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Category Archives: Critical thoughts
Gothic Britain
Following on from my previous post about YA Gothic novels, the Costa Book Awards has announced that the winner of its Costa First Novel Award 2015 is The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley. Set in the northwest of England, it looks like a … Continue reading
Posted in Books and Articles, Critical thoughts, Publications
Tagged Bram Stoker, Gothic, Gothic novel, Horace Walpole, television, TV, Vampires
2 Comments
Talking Trees and Unsettling Sensibilities
I came across Lars Ostenfeld’s unsettling adaptation of Han’s Andersen’s The Fir Tree (Danish: Grantræet) on the BBC iPlayer today. The tale was first published with ‘The Snow Queen’ on 21st December 1844. The story is narrated by the tree … Continue reading
White Rabbit: Yuletide Adventures in Wonderland @BritishLibrary
Over the Christmas period I celebrated my unbirthday by going to the Alice in Wonderland Exhibition at the British Library (one of the best free exhibitions to be found in London ever). It really was very special looking at Lewis … Continue reading
Posted in Critical thoughts, Events, exhibitions, Fun stuff
Tagged Alice in Wonderland
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Creepy Merry Christmas Victorian Style
We’ve been sending Christmas cards since 1843 but the Victorians had a slightly different take on the festive season looking at these unsettling images. You can read more about the ghosts of Christmas past through the eyes of the Victorians … Continue reading
The Publication of Grimm’s Fairy Tales
On this date (20 December) in 1812, the Grimm brothers published the first edition of their Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Children’s and Household Tales). Richard Cavendish writes about it here.
Posted in Critical thoughts
Tagged Children's literature, Fairy tales, Folklore, Grimm brothers
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Savage Girls and Wild Boys
Those of you who attended the OGOM Company of Wolves Conference will know that I have a special interest in wild or feral children and by coincidence one of the authors that Kaja has just posted on, Katharine Rundell, has … Continue reading
Posted in Critical thoughts, Events, Reviews
Tagged feral children, peter the wild boy, YA Fiction
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A Festive Post on Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Over on our Facebook page, Bill has just shared an article by the AV Club, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer staked its claim to a twist on a Christmas classic’. It’s a very thoughtful article on the Season Three episode, ‘Amends’, which … Continue reading
L’Abbe Bordelon’s ‘Monsieur Oufle’ on Radio 4 Extra
There is currently a radio adaptation of Abbe Laurent Bordelon’s A History of the Ridiculous Extravagancies of Monsieur Oufle (1710) on the BBC iPlayer. In the story, the eponymous M. Oufle, a believer in the supernatural and reader of works such … Continue reading
Bloody and Monstrous Flowers: These Tulips Should Be Behind Bars
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
Review of Gothic Manchester’s ‘What Lies Beneath’
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