World Fantasy 2007 October 31, 2007

GHOSTS AND REVENANTS, MEMORY, HISTORY, AND FOLKLORE -- An exploration of the tradition of the ghost in literature as a harbinger, as a manifestation of guilt, conscience, memory, or the past; and as manifested in the folklore and history of the northeastern United States and Canada. This covers everything from Native American folklore and storytelling through "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" to Straub's Ghost Story and Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. We will explore the tradition and the uses of the ghost story, and how it continues in contemporary fantastic fiction and mutates in a 21st century environment. While we expect to have panels on such topics as "M.R. James and His Successors" and "The Legacy of Shirley Jackson" we might also have something as up-to-the-minute as "Ghosts in the Machine: The Supernatural and Computers."

Official Website: http://www.lastsfa.org/wfc2007