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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20260122T190000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20260122T213000
DTSTAMP:20260109T130023Z
CREATED:20260109T130022Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260109T130023Z
UID:1545-1769108400-1769117400@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Gothic Fiction & The Female Writer: Women who shaped gothic horror
DESCRIPTION:How have horror and ghost stories challenged gender norms? Explore the feminist side of Gothic literature. With Q&A. \n\n\n\nHave you heard the uproar over the new Wuthering Heights adaptation?  \n\n\n\nDespite over 40 films\, television and radio adaptations\, Wuthering Heights is still often remembered as an “obsessive romance.” In reality\, it is a Gothic Romance – and more specifically\, a story that engages deeply with themes of domestic abuse. Similarly\, many beloved Female Gothic adaptations tend to highlight romance over the darker\, more unsettling aspects of these narratives. From Wuthering Heights to Jane Eyre to Rebecca\, the central figures are not simply swoon-worthy lovers – they often reflect the complex and sometimes abusive dynamics at the heart of these stories. \n\n\n\nJoin Dr Maisha Wester as she explores the intimate connections between the Gothic and First-wave Feminism. Tracing back to the French Revolution\, Dr Wester will examine how these moments shaped both Gothic literature and early reflections on women’s rights. We will also look at how early Female Gothic writers like Anne Radcliffe wove these societal changes into stories that framed women’s disenfranchisement as a source of true horror. Finally\, turning to the present\, we will consider the impact of modern adaptations that sometimes downplay the Gothic and how these romanticised portrayals continue to shape the imaginations of audiences today.  \n\n\n\nDoors open at 7pm\, talk starts at 7.30pm – come down early to grab a good seat! \n\n\n\nTickets: £13.50 – £32 \n\n\n\nSpeaker Bio \n\n\n\nDr. Maisha Wester is an Associate Professor and a recent British Academy Global Professor. Her interests focus on social oppression in Gothic Literature and Horror Film. Her books and numerous essays include “Torture Porn and Uneasy Feminisms: Re-thinking (Wo)men in Eli Roth’s Hostel Films” and African American Gothic in the Era of Black Lives Matter. Most recently\, she has created and released a narrative-driven\, social justice video game for PC titled Coded Black. Her teaching includes courses on Black Feminist literature\, racial representations in Gothic Literature and Horror film\, and Gender in contemporary Horror film. \n\n\n\nThis talk is 16+  \n\n\n\nTestimonials from our guests \n\n\n\n⭐ Super Interesting talks! Fun and Informative – Ally S. \n\n\n\n⭐ Expertly run\, talks are always super informative and a lot of fun! Couldn’t recommend these enough! 5 star. – Owen S \n\n\n\n⭐ Been to a few talks and all have been super interesting. An enjoyable evening to go to either alone or with friends. The talks make for stimulating conversation. Highly recommend! – Daisy J  
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/gothic-fiction-the-female-writer-women-who-shaped-gothic-horror/
LOCATION:Dorothy Fleming Lecture Theatre\, Charles Street Building\, Sheffield\, S1 2LQ
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/476/2025/06/Maisha-Wester.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20251211T180000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20251211T193000
DTSTAMP:20251127T122326Z
CREATED:20251127T122325Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251127T122326Z
UID:1505-1765476000-1765481400@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Gothic Presents 1980s Popular Gothic 2
DESCRIPTION:Gothica is an informal\, online monthly reading group exploring all areas of the Gothic in literature and popular culture. Gothica was founded in 2019 at the University of Birmingham by doctoral researchers Katrina Jan and Dr Emily Vincent\, then joined by Ross Conway\, and you can find out more about us here. Each session is two hours long\, hosted by a special guest speaker with academic expertise in the Gothic\, followed by relaxed breakout room discussions related to the monthly theme. \n\n\n\n1980s Popular Gothic Guest Speaker: Dr Sorcha Ní Fhlainn (Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies\, MMU) \n\n\n\nSorcha Ní Fhlainn is a Reader in film studies with a specialism in American film at Manchester Metropolitan University and leads the Popular Screen Cultures Network. Her work is largely rooted in socio-cultural and historical approaches to film studies\, cultural studies\, popular and contemporary American literature and popular cinema. She also specialises in Gothic studies and horror cinema\, with a focus on vampires (fiction\, culture\, and film)\, postmodern subjectivity\, serial killing\, and monster studies. She is Reviews Editor for the International Gothic Association. \n\n\n\nThis event is free. Please email UOBGOTHICA@GMAIL.COM or Tweet @Gothica_UoB to sign up and receive the Zoom link.
