Author Archives: William the Bloody

About William the Bloody

Cat lover. 18C scholar on the dialogue and novel. Co-convenor OGOM Project

Art project: Martin O’Brien: For The Dead Travel Fast

Posted on 17th May 2017 by William the Bloody

A great opportunity here for artists who have Undead affinities with Martin O’Brien and the For The Dead Travel Fast project, with funded workshops and visits to Dracula-related sites in Whitby and Transylvania. This project will take 5 artists on … Continue reading →

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The Postmillennial Vampire

Posted on 16th May 2017 by William the Bloody

Congratulations to Dr Sue Chaplin of Leeds Beckett University on her new book, The Postmillennial Vampire: Power, Sacrifice and Simulation in True Blood, Twilight and Other Contemporary Narratives, out now from Palgrave Macmillan. This book explores the contemporary figure of … Continue reading →

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Fairy Tale Pathology

Posted on 13th May 2017 by William the Bloody

To my mind, this advice by Sandhya Raghavan on ‘6 famous fairy tales you should never let your child read‘ seems like parody; these readings, if serious, are reductive, mechanistic, and unimaginative. Yet the alleged harmful effects of fairy tales … Continue reading →

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Edward Gorey

Posted on 13th May 2017 by William the Bloody

A very interesting essay by Gabrielle Bellot on Edward Gorey, artist and narrator of dark Gothic humour.

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Ursula Le Guinn, The Left Hand of Darkness

Posted on 13th May 2017 by William the Bloody

One of the most important science fiction novels, Ursula Le Guinn’s  The Left Hand of Darkness is to be televised. The novel is a profound and moving exploration of the fluidity of gender; it’s also beautifully written, which is rare … Continue reading →

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The Obscure Cities

Posted on 11th May 2017 by William the Bloody

These illustrations from François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters’s series of graphic novels, Les Cités Obscures depict a marvellous steampunk-ish parallel world that I hope you find delightful. Thanks to the Messy Nessy Cabinet of Chic Curiosities website, which is full of treats … Continue reading →

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Kafka in animation

Posted on 11th May 2017 by William the Bloody

The excellent Open Culture website (a marvellous repository of open source texts of all kinds) has four wonderful animations from around the world of Franz Kafka’s dark fables.

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Red Riding Hood and Illustrations

Posted on 11th May 2017 by William the Bloody

Pook Press are a small independent publisher who do some lovely editions of fairy tales and classic children’s literature. Every fortnight, they post a different fairy tale on their blog; this is Perrault’s very familiar version of ‘Red Riding Hood‘, … Continue reading →

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Jack Zipes on the Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Posted on 11th May 2017 by William the Bloody

The renowned fairy tale critic Jack Zipes has a new book out on the diverse manifestations of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice motif in folklore and literature, from Lucian and Ovid, through the Grimms, to Harry Potter. There’s a thought-provoking interview with … Continue reading →

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Penda’s Fen: Symposium, BFI, 10 June 2017

Posted on 11th May 2017 by William the Bloody

We’ve posted a few items here on Folk Horror recently. The classic TV drama Penda’s Fen (1974) is frequently mentioned in this context; I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve never seen it (though have just borrowed the DVD). Sukhdev Sandhu writes about … Continue reading →

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