Folk Horror and Gothic/Crime Fiction

This Research & Knowledge Exchange Doctoral Project brief summarises our priority areas of research interest under the heading of: Folk Horror and the Gothic/Crime Fiction

We welcome all research degree applications aligned with and in response to this brief.

Project brief details

The newly identified genre of Folk Horror has been much discussed in academic debates recently. A swathe of texts from films to novels and games have been examined and labelled as Folk Horror and the scholarly debate is now looking ‘backwards’ recognising the historic origins of the genre. New discussions are also looking ‘outwards’ from the first British texts expanding examinations of Folk Horror globally in fascinating and exciting scholarship and creative practice. Our own locality here in Cornwall is home to some of the most innovative new Folk Horror texts with films such as Enys Men, and Bait.

This PhD expands the discussion of Folk Horror in different ways. Folk Horror has always been a hybrid and intersectional genre – it is not ‘pure’ in any sense. We seek proposals that look at these cross-overs, fluidities and multiplicities in relation to Folk Horror, the Gothic and or crime fiction as some of the most popular and imaginative genres of the moment. We are interested in exploring the porous genre boundaries of Folk Horror particularly in relation to politicisation, inclusion, and diversity. Projects can be creative or more traditional and from any of the disciplines that Falmouth specialises in such as writing, games, design, new technology, art, photography, film etc.

Strategic alignment

Projects deriving from this brief are expected to sit within the Research & Knowledge Exchange strategy and the following department.

Department	School of Communication

All successful research degree project proposals must emphasise a clear alignment between the project idea and our Research & Knowledge Exchange strategy.

Project brief lead

Dr Ruth Heholt

Project Supervisor: Dr Ruth Heholt

Ruth Heholt is an internationally renowned scholar in the fields of Gothic, supernatural, Victorian, folk horror, and crime fiction studies. She is author of Catherine Crowe: Gender, Genre, and Radical Politics (Routledge, 2020) and co-author of Gothic Kernow: Cornwall as Strange Fiction (Anthem Press, 2022). She is co-editor of several collections including Gothic Britain: Dark Places in the Provinces and Margins of the British Isles (2018), The Victorian Male Body (2018), and Haunted Landscapes (2017).

Find out more

How to apply

Apply for a Research MPhil or PhD

We welcome all research degree applications aligned with this Doctoral Project brief. To apply in response to this brief or learn about the application process click the button below.

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