Monthly Archives: October 2014

The World’s Creepiest Museums: A Cabinet of Curiosities

Where are you going to find shrunken heads, ventriloquist dummies, giant parasites, automatons, rooms full of trolls, the castrating instruments of Benedictine monks, the penises of 93 different species and more? Enjoy the world’s creepiest museums A brilliant post – … Continue reading

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Halloween Playlist

This evening I will be attending LATE at the Library: The Sorting as part of the Terror and Wonder: The Gothic Imagination Exhibition at the British Library. I will be dressing up as is good and proper on these occasions, … Continue reading

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Halloween Werewolf: Company of Wolves

Something from the Wellcome to get you in the mood for the much awaited and awesome OGOM Company of Wolves conference. CFP posted shortly. Watch this space at Halloween!!! Wellcome Collection Halloween Werewolf

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The Guardian’s Top Ten vampire books

Quite an interesting list from The Guardian re: their  top-10-vampire-books. Some unusual choices (Ann Radcliffe as vampire slayer and a vampire parrot) but many blood sucking basics too. I am lucky to have a nice reprint of Florence Marryat’s Blood … Continue reading

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Review of Locating the Gothic conference

I write this whilst sitting in my hotel in Limerick, enjoying the free WiFi and a lovely cup of tea, having just come to the end of the ‘Locating the Gothic’ conference. I am feeling invigorated, re-energized, and raring to … Continue reading

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In defence of horror

A stimulating essay by Darryl Jones on the literary tradition of horror, which is not confined to the Gothic mode but appears in Greek tragedy. Shakespeare, and even James Joyce.

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** University of Sunderland Spectral Visions: Change of venue

The time and place for the University of Sunderland’s Spectral Visions event (where I will be talking on demon lovers and paranormal romance) has changed: Change of venue! We’ve moved across the road. The new venue is Gateway on Chester … Continue reading

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‘Into the Woods’: Go behind the scenes with Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, and more

I can’t wait to see this film version of Stephen Sondheim’s brilliant musical Into the Woods, where he weaves several of Grimms’ fairy tales into one witty interconnected narrative. Sondheim’s music and lyrics are perfect.

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What the historical inaccuracies in “Dracula Untold” tell us about the rise of Islamophobia

A thought-provoking article about anti-Islamic sentiments in the latest retelling of the Dracula tale, the film Dracula Untold.

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The Dead Men Stood Together Longlisted for the UKLA Children’s Book Award

Lancaster University’s Beyond Twilight blog on YA fiction resumes with a review of Chris Priestley’s novel, The Dead Men Stood Together, based on Coleridge’s ‘Rime of the Ancient mariner’. This looks a fascinating novel. Beyond Twilight was established by Catherine … Continue reading

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