The International Vampire Film and Arts Festival will soon be bringing “vampire creatives” from around the world together in (of course) Transylvania. But not just any place in Transylvania – the May 2017 conference will be held within the historic citadel of Sighisoara, birthplace of Vlad Dracula. The four-day festival offers film screenings, performing art, book readings, seminars and workshops, all exploring the concept of the vampire genre as  “the world’s most enduring and influential horror genre straddling film, television, literature, theatre, games and new media.” 

The festival features a three-day academic conference, including a day dedicated to “Children Of The Night: The Vampire Across Popular Culture.” Seton Hill’s very own vampire creatives, Michael Arnzen, Ph.D., professor of English, and Nicole Peeler, Ph.D., associate professor of English and director of the Writing Popular Fiction Program, will co-curate the session. In addition to teaching in both the undergraduate English and Writing Popular Fiction M.F.A. programs at Seton Hill, both professors are published authors. Arnzen is the winner of four Bram Stoker Awards from the Horror Writers Association, and has just published a sequel to Dracula.  Peeler is well-known for her raucous, hilarious urban fantasy novels, including the award-winning Jane True series.

Scholarly papers for possible presentation at the conference are now being invited.  Find out more at www.ivfaf.com.