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  3. David Simmons

  • David is the programme leader for the Film and Screen Studies programme. As senior lecturer in both Film and Screen Studies and English, he teaches across a broad range of modules at levels four, five, six and seven. David also supervises dissertation work and is a PhD supervisor.

    As well as being a fellow of the HEA, David is an internationally recognised researcher, he has published widely on Twentieth and Twenty First Century U.S. fiction, American Horror, the Gothic, Genre TV and Videogames. From 2019-2022 David worked on the AHRC funded Diaspora Screen Media Network. His next publication is a monograph on Giant Monster Movies with Liverpool University Press due out later in 2024.

    David is the central point of contact for the University’s cult film club that runs in association with the local independent cinema, The Northampton Filmhouse. This involves monthly screenings with associated public events including pre-screening lectures, post screening panel discussions, Director Q and As, etc. David also works with The National Film and Sci Fi Museum in organising and running the ongoing podcast “Cult Media in 50 Objects”.  

  • David has taught across a range of modules in both the Film and Screen Studies and English departments at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He has also delivered modules on the Creative Film and Popular Music degrees. His specialisms include U.S. fiction, Genre Film and TV, Adaptation, and Videogames. David has a wealth of experience in supervising PhDs and has successfully overseen multiple students to completion.

    In 2016 David attained Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.

    Current and past taught modules include:

    • LIT1048 American Dreams, American Nightmares: Race, Class and Gender
    • LIT2066 Literary Extremes and the American Mainstream
    • LIT3079 Texts in Transition: Adaptation
    • LIT4016 English Dissertation
    • MED1072 Film Analysis
    • MED1078 Media and Creative Industries
    • MED1090 From King Kong to The Godfather: Introduction to Hollywood Film
    • MED2054 Television Drama
    • MED2096 Media Convergence
    • MED3008 Horror on Screen
    • MED3062 Cult Media
    • MED4029 Dissertation
    • MED4037 Creative Film Final Project
    • LITM037 Pulp Visions
    • LITM039 Brave New Worlds
    • LITM041 Literary Transmediations
    • LITM043 MA Dissertation

    PhD Supervision

    David has supervised a range of PhD students on topics including H.P. Lovecraft and Race, Masculinity and The Marvel Cinematic Universe, Edward Albee, Ghosts in Contemporary Asian Magic Realist Novels, Post 1990 YA Retellings of Arthurian Narratives, Depictions of Algeria in English and American Fiction, and Innovative Approaches to Teaching English to Foreign Nationals. 

    David would be interested in supervising doctoral work in the areas of:

    • Gothic/Horror fiction
    • Adaptation and transmedia
    • Pulp and Popular fiction
    • Twentieth and Twenty First Century U.S. Fiction
    • Literature and Existentialism
    • The Frankfurt School and Literature/Popular Culture
    • Representation in Genre Film, TV and Videogames
    • The Western
    • Cult TV and Film

  • David has an internationally recognised research profile and publishes widely on popular fiction and culture. He has written and edited over eight books and has had work featured in a wide range of collections and peer-reviewed journals.

    Recent publications

    Monographs

    • Simmons, D. The U.S. Giant Monster Movie: Size Does Matter. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2024. 9781835537374.
    • Simmons, D. American Horror Fiction and Class: From Poe to Twilight. London and New York: Palgrave. 2017. 978113753280-0.

    Edited collections

    • Jowett, L., Simmons, D. and Robinson, K. L., (eds.) Time on Television: Narrative Time, Time Travel and Time Travellers in Popular Television Culture. London: I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd. 2016. 9781784530136.
    • Allen, N., Simmons, D. (eds) Reassessing the Contemporary Canon: From Joseph Conrad to Zadie Smith. New York and London: Palgrave, 2015. 9781137366009.

    Chapters

    • Simmons, D. “Caitlin R. Kiernan.” In Woofter, Kris & Sederholm, Carl. (eds.) The Weird: A Companion. Oxford: Peter Lang, 2024.
    • Simmons, D. “I’m Glad You Guys Could Make It!” Krampus (2015) and Subverting the Festive Family Tradition.” In Bacon, Simon. (ed.) Undead Christmas: Essays on Vampires, Zombies, Demons and the Undying Spirit of Yuletide. Bethlehem, PA: Lehigh University Press, 2024.
    • Simmons, D. “Bringing … Uncertain Geographies Under … Control”? Exploring the Lovecraftian ‘Walking Simulator’. In Alcala Gonzalez, A. & H. Sederholm, C. (eds.) Lovecraft in the 21st Century: Dead, But Still Dreaming. New York and London: Routledge, p. 241-252.
    • Simmons, D. “H.P. Lovecraft and real person fiction: the pulp author as subcultural avatar”. In: Sederholm, C. H. and Weinstock, J. A. (eds.) The Age of Lovecraft. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. 2016. pp. 149-165.

    Editorial boards

    • Member of Editorial Board for the peer reviewed The Open Access Library of the Humanities (2016-)
    • Member of Editorial Board for the peer reviewed The Journal of Popular Culture (2015-)
    • Member of Editorial Board for the peer reviewed Americana: The Journal of American Popular Culture, 1900 to present (2014-)
    • Member of Editorial Board of BAAS: US Studies Online peer reviewed journal.(2014-)
    • Manuscript reviewer for Palgrave Macmillan in area of Contemporary American Literature (2012-)
    • Member of ABES (Annotated Bibliography of English Studies),Contributor/reviewer of Contemporary American Literature (2009-)
    • Founder member of the Kurt Vonnegut Society (2009-)
    • Member of the UK Network for Modern Fiction Studies (2006-)
    • Regular Radio Appearances on BBC Radio Northampton and NNBC, 2015-present

    Other research work

    In 2019-2022 David was Research Co-ordinator for the AHRC funded project Diaspora Screen Media Network. David played a key part in the successful organisation and running of the network’s events and website. The project creates a space for those interested and active in the areas of Black British and British Asian Screen Media to discuss pertinent issues and brought together two of the University’s key ongoing interests: Diversity Digital Teaching/Learning.

    The project involved the participation of the local community and national/international organisations such as The Muslim Film Council, the BBC, and Film Hub Midlands. 

  • For publications, projects, datasets, research interests and activities, view David Simmons’s research profile on Pure, the University of Northampton’s Research Explorer.