside’: Dehumanisation and Zombification in Postmodern Cinema”. D. Christie, SJ. Lauro. In: Better Off Dead: The Evolution of the Zombie as Post-Human. New York: Fordham University Press, pp.139-157.
S. Ni Fhlainn (2011). “Reoccurring Nightmares: Rebooting 1980s American Horror on Elm Street.”. The Journal of Monsters and the Monstrous. 1(1), pp.107-116.
S. Ni Fhlainn (2011). “Immortal Bodies in Crisis: The Postmodern Vampire’s Diet”. G. Menegaldo. In: Gothic N.E.W.S. Vol II: Cinema. Paris: Michel Houdiard,
S. Ni Fhlainn (2011). “‘Wait till they get a load of me!’: The Joker from Modern to Postmodern Villainous S/laughter.”. A. Fahraeus, DY. Çamoğlu. In: Villains and Villainy: Embodiments of Evil in Literature, Popular Culture and Media.. Rodopi,
S. Ni Fhlainn (2010). Our Monstrous (S)Kin: Blurring the Boundaries Between Monsters and Humanity. S. Ní Fhlainn. Oxford, UK: The Inter-Disciplinary Press.
S. Ni Fhlainn (2010). The Worlds of Back to the Future: Critical Essays on the Films. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland.
S. Ni Fhlainn (2010). "It's About Time". S. Ni Fhlainn. In: The Worlds of Back to the Future: Critical Essays on the Films. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, pp.1-28.
S. Ni Fhlainn (2009). “‘His Eyes Blazed Redly’: Skinning, Satanism and Mephistophelian Romance – Hannibal Lecter and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)”. SN. Fhlainn. In: Our Monstrous (S)kin: Blurring the Boundaries Between Monsters and Humanity. Oxford: The Inter-Disciplinary Press,
SN. Fhlainn (2008). Sweet, Bloody Vengeance: Class, Social Stigma and Servitude in the Slasher Genre. HL. Baumgartner, R. Davis. In: Hosting the Monster. BRILL, pp.179-196.
S. Ni Fhlainn (2007). ‘“It’s Morning in America’: The Lost Boys as a Musical Metaphor for the Religious Right and the Deserved Death of the 1980s Vampire”. N. Scott. In: The Role of the Monster: Myths and Metaphors of Enduring Evil. Oxford: The Inter-Disciplinary Press, pp.143-155.
S. Ní Fhlainn (2022). TWENTIETH CENTURY GOTHIC. EUP.
S. Ní Fhlainn (2019). Postmodern Vampires. Palgrave Macmillan UK.
SN. Fhlainn (2017). Clive Barker.
S. Ní Fhlainn (2017). Clive Barker: Dark Imaginer. S. Ní Fhlainn. Manchester University Press.
M. McCardin (2017). Horror Literature through History: An Encyclopedia of the Stories that Speak to Our Deepest Fears. ABC-CLIO.
S. Ni Fhlainn (2010). Our Monstrous (S)Kin: Blurring the Boundaries Between Monsters and Humanity. S. Ní Fhlainn. Oxford, UK: The Inter-Disciplinary Press.
S. Ni Fhlainn (2010). The Worlds of Back to the Future: Critical Essays on the Films. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland.
W. Myers, S. Ní Fhlainn (2006). The Wicked Heart: Studies in the Phenomena of Evil. Oxford: At the Interface Press, 2006. S. N� Fhlainn. Oxford: At The Interface Press, Oxford.
AM. Marini, S. Ní Fhlainn (2022). Vampire and monster narratives: an interview with Sorcha Ní Fhlainn. REDEN. Revista Española de Estudios Norteamericanos. 3(2), pp.145-158.
S. Ní Fhlainn (2017). ‘A Very Special Vampire Episode: Vampires, archetypes, and postmodern turns in late-1980s and ‘90s cult TV shows.’. Horror Studies. 8(2), pp.255-274.
S. Ní Fhlainn (2016). 'There's Something Very Familiar About All This': Time Machines, Cultural Tangents, and Mastering Time in H.G Wells's The Time Machine and the Back to the Future trilogy. Adaptation. 9(2), pp.164-184.
S. Ni Fhlainn (2011). “Reoccurring Nightmares: Rebooting 1980s American Horror on Elm Street.”. The Journal of Monsters and the Monstrous. 1(1), pp.107-116.
