If you’re in #Nashville and looking for a fun night of learning and laughing, come on out to Fait la Force Wed 6/24 for my Profs &Pints talk on Campiness in media and culture! Perfect way to celebrate Pride! events.ticketleap.com/tickets/prof...

Don’t forget to submit for #pcasacas26 at www.pcasacasconference.org! (Submissions after the deadline will be considered on a case by case basis, so if you miss it, don’t fret!)

Reminder: proposals for the Southern Gothic Area at #PCASACAS26 looms near--proposals are due by June 15! (Late submissions will be considered on a case by case basis.) It looks like it's going to be a ripper of a lineup--we'd love to see you there! pcasacasconference.org/wp-content/u...

Bracing myself for the glut of conference papers on #Backrooms from the Object Oriented Ontology folks and from the Deluzians. (I’m not mad about it.) #horror #academia #horrorscholar #criticaltheory #OOO #deluze

#letterboxdfriday Most Recent 4:

I'm not alsone in obsession over #Obsession, but I couldn't s top thinking about the use of visual rhetoric in the film and how the lighting foregrounds the way Bear is the villain. #horror #horrorfilm #cinematography #visualrhetoric #rhetoric open.substack.com/pub/stephgra...

On 6/24, I'll be giving a @profsandpints.bsky.social talk on Camp as a style. Expect a deep dive into dandyism, Oscar Wilde, ballroom culture, queer resilience, drag, John Waters, & more. #nashville #profsandpints #queerculture #camp events.ticketleap.com/tickets/prof...

In which I refer to The Devil Wears Prada 2 as “ideologically incoherent”: open.substack.com/pub/stephgra... #devilwearsprada2 #filmcrit

I saw the adaptation of #FacesOfDeath & I had a lot of feelings. open.substack.com/pub/stephgra... #horror #horrorfilm

I saw some reviews on @letterboxd.social saying #MotherMary isn’t a lesbian film, and y’all, it can still be a lesbian film without scissoring. Also, there was METAPHORICAL SCISSORING. (Trust, it’s a lesbian film.)

I am so bummed that Shudder has been taking down episodes of #TheLastDriveIn. I wish we could buy physical copies, even if it was only the Just Joe Bob parts. I hate streaming for this reason. Hate it. #mutantfam @therealjoebob123.bsky.social @darcythemailgirl.bsky.social

Love to see #MartySupreme take FUCK ALL home, and I ESPECIALLY loved to see Misty Copeland show up in the Sinners performance as an extra middle finger to Timothee Chalamet. #oscars

I can’t quite verbalize why the end of #TheLastDriveIn is hitting me so hard. Maybe it’s just the cherry on the shit sundae of life in 2026. But I’m grateful for it, and for the #MutantFam, and @therealjoebob123.bsky.social & @darcythemailgirl.bsky.social.

open.substack.com/pub/stephgra... Did I love the film? No. Do I have an issue with film criticism that’s rooted in misogyny? Yes.

For my fellow #gothic scholars out there: CFP for the #SouthernGothic Area at the 2026 PCAS / ACAS Conference, Oct 15 - 17 in New Orleans! @pcas-acas.bsky.social Proposals welcome--and please share! #CFP #proposals #conference #southernstudies pcasacasconference.org/wp-content/u...

Take a drink every time there’s an AI commercial during the #SuperBowl. Just kidding—you’d die of alcohol poisoning.

My ten best #horror films of 2025: 1. Sinners 2. The Monkey 3. HIM 4. Companion 5. Silent Night, Deadly Night 6. Weapons 7. Clown in a Cornfield 8. The Toxic Avenger 9. Freaky Tales 10. I Know What You Did Last Summer Some were stunning. Some were executed exceptionally. Some were just FUN.

Just so the bandwagon doesn't totally leave me behind, yes, I started a Substack. So, subscribe, if you're into that kind of thing. (Free! Intermittent! Probably weird with lots of horror thoughts!) substack.com/@stephgraves #horror #horrorfilm

Wednesday night in #Nashville, I’ll be talking about all things Frankenstein! Tickets are available at www.ticketleap.events/tickets/prof... #frankenstein #gothic #horror

Happy There Is A Circulatory System Walking Through The Kitchen Day to all who celebrate.

I’m loving the format of this week’s #TheLastDriveIn (which, as an academic, tracks). I’m especially loving @donnerpartyofone.bsky.social from @miskatonicihs.bsky.social and her insightful points about Argento & Giallo. #MutantFam @therealjoebob123.bsky.social @darcythemailgirl.bsky.social

It’s been an incredible weekend at @pcasacas.bsky.social and #pcasacas25. These are the loveliest humans, and I really do love how supportive and friendly and excited these scholars are. As usual, I will leave with my heart full and my head buzzing with all kinds of new ideas and new media to watch!

So excited that @pcasacas.bsky.social #pcasacas25 starts today!!!

