Author Archives: Sam George

About Sam George

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

Gothic Blooms: The Dark Sunflower

Posted on 13th November 2015 by Sam George

Following my post on Bloody and Monstrous Flowers. I thought I would picture my gothic sunflower. I have grown black tulips in the past but this is much more beautiful and surprising. I have commented on flowers that are thought … Continue reading →

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Wolf Alice Late at the Library

Posted on 13th November 2015 by Sam George

There is a Late at the Library Fairy Tale and Wonderland Event at the BL on 21st November which looks really magical. You can see a performance of Wolf Alice and take part in some scarily dark adventures through mirrors … Continue reading →

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Bloody and Monstrous Flowers: These Tulips Should Be Behind Bars

Posted on 12th November 2015 by Sam George

There has been a lot of discussion about Poppies recently in relation to remembrance. I was outed as a botanist by a  journalist in The Independent  at the OGOM Company of Wolves conference because of my earlier work Botany, Sexuality … Continue reading →

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ITV This Morning: Frankenstein

Posted on 10th November 2015 by Sam George

Here’s some footage from ITV This Morning’s ‘History of Horror’ on Frankenstein with Charlie Higson, yours truly, Prof. William Hughes and Sir Chris Frayling. I seem to be the only one in the studio and they already had their narrative in place … Continue reading →

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Review of Gothic Manchester’s ‘What Lies Beneath’

Posted on 7th November 2015 by Sam George

There was a deep irony to my journey north for ‘‘What Lies Beneath’, the symposium to mark the Gothic Manchester Festival because what lay beneath the venue was a very big part of my youth – The Cornerhouse. Cornerhouse was … Continue reading →

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Black Dogs and Hell Hounds

Posted on 5th November 2015 by Sam George

Ted Hughes described this time of year as ‘The month of the drowned dog’ in his evocative poem ‘November’ where after long rain ‘the land  was sodden as the bed of an ancient lake/ Treed with iron and was bird … Continue reading →

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I Saw Three Witches

Posted on 31st October 2015 by Sam George

I saw three witches Asleep in a valley, Their heads in a row, like stones in a flood. Till the moon, creeping upward, Looked white through the valley, And turned them to bushes in bright scarlet bud. (From Walter de … Continue reading →

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How Did I Choose Me My Witchcraft Kin? My Past and Future in Witches

Posted on 28th October 2015 by Sam George

‘My Nannie says I’m a child of sin. How did I choose me my witchcraft kin?’ (Waterhouse, ‘The Magic Circle’, 1886, thanks to Janette for this) I found myself in the north of England at the weekend for the Gothic … Continue reading →

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CFA: OGOM Company of Wolves Book and Journal Issue

Posted on 16th October 2015 by Sam George

Thank you once more for your contribution to the wonderful Company of Wolves Conference. There was a diverse range of papers, all fascinating, and this was one of the factors that made the conference work so well. As promised, we … Continue reading →

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The Emergence of the Sympathetic or Reluctant Vampire in Twentieth-Century Culture

Posted on 13th October 2015 by Sam George

Following my post on the sympathetic witch I should add that I am thinking of Dark Shadows (1966-1971) as being the vampire equivalent of Bewitched (1964-72) and Barnabas Collins as the wonderfully reluctant vampire. Here’s the classic moment when Barnabas Collins is … Continue reading →

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