S. N� Fhlainn (2022). ‘Gothic Horror Films at the Fin-de-Millennium: From Nightmare Videos to Filtered Realities (1980 – 2000)’. S. Ni Fhlainn, BM. Murphy. In: Twentieth-Century Gothic: An Edinburgh Companion. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp.144-162.
S. Ni Fhlainn, S. N� Fhlainn (2022). 'Put on a Happy Face: The neoliberal horrors of Joker/s’. In: Breaking Down Joker Violence, Loneliness, Tragedy. Routledge,
S. N� Fhlainn (2021). ‘What happens to us in the future?’: Stranger Things 3 goes Back to the Future (1985). T. Mollet, L. Scott. In: Investigating Stranger Things Upside Down in the World of Mainstream Cult Entertainment. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp.109-129.
S. N� Fhlainn (2021). ‘Cruising the Vampire: Hollywood Gothic, star branding, and Interview with the Vampire (1994)’. S. Redmond. In: Starring Tom Cruise. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, pp.133-151.
S. Ní Fhlainn (2021). ‘What Happens to Us in the Future?’: Stranger Things 3 Goes Back to the Future (1985). In: Investigating Stranger Things. Springer International Publishing, pp.111-131.
SN. Fhlainn (2020). The eternal changeling: Dracula's transformations through the 1970s. PL. Yoder, PM. Kreuter. In: The Horrid Looking Glass: Reflections on Monstrosity. pp.151-167.
SN. Fhlainn (2017). 'To darken the day and brighten the night': Clive barker, dark imaginer. In: Clive Barker. pp.3-22.
SN. Fhlainn (2017). The Devil and Clive Barker: Faustian bargains and gothic filigree. In: Clive Barker. Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp.208-229.
S. Ní Fhlainn (2017). 'To darken the day and brighten the night': Clive Barker, dark imaginer. S. Ni Fhlainn. In: Clive Barker: Dark imaginer. Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp.1-22.
S. Ní Fhlainn (2017). Entries on: Clive Barker (1952 - ); The Damnation Game (1985). M. McCardin. In: Horror Literature through History: An Encyclopedia of the Stories that Speak to Our Deepest Fears.. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO,
S. Ní Fhlainn (2016). Vincent Schiavelli (1948-2005). B. Murphy, E. McCarthy. In: Lost Souls of Horror and the Gothic: Fifty-Four Neglected Authors, Actors, Artists and Others. McFarland,
S. Ní Fhlainn (2016). Screening the American gothic: Celluloid serial killers in American popular culture. In: American gothic culture: An Edinburgh companion. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp.187-202.
S. Ní Fhlainn (2015). “You keep telling yourself what you know, but what do you believe?”: Cultural Spin, Puzzle Films and Mind Games in the Cinema of Christopher Nolan. In: The Cinema of Christopher Nolan: Imagining the Impossible. New York: Columbia University Press, pp.147-162.
S. Ni Fhlainn (2014). “‘Old Things, Fine Things’: Of Vampires, Antique Dealers, and Timelessness.”. S. Bacon, K. Bronk,. In: Undead Memory: Vampires and Human Memory in Popular Culture. Oxford and Berlin: Peter Lang, pp.183-210.
S. Ni Fhlainn (2011). “‘All Dark Inside’: Dehumanisation and Zombification in Postmodern Cinema”. D. Christie, SJ. Lauro. In: Better Off Dead: The Evolution of the Zombie as Post-Human. New York: Fordham University Press, pp.139-157.
S. Ni Fhlainn (2011). “Immortal Bodies in Crisis: The Postmodern Vampire’s Diet”. G. Menegaldo. In: Gothic N.E.W.S. Vol II: Cinema. Paris: Michel Houdiard,
S. Ni Fhlainn (2011). “‘Wait till they get a load of me!’: The Joker from Modern to Postmodern Villainous S/laughter.”. A. Fahraeus, DY. Çamoğlu. In: Villains and Villainy: Embodiments of Evil in Literature, Popular Culture and Media.. Rodopi,
S. Ni Fhlainn (2010). "It's About Time". S. Ni Fhlainn. In: The Worlds of Back to the Future: Critical Essays on the Films. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, pp.1-28.
S. Ni Fhlainn (2009). “‘His Eyes Blazed Redly’: Skinning, Satanism and Mephistophelian Romance – Hannibal Lecter and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)”. SN. Fhlainn. In: Our Monstrous (S)kin: Blurring the Boundaries Between Monsters and Humanity. Oxford: The Inter-Disciplinary Press,
SN. Fhlainn (2008). Sweet, Bloody Vengeance: Class, Social Stigma and Servitude in the Slasher Genre. HL. Baumgartner, R. Davis. In: Hosting the Monster. BRILL, pp.179-196.
