I always feel a tiny bit feral when I do any university 'we're committed to supporting mental health' training. Because it sure seems like stringing people on an endless series of short term insecure contracts is the very antithesis of that

Cover design for ‘The Ghost Stories of Wilkie Collins’, cover printed in holographic foil blocking. Edited by Xavier Aldana Reyes Illustration by Madalena Published by British Library Publishing

Goodnight from Ned Hawley, secretly worshipping old gods with every bottle of Old Clip he downs at The Wayfarer Inn. Goodnight from Emily Banting, fighting the hard gravity of tiredness as she writes her essay on ‘The Iconography of Witch as Bone-Sitter’. Goodnight from Hookland.

Twilight walks the woods. The witch waits for the second awakening of the day to harvest gossip from crepuscular hunters. For this is a time for wild magics, for petitioning of Moss Maidens, taking council from a skulk of well-informed foxes. – #EmilyCBanting, 1982 #Witchcraft

As some have asked about it, here's the link to the "Jameson at 90: A Celebration of Theory" mini-conference we organized in April. Fred was, as always, most generous and insightful in his brief comments (see Day 2, etc.). vimeo.com/971012700

If you are a Gothic scholar who has taught Dracula, Wuthering Heights, Mysteries of Udolpho, The Monk, Jane Eyre and never thought about the represenation of the Roma and how it interacts with contemporary and modern anti-Roma racism, it's good time to do that.

Join us on 1st Oct for a Q&A with actor James Swanton, behind the scenes as ‘The Mummy’ in Lot No 249 (BBC 2023), the SFX makeup process, James’ other spooky projects, upcoming work, AND a dramatic reading from Conan Doyle’s The Ring of Thoth! Tickets: eventbrite.com/e/some-words-w…

🚨It's here! 🚨 The #CFP for BAAS 2025 is now live. We'll see you in April at University of Hertfordshire 👋 Deadline: 22nd November 2024 More details ➡️ tinyurl.com/baas-2025

I'm very happy to be a part of this one-day symposium on Friday October 11, & I'm really looking forward to every single one of the papers: Dark Entries: Rethinking the Horror in Folk Horror, organized by Brooke Cameron and Noah Gallego. Keynote speaker: Nina Martin #folkhorror

People talk of modernity as if it had the power of total erasure. However many pylons march the land, whatever bypasses are built – the ghost soil still remembers. Build a new estate over a field and folklore and phantom leak through. – Tess Harker, member of the Huske Collective

The witch's way through the woods will always favour fox paths. It will always be walked with her wyrdrenc sack open to gather ingredients for future magics. The witch's way through the woods can only ever be one of wonder. – #EmilyCBanting, 1982 #WitchWednesday

The stones exist in complex, intimate relationships with each other and the landscape. The stones also exist in complex, intimate relationships with us. We call those connections folklore or tradition, but at heart they are deeply personal. – Dr. K. Brophy #StandingStoneSunday

I get really sad/angry when I see academic job ads presenting themselves as great opportunities and it's short term and part time. Bonus if it is mid year or makes you miss the next hiring season by a month. Can we all stop pretending those are 'great' for precarious people?

So, let's just say I'm beyond excited to watch (hopefully at some point soon) Aislinn Clarke's new film, FRÉWAKA. This poster is beyond gorgeous #folkhorror #Frewaka

People act as though studying 17th and 18th century concepts of the demonic has 'no relevance to the modern world' and here I am watching people claiming to be attacked by demons in their sleep. I honestly wish my research wasn't so relevant.

Hem hem.

Aca-Zombie-Colleagues. Handbook of the Zombie, essays on the following: -Aboriginal Identity & Cargo -Blaxploitation: Sugar Hill to Land of the Dead -Realworld Zombies (ants/mice/etc) -Zombeavers & Zombie Animals 6,750+ words by 31/12/24. Contact me: [email protected]

Most resort to the largely 19th century folkloric tradition and describe those sealed stone entrances of churches as 'the Devil's door'. However, at St. Aldate in Rough Maidens, the blocked entrance is so small that it is known as either 'the Imp's door' or the 'Faery's door'.

County folklore claims all the tide touches belongs to the King-Under-the-Sea. Failure to pay the appropriate 'tide tithe' means dire consequences are inevitable. In fact, many Hooklanders on the coast are more afraid of not paying the tithe than they are of not paying HMRC.