Duncan Light

(Bournemouth University, UK)

Duncan Light is a human geographer by background and is currently Principal Academic in Tourism Management at Bournemouth University, UK.  He has visited Romania regularly since 1995 and has published widely about the country.  For more than 20 years he has been studying Romania’s uneasy relationship with Dracula and he has published many articles and chapters on this topic.  He is the author of The Dracula Dilemma: Tourism, Identity and the State in Romania (Routledge, 2016).  He is currently a member of the Dracula Returns to Derby project based at the University of Derby which aims to celebrate Derby’s connections with the evolution of Dracula.

Enrique A. Palafox

(Independent Researcher, The Dracula Fan Club, Mexico)

Crеativе profеssional with a divеrsе journеy spanning ovеr two dеcadеs in dеsign, mеdia, and contеnt crеation. His path еncompassеs various arеas, from graphic dеsign to transmеdia storytеlling, along with acadеmic achiеvеmеnts, including a PhD in Modеrn Litеraturе and a Mastеr's dеgrее in Communications. Palafox sеamlеssly blеnds his acadеmic background with a dееp passion for pop culturе, еspеcially in thе rеalm of Dracula and its transmеdia adaptations. Rеcognizеd as a spеakеr and consultant both nationally and intеrnationally, Palafox's еxpеrtisе еxtеnds across domains such as visual communication, transmеdia storytеlling, and thе global influеncе of art and dеsign. Throughout his journеy, Palafox's uniquе combination of knowlеdgе and crеativе еnthusiasm has contributеd to thе dynamic crеativе landscapе and acadеmia. In addition to his acadеmic pursuits, Dr. Palafox rеcеntly achiеvеd a significant milеstonе in thе world of Dracula еditions with thе publication of "The Book of Dracula: The Mina Harker Transcriptions". This еffort is thе rеsult of ovеr 7 yеars of dеdicatеd study of Bram Stokеr's work. Dr. Palafox aimеd to prеsеrvе thе еssеncе and stylе of thе original tеxt whilе staying truе to thе author's vision. Through his dееp knowlеdgе of thе work and еxpеriеncе in transmеdia storytеlling, Dr. Palafox has offеrеd rеadеrs an immеrsivе way to еxpеriеncе this classic narrativе by еngaging thеm dirеctly in thе storytеlling procеss. His acadеmic background and passion for Bram Stokеr's work havе providеd a uniquе pеrspеctivе that bеnеfits both thе acadеmic and crеativе communitiеs. As a spеakеr and consultant, Dr. Palafox continuеs to makе valuablе contributions to visual communication, transmеdia storytеlling, and art and dеsign on a global scalе. 

Fernando Soto

(Independent Researcher, Canada)

Fernand Soto is a Chilean/Canadian scholar, with a primary expertise in Lewis Carroll and George MacDonald studies. He holds an English Literature doctorate from The University of Glasgow, with a thesis devoted to the main works of the two authors above.  He has published and spoken extensively on Carroll and MacDonald, and he has been the editor and then co-editor of ‘North Wind: A Journal of George MacDonald Studies.’ While carrying out research on Carroll’s and MacDonald’s implicit and complex use of the Mandrake in their masterpieces, he stumbled upon Bram Stoker’s similar use of this folklore-rich plant/creature in ‘Dracula.’

Gilles Menegaldo

(University of Poitiers, France)

Gilles Menegaldo is an emeritus professor of American literature and film studies at the University of Poitiers. Founder and former head of the Film Studies Department. He has published abourt 150 articles on gothic literature and cinema, horror films, film noir, Science Fiction, comedies and other film genres. Book: Dracula, la noirceur et la grâce (with A-M Paquet-Deyris, 2006). As editor or co-editor, 35 collections of essays among which: R. L. Stevenson et A. Conan Doyle (with JP Naugrette, 2003), Jacques Tourneur, une esthétique du trouble (2006), Film and History (2008), European and Hollywood Cinema: Cultural Exchanges (2012). Latest books as editor: King Vidor, odyssée des inconnus, (with J-M Lecomte, CinémAction, 2014, Le western et les mythes de l’ouest (with L. Guillaud), UP Rennes, 2015, Sherlock Holmes, un limier pour le XXIème siècle (with H. Machinal et J-P Naugrette), UP Rennes, 2016, Lovecraft au prisme de l’image (with C. Gelly), le Visage vert, 2017, Tim Burton, a Cinema of Transformations (PULM Montpellier, 2018), Spectres de Poe (with J. Dupont), le Visage vert, 2020, Le Goût du noir (with M. Petit), Rennes University Press, 2021, Dark Recesses in the House of Hammer (with M. Boissonneau and A-M Paquet-Deyris), Peter Lang, January 2022, Hammer, laboratoire de l’horreur moderne, (with M. Boissonneau and A-M Paquet-Deyris), Le Visage vert, January 2023.

