Author Archives: William the Bloody

About William the Bloody

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

William Gray, ‘Go into the woods – at your peril’

The Disney film of Stephen Sondheim’s darkly witty musical Into the Woods, with its ingenious interweaving of classic tales from the Grimms, is to be released soon. Here, Professor William Gray of the University of Chichester, Director of the Sussex … Continue reading

Posted in Critical thoughts | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – 150th Anniversary

Lewis Carroll’s two classic novels for children are not immediately Gothic, or related to the undead, but they are central to any research on the fantastic and on children’s literature. This is a very rich portal to resources on Alice’s … Continue reading

Posted in Resources | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

CFP: Victorian Authenticity & Artifice, 13-15 July 2015, Senate House, London

A conference by the Victorian Popular Literature Association. There is certainly room for work on fiction of the undead and other allied and suitably Gothic themes in popular literature. The organisers invite a broad, imaginative and interdisciplinary interpretation of the … Continue reading

Posted in CFP (Conferences), Conferences | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Alison Nastasi, ‘Beautiful Illustrations That Reimagine the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales’

And they are beautiful–visual interpretations by David Hockney, Edward Gorey, and others of the Grimm Brothers’ tales. In celebration of older brother Jacob Grimm’s birthday this week, we’re looking at beautifully illustrated retellings of the Grimms’ fairy tales by artists … Continue reading

Posted in Resources | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Miriam Allott Visting Writers Series: Bestselling Novelist Neil Gaiman, University of Liverpool, 5 March 2015

The (literally) marvellous Neil Gaiman–author of splendid works of fantasy, of graphic novels, and children’s literature–is at the University of Liverpool  in March to launch the Centre for New and International Writing.

Posted in Events | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Stephanie Gallon: An Interview with Dr Dale Townshend

Stephanie Gallon, from the Spectral Visions group at the University of Sunderland, conducts a fascinating interview with Dr Dale Townshend, Stirling University. Dale is an expert on the Romantic Gothic and the Gothic aspects of Shakespeare and is also the … Continue reading

Posted in Interviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rowan Williams: why we need fairy tales now more than ever

Rowan Williams reviews Marina Warner’s new book, Jack Zipes’s translation of the Grimms, and Malcolm Lyons’s translation of early Arabic wonder tales, and discusses the power of the fairy tale in a fascinating essay-review.

Posted in Books and Articles, Critical thoughts, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Call for Submissions — Spectral Visions: Grim Fairy Tales

Spectral Visions Press are calling for literary work in the mode of the Gothic fairy tale for their anthology, Spectral Visions: Grim Fairy Tales. I may have forgotten to post this before, but there is still time to submit short … Continue reading

Posted in Call for Articles | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Happy New Year!

I hope you all have a Happy Undead New Year. Be carnivalesque and abandoned, even if you don’t drink . . . wine.

Posted in Fun stuff | Tagged | Leave a comment

Ursula Le Guin: ‘Wizardry is artistry’

Not strictly Gothic, but affiliated with that genre, Ursula K Le Guin’s writing has certainly been groundbreaking in the genres of science fiction and high fantasy (including children’s/YA fiction). Her novels are thoughtfully radical and remarkably well-written (particularly for genres … Continue reading

Posted in Interviews | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment