Tag Archives: Folklore

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

‘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

Posted in Critical thoughts | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Witch-Finding, Marina Warner

Set your alarms for 10.00pm tonight (or head to BBC iPlayer tomorrow) in order to hear Marina Warner’s edition of Radio 3’s Free Thinking, ‘Witch-Finding’. The show includes Catherine Spooner talking about the history of witchcraft trials. If you are … Continue reading

Posted in Critical thoughts, Fun stuff | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

CFP – Reflected Shadows: Folklore and the Gothic

Kingston University are holding a joint conference with The Folklore Society on the 15th – 17th April 2016. They have released a CFP and require the abstracts in by the 31st December 2015. The subject matter is incredibly fruitful and … Continue reading

Posted in CFP (Conferences) | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The First Global Fairy Census Wants To Hear About Your Close Encounters

A fascinating account by Jess Zimmerman of investigation into the existence of and encounter with fairies.

Posted in Resources | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Before Bram: a timeline of vampire literature

More useful information from Roger Luckhurst on the origins of the vampire. This timeline illustrates the ethnographic and literary precursors of Stoker’s Dracula.

Posted in Resources | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Roger Luckhurst, ‘The birth of the vampyre: Dracula and mythology in Early Modern Europe’

An extract here from Roger Luckhurst’s excellent introduction to the OUP World’s Classics edition of Dracula. The notion that the vampire is universal and archetypal is debunked, and its origins shown to lie in the Enlightenment response to folkloric panics … Continue reading

Posted in Resources | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

After 90 Years: The Story of Serbian Vampire Sava Savanovic

This is an early nineteenth-century vampire fiction that I’d not come across before: After 90 Years: The Story of Serbian Vampire Sava Savanovic (1860), by the Serbian Milosan Glivic, and newly translated into English by James Lyon. It appears unusual … Continue reading

Posted in Books and Articles, MA Reading the Vampire module news | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Vampire in Folklore, History, Literature, Film and Television: A Comprehensive Bibliography (2015)

Over on the OGOM facebook page, Stacey Abbott has drawn our attention to the recently published The Vampire in Folklore, History, Literature, Film and Television: A Comprehensive Bibliography (2015) as an incredibly useful resource (and Dr. Abbott know what she is talking … Continue reading

Posted in Books and Articles, MA Reading the Vampire module news, Resources | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Witchy Vampires

This is a little light, but fun, and a starting point for those who want to explore the folkloric vampire/witch figure from outside the usual Western literary paradigms. (Though calling these kindred bloodsuckers ‘vampire’ and universalising them thus opens up … Continue reading

Posted in Resources | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Vampire in Folklore, History, Literature, Film and Television: A Comprehensive Bibliography

OGOM luminary and vampire scholar Stacey Abbott has drawn our attention to this bibliography of vampire representations by J. Gordon Melton and Alysa Hornick. It looks very comprehensive and would be a brilliant resource for all those studying the multifarious … Continue reading

Posted in Books and Articles, Resources | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment