Edited by Professor Jeff Howard (Falmouth University) and Dr Chloé Germaine (Manchester Metropolitan University), a new edited collection, Games and the Gothic: Playing in the Shadows, under contract with Edinburgh University Press, will examine how digital, tabletop, material, and role-playing forms of play engage the Gothic tradition. Drawing on Gothic studies, game studies, and literary criticism, contributors will explore how Gothic aesthetics, temporality, and affect intersect with mechanics, player agency, and game worlds.
“We trace how the Gothic circulates between screens, objects, narratives, and embodied acts of play.”
The collection is already taking strong shape, with confirmed contributions on topics ranging from Gothic gamebooks and the history of Gothic roleplaying to ecogothic videogames, Gothic worldbuilding, and the occultural dimensions of games. The editors are now seeking a small number of additional chapters to round out the volume.
Topics especially welcome
While the editors welcome proposals on any aspect of games and the Gothic, they are particularly interested in further contributions addressing areas currently underrepresented in the collection:
- Gothic tabletop roleplaying
- The mechanics and dynamics of Gothic games
- MMORPGs and the Gothic
- Gothic identity, gender, and queer play
- Gameful adaptation of Gothic fiction
Proposals from early-career researchers are warmly welcomed, as are contributions from scholars working across and between game studies, Gothic studies, and literary criticism.
Submission Guidelines
Please send an abstract of 300–500 words outlining your proposed argument, methodology, and primary texts or games, along with a short biographical note (100 words), to Jeff.Howard@falmouth.ac.uk by October 1st 2026.
Successful contributors will be invited to submit full chapters of 8,000 words by August 31st 2027
We welcome proposals from early-career researchers, and from scholars working across game studies, Gothic studies, literary criticism, and adjacent fields.
You can find out more about scholarship, research and events in Gothic and Gaming at Manchester Game Centre