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/gothic-presents-1980s-popular-gothic-2/
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20251204T170000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20251204T183000
DTSTAMP:20250919T172922Z
CREATED:20250919T172921Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250919T172922Z
UID:1357-1764867600-1764873000@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Bone Music talk @ Manchester Met and online
DESCRIPTION:Join us for this hybrid research event on Gothic music and underground subculture. This is a free public talk\, open to all\, which will be hosted by the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies. \n\n\n\nFor those joining in person\, refreshments will be available from 5 pm and the talk will begin at 5.15\, with Q and A at 6 pm. \n\n\n\nFor those joining online\, you will be emailed the Teams link 3 days ahead of the event and earlier on the day of the event. Please join at 5 pm to check your connection\, and the talk will begin at 5.15. \n\n\n\nBONE MUSIC \n\n\n\nThey are images of pain and damage impressed with ghostly sounds of pleasure\, fragile photographs of the inside of citizens engraved with the music they secretly loved\, skin-thin slivers of DIY punk protest illegally traded in dark alleyways and hidden corners. \n\n\n\nStephen Coates tells the story of Bone Music. During the Cold War era\, the songs that Soviet citizens could listen to were ruthlessly controlled by the state. But a secret underground subculture of music lovers and bootleggers defied the censors\, building recording machines and making their own records of forbidden jazz\, rock ‘n’ roll\, and Russian music\, cut onto used hospital x-ray film. \n\n\n\nWho were they? Why did they do it and how was it even possible? Based on years of interviews and oral testimonies\, Stephen presents the stories of the original Bone bootleggers\, their customers and persecutors\, evoking their spirit of resistance to a repressive culture of prohibition and punishment. \n\n\n\nSTEPHEN COATES is a music producer\, curator and broadcaster. He came across the subject of the X-Ray recordings in 2013 when travelling to Russia to perform. \n\n\n\nHe has written two books on the subject: ‘ X-Ray Audio’ and ‘Bone Music’. A graduate of the Royal College of Art\, he is particularly interested in the interaction between counterculture and culture. He is also the organiser of the arts festival\, the London Month of the Dead.
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/bone-music-talk-manchester-met-and-online/
LOCATION:Geoffrey Manton Lecture Theatre 5 ground floor\, Oxford Road\, Manchester\, M15 6LL\, United Kingdom
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20251130T110000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20251130T170000
DTSTAMP:20250924T124843Z
CREATED:20250924T124842Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250924T124843Z
UID:1373-1764500400-1764522000@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:The Gothic\, Women & Horror Summit: Exploring history\, power & mystery
DESCRIPTION:A one-day series of online talks and workshops from world-leading experts. \n\n\n\nFeaturing Manchester Gothic Centre’s Maisha Wester. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDr Maisha Wester has been previously awarded a Fullbright Scholarship and has been British Academy-sponsored Global Professor in the School of English at Sheffield University. Her research investigates racial representation in Gothic Literature and Horror Film\, and socio-political appropriations of Gothic and Horror tropes in racial discourses. \n\n\n\nTickets cost £24
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/the-gothic-women-horror-summit-exploring-history-power-mystery/
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20251119T160000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20251119T170000
DTSTAMP:20251103T110731Z
CREATED:20251103T110729Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251103T110731Z
UID:1466-1763568000-1763571600@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Gothic Approaches PGR Autumn Research Seminar
DESCRIPTION:Join us on Wednesday November 19th in Grosvenor East. Room 3.12 for this seminar by Gothic Centre PhD candidates as part of the MMU Gothic Approaches ‘Work in Progress’ series. Speaker titles and abstracts are below and refreshments are provided. \n\n\n\nMCGS-PGR-Research-Night-Poster-Graphic Nov 2025(1)Download
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/gothic-approaches-pgr-autumn-research-seminar/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/476/2024/11/MMU-Gothic-Approaches-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20251118T190000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20251118T210000
DTSTAMP:20251112T182506Z
CREATED:20251112T182505Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251112T182506Z
UID:1483-1763492400-1763499600@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Many Souls as Stars - An evening with Natasha Siegel
DESCRIPTION:Join us at the Refuge Coffee House for an evening with Natasha Siegel as Emma Hinds interviews her about her new sapphic Gothic romance novel\, As Many Souls As Stars. We’ll be diving into the world of her spellbinding novel\, exploring the themes\, characters\, and inspirations that have captured readers’ hearts\, before opening into a live Q&A and a chance to have your book personally signed by Natasha herself. \n\n\n\nAS MANY SOULS AS STARS is the Sapphic retelling of Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus we’ve all been waiting for: beautifully gothic\, richly lyrical\, and aching with queer longing. \n\n\n\nSet in 16th-century Suffolk\, the novel follows a young woman who makes a deal with the devil\, a shadowy\, seductive figure she accidentally summons through a spell rooted in her father’s arrogance. What follows is a centuries-spanning pursuit of obsession and reincarnation: a star-crossed love story and a cat-and-mouse chase through history\, as these two women meet again and again\, forever changed by one another. \n\n\n\nIt’s a story threaded with legacy\, curses\, desire\, and power\, an exploration of what we owe the people we love\, and what we inherit from those who came before us.
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/many-souls-as-stars-an-evening-with-natasha-siegel/
LOCATION:Refuge Coffee House\, 27 Great Ancoats Street\, Manchester\, M4 5AJ
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/476/2025/11/image001-1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20251112T160000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20251112T170000
DTSTAMP:20251020T113154Z
CREATED:20251020T113153Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251020T113154Z
UID:1446-1762963200-1762966800@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Storm-Cloud: Observations of the Sky workshop with Tom Payne
DESCRIPTION:This is a follow-up workshop to Tom Payne’s performance of John Ruskin’s Storm-Cloud\, giving you a chance to contribute to the live brief. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nYou can find out more about Tom’s work with Ruskin here: Live Brief | Storm-Cloud \n\n\n\nThis event has been brought to you by MMU’s Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies and The Nineteenth Century Network.
