Category Archives: Critical thoughts

Frankenstein and Counter-Enlightenment

Posted on 9th March 2018 by William the Bloody

I’m sure many will have seen the furore stirred up in social media, particularly among Gothicists, by the Sun’s article on Frankenstein, which screams, ‘SNOWFLAKE students claim Frankenstein’s monster was a misunderstood victim with feelings’. I don’t think it’s altogether … Continue reading →

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Manderley Today: 80 Years of Du Maurier’s Rebecca

Posted on 3rd March 2018 by William the Bloody

I first read Daphne du Maurier’s haunting Gothic Romances in my early teens. In my thirties I did an evening class in Female Gothic run by the pioneering Avril Horner and Sue Zloznik. This featured Rebecca among other exciting texts. … Continue reading →

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Big Bad Humans and Benevolent Wolves

Posted on 26th January 2018 by Sam George

Followers of OGOM will know that we have been at the forefront of debates around the cultural representation of the wolf since the Company of Wolves Conference in 2015. We went on to collaborate more fully with the UK Wolf … Continue reading →

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Ursula Le Guin: Tributes and Analysis

Posted on 25th January 2018 by William the Bloody

Some more valuable links to material on the wonderful Ursula K. Le Guin who, sadly, died on Monday (22 January 2017). Tributes from her fellow writers in SF and fantasy: ‘The Science Fiction and Fantasy Community Remembers Ursula K. Le … Continue reading →

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RIP Ursula K. Le Guin

Posted on 24th January 2018 by William the Bloody

Photo by Marian Wood Kolisch/University of Oregon It’s very sad to hear of the death of Ursula K. Le Guin, aged 88. For me, no other writer of SF or fantasy reaches the heights that she did. She was a … Continue reading →

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Merpeople and Monstrous Lovers

Posted on 16th January 2018 by William the Bloody

I’ve not seen Guillermo del Toro’s film The Shape of Water yet, but it appears to be an intriguing take on the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ archetype that lies behind the genre of Paranormal Romance. With its love affair between … Continue reading →

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East of Eden: A Guide to Angels by Dr Sam George

Posted on 29th December 2017 by Sam George

(William Blake (1757-1827), ‘David delivered out of many waters [by angels] with God presiding over’ c.1805) Who and What are Angels? Angels are referred to in Hebrew as mal’ach, in Greek as aggelos, both meaning ‘messenger’. Seraphim, Cherubim and ‘watchers’ … Continue reading →

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Redeeming the Wolf / Reclaiming the (Were)Wolf

Posted on 15th November 2017 by firekrank

As I am sure you are aware, it’s only three days until our Being Human event, ‘Redeeming the Wolf: A Story of Persecution, Loss and Rediscover’. There’s still time to book if you wish to learn more about wolves. I … Continue reading →

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The Franck Crucifix: A Case of Family Folklore

Posted on 9th November 2017 by firekrank

Last week, I was up (across?) in Worcestershire helping my parents move into their new home. Alongside the mammoth amount of unpacking, there was a chance to wander around the local community. Like many British towns, we found our fair … Continue reading →

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‘A devout but nearly silent listener’: dialogue, sociability, and Promethean individualism in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818)

Posted on 30th October 2017 by William the Bloody

My article, ‘”A devout but nearly silent listener”: dialogue, sociability, and Promethean individualism in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818)’, has been published in The Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies, 16 (Autumn 2017) alongside other excellent articles. Here’s a brief … Continue reading →

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