I'm currently soliciting abstracts for a new 'Style and Form' Collection!

CfP: Style, Form, and the Slasher Film (Working Title, for intended publication in 2027/28)

The slasher film has received a significant amount of increased critical attention within the last decade, suggesting it is not only not a dead subgenre, but also one that has a tremendous amount of critical and theoretical relevance to the development of film aesthetics. Furthermore, the slasher is itself subject to changes in popular cinema form. The style and form of the Hollywood slasher film is still a very fruitful area for exploration, however global iterations of the slasher are indicative of its continued application in film. Furthermore, the fusing of formalist methodologies with cultural studies has been shown to be beneficial to both frameworks yet there is space for further demonstration of this hybrid approach, ultimately providing groundwork for strengthening both.

With these points in mind, this volume proposes to continue the exploration begun in Style and Form in the Hollywood Slasher Film (2015), while expanding the scope of case studies and applications. Abstracts are invited relating to the subjects covered in the first volume:

• Historical developments in slasher cycles
• Formalist readings of films, franchises and cycles
• Defining the qualities of slasher sub-subgenres and tendencies
• Critical readings (cultural studies and ‘theory’) of slashers using formalism as a foundation for close analysis
• The application of formalism and cognitivism toward further cultural studies analyses (including representation, identity politics, class, race, gender and sexuality)

Furthermore, I strongly encourage and invite abstracts on (but not limited to) the following approaches expanding the scope of the original volume:

• The style of the slasher in a North American context, with focus on the relevance of Canadian, Indigenous, Mesoamerican and US independent filmmaking
• Formal innovation and interpretation in global cinematic iterations of the slasher
• Considerations of formal contributions of overlooked figures in slasher production

Furthermore, this collection aims to be not just inclusive, but representative of the range of voices in film production, criticism and viewership. Therefore I am actively soliciting abstracts from marginalised writers, scholars and critics, inclusive of race, class, gender, sexuality and nationality.

There is interest from Palgrave Macmillan, as the publisher of Style and Form in the Hollywood Slasher Film.

Please send abstracts of no more than 350 words and a brief bio to  Wickham.Clayton@WickhamClayton.com by 31 July 2024. Queries welcome, and early career/PhD student/non-traditional scholar-friendly.