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/storm-cloud-observations-of-the-sky-workshop-with-tom-payne/
LOCATION:Grosvenor East Theatre\, Grosvenor East Building\, Cavendish Street\, Manchester\, M15 6BG
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20251112T140000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20251112T153000
DTSTAMP:20251020T112722Z
CREATED:20251020T112721Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251020T112722Z
UID:1439-1762956000-1762961400@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Storm-Cloud: A Multimedia Performance of John Ruskin's 1884 lecture
DESCRIPTION:Please join us on November 12th for artist Tom Payne performs Ruskin’s 1884 lecture ‘The Storm-Cloud of the Nineteenth Century’ with visuals inspired by Ruskin’s art. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nYou can find out more about Tom’s work with Ruskin here: Live Brief | Storm-Cloud \n\n\n\nThis event has been brought to you by MMU’s Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies and The Nineteenth Century Network.
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/storm-cloud-a-multimedia-performance-of-john-ruskins-1884-lecture/
LOCATION:Grosvenor East Theatre\, Grosvenor East Building\, Cavendish Street\, Manchester\, M15 6BG
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/avif:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/476/2025/10/eb4adf_4edfcd37493d407d959db22ecc62e1edmv2.avif
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20251110T190000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20251110T213000
DTSTAMP:20250926T092604Z
CREATED:20250926T092603Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250926T092604Z
UID:1389-1762801200-1762810200@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Gothic Fiction and the Female Writer with Maisha Wester
DESCRIPTION:Have you heard the uproar over the new Wuthering Heights adaptation? \n\n\n\nDespite over 40 films\, television and radio adaptations\, Wuthering Heights is still often remembered as an “obsessive romance.” In reality\, it is a Gothic Romance – and more specifically\, a story that engages deeply with themes of domestic abuse. Similarly\, many beloved Female Gothic adaptations tend to highlight romance over the darker\, more unsettling aspects of these narratives. From Wuthering Heights to Jane Eyre to Rebecca\, the central figures are not simply swoon-worthy lovers – they often reflect the complex and sometimes abusive dynamics at the heart of these stories. \n\n\n\nJoin Dr Maisha Wester as she explores the intimate connections between the Gothic and First-wave Feminism. Tracing back to the French Revolution\, Dr Wester will examine how these moments shaped both Gothic literature and early reflections on women’s rights. We will also look at how early Female Gothic writers like Anne Radcliffe wove these societal changes into stories that framed women’s disenfranchisement as a source of true horror. Finally\, turning to the present\, we will consider the impact of modern adaptations that sometimes downplay the Gothic and how these romanticised portrayals continue to shape the imaginations of audiences today. \n\n\n\nDoors open at 7pm\, talk starts at 7.30pm – come down early to grab a good seat! \n\n\n\nFollow us on IG @seedtalks \n\n\n\nDr. Maisha Wester is an Associate Professor and a recent British Academy Global Professor. Her interests focus on social oppression in Gothic Literature and Horror Film. Her books and numerous essays include “Torture Porn and Uneasy Feminisms: Re-thinking (Wo)men in Eli Roth’s Hostel Films” and African American Gothic in the Era of Black Lives Matter. Most recently\, she has created and released a narrative-driven\, social justice video game for PC titled Coded Black. Her teaching includes courses on Black Feminist literature\, racial representations in Gothic Literature and Horror film\, and Gender in contemporary Horror film. \n\n\n\nThis talk is 16+ \n\n\n\nTestimonials from our guests \n\n\n\n⭐ Super Interesting talks! Fun and Informative – Ally S. \n\n\n\n⭐ Expertly run\, talks are always super informative and a lot of fun! Couldn’t recommend these enough! 5 star. – Owen S \n\n\n\n⭐ Been to a few talks and all have been super interesting. An enjoyable evening to go to either alone or with friends. The talks make for stimulating conversation. Highly recommend! – Daisy J
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/gothic-fiction-and-the-female-writer-with-maisha-wester/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/476/2025/09/https___cdn.evbuc_.com_images_1114244593_2618052688991_1_original.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20251107T080000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20251109T170000
DTSTAMP:20250919T110040Z
CREATED:20250919T110039Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250919T110040Z
UID:1354-1762502400-1762707600@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Children of the Night International Dracula Congress online conference CFP
DESCRIPTION:A conference series organised by the foremost scholars in the field of Gothic and Vampire Studies. \n\n\n\n“Children of the Night International Dracula Congress” series is a non-profit academic initiative founded by international scholars and supported by worldwide renowned Dracula experts. \n\n\n\nOur aim is to present ground-breaking research on Bram Stoker\, his novel Dracula\, Gothic and Horror Studies and related topics on an annual basis. \n\n\n\nParticipation is open to everyone who has a truly interesting presentation to make. Moreover\, the conferences feature artistic contests and are accompanied by a cultural program.It is our great pleasure to invite you to the 2025 edition of “Children of the Night International Dracula Congress”. This year\, participants are invited to join the ONLINE on November 7th – 9th\, 2025 via Zoom. \n\n\n\nWe  invite  everyone  who  is  interested  in speaking at the 2025 conference  to  submit  an  abstract  of  150  –  max. 250 words plus a meaningful title indicating the planned content of your presentation to  dracongress@gmail.com. The official language of the conference is English. The abstracts must be submitted by email and fit the conference main topics (please\, have a look at the slider with 8 workshops). Deadline for abstract’s submissions: September 20th\, 2025. \n\n\n\nAlso\, remember to dust your Vampire/Dracula/Gothic costume for our annual Costume Contest (Yes\, we can do it online too!). \n\n\n\nConference is free of charge. \n\n\n\nThe 2025 COTN International Dracula Congress is organised by: \n\n\n\nMaria Curie-Skłodowska University Lublin\, Poland (Magdalena Grabias)\, \n\n\n\nState University of Rio de Janeiro in Brasil (Yuri Garcia). \n\n\n\nTransilvania University of Brașov\, Romania (Florin Nechita)\, \n\n\n\nIn collaboration with Dracula Legacy\, Mexico (Enrique A. Palafox). \n\n\n\nLink: https://dracongress.jimdofree.com/call-for-papers-2025/. Online and free conference.
