By Mo Moshaty

NightTide keeps an eye on opportunities for horror writers and scholars, especially those whose voices deserve a louder place in the genre.

Writers drawn to horror’s messiest, most unsettling corners may want to take note of a new call for submissions from 1428 Publishing for an upcoming edited collection titled Embracing the Abject: Exploring Abjection in Cinema.

The collection builds from philosopher and psychoanalyst Julia Kristeva’s concept of the abject: the visceral human response that emerges when boundaries collapse: between self and other, order and chaos, the body and what threatens to undo it. Horror cinema has long lived in this uneasy space, where the familiar becomes contaminated and the body itself can feel unreliable.

In film, the abject often appears through sensory disruption and bodily transgression. The call highlights examples such as:

• Visual: blood, excrement, vomit, urine, flies, maggots
• Auditory: squelching, gagging, buzzing insects, dental tools, knives sharpening, splattering
• Touch: dirty sink water, sewage, picking scabs, ripping fingernails, rotting food, swallowing foreign objects
• Pain: broken skin, broken bones, childbirth, bites, surgery, popped zits

These examples are meant to point toward the kinds of visceral reactions abjection provokes, though contributors are encouraged to explore the concept broadly across horror and cinema.

Abjection lives where the body refuses to behave — where boundaries blur, identities destabilize, and horror reveals what society tries hardest to cast out.

What makes this collection particularly interesting is its focus on power and transgression. Rather than treating abjection solely as repulsive or shameful, the editor seeks work that examines how characters, and audiences, embrace abjection, using it to challenge social boundaries or reclaim identity.

The volume is also actively seeking diverse perspectives and lived experiences, especially from:

• Indigenous and First Nations writers
• Writers of Colour
• Ethnic and religious minority writers
• Women and LGBTQIA+ writers
• Disabled writers
• Refugees and writers living in poverty

For those new to academic-style submissions, the process is fairly simple. Contributors should send:

• A 250-word abstract outlining their proposed chapter
• A short bio, and if available, a link or example of previous work

Submissions should be sent to 1428publishing@mail.com, with a deadline of 29 May 2026.

For NightTide readers working in horror criticism, film analysis, or cultural studies, this call offers an opportunity to explore one of horror’s most provocative ideas: the moment when what society rejects, expels, or fears begins to reveal something deeply human.

Sometimes horror isn’t about what stands outside the body; sometimes it’s about what refuses to stay there.

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