Hans Corneel de Roos

(Independent Researcher, Philippines)

Hans Corneel de Roos studied Political & Social Sciences at the University of Amsterdam and the Free University, Berlin; graduated cum laude in 1975. He made a career in Public Administration and in the financial field; his true passions, however, were (and are) Art, Art History and Photography. He got involved in Dracula Studies in 2010 while preparing a photoillustrated Dracula edition. Since then, he has made a series of groundbreaking discoveries about the true locations of Castle Dracula, the Scholomance and Carfax, the lifetime identity of Count Dracula, the Icelandic and Swedish versions and the first US serialization of Dracula. De Roos is the translator/editor of Powers of Darkness (New York: Overlook, 2017), and contributed to Dracula–An International Perspective (ed. Marius Crișan, Palgrave, 2017). He was the Acting Editor of Letter from Castle Dracula, the bulletin of the Transylvanian Society of Dracula (2013- 2016) and is the author of numerous articles about Stoker’s novel. He received the Research Award from the Transylvanian Society of Dracula and the Lord Ruthven Special Award 2018. He is the initiator of the Fourth World Dracula Congress in Dublin (2016) and the “Children of the Night” International Dracula Conference series. In 2021, he won the Golden Bat Award for his video documentary about Philippine vampires.

Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock

(Central Michigan University, USA)

Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock is professor of English at Central Michigan University, the Los Angeles Review of Books associate editor in charge of horror, the founder and president of the Society for the Study of the American Gothic, the founder and general editor of the peer-reviewed journal American Gothic Studies, and the co-founder and past chair of the Modern Language Association’s Gothic Studies Forum. He is the author or editor of 32 books and more than 100 essays and book chapters on the Gothic, American literature, cult film, and pop culture. These include The Routledge Introduction to the American Ghost Story (2024), Gothic Things: Dark Enchantment and Anthropocene Anxiety (Fordham UP, 2023), Monstrous Things: Selected Essays on Ghosts, Vampires & Things That Go Bump in the Night (McFarland, 2023), Giving the Devil His Due: Satan and Cinema (Fordham UP, 2021), The Monster Theory Reader (Minnesota UP, 2020), and The Vampire Film: Undead Cinema (Columbia UP, 2012).

Marius Mircea Crișan

(West University of Timișoara, Romania)

Marius-Mircea Crișan, Professor Dr Habil (PhD 2008 University of Turin, Italy) is Associate Professor at the Teacher Training Dept., West University of Timișoara. He is the editor of Dracula: An International Perspective (Palgrave Macmillan, Springer Nature 2017), coordinator of the special issue of Biblioteca Nova Bulletin "Speculative Fiction and the Frontiers of the Possible" (2019), author of The Birth of the Dracula Myth: Bram Stoker’s Transylvania (2013) and The Impact of a Myth: Dracula and the Fictional Representation of the Romanian Space (2013), and co-editor of the volume Beliefs and Behaviours in Education and Culture: Cultural Determinants and Education (2017). He was the manager of the research project The impact of a Myth: Dracula and the Image of Romania in British and American Literatures (2011-2013).

Nina Anna Trzaska

(University of Adam Mickiewicz, Poland)

Nina Anna Trzaska has defended her PhD thesis on Modern Greek vampiric beliefs in October 2023 and currently works at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. She is a frequent participant of International Dracula Congress and other vampire-related conferences. Her articles were published in journals such as 'Porównania/Comparisons' or 'Byzantion Nea Hellás'; she is also a translator of Modern and Ancient Greek literature (i.e. novel 'Murdress' of Alexandros Papadiamantis, poems of Cypriot poet Kyriakos Charalambidis and speeches of Isocrates).

Philippe Met

(University of Pennsylvania, USA)

Professor of French and Cinema Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, former Chair of French, and Editor-in-Chief of French Forum. He has published widely on poetry, fantastic literature, genre/auteur film and graphic novels. In addition to over 100 articles, single-authored and edited books include: Formules de la poésie. Études sur Ponge, Leiris, Char et Du Bouchet (1999); (co-ed.) Les Aventures de Harry Dickson: scénario pour un film non réalisé par Alain Resnais (2007); La Lettre tue. Spectre(s) de l’écrit fantastique (2009); (co-ed.) Screening the Paris Suburbs 1895-1995 (2017); (ed.) The Cinema of Louis Malle, Transatlantic Auteur (2018); Ponge et le cinéma (2019); (ed.) Louis Malle dans tout ses états (2022). He is currently completing a book-length manuscript on the Italian giallo, and developing another on phantom cinema.