Dr. Alissa Burger, associate professor of English at Culver-Stockton College, recently served as a featured speaker on an international panel organized by the British Association of Film, Television, and Screen Studies (BAFTSS).
The online panel discussion, “No Safe Space: Places and Spaces of Horror Cinema,” took place April 30 and brought together several leading horror film scholars for a discussion on the significance of space and place within the genre. The panel was hosted as part of the Horror Studies Special Interest Group’s “Weekday Night Bites” series, a public program aimed at scholars and fans alike.
Burger was invited to participate by panel organizer Christina Brennan, a fellow contributor to Edinburgh University Press’s Devil’s Advocates series, a collection of critical monographs each focused on a single horror film.
“It was an incredible group of panelists, and we’re all familiar with and have used one another’s work in our own research and writing on horror films,” Burger said. “That made it particularly exciting to come together for this conversation.”
Burger’s contribution to the panel focused on her 2023 Devil’s Advocates volume, which offers a close reading of director Andy Muschietti’s IT Chapter One (2017) and IT Chapter Two (2019). She explored the ways in which physical and psychological spaces in those films function as characters in their own right and contribute to the horror narrative.
With all panelists examining films through the lens of space and place, Burger said it was enlightening to see how different subgenres and directors handle these concepts. “It ranged from place as almost a character to place being literally unknowable and indefinable,” she said.
Approximately 20 attendees participated in the live event, with nearly 100 more registered to receive a recording. Burger said the audience included a mix of horror scholars and enthusiasts who posed thoughtful questions and offered connections between the featured films.
The experience not only aligned with Burger’s ongoing research — she is currently working on a book about literary geography in Stephen King’s work, under contract with Palgrave Macmillan — but also provided a valuable opportunity for international scholarly engagement.
“It’s essential to be part of these larger conversations, especially on an international scale, to see how scholars from different cultures bring their own readings to specific films,” Burger said. “I was thrilled to contribute and represent Culver-Stockton College alongside some of the most prominent horror film scholars in the world.”
Burger frequently incorporates her research into her teaching, including her recent course ENG130: The Short Fiction of Stephen King. She said opportunities like this panel help connect students with broader scholarly dialogues and showcase the academic caliber of Culver-Stockton College.
“We may be a small college here on ‘The Hill,’ but our students and faculty do big things,” Burger said. “I hope this kind of visibility helps demonstrate the exciting work happening at Culver-Stockton.”
The panel included Christina Brennan (The Vanishing, 1988), Steve A. Wiggins (The Wicker Man, 1973), Rob McLaughlin (Poltergeist, 1982), Mark Fryers and Marcus Harmes (The Woman in Black, 1989), and Miranda Corcoran (The Craft, 1996). The discussion was moderated by Shellie McMurdo and Laura Mee, chairs of the BAFTSS Horror Studies Special Interest Group.
A recording of the event will be made available by BAFTSS at a later date.
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