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/children-of-the-night-international-dracula-congress-online-conference-cfp/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/476/2025/09/1753775912.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20251031T190000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20251031T190000
DTSTAMP:20251020T113627Z
CREATED:20250924T130314Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251020T113627Z
UID:1379-1761937200-1761937200@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Authors in Conversation: Saltwash & Old Soul
DESCRIPTION:Celebrate spooky season with a chilling new novel about guilt and redemption from the ‘master of menace’ and the addictively unsettling tale of a frightening\, compelling anti-hero who moves across time and space. \n\n\n\nJoin us with Andrew Michael Hurley and Susan Barker to discuss their latest novels Saltwash and Old Soul. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAndrew Michael Hurley is based in Lancashire. His first novel\, The Loney\, won the Costa Best First Novel Award and the Book of the Year at the British Book Awards. Devil’s Day\, his second novel\, was picked as a Book of the Year in five newspapers\, and won the Encore Award. Starve Acre was made into a film starring Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark in 2024 and Barrowbeck\, a collection of interlinked stories set in the same fictional village was published the same year. \n\n\n\nSusan Barker is the author of four books. Her third novel\, The Incarnations\, was a New York Times Editors’ Choice and Notable Book\, a Kirkus Reviews’ Top Ten Book of the Year and shortlisted for the Kirkus Prize for Fiction. An excerpt from her fourth novel\, Old Soul\, won a Northern Writers’ Award for Fiction in 2020. Susan currently lives in Manchester\, where she is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University.
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/authors-in-conversation-saltwash-old-soul/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/476/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-10-20-123520.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20251031T160000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20251031T170000
DTSTAMP:20250922T085655Z
CREATED:20250902T163006Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250922T085655Z
UID:1295-1761926400-1761930000@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Slow Reading Club\, The Vampyre @ Portico Library
DESCRIPTION:£5\, includes refreshments and printouts of the passages. Book here. \n\n\n\nSlow down\, read closely\, think and discuss – that’s what we are asking you to do in this club. Dr Emma Liggins (Centre for Gothic MMU) has chosen some passages from Polidori’s ( or is it Byron’s?) The Vampire. Turn off your smart phones\, step away from the hectic pace of life\, and discuss words. \n\n\n\nDr Debbie Challis is Creative Producer of the Portico Library and a cultural historian with an expertise on
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/slow-reading-club-the-vampyre-portico-library/
LOCATION:Portico Library\, M2 3HY
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/476/2025/09/81EY0WsCZCL._UF10001000_QL80_.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20251029T180000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20251029T200000
DTSTAMP:20250922T085500Z
CREATED:20250902T164230Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250922T085500Z
UID:1306-1761760800-1761768000@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Ghost Stories for Halloween: Haunted Places @ Raby Castle
DESCRIPTION:This spine-chilling Halloween event brings together ghost story expert Dr Emma Liggins with theatrical performer and writer Adam Z. Robinson. It promises spooky stories\, haunted histories and the terror of the unknown. \n\n\n\nThe evening begins with an illustrated talk on the development of the ghost story in the nineteenth century. The popularity of Gothic fiction made haunted places fashionable for both readers and tourists\, from labyrinthine castles and medieval churches to remote country houses. Discussing writers such as Ann Radcliffe\, Mary Elizabeth Braddon\, E. Nesbit and Margaret Oliphant\, Emma will consider the ways in which women’s ghost stories addressed concerns about property ownership\, past secrets\, gender inequalities and superstitious servants. She’ll also look at some of the myths and legends of Raby Castle\, from white ladies and lost children to Lady Vane’s tale of a housekeeper returning from the dead. \n\n\n\nThen\, join master of the macabre Adam Z. Robinson for a lamp-lit ghost story performance. In The Bonehouse\, historian Archie Witt takes a research trip to investigate the fabled roundhouse lock-up in the village of Abbot’s Knock\, a place marred by witch trials\, a wicked 17th-century magistrate and an ancient evil that may haunt the place still. A thrilling tale sure to chill the blood. \n\n\n\nDr Emma Liggins is a Reader in English Literature in the School of English at Manchester Metropolitan University\, UK\, and Co-Director of the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies. She has published widely on the short story\, Victorian women’s writing and the supernatural. Publications include (with Andrew Maunder and Ruth Robbins)\, The British Short Story (Palgrave\, 2010)\, The Haunted House in Women’s Ghost Stories\, 1850-1945: Gender\, Space and Modernity (Palgrave\, 2020) and a chapter on ‘The Edwardian Supernatural’ in The Edinburgh Companion to Twentieth-Century Gothic (Edinburgh University Press\, 2022). She is currently working on a monograph on Victorian and Edwardian Death Spaces: Gender and Memorialisation for Manchester University Press.    