Application Deadline
October 31, 2026
Institution or Organization
Popular Culture Association
Location
Boston, MA
Website
Salary or Compensation
none
Description and Requirements
The Vampire Studies Area of the Popular Culture Association welcomes papers, presentations, panels, and roundtable discussions exploring all aspects of the vampire throughout global culture.
Our theme for PCA 2027 is L.O.V.E.
L = Lust
O = Obsession
V = Vitality / Virility
E = Eternity / Exsanguination
From Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) to Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire (1976), and from folklore to contemporary film, television, literature, gaming, and digital media, vampires have long embodied the seductive tensions between desire and death, passion and possession, immortality and loss. They tempt, consume, seduce, and transform, making them enduring symbols through which cultures explore love in all its forms, whether romantic, erotic, familial, spiritual, or destructive.
This year’s theme invites contributors to consider how vampires express desire, intimacy, obsession, vitality, sacrifice, and eternal longing. We particularly welcome interdisciplinary approaches examining how vampire narratives reflect changing understandings of identity, power, memory, gender, sexuality, race, and the human condition.
As always, submissions on any aspect of vampire studies are warmly encouraged, regardless of their connection to the annual theme.
Papers, presentations, and panels can cover any of the following:
- Lust, seduction, and eroticism
- Obsession, addiction, and compulsion
- Love, romance, and tragic relationships
- Eternal love and immortal companionship
- Blood as intimacy, kinship, and exchange
- Exsanguination, violence, and sacrifice
- Vitality, virility, youth, and aging
- Desire and monstrosity
- Queer vampires and LGBTQ+ representations
- Gender, sexuality, and the vampire body
- Race, ethnicity, and Black vampire studies
- Colonialism, empire, and postcolonial vampires
- Folklore and global vampire traditions
- Bram Stoker’s Dracula and its adaptations
- Anne Rice and the Vampire Chronicles
- Film, television, streaming, comics, manga, anime, and gaming
- Gothic literature and horror
- Religion, morality, and the soul
- Science, medicine, disease, and contagion
- Fandoms and fan cultures
- Teaching vampires in the classroom
- Emerging scholarship and new theoretical approaches
And anything and everything in between!
We welcome submissions from established scholars, independent researchers, graduate students, and first-time presenters. Whether your work examines classic vampire texts or the newest incarnations of the undead, we look forward to seeing the many ways vampires continue to captivate audiences around the world
To have your proposal/abstract considered, please submit your proposal/abstract of approximately 250 words on the Popular Culture Association Website. We also accept complete panel proposals comprised of 4 people on a specific shared topic. The due date for all proposals is October 31, 2026.
We encourage you to get involved in our vibrant vampire community by joining one of our social media spaces and attending our conference events such as our business meeting, film screening, other roundtables, and sessions.
If you have questions, contact us at pcavampires@gmail.com. Also, join our Facebook groups PCA Vampire Studies and Vampire Scholars.
Co-Chairs: U. Melissa Anyiwo, Ph.D. The University of Scranton & Lisa Nevárez, Ph.D. Siena University
Application Instructions and Contact
To have your proposal/abstract considered, please submit your proposal/abstract of approximately 250 words on the Popular Culture Association Website. We also accept complete panel proposals comprised of 4 people on a specific shared topic. The due date for all proposals is October 31, 2026.
If you have questions, contact us at pcavampires@gmail.com.