#PCASACAS25 starts today in Huntsville—I’m so fond of this conference. It was the first conference I ever presented at, and it’s peopled with the loveliest humans, and it always feels like a homecoming. ❤️

It’s been so long since I’ve wanted to watch a Blumhouse movie because they tell you the entire fucking story in the trailer. GET BETTER TRAILER EDITORS. #horror #blumhouse

It’s not too late! Even though the deadline has technically passed, if you have some #SouthernGothic research you’d like to share at PCAS/ACAS 2025, we’d still be happy to see your proposal! #gothic #cfp #pcasacas #academia pcasacasconference.org/wp-content/u...

Are you FUCKING kidding me???? www.npr.org/sections/sho...

Who’s ready for Friday!! We’ve got TWO guest hosts takin’ over the socials! Chris/ @filmagestudios.bsky.social is handling things here on the bird, and Jeff/ @jeffwhitmire.bsky.social has us covered on X! #MutantFam #TheLastDriveIn

A little over a week left to submit proposals for papers, panels, and roundtables for the #southerngothic area at @pcasacas 2025 in Huntsville! We want to hear all about your research on the Southern Gothic (broadly interpreted)! Propose now—& please share! #cfp #pcasacas25

Just a reminder to the universe—and more specifically to all you #gothic scholars out there—that the deadline to submit for the #SouthernGothic area at PCAS / ACAS is June 15. We’d love to hear your work on film, literature, TV, music, & more! Full #CFP at pcasacasconference.org/wp-content/u...

Go. See. #Sinners. See it in IMAX if you can. It’s a triumph of a film. It’s about heritage and culture and struggle, hate and love, found family making and community building. It’s about how music is how we remember our history. And it’s deep in the Black Southern Gothic tradition. #horror

How did we get 2 Slasher flicks with no breasts? That's some winning lottery numbers level of rarity. Ruby Tombsday/ @rubytombsday #MutantFam #TheLastDriveIn

All the love and respect to #thelastdrivein but I don’t know if I buy Torso as the first slasher film… @themutantfam.bsky.social

It’s amazing how pub trivia never manages to ask questions about the immense body of useless knowledge I have, but instead only about the bits that have yet escaped my hyperfixations.

CFP for the Southern Gothic area at PCAS / ACAS 2025 in Huntsville, AL! We want your Appalachian noir, your Southern folklore & monsters, your Southern fried true crime… we want it all! #southerngothic #cfp #southernstudies #gothic PLEASE SHARE!

Caught Mickey 17 in IMAX tonight and I have a lot of thoughts and a lot of feelings. First: the trailer doesn’t give away the whole film and I really appreciate that. Second: there is a lot of CGI, but it’s not that obnoxious uncanny valley kind with no texture of reality. #mickey17 #film

#TheMonkey was great—delightful & engrossing & well done. Gory as hell. Such good setups & payoffs. Also absurdly hilarious, which made it a joy to watch (the opposite of the experience of watching #Longlegs, tbh). And there is a wonderful, creepy, perfect moment at the end. 5 stars for me. #horror

Finally seeing #TheMonkey tonight with @bchorror.bsky.social, and I hope everyone else in the theater will forgive how loud I cackle at absurd horror movie deaths. #horror

Any university that voluntarily shutters a DEI program, office or personnel “Because of Trumps Executive Order” is making a PR decision. Not a legal one. Trumps EO does not change anti discrimination law. If anything, the EO is unlawful. Universities should treat it that way.

Death Drop Gorgeous (2020): Dragula Season 2 finalist Victoria Elizabeth Black (along with her assistant and fiancé, Opulence Black) created the special effects in three of the film's goriest scenes. #TheGoreYouKnow #MutantFam @themutantfam.bsky.social

Started watching Hotel Hell with my boo @bchorror.bsky.social and am delighted to report that so far, Gordon Ramsay has gotten his bare ass out in every episode. 🍑 #hotelhell #gordonramsay #tv

You know how UTIs make old people crazy? At what age does that start to happen? Just curious…

This is an important thread, a peek behind the curtain of #academic publishing from the perspective of editors, and frankly, it’s harrowing to know this is what happens when we submit something on which we worked so hard. scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/01/15/g...

Man, I picked a hell of a semester to teach rhetoric and media. 😵‍💫

It’s the second week of class and I’m behind already.

Tonight’s the night! Can’t believe this event has already sold out—but I’m psyched to talk about all things spooky Victoriana Chrismas! #profsandpints

I just finished season 1 of fhe #MurderMediaPodcast and it was WONDERFUL. I want to be as smart as Stella Gaynor when I grow up. Brilliant analysis! If you’re interested in true crime and HOW true crime gets discussed, listen here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t... #womeninacademia #truecrime

What level of nerd is it when you’re debating if something is a commonplace book versus a zibaldone? #commonplacebook #zibaldone

Correct answer.

If spooky Christmas ghost stories sounds like something you’re in to, you might enjoy coming out to my @profsandpints.bsky.social talk in Nashville on Dec 18! Tickets and more info at profsandpints.ticketleap.com/graves/ 🎄👻🪦🎅🏽 #nashville #christmasghosts #faitlaforcebrewing