The International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts (ICFA) is an annual scholarly conference devoted to all aspects of the fantastic (broadly defined) as it appears in literature, film, and the other arts. For many years, the ICFA has been held annually in Orlando, Florida, USA.

Organization and refereeing of academic paper sessions at ICFA is under the direction of Division Heads who are appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Board. 

The 46^th International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts

Night Terrors 

Guests of Honor: To Be Announced

Guest Scholars: To Be Announced

March 12-15, 2025 

Orlando Airport Marriott Lakeside 

Night Terrors can be conceptualized both internally, as the shadowy corners of humanity's subconscious, and externally, as the unseen thing that lurks in the shadows under the bed, in the woods, or in the quiet depths of space. In many ways, both internal and external nightmares are manifestations of our anxieties, fears, and worries, which are buoyed by the nebulous unknown. Given the timelessness and cross-cultural similarities of human experiences, and as a creations of culturally-specific concerns and forms, sharing terrors give us the glimmer of hope that we can defeat these things. On internal levels, it means facing our fears, drawing on inner strengths, and creating community. Externally, it means making visible the unseen, and through the reliance on community, rendering monstrosity benign and defeating it. Proposals might consider traditional horror elements (e.g. ghosts, vampires, werewolves); stories of how children face their fears; the  monstrous Other -  including culturally-specific monsters like the Baba Yaga; how fear and terror are represented in art and visual media; the terror of new technology; revisiting ancient terrors; ways that terror can be culturally situated; how to build space in order to confront our fears or other iterations of nightmares.

Please join us in 2025 as we shine a light on Night Terrors.

We welcome proposals for individual papers and for academic sessions and panels on any aspect of the fantastic, especially those concerning whimsy, in any media. We encourage work from creatives, institutionally affiliated scholars, independent scholars, international scholars who work on the fantastic in languages other than English, and students.  

Proposals not related to the conference theme are also welcome.  

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If you are interested in offering a creative presentation at ICFA or you have questions about the creative track, please contact the Second Vice President, who can be reached here.

Most attendees present but that is not required to attend the ICFA, nor is membership in the IAFA. However, IAFA membership is required to present at the ICFA

Rules for submitting proposals for academic and creative programming can be found here.