The Moon has been a powerful presence in all human cultures since the beginning of time. Linked to femininity and death; witchcraft and the occult; ghosts and shapeshifters, the Moon was the focus of fears and superstitions. A constant element in fairy tales and pagan rituals, the Moon was seen as the dark, mysterious, and dangerous opposite to the Sun.
With the development of astronomy, the Moon, our planet’s satellite, figured prominently in early science fiction as the locus for speculations about the possibility of life on other planets. From Poe to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, the Moon became both the symbol of scientific progress and a warning of its dangers; a penumbra of the Gothic falling across the face of science and reason.
Lunar horror and the Lunar Gothic exists on the intersection of these two trends: pagan mythology and scientific aspirations; the deep past and the near future. It is unique among other horror sub-genres in drawing upon both “hard” sci-fi and folk horror.
With the revival of the space program and possibility of building a base on the Moon, lunar horror is experiencing a renaissance as popular culture responds to the renewed interest in our satellite.
Possible topics might include, but are it limited to:
• Lunar Gothic/Horror in the Victorian Age: lunar hoaxes, Edgar Allan Poe, Jules Verne, and H. G. Wells (The First Men in the Moon).
• The Moon in Eastern Europe: Jerzy Żuławski (The Lunar Trilogy); Soviet movies and the era of the sputnik; the Cold War; Lem’s stories of Commander Pirx.
• Lunar Gothic/Horror and the Apollo mission (Apollo-13)
• The Moon in folk horror (Ramsay Campbell’s The Hungry Moon)
• Lunar Gothic/Horror and the poetics of monstrosity (werewolves, vampires, zombies)
• Lunar Gothic/Horror and generic hybridity (dark SF, lunar noir): Sharman DiVono’s Blood Moon; Johan Harstad’s 172 Hours on the Moon; Ian McDonald’s Luna.
• Lunar Gothic/Horror and fairy tales: Meredith Pierce’s Darkangel; Marissa Meyer’s The Lunar Chronicles; Cinderella Moon
• Lunar Gothic/Horror and conspiracy theories
Please send a 300-words abstract and a bio by August 31st, 2021 to:
Elana Gomel egomel@tauex.tau.ac.il and Simon Bacon
baconetti@googlemail.comFinal essays of 6,000 words will be due October 31st, 2023.
