About | Qui nous sommes
Named for the fictional university in H.P. Lovecraft’s literary mythos, the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies is an international organization that offers university-level history, theory and production-based masterclasses for people of all ages. The Miskatonic is a non-profit endeavour through which established horror writers, directors, scholars and programmers/curators celebrate horror history and culture with a unique blend of enthusiasm and critical perspective.
The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies was founded by film writer and programmer Kier-La Janisse in March of 2010 . After existing in embryonic form at Aqua Books in Winnipeg, Canada, Miskatonic moved to Montreal’s Blue Sunshine Psychotronic Film Centre in June of 2010. From 2013-2017, Miskatonic Montreal was co-directed by Kristopher Woofter and Mario DeGiglio-Bellemare, while Janisse teamed up with UK-based film scholar and Electric Sheep founder/editor-in-chief Virginie Sélavy to launch Miskatonic London in January 2015, which has gone on to enjoy lectures from the likes of genre luminaries Kim Newman, Stephen Thrower, Jasper Sharp, Mark Gatiss, John Hough, and Daniel Bird among others. In fall of 2016, Janisse launched Miskatonic NYC with a masterclass by horror author Jack Ketchum, and the NYC branch is now co-run by Janisse and Joe Yanick, journalist and festival coordinator for Visit Films. As of January 2018, Josh Saco of Cigarette Burns Cinema took over from Virginie Sélavy as co-director of Miskatonic London, and Miskatonic Montreal is on indefinite hiatus.
In addition to its regular branches, Miskatonic also coordinates special events and one-off classes throughout the year. Questions? email us at [email protected].
