Monster Media Conference 2026

About the event

As long as humans have been making media, we have been making media about monsters. From neolithic paintings of monsters in the Cave of Beasts and the myriad monsters of Homer’s Odyssey, to the now-classic monsters of 19th-century Gothic literature and the creature features of 20th-century cinema, to zombie video games and Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball tour, our fascination with monsters has spanned across nearly every medium.

While monstrosity is complex and its manifestations manifold, Jeffrey Jerome Cohen has theorized that the monster will defy easy categorisation, that it is an embodiment of a specific cultural moment, and that it will evolve and shift to ensure its survival through the ages. While it has often been accepted that media can be a cipher for a specific cultural moment, new directions in media studies, particularly theories of intermediality, find even more similarities between media and the monster: intermediality posits that media categories are not actually as solid as we may like to believe, and that media forms evolve and shift over time while maintaining traces of their predecessors in their new forms.

This conference aims to explore the relationship between monsters and the media in which they are portrayed, and the way monsters and monster theory can help us better understand media itself. It will feature presentations on many of the following topics (or any others that deal with the intersection of monsters and media):

• Media about monsters
• Vampire movies, zombie video games, ghost novels, etc
• Media that is itself monstrous
• Remix/mashup, adaptation, hybrid media forms, etc
• Relationships between monster narratives and their mediums
• How medial affordances affect constructions of monstrosity
• Media as part of the telling of monster narratives/part of the construction of monstrosity
• Adaptations, transmediations, and retellings of monster narratives
• Media forms that, like the monster, defy boundaries
• Monstrosity in non-narrative media forms
• Fashion, music, painting, photography, sculpture
• Monsterising effects of mediation
• Using monster theory to better understand medial phenomena/using medial theory to better understand monstrosity

The conference will also feature keynote talks, presentations, and interactive workshops from special guests – check the website for updates.

Visit the conference website

How to attend

This event is free to attend, and open to all. Registration is required, and can be done via Microsoft Form.

Are you interested in studying Intermediality?

As the first UNESCO World City of Literature, home of the Edinburgh International Festival and a major cultural hub, Edinburgh is the ideal place for the study of intermediality. Our one-year taught masters programme draws on world-class teaching and research expertise across media, from literature to film, music, painting, photography and visual culture more widely.

The programme will make you conversant with intermedial theory and equip you with the critical tools and historical background for understanding and analysing a wide range of intermedial phenomena across different periods and cultures. It can also be completed part-time over two years.