Dr Shellie McMurdo

• Contemporary American Horror Cinema
• Special Makeup Effects
• Practical effects in Horror Cinema
• Trauma theory
• Cult film and television
• Analogue media and its use in contemporary media
• Cultural studies
• True crime fandom

I am a Senior Lecturer in Film and Television Theory and Practice in the School of Creative Arts where I teach on both the BA and MA programmes. I am module leader for Introduction to Film and Television Studies on the Film and Television Production BA, and Co-Module leader for Investigative Minds: Culture, Research, Industry on the Film Production MA.

I completed my PhD on found footage horror at Roehampton University in 2020, and taught there previous to joining the School of Creative Arts.  

I have published two monographs: Blood on the Lens: Trauma and Anxiety in American Found Footage Horror Cinema (EUP, 2022) and Devil's Advocate's Pet Sematary (LUP, 2023), and I am currently working on my third book: Splatter Matters: Gore and Practical Makeup Effects in American Horror Cinema (forthcoming, 2028).

I have also published several articles and chapters on topics such as Blumhouse Productions, post-peak torture horror, true crime fandoms, and cultural trauma. I have also presented work on varied forms of horror media (films, television, podcasts) at various conferences both in the UK and internationally, including being asked to present keynote lectures and research talks. I co-founded and co-convene the Horror Studies SIG of the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies (BAFTSS), and am the series co-editor of Hidden Horror Histories (Liverpool University Press).

My research expertise has been recognised both nationally and internationally, and I have provided expert commentary and consultancy for BBC Radio, The Found Footage Phenomenon (Appleton and Escott, 2022), and several BluRay releases from Second Sight.

• Genre
• Cinema history
• Contemporary American independent filmmaking
• Cultural studies
• Trauma and media
• Cult film and television
• Low/No budget filmmaking