Luna's third Call for Papers, A Shadow Within: Evil in Fantasy and Science Fiction will be released on Wednesday the 14th of August, at Dublin Worldcon. Explore the 21 brilliant papers you will find in the book.
Today, we would like to introduce you to Kim Lakin-Smith (UK), MA in Journalism and Creative Writing, Fantasy and Science Fiction writer. Presenting the paper: Born Bad: Unmasking Evil in John Carpenter’s Halloween and James Cameron’s The Terminator.
Kim says:
"In the shadows of very personal wounds inflicted by a childhood viewing of 1978’s horror classic, Halloween, I explore the mysticism of evil in special relation to John Carpenter’s seminal slasher, Michael Myers, and James Cameron’s titular cyborg, 1984’s The Terminator. Killing machines or apex predators, both Michael and the Terminator invoke primordial fear, brutalise the trespasser, and stalk the innocent. While Michael disguises his supernatural humanity behind the apathetic mask, the non-human T-800 Terminator dons a skin suit to assimilate with his emotive prey. Both are relentless in their monstrous pursuit of the final girl, embodying social/political paranoias as well as gender biases of the period. Both represent the ubiquitous bad, diametric to a conscientious good. But what lies beneath the skin? To what extent do these characters actively assault the moral axiology of the complicit audience? And is it accurate to describe each as morally privative – ‘purely and simply evil’ – or have they each an artificial code of agency, motivated by absence over malevolence? In essence, is the ideology of evil these characters represent truly unstoppable, or can we, like Laurie Strode and Sarah Connor, find a way to survive the night?"
Kim Lakin-Smith writes Science Fiction, Fantasy and Historical fiction for adults, young adults and children. Her short stories have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, including Interzone, Black Static, Celebration: 50 Years of the BSFA, Behind the Sofa: Celebrity Memories of Doctor Who, The Mammoth Book of Ghost Stories by Women, Solaris Rising 2, Resurrection Engines, Best British Fantasy 2013, Sharkpunk, The Mammoth Book of Dieselpunk, and more.
Her short story, ‘Johnny and Emmie-Lou Get Married’ (Interzone, Issue 222) was shortlisted for the 2011 British Science Fiction Association award and her novel, Cyber Circus, was shortlisted for both the British Science Fiction Association Best Novel and the British Fantasy Award for Best Novel 2012.
She is also the author of Tourniquet, Queen Rat, Autodrome, and Underneath This Burning Sun. Kim’s non-fiction centres on issues of gender, sexuality and otherness, with a particular passion for the social renegade.
For Luna Press Publishing: Gender identity and sexuality in Current Fantasy and Science Fiction (2017); A Shadow Within: Evil in Fantasy and Science Fiction (Release date 14/8/19).
Luna Awards: Nominated for the BSFA Awards 2017 for "Doll Parts: Reflections of the Feminine Grotesque in Frances Hardinge’s Cuckoo Song and Neil Gaiman’s Coraline." in Gender identity and sexuality in Current Fantasy and Science Fiction.
British Fantasy Award Winner 2018 for Gender identity and sexuality in Current Fantasy and Science Fiction.
A Shadow Within: Evil in Fantasy and Science Fiction
is now in pre-order!