e.liggins@mmu.ac.uk \n\n\n\nAdam Z. Robinson is a writer\, theatre-maker and prize-winning author of flash fiction. His theatre work includes: Upon the Stair (“Everyone needs to see this show” – ✭✭✭✭½ The Reviews Hub) and Smile Club (✭✭✭✭ The Guardian) co-written with Andrea Heaton. His plays The Book of Darkness & Light and Shivers toured nationally between 2016-2019. As well as his original plays\, Adam has adapted classic works for the stage: Haunted (two national tours\, 2023) and A Christmas Carol (national tours\, 2019-21; residency London\, 2022; residency Saint John\, Canada\, 2023) and Nightmares (national tour to 22 theatres\, 2024). His latest show\, Darkness & Light\, is touring autumn 2025. He is the host of The Ghost Story Book Club podcast. www.adamzrobinson.com \n\n\n\nBuy Tickets
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/ghost-stories-for-halloween-haunted-places-raby-castle/
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20251028T180000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20251028T193000
DTSTAMP:20250922T085154Z
CREATED:20250902T163851Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250922T085154Z
UID:1304-1761674400-1761679800@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Leon Craig and Andrew Michael Hurley in conversation @ Blackwells\, Manchester
DESCRIPTION:We are thrilled to welcome Leon Craig and Andrew Michael Hurley to the shop to discuss their latest novels\, THE DECADENCE and SALTWASH. \n\n\n\nDoors: 6.30pm\, starts: 6.45pm \n\n\n\nTickets are £4. Admission is free when purchasing a copy of either book. \n\n\n\nAbout The Decadence: \n\n\n\nAt the height of lockdown\, a group of flailing twenty-something friends makes an illicit break for freedom. \n\n\n\nA grand country house stands empty. Once the home of Theo’s great uncle\, it seems like the perfect place to get high and hang out in the spring sunshine\, as they eschew adult responsibilities.Since meeting as teenagers\, rifts have grown amongst the group. Even as they are determined to enjoy themselves\, tensions cast shadows between them – politics\, sex and lies. The house\, too\, has its own dark history and exudes a palpable sense of menace.Where do the drugs end and the supernatural begin? Will anger and jealousy tear the friends apart\, or will it be more ominous forces? Their stay at Holt House will change them all… \n\n\n\n‘An exquisitely claustrophobic exploration of the places we do and don’t belong… This is a triumph of the queer gothic’ – Jane Flett\, author of Freakslaw \n\n\n\nAbout Saltwash: \n\n\n\nTom Shift and Oliver Keele are pen-pals. They were introduced through their respective cancer clinics. From reading Oliver’s letters\, Tom has deduced that Oliver is lonely and somewhat nomadic. He appears to live hand to mouth at a series of cheap B&Bs.When Oliver suggests they meet up\, Tom agrees. Neither of them have long left. And\, while Saltwash seems an unlikely kind of place for a holiday\, he goes with it. The Castle Hotel is one of the few places still open in an off-season seaside town that has definitely seen better days but it’s surprisingly busy. It becomes clear that the guests are all there for some kind of reunion\, and that they know Oliver.Little by little it becomes clear that all the guests have dark and troubled histories. They are drawn to the hotel not just for the company and nostalgia but for the opportunity to win the lottery. Which for them\, is the chance to have the memoires of their wrongs to be eradicated. Before they die\, they all want redemption. But if we can’t remember what we’ve done\, do we become someone else? And why does Oliver want Tom at Saltwash? \n\n\n\nAbout the authors: \n\n\n\nLeon Craig is a writer from North London. She studied English at UCL\, Medieval Literature at Oxford and Creative Writing at Birkbeck. Her writing has been published by the White Review\, the TLS\, Another Gaze and the London Magazine\, among others. She is the author of the short story collection Parallel Hells. \n\n\n\nAndrew Michael Hurley is based in Lancashire. His first novel\, The Loney\, won the Costa Best First Novel Award and the Book of the Year at the British Book Awards. Devil’s Day\, his second novel\, was picked as a Book of the Year in five newspapers\, and won the Encore Award. Starve Acre was made into a film starring Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark. \n\n\n\nIf you cannot make the event but would like a dedicated copy of the book\, please email events.manchester@blackwell.co.uk or call us on 0161 274 3331. \n\n\n\nOur event format is usually a 45 minute discussion between the author and interviewer\, followed by a chance for audience members to ask questions. There will be the opportunity to get your book signed/dedicated after the event. Events are a brilliant opportunity to discover new books\, meet authors and likeminded readers and learn something new. \n\n\n\nSupport your local bookshop and help us keep the Manchester literary scene vibrant and exciting. You can follow us on Eventbrite and social media (@BlackwellsMCR) to keep up to date on upcoming events. \n\n\n\nTags
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/leon-craig-and-andrew-michael-hurley-in-conversation-blackwells-manchester/
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DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20251022T173000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20251022T190000
DTSTAMP:20250922T085927Z
