Simon Schothans, MRes
Author and Independent Scholar
Welcome to the author page of Simon Schothans. Learn more about his passion for literature, his creative and academic works, and where to find him.
Creative Writing
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THESES
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Critical Output
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| Title | Year | Publication Type | Place of Publication |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cosmic Bliss: The Weird Horror of Ecstatic (An)Nihilation | 2026 | Conference Paper | I.G.A. Conference 18: Gothic Selves/Artificial Others |
| EcoGothic Hauntologies: Animated Flora, Imperialism, and Ideological Haunting in Eco-Weird Fiction, 1880-1933 | 2026 | Conference Paper | Global Ghosts and Regional Hauntologies Symposium |
| More than Scary Stories: Gothic, Horror, and Weird Literatures | 2026 | Masterclass | T.E.A.'s Creative Writing Worksop Committee |
| Drugscapes and Distress: Aleister Crowley, Psychedelic Space, and the Horrors of 'The Drug' | 2026 | Conference Paper | OSL Beyond the Threshold Symposium |
| What Makes a 'Bad Trip': The Philosophical Horrors of Psychedelic Space | 2025 | Conference Paper | Gothic Crossroads Conference |
| Victorian Phobodynamics: EcoGothic Evolutions | 2024 | Research Poster | The Dutch Victorianists Symposium |
Simon Schothans, MRes
Author and Independent Scholar
Simon Schothans is an author and independent scholar from the Netherlands, whose work in both disciplines confronts the darker aspects of existence. His research concerns the philosophical psychodynamics of fear, anguish, and selfhood through Weird and Gothic modalities, embedding him in the medical humanities and affect studies. His fiction has appeared in Gothic Nature, and bears a distinct style that amalgamates philosophical fiction, Weird realism, and literary fiction haunted by the spectral mode of the Gothic.Schothans studied English Language and Culture at Radboud University, during which he went abroad to study creative writing and the American Gothic at the University of Hull. Simultaneously, he completed an extracurricular honours programme, where he researched mental atypicality in fin-de-siècle Gothic short fiction, resulting in the creative-critical book Atypical Minds (2023). After graduating with a thesis on the colonial dynamics of EcoGothic animated flora narratives, he went on to study the English Literature and Culture track of the Literary Studies master of the University of Groningen. There, he graduated cum laude with a thesis on the dynamics of horror in corporeal amalgamation narratives, while also attending the Gothic Summer School programme of the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies. Schothans then went on to pursue the literary studies track of the research master’s programme Historical, Literary and Cultural Studies at Radboud University, during which he completed an international research internship at the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies, for which he was awarded a 10. Additionally, he was the head of The English Association's creative writing committee for the duration of this programme. He is graduating cum laude with a thesis on the psychical dynamics of psychedelic space in weird fiction. Over the years, Schothans has chaired and presented at a multitude of conferences, including the 18th biannual conference of the International Gothic Association.
