Registration for the 2025 Festival of Monsters academic conference, Oct. 15-18, is now open. Also check out the Festival’s public offerings.
We take monsters seriously
“It is true, we shall be monsters, cut off from all the world; but on that account we shall be more attached to one another.”
— Mary Shelley, Frankenstein,
or, the Modern Prometheus
Monsters play a role in the representation of some of the most challenging problems facing our world: matters of race and religion, social justice, and environmental threats. The Center for Monster Studies at UC Santa Cruz aims to explore the role of monsters in culture and humanities.
Writers panel highlight of Festival public days
Authors Alma Katsu (Fiend), Nat Cassidy (When the Wolf Comes Home) and Gretchen McNeil (They Fear Not Men in the Woods) come together for Oh, The Horror!, an author’s panel that is a highlight of the 2025 Festival of Monsters’ Public Days. The Festival takes place Oct. 15-18. Learn more.
Join Center Director Michael Chemers (The Monster in Theater History), Co-Director Renée Fox (The Necromantics), and Festival of Monsters Keynote Speaker Kimberly Lau (Specters of the Marvelous) at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 8. as they discuss the histories and politics of vampires, ghouls, zombies and other undead monsters in this panel at the Santa Cruz Public Library’s Downtown Branch. Learn more.
Monster panel at
Santa Cruz Public Library
Registration open for the 2025 Festival of Monsters conference
Monster Center Director Michael Chemers and Co-Director Renee Fox will do a post-film Q&A with Medusa director Jesseca Ynez Simmons as part of the Santa Cruz Film Festival, 12 p.m. Oct. 12 at the Colligan Theater. This documentary looks at Medusa, an iconic symbol of tragedy and transformation who captivates with her stone-turning gaze, through the experiences of Tiamat Legion Medusa, one of the most body modified trans people in the world. Learn more.