S. Ni Fhlainn (2007). ‘“It’s Morning in America’: The Lost Boys as a Musical Metaphor for the Religious Right and the Deserved Death of the 1980s Vampire”. N. Scott. In: The Role of the Monster: Myths and Metaphors of Enduring Evil. Oxford: The Inter-Disciplinary Press, pp.143-155.
S. Ni Fhlainn (2006). “1976: The Duality in Postmodern Vampiric Identity and Evil in George A Romero’s Martin and Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire.”. S. Ni Fhlainn, W. Myers. In: The Wicked Heart: Studies in the Phenomena of Evil.. Oxford: The Inter-Disciplinary Press, pp.171-181.
S. Ní Fhlainn ‘Sparkles and Sinew: The political afterlife of the 21st century vampire.’. University of Kent, 12/4/2018.
S. Ní Fhlainn ‘Dreams are fleeting… only nightmares last forever!’ – Clive Barker’s gothic imagination. Puebla, Mexico, 18/7/2017.
S. Ní Fhlainn “Dead but Delicious”: Rewriting, performing and revising vampirism in Dracula Untold (2014) and What We Do in the Shadows (2014). Trinity College, Dublin, 20/10/2016.
S. Ní Fhlainn ‘“I am the vampire of this age”: Adaptations, Dislocations, and the End of the Articulate Undead in Anne Rice’s Prince Lestat and Dracula Untold (2014)’. Vancouver, Canada, 28/7/2015.
S. Ní Fhlainn “‘You keep telling yourself what you know, but what do you believe?’: Cultural Spin, Puzzle Films and Mind Games in the cinema of Christopher Nolan”. (Extracted Version). Manchester, UK, 16/4/2015.
S. Ní Fhlainn “A Very Special Vampire Episode: Gothic television, Vampires, and Postmodern turns in The X Files (1993-2002) and Friday the 13th: The Series (1987-1990)”. Northampton, UK, 7/6/2013.
S. Ní Fhlainn “‘The Oz you haven’t seen before!’: The Problematic Gothic Aesthetic of Return to Oz (1985). In: Returning to Oz: The Afterlife of Dorothy. Manchester, UK, 7/2/2013.
S. Ní Fhlainn “Hating Others, (still) Othering Women? - Post 9/11 Torture Porn and its problematic gender politics’ or, ‘Why Torture Porn Fails as a classification’”. Dublin, Ireland, 17/5/2012.
S. Ní Fhlainn “Bad Science, Hybridity and ‘Eating Machines’: Postmodern Vampirism, Evolution, and the Presidency of George W. Bush”. Dublin, Ireland, 20/4/2012.
S. Ní Fhlainn “‘Old Things, Fine Things’: Of Vampires, Antique Dealers, and Timelessness.”. University College London, 2/11/2011.
‘The Rift between Worlds, or ‘there’s something very familiar about all this’: Revisiting the ReDecade, Reagan’s America, and chasing our futures (again).’ Stranger Things Symposium, December 14th, 2018. University of Leeds. Keynote.
‘Don’t F*ck with the Original’: Postmodernity, Feedback loops, and new horizons (?) in horror cinema from Wes Craven to Blumhouse. Don’t Look: Representations of Horror in the 21st Century. University of Edinburgh, Scotland. April 28th, 2018. Keynote.
‘Time is on my side’: Rewriting Draculas and updating undeath. Bram Stoker: From horror to other vampires, October 4-5th 2017, The Irish Embassy to Mexico in cooperation with Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana, Mexico City. Mexico. Keynote.
‘The Synthetic Undead - Sparkles, Bats, and Blood Packs in 21st century Vampire texts.’ 3rd Helion International Conference - Frontiers of the Possible: Borders and Openings in Speculative Fiction. May 5-7th, 2017. Helion Circle in collaboration with West University of Timişoara, Romania. Keynote.
"In the 'Palace of Delights’... 'where the monsters live': Clive Barker’s Gothic Cities". Supernatural Cities II: Gothic Cities. Limerick School of Art and Design with the University of Portsmouth. Limerick, Ireland. April 7th, 2017. Keynote.
“What has Spielberg ever done for us?” UCD Annual International Student Film Festival. University College Dublin, Ireland. March 27th, 2013. Plenary.
