Janelle Vermaak-Griessel is a Senior Lecturer and HoD in the Department of Media and Communication at Nelson Mandela University, South Africa. Her research interests include film, fandom, collecting media studies and horror. Dr Vermaak-Griessel is a co-editor of the books Gender and Female Villains in 20th Century Fairy Tale Narratives: From Evil Queens to Wicked Witches (2022) and From Mainstream to Digital: South African Perspectives on Participatory Media Cultures (2025). She has published on fans of the Alien film franchise, as well as religion and fandom, and artificial feminism.