Author Archives: Sam George

About Sam George

Associate Professor of Research, School of Humanities, University of Hertfordshire Co-convenor OGOM Project

The Return of the Wolf

 ‘We mourned your death, we were saddened by your exile. We rejoice in your return’ (Levi Holt, a descendant of the Nez Perce tribe, on the wolf).   The BBC this week broke the joyful story of Denmark’s new wolf pack (Denmark … Continue reading

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What to do when the Folk Horror is us

Tomorrow marks the publication of the eagerly awaited ‘Folk Horror: Hours Dreadful and Things Strange’ by Adam Scovell (Auteur publishing, 2017). Scovell has defined such genres in relation to (mostly British) landscape as ‘the evil under the soil, the terror in … Continue reading

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May Day for Goth Girls

I’m posting this wonderful image for all the goth girls, to celebrate May Day, and because it is half way to Hallowe’en!! Also because I was named after Sam played by Elizabeth Montgomery in Bewitched (my sisters also have witchy … Continue reading

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Ring-a-ring-a Widdershins: It’s Walpurgis Night and Halfway to Hallowe’en!

  It’s Walpurgis Night  (Walpurgisnacht or Valborgsmässoafton),  the night that marks the transition from winter to spring, falling on the eve of the first of May. It’s also halfway to Halloween!! Kaja will like that!  In folk tradition, witches and … Continue reading

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Gothicise and Supernatural Cities

I’m setting up a permanent link (in the Related Links column on the right) from the site to the art collaborative Gothicise,  which was launched in 2010. Gothicise create site-specific performances that interrogate the relationship between site and narrative including the 2015 … Continue reading

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Do Witches Steal Egg Shells: The Curious Origins of the Easter Bunny and the First Hot X Bun

My childhood Easters always revolved around ‘egg rolling’ which would take place before Easter breakfast and would be signalled by a loud announcement that it was ‘egg rolling time’. The eggs were hard boiled and decorated the night before with … Continue reading

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Is A Yorkshire Village Home to the First Plague of English Vampires?

Today news broke of a number of mutilated corpses uncovered in a Yorkshire village called Wharram Percy. The medieval English villagers showed widespread belief in the undead returning as revenants or reanimated corpses. They fought back against the risk of … Continue reading

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10K Shares for OGOM Wolves and Werewolves Research!!

The university press office have confirmed that we have had a remarkable 10,000 shares for coverage of our Company of Wolves project in The Independent.  This is an astounding testimony to the impact of our wolfish research and is excellent news … Continue reading

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Fairy Tale Hybridity: What Kind of Animal is Beast in ‘Beauty and the Beast’?

‘Beauty and the Beast’ belongs to the Animal Groom cycle of fairy tales alongside ‘The Frog King’ and ‘Cupid and Psyche’.  I have always been intrigued by what kind of animal Beast is in this tale.  In his twenty first-century … Continue reading

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Folklore and Fiction: Hybrid Creatures from the Owl Man to the Demon Dog

I am always pleased to find references to English folklore so I just wanted to make mention of this lively and accessible article by Nic Rigby from the BBC site. Serpents, Owl Men and Demon Dogs discusses the way British writers have … Continue reading

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