CREATED:20250902T163520Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250922T085927Z
UID:1301-1761154200-1761159600@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Gothic Historical Fiction: Essie Fox and Kate Griffin in conversation @ Portico Library
DESCRIPTION:£3. Book here. \n\n\n\nJoin award-winning novelists Essie Fox and Kate Griffin to find out more about the process of writing historical fiction and how to create a Gothic atmosphere. They will be talking about their recent novels\, Essie Fox’s Dangerous (2024) and Kate Griffin’s Fyneshade (2023). Hosted by Sarah Dutson\, from the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies. https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/ \n\n\n\n Subsdised by the Manchester Centre for Gotic Studies. \n\n\n\nDANGEROUS (2024) BY ESSIE FOX \n\n\n\nLiving in exile in Venice\, the disgraced Lord Byron revels in the freedoms of the city. But when associated with the deaths of local women found with wounds to their throats\, and when a novel called The Vampyre is published in his name\, rumours begin to spread that he is the murderer. Haunted by whispering campaigns and the scandals of his past\, Byron is forced to play detective and solve the puzzle of the crimes. \n\n\n\nRich in gothic atmosphere and drawing on real events and characters from Byron’s life\, Dangerous is a riveting historical thriller ~ as decadent and seductive as the poet himself. \n\n\n\nEssie Fox was born and raised in Herefordshire. After studying English Literature at Sheffield University\, she moved to London and began a career in publishing – from there becoming self-employed in commercial art design. Always an avid reader\, she now writes historical novels. Her debut\, The Somnambulist\, was shortlisted for the National Book Awards\, and featured on Channel 4’s TV Book Club. The Last Days of Leda Grey\, set in the earliest years of the silent film industry\, was selected as The Times Historical Book of the Month. The Fascination\, a Sunday Times Top Ten Bestselling book\, features Victorian fairgrounds\, the glamour of the London theatres\, and an Oxford Street museum of morbid curiosities. And now\, Dangerous\, a Regency crime thriller\, relates adventures of Lord Byron during the time he spent in Venice and has again been selected as a Times Book of the Month. \n\n\n\nEssie has appeared at many literary events\, has lectured at the V&A\, and National Gallery in London. Recently she has become the host of a new podcast\, Talking The Gothic. \n\n\n\nFyneshade (2023) by Kate Griffin \n\n\n\nMany would find much to fear in Fyneshade’s dark corridors. But not I. For it has more to fear from me… \n\n\n\nOn the day of her beloved grandmother’s funeral Marta discovers that she is to become governess to the daughter of Sir William Pritchard.  \n\n\n\nSeparated from her lover and discarded by her family\, Marta has no choice but to journey to Pritchard’s ancient and crumbling house\, Fyneshade\, in the wilds of Derbyshire. \n\n\n\nAll is not well at Fyneshade. Marta’s pupil\, little Grace\, can be taught nothing and Marta takes no comfort from the silent servants who will not meet her eye. More intriguing is that Sir William is mysteriously absent\, and his son and heir Vaughan is forbidden to enter the house. \n\n\n\nMarta finds herself drawn to Vaughan despite warnings from the housekeeper that he is a danger to all around him. But Marta is no innocent to be preyed upon. Guided by the dark gift taught to her by her grandmother\, she has made her own plans. And it will take more than a family riven by murderous secrets to stop her… \n\n\n\nFyneshade\, Kate Griffin’s homage to a genre she playfully dubs ‘Governess Gothic\, was published by Viper and was a Sunday Times Historical Fiction Book of 2023. \n\n\n\nWith co-writer Marcia Hutchinson\, she wrote The Blackbirds of St Giles\, published by Simon and Schuster in January 2025. Taking a fresh look at the black community who were part of Georgian London’s most notorious slum – The St Giles Rookery – the novel was The Sunday Times historical fiction pick as February’s ‘book of the month’. \n\n\n\nKate was the winner of the 2012 Faber /Stylist Magazine competition to find a distinctive new voice and character in crime. The resulting gothic-influenced ‘Kitty Peck’ series navigates the back streets of Victorian Limehouse\, the aristocratic corridors of power and the transgressive world of music hall – all viewed through the eyes of a young whip-smart aerial artiste (Kitty Peck) and her ‘family’ of outsiders. The first in the series was shortlisted for a CWA Historical Dagger. \n\n\n\nKate has worked in journalism and communications. Until 2019 she was Head of Press for Britain’s oldest conservation charity SPAB (Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings). Her love of old buildings and the stories they tell continues to inspire her writing. She lives in a Victorian house in St Albans with her husband\, Stephen. \n\n\n\nNb. She’s very good on a quiz team. (She survived University Challenge\, The Professionals.)
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/gothic-historical-fiction-essie-fox-and-kate-griffin-in-conversation-portico-library/
LOCATION:Portico Library\, M2 3HY
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20251021T190000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20251021T203000
DTSTAMP:20250924T125624Z
CREATED:20250924T125623Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250924T125624Z
UID:1376-1761073200-1761078600@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Manchester Literature Festival\, Waterstones Deansgate. Susan Barker with Korean horror writer Bora Chung. 