“Hating Others, (still) Othering Women? - Post 9/11 Torture Porn and its problematic gender politics’ or, ‘Why Torture Porn Fails as a classification’” Gender, Sexuality and Horror Symposium. University College, Dublin. May 17-18th, 2012. Plenary.
Public Engagement Events (selected):
From Gothic to Goth – Lecture on Dracula and the long 20th Century. Victoria & Albert Museum, London. October 21st, 2017.
The Stephen King Summit as part of the BFI Stephen King Season. Invited panellist for public event - Stephen King’s America. British Film Institute, Southbank, London. September 23rd 2017.
The Age of Frankenstein – Frankenstein on Film. National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh. May 23rd, 2017, in association with Edinburgh Napier University. Click to listen.
Post-Screening public discussion on Rosemary’s Baby, HOME, Manchester. Sunday Classics season. March 19 2017.
CIDRAL Seminar Series: Invited Speaker to ‘Spectrality, Precarity and Hauntology’ Seminar. University of Manchester. March 14th, 2017.
Featured Panelist and Chair, HorrorExpo Ireland. Mason Lodge, Dublin, Ireland. October 30th 2016.
Public Panel following performance of Cuddles by Joseph Wilde. Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. May 21st 2015
“J.J. Abrams and Retro-Futurism” Contributing Panellist. 72nd World Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention – LonCon3 (Aug 14-18th 2014). ExCel Centre, London. UK. August 14th 2014.
“All our Draculas!” Special introduction to the BFI Gothic Season strand - Love is a Devil: Vampire Cinema – Nosferatu (1922), Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) and The Gloaming (2013 – short). Grimm Up North Film Festival in association with the British Film Institute. The Dance House, Manchester. Nov 21st 2013.
“Spreading the Virus – Zombie ‘Live Feed’” Queensland University of Technology Creative Industries Panel. Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. July 19th 2013.
Click to watch the online seminar here:
“Vampire Narratives Post 9/11 & the Presidency of George W. Bush”
DublIntellectual Event. “The World is a Vampire.” May 4th, 2012
“The Absent ‘Z’ Word - Zombies, Identity and the Military in Recent War Cinema”
DublIntellectual Event. “Zombies: Are We Dead Yet?” March 2nd 2012.
The Gothic 1980s Symposium. 8 June 2019, Manchester Metropolitan University.
A one-day conference on the legacy of the legacy of the 1980s in Gothic and Horror Studies.
Role: Conference Organiser
2018 International Gothic Association Conference
In summer 2018, The IGA conference will be held at MMU, celebrating the bicentenary of the publication of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The Manchester Centre of Gothic Studies is proud to host this global conference on the gothic. The theme of the conference will be 'Gothic Hybridities'.
Role: Conference Co-organiser
At Trinity College Dublin, Ireland:
‘The Idea of a University in the 21st Century’. Trinity College, Dublin. February 10th-11th, 2012. A two-day symposium exploring the role of education and humanities in 21st century universities. Role: Assistant conference organiser. Conference Organiser: Prof. Darryl Jones.
‘Clive Barker: Dark Imaginer’. Trinity College, Dublin. July 13th-14th 2011. – The first international conference on author/artist/filmmaker Clive Barker – plenary address given by Clive Barker. Role: Conference Organiser, and editor of Clive Barker: Dark Imaginer (MUP, 2017).
International Conferences in Europe:
For Inter-Disciplinary.net:
Role: Pro Bono Publico conference organisation, administration, peer-review, and academic leadership on the following conference projects.
The Gothic:
2nd Global Conference. Warsaw, Poland. May 16th -18th 2011.
1st Global Conference. Prague, Czech Republic. May 6th-8th 2010.
Monsters and the Monstrous:
8th Global Conference. Oxford, United Kingdom, Sept. 19th-22nd 2010.
7th Global Conference. Oxford, United Kingdom, Sept. 14th-17th 2009.
6th Global Conference Oxford, United Kingdom. Sept. 22nd – 25th 2008.
5th Global Conference. Oxford, United Kingdom. Sept 17th-20th 2007.
Evil, Women and the Feminine:
3rd Global Conference. Warsaw, Poland. May 13-15th 2011.
2nd Global Conference. Prague, Czech Republic. May 3rd – 5th 2010.
1st Global Conference. Budapest, Hungary. May 1st – 3rd, 2009.
Evil and Human Wickedness:
11th Global Conference. Salzburg, Austria. March 15th–18th 2010.
10th Global Conference. Salzburg, Austria. March 16th-19th 2009.
9th Global Conference. Salzburg, Austria. March 10th-13th, 2008.
