It’s that time of year! This is a top ten count down of talks from 1st December 2022 to 30th November 2023. These were the most popular talks on the YouTube channel. Have you caught them all? Don’t stop there either. There are lots of fascinating talks this year on a wide range of subjects. Why not go learn something new!?
10) The Parallel Lives of Agatha Christie and Muriel Spark with Gray Robert Brown
October was detective month and we ended it with this exploration of two of my favourite writers of crime and all things terrible!
9) Lancashire Gothic and the Lancashire Witches in the 21st Century with Chloe Campbell
Our conference this year marked the anniversary of publication of William Harrison Ainsworth’s The Lancashire Witches and the theme was ideas of witchcraft and the supernatural. So it was fitting to start off the conference month (August) with this great talk on the women condemned as witches in the Pendle trials!
8) Lupus in Fabula: The Wolf in Fairy-Tale and Folklore with Dr Nicola Welsh-Burke
Explore the depiction of the wolf in this fascinating little enquiry. I always love a deep dive into familiar stories!
7) Climate, Justice and the Strategic Sublime: Scenarios as Gothic Genre with Dr Matt Finch
May was our month on eco-horror, eco-Gothic and related topics. This was a great introduction to an area of study and research I was less familiar with – scenarios. A fascinating introduction to the topic through a Gothic lens.
6) Traps, Traumas and Locked Doors: Bluebeard in the 21st Century with Rachel Friars
Another talk which looks at modern iterations of classic (Gothic) frameworks, tales or tropes. I really enjoy these deep dives that look at how familiar images and story become transformed, rewritten and reimagined.
5) Fear and Worship: Shinto and Buddhism in Japanese Horror with Marisa Hayes
I absolutely loved this talk. I know relatively little about Shinto and Buddhism and belief in Japan so this was a great introduction. It also opened new ways of understanding and appreciating a lot of great horror movies that I was already familiar with as well as introducing me to some new ones.
4) Byron and Vampires with Dr Sam Hirst
I’m working on a research project on Byron at the moment and it seemed like a good time to share his relationship with the vampire! This goes into a little bit of the history of belief, what sources influenced Byron, his own vampire writing and his influence on the vampire!
3) This Place is a Tomb: Haunted Houses in Space with Dan Pietersen
Dan is one of our regular speakers and his talks are always interesting and entertaining. Here he explores the idea of space horror and reads the space ship and space station as haunted house!
2) Climate Fiction and the Gothic with Kristy Strange
Kristy’s talks also offer a fascinating introduction to a theme, its history and the theoretical paradigms used. Complex theory becomes easy in Kristy’s hands. This was a fascinating talk and a bibliography is kindly provided to ensure maximum impact on your tbr pile!
1) Gothic Antisemitism and Jewish Horror with Dr Mary Going
I’ve been hoping Mary could join us for years. She shares her research here on antisemitism in the Gothic as well as looking at modern iterations of Jewish horror. We ended up watching a number of the films mentioned and so this was also a great introduction to new movies for you horror aficionados.
Romancing the Gothic 