DESCRIPTION:A chilling evening of ghost stories and haunted pasts with internationally acclaimed Korean author Bora Chung (Cursed Bunny) and British novelist Susan Barker (The Incarnations)\, as they discuss their gripping new novels\, The Midnight Timetable and Old Soul. Both tales explore the uncanny ways the past refuses to stay buried and the mysterious forces that connect us across time and continents. \n\n\n\nIn Bora Chung’s The Midnight Timetable (translated by Anton Hur)\, a novel told in ghost stories\, an unnamed narrator begins to uncover the secrets of a bizarre research centre\, guided by a night guard with stories to tell. In Susan Barker’s immersive Old Soul\, two strangers meet in Osaka airport and discover their friends died in identical\, gruesome ways\, on opposite sides of the world but both linked by a mysterious dark-haired woman who appears before each death. \n\n\n\nHosted by podcaster and critic Naomi Frisby. \n\n\n\nPresented in partnership with Waterstones Deansgate and supported by LTI Korea. \n\n\n\nWheelchair Users and those with other access needs requiring a free Essential Carer ticket should contact the Quaytickets Box Office on 0161 876 2015 to purchase tickets. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nBook tickets
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/manchester-literature-festival-waterstones-deansgate-susan-barker-with-korean-horror-writer-bora-chung/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20251020T080000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20251026T170000
DTSTAMP:20250929T141118Z
CREATED:20250919T104006Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250929T141118Z
UID:1341-1760947200-1761498000@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Reanimated! Reviving Cult Film’s Dead Objects\, 17th Cine-Excess conference\, University of Birmingham\, UK (25-26 October 2025)
DESCRIPTION:“It’s alive\,” manically proclaims the mad scientist in James Whale’s Frankenstein (1931)\, the source material which not only nuanced the Gothic but also gave birth to science fiction. And across the plentiful variations and imitations of this classic text and its themes\, of course\, body horror has given rise to affect our most primal fears and social conventions\, setting the scene for 2025’s iteration of the Cine-Excess International Film Festival and Conference. \n\n\n\nThe entire festival runs from 20th – 26th October online\, in cinemas\, and venues across Birmingham.This year\, we celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator (1985)\, a quintessential cult classic that blends dark comedy and body horror to push the very boundaries of generic acceptability. The film was created in tandem with producer Brian Yuzna\, and Re-Animator’s success would inspire later Stuart Gordon horror films such as From Beyond (1986)\, whilst paving the way for Yuzna’s own directorial career\, including Society (1989)\, Bride of Re-Animator (1990)\, and Return of the Living Dead III (1993). As part of this year’s festival\, we are delighted that Re-Animator’s legendary producer Brian Yuzna is scheduled to be joining in person to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award for his work on the film\, whilst also receiving a posthumous award on behalf of the late Stuart Gordon.*The conference component Reanimated! Reviving Cult Film’s Dead Objects\, 17th Cine-Excess conference is held at University of Birmingham\, UK and runs 25-26 October 2025. Dr Xavier Aldana Reyes as our keynote speaker. Dr Aldana Reyes is a founding member of the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies\, co-president of the International Gothic Association\, and the author of such monographs as Contemporary Body Horror (Cambridge University Press\, 2024)\, Gothic Cinema (Routledge\, 2020)\, and Body Gothic: Corporeal Transgression in Contemporary Literature and Horror Film (University of Wales Press\, 2014). \n\n\n\nFor more information and the Call for Papers see: https://www.cine-excess.co.uk/call-for-papers.html.
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/reanimated-reviving-cult-films-dead-objects-17th-cine-excess-conference-university-of-birmingham-uk-25-26-october-2025/
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DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20251016T190000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20251016T213000
DTSTAMP:20250902T163618Z
CREATED:20250902T161417Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250902T163618Z
UID:1288-1760641200-1760650200@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Gothic Angels of Death @ Highgate Cemetery
DESCRIPTION:GOTHIC ANGELS OF DEATHMourning\, Memory and the Feminine Gothic in the CemeteryWith Emma Liggins on Thursday the 16th October 2025 at 7 pm \n\n\n\nHow were women remembered in Victorian cemeteries? Were they always cast as ‘beloved wives’ or ‘devoted daughters’ beneath grand\, angel-topped headstones — or do we find more nuanced tributes etched in stone?This talk explores the language of epitaphs and the symbolism of angel monuments and grave design in Highgate Cemetery (London) and Southern Cemetery (Manchester). It considers how the commemoration of women both echoed and complicated the Victorian ‘celebration of death’.By comparing family headstones with memorial cards shared before and after funerals\, the talk uncovers how the image of the grieving woman — draped in sorrow over a tomb — became an enduring motif of 19th-century mourning culture.The session concludes with a discussion of Tracy Chevalier’s Falling Angels (2001)\, a neo-Edwardian cemetery novel set in Highgate from 1901 to 1910\, exploring how cremation is framed as a compelling choice for women within the Gothic imagination.Tickets £12.50 including a delightful gin cocktail and a 20% donation to Brompton Cemetery. Please click here to purchase. \n\n\n\nEmma LigginsEmma Liggins is a Reader in English Literature at Manchester Metropolitan University and Co-Director of the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies. An expert on women’s writing\, ghost stories\, and Victorian mourning culture\, she has published extensively on the New Woman\, sensation fiction\, and Gothic literature\, including The Haunted House in Women’s Ghost Stories and 
