The Open Graves, Open Minds Project began by unearthing depictions of the vampire and the undead in literature, art, and other media, then embraced werewolves (and representations of wolves and wild children), fairies, and other supernatural beings and their worlds. The Project extends to all narratives of the fantastic, the folkloric, and the magical, emphasising that sense of Gothic as enchantment rather than simply horror. Through this, OGOM is articulating an ethical Gothic, cultivating moral agency and creating empathy for the marginalised, monstrous or othered, including the disenchanted natural world.
Due to the wonderful response to our CFP for Sea Changes: The fairy tale Gothic of mermaids, selkies, and enchanted hybrids of ocean and river the conference will now take place over three days rather than two from 6-8 September 2025. Saturday 6th will be online (via Teams) with the 7th and 8th taking place in-person at The Knowledge Centre at the British Library. Our keynotes will be spread over the 3 days. The online day (Sat) will have a special focus on writing and mermaid fiction. The plenary talks will be by Monique Roffey, author of The Mermaid of Black Conch, on Caribbean mermaids; Betsy Cornwell, author of selkie novel Tides, on herforthcoming selkie-inspired autobiography Ring of Salt, and Dr Katie Garner on her Forging the Scottish Mermaid Project. The in-person days will have more of a gothic theme with keynotes from Prof Catherine Spooner, ‘Mermaid Glitter: Femininity, vibrant matter and environmental politics’, and Assoc. Prof Sam George, ‘The Luck of the Ningyō: Hybridity and the rise of the fake museum mermaid’.
The conference pages and full programme will be posted on this website shortly. The prices for tickets for the conference will be as follows:
Standard Fee full conference
£160.00
Standard Online Fee Day 1
£35.00
Standard Fee Day 2
£80.00
Standard Fee Day 3
£80.00
PG/Unwaged Fee full conference
£95.00
PG/Unwaged Online Fee Day 1
£25.00
PG/Unwaged Fee Day 2
£47.50
PG/Unwaged Fee Day 3
£47.50
We’re beyond excited to welcome everyone and certain the conference will make a real splash (pardon the pun). We have some surprises for delegates and attendees, including a mini exhibition of illustrated mermaid books from the British Library collections that we are planning to be on display at the venue during the conference. Gothtastic!
For enquiries, please email ogomproject[@]gmail[dot]com
The latest issue of Hellebore is a little bit special as it is the Elemental issue for Beltane 2025. I have contributed an article on ‘Fairy Lepidoptera’ which shows the fae to be part of a shadowy tradition allied to the soul’s flight and to butterflies and moths. Also featuring in this issue are Francis Young, ‘An Earthly History of the British Gnome’ and Veronica Strang, ‘Summoning the Water Serpent’, together with lively essays on the wind and the witch, healing stones, stormbringers, and megaliths. The art work is outstanding and the issue is brilliantly edited by Maria L Perez Cuervo. If you haven’t familiarised yourself with Hellebore yet than this issue might be the one to get. The back catalogue is well worth an online browse too via helleborezine.com.
“The most erudite journal on the current scene to deal with Paganism, magic and folklore in the realms of modern history, fiction and popular culture… Ever-exciting and always accessible.” (Ronald Hutton)
Three of our OGOM PhD students are taking part in Mind the Gap: Creative Arts Research Student Showcase next week where they will give an overview of their research.
Date: Wednesday 21st May, 9.30-5.15
Venue: University of Hertfordshire, College Lane Campus, ASE Building
I will be there in my role as supervisor to cheer them along. Their papers will be as follows:
Jane Gill, ‘Ecophobia and the Monstrous Feminine in Nineteenth-Century Gothic Literature and Visual Art (1800-1920)’
Rebecca Greef, ‘Deals with the Devil: The Faustian Bargain in Young Adult Literature’
Shabnam Ahsan, ‘Strange Creatures: National Identity and the Representation of the Other in British Fairytale Collections From 1878 to the Present’
Good luck everyone!! These are fascinating research areas!
My Neighbour Totoro, winner of six Olivier Awards, is now playing at the Gillian Lynne Theatre in London’s West End. The show is an adaptation of the 1988 animated feature film (dir. by Hayao Miyazaki) from Studio Ghibli and is performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company (Executive Producer Joe Hisaishi, directed by Phelim McDermott, and adapted by Tom Morton-Smith (writer of the play Oppenheimer (2015)).
From the moment the show began, I was transported into a magical world set in 1950s rural Japan. A charming tuk-tuk-style van chugs across the stage, carrying Satsuki, Mei, and their father as they move from the bustling city of Tokyo to their new home in the countryside. Their move isn’t just a change of scenery—it’s a heartfelt decision to be closer to their mother, who is recovering in a nearby hospital. Joe Hisaishi successfully brings the magic of the animated tale to the stage with apparently effortless style. We are about to reconnect with the child inside all of us.
The tale
Right away, the contrast between the bright lights of Tokyo and the quiet rural setting is evident, emphasising that the family are newcomers to the community. This sense of being outsiders not only adds an intriguing layer to their journey but also introduces a subtle gothic touch that isn’t as pronounced in the animated version.
This gothic atmosphere is further enhanced by the eerie presence of soot sprites in the creaky old house. Whispers of hauntings fill the air, reinforcing the house’s unsettling aura. The property is cared for by an elderly neighbour, affectionately known as ‘Granny’, who bears a striking resemblance to Granny Oldknow from The Children of Green Knowe. She reassures the girls, explaining that ‘if the soot sprites decide they like you, they’ll just leave you alone’. But this raises an unsettling question—what happens if they don’t?
The soot sprites soon recognise that the family are good people, and under the glow of the full moon, they take their leave, drifting away and granting the newcomers peace. It is then that Totoro and his friends make their first appearance, leaving behind a mysterious trail of acorns. Mei eagerly follows, leading to a whimsical moment where the creatures emerge from beneath the stage in a playful ‘whack-a-mole’-style reveal.
The show’s message is clear: be kind to nature, and the spirits of the forest will be kind to you. Yet beneath this gentle wisdom lies a more unsettling implication—what if one isn’t respectful? Could the forest spirits, so full of wonder and mischief, also be capable of something far more ominous? The girls are able to see the elusive forest spirits, as only children can. They are taken on a magical adventure in the enchanted forest under the giant Camphor tree that they, nor I, will ever forget.
Transformation: From screen to stage
In Hayao Miyazaki’s animated version, Mei is playing in the garden of the haunted cottage when she finds a broken bucket, looks through a hole in the bottom of it and sees a gleaming acorn winking at her from the grass. The film then takes viewers on a magical journey through the forest where we, along with Mei and Satsuki, encounter mystical creatures including ones that Mei dubs ‘totoro’ as that is what their vocalisations sound like to her child’s ears. These forest creatures resemble huge owls or badgers or bears and it is their refusal to fit into any particular folkloric or natural category that adds to their gothic nature. The film draws out the child inside us all.
Joe Hisaishi successfully recreated the feel of the original film and brought its magic to the stage. The giant Totoro, the cat bus and the soot sprites all adhered to the spirit and ethos of Studio Ghibli. In the manner of C. S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the girls enter into a magical land, the enchanted forest: a spooky place but an underwhelming atmosphere as the smoke machines created a somewhat half-hearted mist on the ground. The spirits are benevolent, and the girls are not frightened (though I think I would be!). They have a sense of child-like wonder. The forest spirits are playful and kind and protect the girls. Satsuki and Mei are fantastically portrayed, but the show is as much a testament to the skills of the puppeteers and the special effects team.
The stage adaptation of My Neighbour Totoro subtly weaves in gothic themes more distinctly than the animated film. The contrast between bustling Tokyo and the quiet countryside emphasises the family’s outsider status, adding a sense of isolation. The old, creaky house—rumoured to be haunted—intensifies the eerie atmosphere, especially with the appearance of soot sprites, mysterious and ghost-like entities. Granny, the caretaker, offers cryptic reassurance, hinting at the sprites’ unpredictable nature: they may leave you alone if they like you.
This ambiguity introduces a sinister undertone—what if the spirits aren’t kind? Even Totoro and his forest companions, though whimsical, resist categorisation and carry an uncanny, almost folkloric mystique. The children’s ability to see them while adults cannot adds a layer of magical realism, tinged with the eerie. While the spirits ultimately protect the girls, there’s an unspoken threat beneath the surface: nature is powerful, magical—and possibly dangerous if disrespected.
(Jane Gill is a doctoral student at the University of Hertfordshire. Her PhD examines the monstrous feminine in nineteenth-century literature from an eco-Gothic perspective.)
I will be chairing the Literature Research Seminar Series again this semester. These talks are free to attend on Zoom and take place on Wednesdays at 1.30 for an hour. They represent staff and doctoral students in Literature and Creative Writing at the School of Creative Arts at the University of Hertfordshire. Do join us for a friendly forum online.
Published by Bowen -Merrill, 1901
1.30 Wednesday April 9
Brian Jukes, Doctoral Student, ‘Education as Body Horror: Hybridity and Specialisation in H. G. Wells’s The First Men in the Moon, 1901.’
Nick Lane’s adaptation of Dracula preserves the eerie essence of Bram Stoker’s classic while adding a fresh, contemporary twist. The promotional blurb promises that ‘as a new shadow looms large over England, a small group of young men and women, led by Professor Van Helsing, are plunged into an epic struggle for survival’, and Lane delivers on this atmospheric promise with a gripping performance. The show is recommended for age 12+, which is an accurate rating as the horror is implicit throughout the production. The show is a digestible length at 150 minutes (including the interval).
Exactly one hundred years ago, at Derby’s old Grand Theatre, Dracula strode onto the stage for the first time. The venue closed in 1950, so the character outlived his theatrical birthplace. Blackeyed Theatre is on tour with a new version of Dracula to mark the centenary. The theatre group offer a vastly different Count Dracula to Hamilton Deane’s original. Nick Lane offers something new by dispensing with the dinner suit and opera cloak as well as the fangs made famous by Christopher Lee. This production adheres to the standard style of the Blackeyed Theatre, the emphasis being on words instead of action, but it is still imaginative, with a strong and passionate cast.
The play is structured in two acts. Act One unfolds from Jonathan Harker’s perspective, offering a glimpse into the harrowing events as seen through his eyes. Act Two then circles back to the beginning of the story, this time immersing the audience in Renfield’s point of view. Both acts stay true to the epistolary format of Stoker’s novel, maintaining the original structure while providing a fresh narrative lens that adds depth to the characters and the story. Lane’s adaptation strikes a brilliant balance between honouring the classic source material and giving it a dynamic, modern edge. Nick Lane recreates the de-ageing process by having three progressively younger actors playing the Count. This works well to an extent, but it does result in a loss of the fear factor for the Count, as with each character change we are somewhat taken out of the action in having to get used to a new actor playing the Count.
In spite of these shortcomings, there is still much to admire about the production. The six actors (Maya-Nika Bewley, David Chafer, Richard Keightley, Pelé Kelland-Beau, Marie Osman and Harry Rundle) play multiple roles, moving effortlessly from one character to another. They also take it in turns to be narrators as they relate the story through letters, diary entries and newspaper articles. Osman is outstanding with a thrilling display as Lucy Westenra, being transformed from an independent, modern-thinking woman into a possessed vampire whose charms have to be resisted.
It has been said that each era produces the monster it needs. This is very much the case here. Nick Lane’s monster, as a product of social mores, is in many ways similar to Vecna from the Duffer Brothers’ Stranger Things. Apparently, the monster that this generation needs is capable of breaking human bodies just by using mind power. Nick Lane explained in an interview that he ‘wanted to explore the idea that there is a more complex side to the human struggle against vampyrism’. Lane’s production attempts to explain what is happening biologically to the humans after the vampire attacks. Blood is drawn from the neck, but it is an exchange of fluids that takes over the victim’s personality. Since the first vampire attack occurs an hour into the production, the audience is subjected to a long-winded revelation of the human battle against vampirism. To Lane’s credit, he does give Dracula the voice that he lacks in the novel. If you enjoy productions that are politically correct and cast actors of a different gender or skin colour, then this certainly does so. Nick Lane casts a black woman to play both Lucy and Renfield. This is a positive step, but I would argue that Lane would have done better to create entirely fresh characters and consider writing from the vampire’s point of view. I enjoyed the atmospheric nature of the production, but it did feel rather long-winded in the first act. It held my attention admirably, but it could have benefitted from more ‘bite’. It could be described as Dracula for Academics.
(Jane Gill is a doctoral student at the University of Hertfordshire. Her PhD examines the monstrous feminine in nineteenth-century literature from an eco-Gothic perspective.)
Congratulations to OGOM member Daisy Butcher who passed her viva on Friday. Daisy’s project was praised by the examiners for being a great read and something of a page turner – its originality and rigour was very much in evidence. From a supervisor’s point of view the thesis: ‘Monsters of (In)fertility: The Plant Woman and the Female Mummy in Victorian Gothic Literature’ was a joy. The examiners saw an original & important book in the making and we are all looking forward to this becoming a reality in the near future.
Thanks to Dr Rowland Hughes and Professor Ruth Heholt for examining the thesis.
Daisy will be staying with OGOM and we are pleased to say that she will be co-hosting the online provision of our Sea Changes Conference on mermaids and enchanted hybrids in September. We will be supporting Daisy in a conference on Botanical Gothic in the near future too (a chance to hear her talk on her famous fleur fatales). Gothtastic! You are a star Daisy!
Northumbria University, UK; 29-30 May 2025 Deadline: 14 March 2025
The event seeks to explore areas and approaches that have not yet been adequately accounted for or represented in the field, encompassing (but not limited to):
The diversity of perspectives, identities, and voices that comprise Horror Studies and horror production
Independent horror production, alternative histories, and horror produced outside of Europe and North America
The field’s methodological richness, including archival approaches, audience research, practice-based research, and new theoretical perspectives
The breadth of cultural perspectives that inform Horror Studies and horror media
Papers that address horror in all its media forms including games, film, comics, music, social media, television, literature, art, and so forth
Deborah Hyde, Writer and Folklorist Greenwich Skeptics in the Pub; The Duke of Greenwich91 Colomb St, Greenwich, SE10 9EZ; 19:30 19 March 2025
One of my favourite stories; a tale of eerie fae and close to OGOM’s current research into Gothic fairies.
Two children appeared in the harvest fields of twelfth-century East Anglia. They were wearing strange clothes, they didn’t speak English … and they were green. We would probably dismiss this as a story or strange imagining, except that there are two independent and reputable sources for the tale. What can we say today about this strange event? Were the people of Woolpit visited by the fairies?
In stories retold for generations, wondrous worlds and magnificent characters have defined the genre of European fairy tales with little recognition of a defining aspect – racism and racialised thinking. Within the classic tales of Giambattista Basile, Marie-Catherine d’Aulnoy, the Grimms, and Andrew and Nora Lang, Kimberly J. Lau teases apart and historicises the racialised themes and ideologies embedded within fairy tales spanning the early 17th to early 20th centuries. Lau provides a new framework for understanding European fairy tales in the milieux in which they were created, bringing distant and ethereal worlds back to earth. Free and open to all.
The Folklore Society Presidential Address 2025 by Prof. David Hopkin looks at traditional narratives of soldiers 16 September 2025 5:30 – 6:30pm GMT (Online)
Following my 2024 lecture on ‘The Sailor’s Tale’, in this address I look at another occupational group–soldiers–who were also associated with a specific genre of oral literature. Perhaps surprisingly, the fairytale was soldiers’ preferred genre of narrative, albeit of a particular kind. A shared fund of narratives circulated among soldiers of different European nations, well into the early twentieth century.
Looking at digitisation and digital tools in preserving folk traditions, and creating new ones 29 March 2025 9:30am – 5:30pm GMT (Online)
Following on from our ‘Digital Folklore’ conference in June 2024, we are holding a one-day online conference ‘Folklore and the Digital’, looking at the digitisation of folklore collections, large language models, digital tools in preserving folk traditions and creating new ones, social media and digital communities.
Sarah Covington turns to examples from Ireland to think in new ways about the relationship between history and folklore 17 June 2025 7 – 8:30pm GMT+1 (Online)
This talk will use the folklore of Ireland as a way to urge scholars and students to think in new ways about the relationship between history and folklore, and the how both could be transformed by more recent theoretical “turns.”
Tommy Kuusela, On Scandinavian legends and folk beliefs about changelings from court records, customs and rites, and memorates 6 May 2025 7 – 8:30pm GMT+1 (Online)
In this talk, I will look at stories of changelings from Scandinavia and concentrate on those that are not strictly folk legends, but rather stories that spring from everyday folk belief: including court records, customs and rites, and memorates. These cases make it clear that parents fully believed that their children had been changed. From these records we learn of acts that were meant to force counter exchanges, leading to charges of murder, superstition or witchcraft.
Resources
We have links to many affiliated websites (of key authors and academic groups, for example) and blogs, plus relevant journals on our home page and the Blog and Resources pages–we think you’ll find them very useful. We’ve just added links to Deborah Hyde’s page (she ‘wants to know why people believe in weird stuff’ – its’ a fascinating site for sceptics of the supernatural) and to the revamped (I really didn’t intend that!) site of The Association for the Study of Buffy+. There’s also a link to the brilliant bibliography for romance studies, the Romance Scholarship DB.
Happy New Year from OGOM to you all!! Sorry for the scarcity of posts but illness and workloads have taken their toll. But there are some exciting events for 2025 already in the world of the Gothic and fantastic, the folkloric and fabulous.
We’d also just like to remind you all about the OGOM publication, The Legacy of John Polidori: The Romantic vampire and its progeny, ed. by Sam George and Bill Hughes (Manchester University Press, 2024). I blogged about it here for MUP, where I talk about how special Polidori was in the rise of vampire fiction and the importance of his legacy.
This is an incredibly exciting new project involving the publication of the eight-volume The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Ann Radcliffe, edited by Michael Gamer and Angela Wright and an impressive editorial team; plus a conference, reading groups, and public lectures. I, for one, am thrilled, and looking forward to the conference!
Ann Radcliffe, Then and Now is a three-year AHRC-funded project that seeks to re-establish Ann Radcliffe (1764–1823) as a major figure in British literature of the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, as well as to commemorate her as a pioneering writer whose influence is still of considerable cultural significance today.
This relaunch on 22 February 2025 at Trinity College, Dublin is another exciting project, invaluable especially for postgraduates and ECRs based in Ireland.
We are holding an in-person networking event on Saturday 22 February 2025, in the Long Room Hub, Trinity College Dublin. During this event, we will be re-launching the Irish Network for Gothic and Horror Studies (INGHS). The Network will be affiliated with the Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies.
This event will establish the network as an informal vehicle for promoting the work of Gothic and horror scholars (whether they be affiliated or independent) and creative practitioners from throughout the island of Ireland.
The British Library, London, UK, and online; 6–8 September 2025 (6th on line) Deadline: 7 February 2025
We’d first just like to remind you of OGOM’s next fabulous conference – the deadline for submissions is not that far away!
Mermaids, selkies, and other such hybrid aquatic creatures, especially their global equivalents, facilitate the interaction between humanity and nature (both inner and outer). In their Gothic aspect and engagement with darkness, they may adumbrate a re-enchantment of the disenchanted world (following Weber and Adorno); reconciliation with Otherness; and new relationships with the natural world. We are looking for presentations that look at narratives of merfolk and their kin in the light of their Gothic aspects and that highlight their connection with folklore, dwelling on the enchantment of their strange fluidity. We invite contributors to create a dialogue amidst these sea changes into something rich and strange.
University College Cork, Ireland, and on line (hybrid); 20–22 June 2025 Deadline: 31 January 2025
This looks a brilliant conference and the deadline is approaching fast!
How does folklore treat the instruments through which we sense—our eyes, ears, nose, skin, fingers, mouth, tongue…? What do tastes, smells and other sensory experiences mean in tradition? What happens when we are deprived of our senses, voluntarily or involuntarily? And what does folklore tell us when our senses stop making sense—experiences of things heard but not seen, seen but not heard? When must we, traditionally, refute the evidence of our senses? And of course what we ‘feel’ can be felt in more ways than one, through the heart for instance. Folklore is communication, but there are many ways to communicate: the kiss, the grip, the sign, the gesture… Can we talk about visual folklore, olfactory folklore, the touch or savour of folklore?
Manchester Metropolitan University, 25–27 June 2025 Deadline: 28 February 2025
Physical crossroads have long been sites where the human, divine and demonic were felt to converge and potent sites for magical, religious encounters, rituals of transformation, binding of undesirable spirits, siting of gallows and links to ancient cosmology. This conference also considers the crossroads as a space where the boundaries between differing spheres are negotiable, asking what it means to walk in the interdisciplinary pathways and cross currents of the Gothic.
LARCA (Université Paris Cité), CELIS (Université Clermont Auvergne); in collaboration with the International Vernon Lee Society Bâtiment Olympe de Gouges, 8 Place Paul-Ricoeur, Paris; 18–19 September 2025 Deadline: 1 March 2025
The work of Vernon Lee (1856-1935), a cosmopolitan British author and essayist who was precociously European-minded, covers a vast field, from neo-Gothic fiction to travel writing, aesthetic theory, theater and political essays. This work establishes a particular dialogue with past and contemporary literary traditions, whether it be fantasy literature (Hauntings, 1890) or authors of the decadent movement such as Oscar Wilde, or even French authors (notably Théophile Gautier, with whom she shares an interest in the art of Antiquity).
But beyond this intertextual dimension, the reader is struck by the essential part played in her production by the discourse on art as a whole [. . .] to such an extent that some short stories are constructed in direct reference to specific paintings or musical pieces, [. . .]
We may therefore wonder to what extent the place given to other arts in Lee’s writings [. . .] results in the construction of truly intermedial aesthetics, which blends literary narrative devices with a broader aesthetics (pictorial and musical) that is evoked and implemented in the texts.
Hosted by Falmouth University, and co-sponsored by Northeastern University Falmouth University, UK; Wed 16th-Sat 19th July 2025 Deadline: 17 March 2025
This conference explores haunted modernities and spectral futures of all sorts. Looking back to the past as a haunted space and forward to the ‘spectres’ of the future, we want ‘Haunted Modernities’ to be indicative of wide open spaces and fruitful intersections in scholarship and practice. Whether work is hyper-local, global, or interstellar we welcome imaginative, creative, ethical, and diverse discussions from all disciplines and subject areas. As well as traditional papers, creative practice work is also invited in whatever form – written, film, audio, performance, exhibitions etc.
Romancing the Gothic On line; 23-24 August 2025 Deadline: 10 April 2025
In 1925, M R James published his final collection of ghostly tales: A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories. Often thought of as a writer of ‘ghost stories’, James’ works span a range of supernatural manifestations and generically sit on the cusp of the ghostly and weird. James’ name has become almost synonymous with the ghostly tale and many of his works have been adapted. This conference seeks to explore not only James’ work but also its legacy and it aims to put James’ work within the wider context of ghostly, supernatural and weird writing on both a national and international level. We therefore welcome papers on writers and artists from any historical period and any country.
Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland, and on line; 18–20 June 2025 Deadline: 10 February 2025
The coast is a region readily identified by its distinctive soundscapes. This conference – co-run by the Haunted Shores and Macabre Danse networks – invites contributions that attend to the wealth of gothic, weird, and uncanny media that explore and exploit the haunting potential of the coast’s unquiet atmospheres. [. . .] We welcome papers, panels, or workshops on anything relating to sound or hearing on the shore, in coastal waters, or inland coastal regions, from any time period, form, media, genre, or theoretical approach – including, but not limited to, the sonic gothic, coastal studies, adaptation, the blue humanities, ballet gothic, and more.
The Peer hat, Faraday Street, Manchester, UK; 1 February 2025
Music, poetry, and talks exploring the theme of the Holy Grail. This looks an exciting all-day event!
We live in dark times, facing down existential destruction from a bewildering array of angles. What solution is there to be found, short of accepting our fate and rejoicing into the dark, until the last fire has burnt out? Perhaps none. But what if the horror came not from the last dance, but from the possibility that there might be a greater call to a heavy responsibility? What if merely sitting back and watching as the world falls into night, is not our destiny? What if we are called to set out into that night in search of…something; in search of something unknowable and unprovable? This edition of the Manchester Folk Horror explores this idea. It is not a call to activism. It is a call to head forth into the utter unknown, with nothing so much as one’s soul at stake.
We can’t wait to welcome Virginia Feito to the shop to discussion her gruesomely brilliant new novel VICTORIAN PSYCHO, which probes the psyche of a bloodthirsty governess in Victorian England. Virginia will be in conversation with Xavier Aldana Reyes, a founder of the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies.
John Clark, The Folklore Society, online talk; 19:00–20:30, 18 March 2025
The three butterfly-winged ‘dancing fairies’ in the first photograph taken by Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths at Cottingley Beck in July 1917 were cut-outs based upon a drawing of fairies that had appeared in a book called Princess Mary’s Gift Book (1915). The drawing, by Claude Shepperson, was an illustration for a poem by distinguished poet Alfred Noyes ‘A spell for a fairy’.
Surprisingly, a mishmash of magic rituals Noyes describes, to summon fairies and make them visible, can be traced back to original spells in one of the ‘magical’ manuscripts of Elias Ashmole (1617–1692) in the Bodleian Library. Yet central to Noyes’s poem are concerns that are very much of his own time.
The immediate inspiration of Shepperson’s image of dancing fairies is also unexpected, lying not in contemporary ‘fairy’ depictions like those by Arthur Rackham, but apparently in another art form entirely.
And we also look at the career of the art-historian/occultist Fred Gettings who in the 1970s was the first to recognise the source of the Cottingley Fairies in Shepperson’s drawing.
A reminder that the Gothic Herts Reading Group will be discussing Poe’s The Raven this week in relation to ecophobia via ‘Deep Into That Darkness Peering‘ by Tom J. Hillard. The session is on Wed 10th December 2024 at 7.00 GMT time online. If you are interested in attending please email the organisers on gothicherts@outlook.com to get a link and browse the website. The group is run by two of OGOM’s doctoral students, Jane Gill and Rebecca Greef. All are welcome. Do go along if you are a fan of Poe or just like all things gothicky. There’s a brilliant reading of ‘The Raven’ by Alan Rickman which is strongly recommended. Do listen!!
Marina Warner
Marina Warner is a writer of fiction, criticism and history; her works include novels and short stories as well as studies of art, myths, symbols and fairytales.
Centre for Myth Studies, University of Essex
The Centre It promotes the study of myth, from ancient to modern, and raises awareness of the importance of myth within the contemporary world.
Mythopoeic Society
The Mythopoeic Society is a non-profit organization devoted to the study of mythopoeic literature, particularly the works of members of the informal Oxford literary circle known as the “Inklings.”
Sheffield Gothic
Sheffield Gothic is a collective group of Postgraduate Students in the School of English at The University of Sheffield with a shared interest in all things Gothic.
American Gothic Studies
American Gothic Studies is the official journal of the Society for the Study of the American Gothic (SSAG), which promotes and advances the study of the American Gothic
Echinox Journal
Caietele Echinox is a biannual academic journal in world and comparative literature, dedicated to the study of the social, historical, cultural, religious, literary and arts imaginaries
Folklore
Journal of The Folklore Society. A fully peer-reviewed international journal of folklore and folkloristics, in printed and digital format
Gothic Nature
Gothic Nature: New Directions in Ecohorror and the Ecogothic
Gothic Studies
The official journal of the International Gothic Association considers the field of Gothic studies from the eighteenth century to the present day.
International Journal of Young Adult Literature
an academic peer-reviewed journal dedicated to publishing original and serious scholarship on young adult literature from all parts of the world.
Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies
The Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies (ISSN 2009-0374) is a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary, electronic publication dedicated to the study of Gothic and horror literature, film, new media and television.
Journal of Popular Romance Studies
The Journal of Popular Romance Studies is a double-blind peer reviewed interdisciplinary journal exploring popular romance fiction and the logics, institutions, and social practices of romantic love in global popular culture.
Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts
An interdisciplinary journal devoted to the study of the fantastic in Literature, Art, Drama, Film, and Popular Media
Monsters and the Monstrous
Monsters and the Monstrous is a biannual peer reviewed global journal that serves to explore the broad concept of “The Monster” and “The Monstrous” from a multifaceted inter-disciplinary perspective.
Studies in the Fantastic
Studies in the Fantastic is a journal devoted to the Speculative, Fantastic, and Weird in literature and other arts
Supernatural Studies
Supernatural Studies is a peer-reviewed journal that promotes rigorous yet accessible scholarship in the growing field of representations of the supernatural, the speculative, the uncanny, and the weird.
The Lion and the Unicorn
The Lion and the Unicorn, an international theme- and genre-centered journal, is committed to a serious, ongoing discussion of literature for children.
Victorian Popular Fictions Journal
Victorian Popular Fictions is the journal of the Victorian Popular Fiction Association. The VPFA is a forum for the dissemination and discussion of new research into nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century popular narrativeo
Related Links
Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index
The Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index is a classification numeric system created to group similar folktales from different cultures
ACADEmy
LSAD centre for research into Art, Curatorial Studies, Applied Design and Art and Design Education
African Religions
With the Yoruba Religion Reader and similar resources
Angela Carter Society
Promoting the study and appreciation of the life and work of Angela Carter
Art Passions
Art Passions: Fairy Tales are the Myths We Live By
Asian Gothic
Asian Gothic appears as an attempt to make sense of the vast and diverse body of Asian literature, film, television, games, comics and other forms of cultural production by reading these texts from a Gothic perspective
British Association for Romantic Studies (BARS)
The UK’s leading national organisation for promoting the study of Romanticism and the history and culture of the period from which it emerged.
British Association for Victorian Studies (BAVS)
The British Association for Victorian Studies (BAVS) is a multidisciplinary organisation dedicated to the advancement and dissemination of knowledge about the Victorian period.
Byron Society
The Byron Society celebrates the life and works of Lord George Gordon Byron (1788-1824), a poet, traveller and revolutionary
Cambridge Research Network for Fairy-Tale Studies
The Cambridge Research Network for Fairy-Tale Studies is an open space at the University of Cambridge aimed at connecting researchers with an interest in fairy tales across different disciplines and scholarly perspectives.
Centre for Myth Studies, University of Essex
The Centre It promotes the study of myth, from ancient to modern, and raises awareness of the importance of myth within the contemporary world.
