Rebecca Janicker

As an undergraduate I studied for a BSc (Hons) in Psychology and Philosophy at the London School of Economics. After this, I moved to the University of Nottingham where I completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology, then an MSc in Occupational Psychology. Moving into the field of American Studies, I gained an MA in American Studies (Lit.) and my PhD in Popular American Gothic Fiction is currently in the final stages of completion. Over the last few years, I have lectured on Hollywood Cinema and American Genres at the University of Winchester, as well as teaching on a range of undergraduate units on the Media and Film Studies degree programmes at the University of Portsmouth. I have held a permanent teaching position at Portsmouth since 2009 and have been Course Leader for the BA Film & Television Studies since 2011.

My PhD, entitled ‘Halfway Houses: Liminality and the Haunted House Motif in Popular American Gothic Fiction’, is due to be published by McFarland. In addition to presenting regularly at conferences, particularly in the USA on the topics of American Gothic and horror fiction. I have published work on authors including H. P. Lovecraft, Robert Bloch, Richard Matheson and Stephen King – in Extrapolation, U. S. Studies Online and The European Journal of American Culture, as well as in edited collections. My current research encompasses horror adaptations, for cinema and the comic arts, and I have several publications forthcoming in these areas.