Fear, Horror and Terror:
4th Global Conference. Oxford, United Kingdom, Sept. 11th – 13th 2010.
3rd Global Conference. Oxford, United Kingdom, Sept. 19th -21st 2009.
Villains and Villainy
2nd Global Conference. Oxford, United Kingdom, Sept. 14th-16th 2010.
1st Global Conference. Oxford, United Kingdom, Sept. 19th – 21st 2009.
Peer Reviewer for:
Adaptation, Oxford University Press, UK.
Alphaville: The Journal of Film and Screen Media (Open Access Journal), Cork, Ireland.
Anthem Press, London, UK.
Bloomsbury Publishers. New York. USA.
Dark Arts: New and Emerging Voices in Gothic Studies, Manchester, UK. Online journal.
Genre: Forms of Discourse and Culture (Print Journal), University of Oklahoma, USA.
Gothic Studies (Print Journal), Manchester University Press, UK.
Horror Studies (Print Journal), London: Intellect Ltd., UK.
Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies. Dublin, Ireland.
Manchester University Press, Manchester, UK.
Medical Humanities (Open Access Journal), London: British Medical Journals, UK.
Palgrave Macmillan publishers. Basingstoke, UK.
Peter Lang publishers. Bern & Oxford. Germany/UK.
Routledge (Taylor and Francis) publishers, New York. USA.
Science Fiction Film and Television (Journal), Liverpool, UK.
Studies in Gothic Fiction (Journal). San Diego, USA.
The Journal of Monsters and The Monstrous (Print Journal) Oxford, UK.
University of Texas Press, Austin, USA.
Editorial Board Memberships:
Dark Arts: New and Emerging Voices in Gothic Studies, Manchester, UK.
Gothic Studies, Manchester, UK.
The Journal of Monsters and The Monstrous Oxford, UK. (2010-2012)
Lexington Books Horror Series, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Maryland, USA.
Open Screens (Open Access Journal/ Open Library of Humanities), London, UK
Palgrave Gothic Series, Basingstoke, UK.
Studies in Gothic Fiction. San Diego, USA & Cardiff, UK.
2018-19 Research Sabbatical for Dark Days and Plastic Realities: The Gothic 1980s Project - Research and Knowledge Exchange award. (Sabbatical period in early 2020)
2015-16 Fellowship in Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences - Research and Knowledge Exchange.
2011: Provost's Bursary Award and School of English funding to host Clive Barker: Dark Imaginer conference at Trinity College Dublin. July 13-14th. 2011.
Participant in The Age of Frankenstein public engagement project (Edinburgh)
Editor of Open Screens (journal) - www.baftss.org
“Sublime Ambition: The Gothic in Literature and Art” exhibition at The Portico Library, Manchester. Jan 7th -31st 2016. [Extended to Feb 6th 2016]
Role: Contributor to the Portico library's display literature on make-up, stills, and props from Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) and Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight (2008).
Member of International Gothic Association Advisory Board
Member of the Executive Committee for the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies.
Media Consultancy:
BBC
The Discovery Channel
Riverhouse Productions
I have been interviewed by numerous media outlets on my research projects and expertise on radio, television and in print/digital media, including BBC World Service and BBC 4 (The Today Show; The Forum); The Guardian (featured in "Improbable Research" column); CNN International; The Conversation (UK Edition); Rue Morgue (Horror Magazine, USA); RTE Radio (The John Murray Show, The Dave Fanning Show, The Ryan Tubridy Show, The Derek Mooney Show), Phantom FM (regular appearances on film segments for The Kiosk with Nadine O'Regan) and Spin 1038 (Ireland). Television appearances include TV3 (Midday), TG4 Documentary - "Bram Stoker agus Dracula" (Irish language channel), and Irish.tv.
2018-19 Research Sabbatical for Dark Days and Plastic Realities: The Gothic 1980s Project - Research and Knowledge Exchange award. (Sabbatical period in early 2020)
2015-16 Fellowship in Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences - Research and Knowledge Exchange.
2017 and 2018 Recipient of Blue Skies funding
Gothic Studies, Manchester University Press, UK
Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies (Online Journal), Dublin, Ireland.
Lexington Books Horror Series, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Maryland, USA.
Open Screens (Open Access Journal/ Open Library of Humanities), London, UK
Palgrave Gothic Series, UK.
Studies in Gothic Fiction (Online/Open Access Journal) San Diego, USA.
The Dark Arts Journal (Online/Open Access Journal). Manchester, UK.
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy