Category Archives: Critical thoughts

Paul Magrs: Magic and Mystery

Posted on 9th February 2016 by firekrank

This is a great interview with the author Paul Magrs which originally features in The Oxford Student on 21st May 2015. It’s a brilliant insight into the mind of an original and engaging author.

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Trolls and Tree people

Posted on 7th February 2016 by Sam George

In response to Kaja’s entertaining and informative post about trolls comes this picture which I love  from Grimm’s Fairy Tales, published by Constable in 1909. A wonderful example of one of Rackham’s anthropomorphic trees which has some similarities to the Norwegian troll … Continue reading →

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The Artistic Troll

Posted on 6th February 2016 by firekrank

I love studying the Gothic. I love exploring the twisted realms of the imagination. I love the creatures hidden in the pages of books that follow me home at night. (I can live with the shadows on my walls transforming … Continue reading →

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The Science of Lycanthropy

Posted on 3rd February 2016 by firekrank

The website for ‘The Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency’ has a page dedicated to the science of Lycanthropy. Whilst there are plenty of other pages and books dedicated to pseudo-scientific frameworks for the existence of monsters – Max Brooks’ The Zombie … Continue reading →

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More on Fairy Tale Fashion

Posted on 25th January 2016 by William the Bloody

Following on from Kaja’s post on the Fairy Tale Fashion exhibition in New York, here’s a short piece on the fashion for fairy tale and fairy tale in fashion, suggesting the utopian components of fairy tale (as explored by the … Continue reading →

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Origins of the Fairy Tale

Posted on 25th January 2016 by William the Bloody

Kaja recently commented on and posted links here to articles describing the research by Dr Jamie Tehrani (Durham University) and Sara Graça da Silva (New University of Lisbon) on the origins of fairy tales. I found this fascinating but had … Continue reading →

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It’s A Kind of Magic: The Books of Renaissance Magician John Dee Go On Display

Posted on 22nd January 2016 by Sam George

One of the courses I was teaching last semester was Renaissance Literature and the most enjoyable part was the exploration of magic on stage from Dr Faustus to The Tempest and the magical statue scene in A Winter’s Tale. The … Continue reading →

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Magical Skins: The Selkie’s Transformation

Posted on 21st January 2016 by Sam George

As soon as the seal was clear of the water, it reared up and its skin slipped down to the sand. What had been a seal was a white-skinned boy George Mackay Brown ‘Pictures in the Cave’ In response to … Continue reading →

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Top 10 Werewolf Scenes

Posted on 21st January 2016 by firekrank

Bill posted a YouTube video containing the ‘Top 10 Werewolf Scenes’. Most of these scenes centre, understandably, on the transformation of man into wolf/ lupine monster. Interestingly the obsessive recording of the agonising transformation is a relatively recent addition to … Continue reading →

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‘How to Recognise a Werewolf in the Nineteenth Century’ by Will Pooley

Posted on 20th January 2016 by firekrank

This well researched post, ‘How to Recognise a Werewolf in the Nineteenth Century’, on the Beastly Histories blog is a very interesting read. (Actually the whole of the blog is pretty exciting so get ready to lose a few hours … Continue reading →

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