*CFP* "CRITICAL ESSAYS ON HORROR COMIC BOOKS", EDITED COLLECTION

Horror comic books are deeply embedded within comic book culture.  Publishers such as EC Comics in the fifties to Warren Publishing in the seventies to Vertigo in nineties created titles that frequently challenged social norms and constructs.  The general acclaim that accompanied Image Comics’ The Walking Dead kickstarted a massive production of new horror comics which are obtaining critical success and good sales with more variety and genre mixing than ever before. Further, horror comics have become the sizable source of film and TV adaptations. Still, horror comic books lack scholarship.  Most critical texts trace the history of the horror comic book. What is missing is a closer reading on the different runs, mini-series, and/or particular comics.

The editors of Red Ink are seeking abstracts for essays are seeking abstracts for essays that could be included in an upcoming collection.  Essays should focus on particular titles or storylines rather than the history of the genre. Submissions may address any horror comic book from any era, including global comics, as well as close readings of audiovisual adaptations. Analysis must apply critical theory to explore the form, function, and/or intersectionality of horror comic books and culture.

Potential chapter topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Classic horror comics: Tomb of Dracula; Creepy; Eerie; Vault of Horror; Tales from the Crypt; The Saga of The Swamp Thing; Sandman; Hellblazer.
• Contemporary horror comics: 30 Days of Night; The Walking Dead; Basketful of Heads; Severed; Something Is Killing the Children; Gideon Falls; Infidel; Ice Cream Man; Harrow County; The Low, Low Woods; American Vampire.
• Superheroes and horror: Justice League Dark; DCeased; Marvel Zombies; Immortal Hulk; Morbius: The Living Vampire.
• Comic book adaptations of horror stories and film franchises: Nightmares on Elm Street; Friday the 13th; Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash; Godzilla: King of the Monsters; Aliens.
• Horror manga and global horror comics: Parasyte; Uzumaki; The Drifting Classroom; Tokyo Ghoul; Aftermath Radio; Left Hand of God, Right Hand of the Devil; Hideout Voices in the Dark; Dark Beast Anamorphosis
• Audio/visual adaptions of horror comic books: Swamp Thing; Locke & Key; Hellboy; Tales from the Crypt; Creepshow; Blade; From Hell; Spawn; Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

The proposed volume is intended to be scholarly but accessible in tone and approach. Abstracts explaining the focus and approach of the proposed chapter should be accompanied with a brief bio.  Topics should be limited in scope, focusing on one series or storyline. Topics that compare and contrast works of a single creator, a title and its adaptation, or different adaptations of the same title (e.g. comparing Bernie Wrightson and Junji Ito’s versions of Frankenstien) will also be considered. Completed essays should be approximately 15-20 double-space pages in MLA format.

Proposals (250-300 words) should be sent to Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns and John Darowski at: redinkproject@yahoo.com before November 15th, 2020

Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns (PhD in Arts) works as Professor at the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) - Facultad de Filosofía y Letras (Argentina). He teaches courses on international horror film and has authored a book about Spanish horror TV series Historias para no Dormir (Universidad de Cádiz, Spain, 2020) and has edited a book on Frankenstein bicentennial and one on James Wan's films (McFarland, forthcoming).

John Darowski is a PhD candidate in Comparative Humanities at the University of Louisville.  He has edited an essay collection on Superman adaptations (McFarland, forthcoming) and has published several essays on the history of superheroes.