A new edition of the Italian language scholarly journal Studi Lovecraftiani is out.

My translation of the contents list:

* Thematic and diachronic analysis : The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath and At the Mountains of Madness

* From the imaginary architecture of otherness: the perception of the world in the work of H.P. Lovecraft

* Lovecraft and the dinosaur egg [must refer to that controversy he stirred over the theme of a published story]

* Plants of Dr. Cinderella : parallels between Gustav Meyrink and H.P. Lovecraft

* Lovecraft and Physics

* Carcosa

* Dark castles, crypts and monsters : Lovecraft in Quake [the popular videogame]

* The Key and the Abyss : a Jungian reading of the works of Howard Phillips Lovecraft

“The Well of the Ancients” by H.P. Lovecraft [?]

* “Gaze fixedly into the red eye of your god!” Or, the reluctant messiah of Rivermouth : a commentary on the film Cthulhu”

* Review

* The Library of the Lovecraftian scholar : notifications for a critical bibliography

* Notes on books, essays and articles in the press related to HPL, 2010-2013

New from academic publisher Routledge, The Unnameable Monster in Literature and Film (Routledge Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Literature)

Table of contents:

Introduction.

1. Monsters as we know them: a history of named monsters.

2. Articulating the abstract: theories of the unnameable.

3. ‘Things’ not to be named nor understood: the unnameable monster in nineteenth century literature.

4. The ‘thing’ keeps coming back: modern and postmodern nondescriptors.

5. The spectacle of the lack: realising the monster on screen.

Conclusion.

Call for academic papers, edited for length and for focus on Lovecraft-friendly topics:

“Guillermo del Toro is one of the most interesting people currently involved in genre in its various expressions. He is an artist who embodies his art that comes as a result of his creative passions and deep reflection. One of the elements that make him so interesting is critical reflection on various elements that contribute to his approach at bringing genre to life. … I am seeking the submission of abstracts for chapters for this proposed volume. Possible topics may include the following in connection with Guillermo del Toro:

*Relationship between del Toro’s self-professed atheism/agnosticism and interests in monstrous transcendence

*Monsters as metaphor

*Gods and monsters as overlapping and co-existing concepts

*Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos

*Concept of the monstrous sacred

Abstracts of up to 350 words should be sent to my attention as the volume’s at johnwmorehead@msn.com. Submissions will be accepted through 30th November 2013. This book is not a scholarly one, but will include thoughtful interactions with del Toro’s work. Once contributors are identified a proposal will be submitted to potential publishers. A major genre publisher has already expressed an interest in this volume. No definite timeframe has been established, but contributors may be identified by the end of the year, and a goal may be to have chapter drafts completed by the end of April for submission to a publisher in May.