Deborah Hyde
Deborah Hyde wants to know why people believe in weird stuff. She attributes her fascination with the supernatural to having spent her childhood with mad aunties. She approaches the subject using the perspectives of psychology and history.
Fairyist: The Fairy Investigation Society
A website that will gather together sources, links, bibliographical references and discussions on fairies and related supernatural creatures
Folklore Society
The Folklore Society (FLS) is a learned society, based in London, devoted to the study of all aspects of folklore and tradition, including: ballads, folktales, fairy tales, myths, legends, traditional song and dance, folk plays, games, seasonal events, ca
Ghoul Guides
Home to the Ghoul Guides – a digital multimedia project devoted to exploring, understanding, and enjoying the wonders and weirdness of the Gothic
Gothic Feminism
Gothic Feminism is a research project based at the University of Kent which seeks to re-engage with theories of the Gothic and reflect specifically upon the depiction of the Gothic heroine in film
Gothic Herts Reading Group
This site is our one-stop platform for discussing our latest Gothic texts, from journal articles and press pieces, to full length books both old and new
Gothic Women Project
2023: The Year of Gothic Women. An interdisciplinary project devoted to spotlighting undervalued and understudied women writers
Haunted Shores
Haunted Shores Research Network, dedicated to investigating coasts and littoral space in Gothic, horror, and fantastic multimedia
Hellebore magazine
HELLEBORE is a UK-based small press devoted to British folk horror and the occult. Maria J. Pérez Cuervo publishes the magazine twice a year, on Beltane and Samhain
MEARCSTAPA
monsters: the experimental association for the research of cryptozoology through scholarly theory and practical application
Mermaids of the British Isles
a history of mermaids in the arts and cultural imagination of our early islands, which will map the place of these beguiling, and often deadly, figures in the national maritime imaginary, and explore our ancestors’ persistent reimagining of the mermaid
Open Folklore
Open Folklore is devoted to increasing the number of useful resources, published and unpublished, available in open access form for folklore studies and the communities with which folklorists partner
PCA Vampire Studies
A site dedicated to the Vampire Studies Area of the Pop Culture Association
Pook Press
Publisher of Vintage Illustrated Fairy Tales, Folk Tales and Children’s Classics
Romance Scholarship DB
This Romance Scholarship Database is therefore intended as a tool to assist popular romance scholars in their research into modern popular romance novels
RomanceWiki
A wiki resource for romance fiction authors, texts, and publishers
Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Database
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Database is a freely available online resource designed to help students and researchers locate secondary sources for the study of the science fiction and fantasy and associated genres.
Sophie Lancaster Foundation
The charity, known as The Sophie Lancaster Foundation, will focus on creating respect for and understanding of subcultures in our communities.
Supernatural Cities
Supernatural Cities is an interdisciplinary network of humanities and social science scholars of urban environments and the supernatural.
Supernatural Studies Association
The Supernatural Studies Association is an organization dedicated to the academic study of representations of the supernatural, the speculative, the uncanny, and the weird across periods and disciplines.
The Association for the Study of Buffy+
The mission of the Association is to promote the scholarship of Buffy+ Studies, focusing on inclusivity, intersectionality, and excellence. We define Buffy+ Studies as the scholarly exploration of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its related texts.
The Society for the Study of the American Gothic (SSAG)
The Society for the Study of the American Gothic (SSAG) was established in 2023 to promote and advance the study of the American Gothic through research, teaching, and publication
The Thinker's Garden
we also love Plotinus and the Renaissance Platonists, as well as the Transcendentalists and Romantics. We are also drawn to the peculiarities of the Theosophists and hermeticists of the nineteenth century
Vamped
Vamped is a general interest non-fiction vampire site. We publish interviews, investigations, lists, opinions, reviews and articles on various topics.
Vampire Studies Association
TThe Vampire Studies Association (VSA) was founded by Anthony Hogg . . .“to establish vampire studies as a multidisciplinary field by promoting, disseminating and publishing contributions to vampire scholarship
Victorian Popular Fiction Association
The Association is committed to the revival of interest in understudied popular writers, literary genres and other cultural forms.
Wells at the World's End
I am reading through the complete works of H G Wells, in chronological order. This blog is for my jottings, as I go along.
YA Literature, Media, and Culture
YALMC is a resource for those of us researching, writing, writing about, interested in Young Adult Literature, Media, and Culture.
YA Studies Association (YASA)
The YA Studies Association (YASA) is an international organisation existing to increase the knowledge of, and research on, YA literature, media, and related fields
