Conjuring a New Normal: Monstrous Routines and Mundane Horrors in Pandemic Lives and Dreamscapes

Abstract

This editorial introduces the special collection Conjuring a New Normal: Monstrous Routines and Mundane Horrors in Pandemic Lives and Dreamscapes. The collection brings together papers demonstrating differing perspectives, especially in how comics artists employ different genres, tropes, and symbolism, particularly relating to the Gothic. The articles in this collection draw attention to the flexibility of the comics medium, demonstrating its suitability to convey affect and to frame deeply personal stories within a wider social context. It also reflects upon the growing scholarly field of Graphic Medicine and suggests a need to diversify the works and creators studied, as well as broader analyses of the comics creation, engagement, and community.