Apparitions and Atmospheres: an Introduction to the Special Issue “On Gases, Clouds, Fogs and Mists”

I am happy to see ‘On gases, clouds, fogs and mists,’ a special edition of the journal Coolabah published. "Appriations and Atmospheres" is the introduction to this edition that collects articles and creative writing on the theme of atmospheres. While set in a variety of geographic regions and spanning different historical time periods, a through line in these works is their concern for the embodied experience of atmospheres. They are also full of ghosts, monsters and unexplained apparitions, gaseous forms that demand our attention. These apparitions are not just figments of one’s imagination or mere frightened projections, they are made of real atmospheric effects that exist outside of human perception or narration of them.

Coolabah is the electronic journal of the paper edition journal formerly called EUCALYPT. It is the official journal of the Observatori: Centre d' Estudis Australians i Transnacionals - The Observatory: Australian and Transnational Studies Centre at the Universitat de Barcelona and aims for an academic audience and the interested general reader.

Special thanks to the journal editor Cornelis Martin Renes and all the readers who helped throught the process.