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/gothic-angels-of-death/
LOCATION:The Chapel\, Highgate Cemetery
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DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20250925T180000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20250925T200000
DTSTAMP:20250909T092134Z
CREATED:20250226T143811Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250909T092134Z
UID:1011-1758823200-1758830400@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Writing the Gothic Short Story Course
DESCRIPTION:WRITING THE GOTHICThis writing course offers six two-hour workshops from March to September\, learning the craft of gothic fiction from author and Gothic PhD candidate Bronte Schiltz. \n\n\n\nParticipants on this course will create up to three short stories (up to 5k words) over the duration of this course. Your best story will be published in a Comma Press eBook to be sold online. \n\n\n\nOpen to all levels of experience. \n\n\n\nCOURSE OUTLINE \n\n\n\nAs well as learning the genre conventions and techniques of body horror\, writers will learn the basics of short storytelling that are applicable to all genres. In between sessions\, participants can work on their stories and workshop ideas with fellow participants via a private Slack channel. \n\n\n\nWeek by week\, we will cover the following areas: \n\n\n\nWhat is the Gothic? What is the short story? \n\n\n\nThis class will introduce the Gothic mode and the short story form\, exploring their history and effects and why and how they work together. \n\n\n\nCreating Gothic affect \n\n\n\nThis class will explore the four principal affects associated with the Gothic: the sublime\, the uncanny\, the weird and the eerie. \n\n\n\nEpical Gothic \n\n\n\nThis class will introduce the concept of epical stories and focus on developing narrative voice and character. \n\n\n\nLyrical Gothic \n\n\n\nThis class will introduce the concept of lyrical stories and focus on developing imagery. \n\n\n\nArtifice Gothic \n\n\n\nThis class will introduce the concept of artifice stories and focus on developing plot. \n\n\n\nFinal Workshop \n\n\n\nParticipants will have the opportunity to discuss their feedback and to work on their stories. Bronte will also invite volunteers to submit a section of their story for group discussion\, which she will moderate to ensure that discussion is kind and constructive. Participants will also have the opportunity to ask Bronte any questions they have about their stories or about the Gothic\, short fiction\, or writing more generally. \n\n\n\nVENUE \n\n\n\nSessions 1\, 3 and 6 will be held in-person at \n\n\n\nManchester Metropolitan University \n\n\n\nRoom 4.05\, Grosvenor East \n\n\n\nCavendish Street \n\n\n\nManchester \n\n\n\nM15 6BG \n\n\n\nSessions 2\, 4 & 5 will be held online via zoom. \n\n\n\nDATES AND TIMES \n\n\n\n6:00-8:00pm on Thursdays \n\n\n\nMarch 27th (Room 4.05\, Grosvenor East\, M15 6BG) \n\n\n\nApril 24th (online) \n\n\n\nMay 22nd (Room 4.05\, Grosvenor East\, M15 6BG) \n\n\n\nJune 19th (online) \n\n\n\nJuly 17th (online) \n\n\n\nSeptember 25th (Room 4.05\, Grosvenor East\, M15 6BG) \n\n\n\nPLEASE NOTE: Sessions 2\, 4 and 5 (Held April 24th\, June 19th and July 17th) will take place online. Please also note that there will be no session in August in order to give participants time to work on their submissions. \n\n\n\nTickets are £170 for the whole course. We do not offer partial tickets. \n\n\n\nA limited number of bursary tickets are available for £140 for underrepresented writers or those on a low income. To book without Eventbrite fees\, or to apply for a bursary discount\, email commapublishing@yahoo.com. \n\n\n\nPLEASE BE AWARE: If the minimum number of attendees is not reached by 2 weeks from the course start date\, Comma Press may cancel or postpone. At this point\, attendees will receive a full refund. \n\n\n\nComma Press is not-for-profit publisher and development agency specialising in short fiction from the UK and beyond. \n\n\n\nBrontë Schiltz is a journalist with The Big Issue and Big Issue North\, a freelance contributor to Horrified Magazine\, and a PhD candidate with the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies at Manchester Metropolitan University\, where she researches the Televisual Gothic (horror on and about TV). She is a writer of short stories\, flash fiction\, creative non-fiction\, poetry and theatre\, and her work has featured in publications including Lotus Eater Magazine\, Olney Magazine\, The First Line and Hungry Ghost Magazine. She has also appeared on podcasts including The Ghost Story Book Club\, Victorian Legacies\, BERGCAST and Chronicles of the Quarter Life.
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/writing-the-gothic-short-story-course/
LOCATION:Grosvenor East\, Cavendish Street\, Manchester\, M15 6BG
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20250819T190000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20250819T213000
DTSTAMP:20250716T111214Z
CREATED:20250716T111213Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250716T111214Z
UID:1214-1755630000-1755639000@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Gothic Fiction & The Female Writer
DESCRIPTION:Join Manchester Gothic Centre’s Co-Director\, Emma Liggins\, in London or live streamed online on Tuesday August 19th as she gives a Seed Talk on the topic of Gothic Fiction and the Female Writer. \n\n\n\nWhat do Gothic novels and the supernatural have to do with feminism? A surprising amount. \n\n\n\nBack in the 18th century\, Gothic novels and ghost stories – many written by and for women – began to gain serious popularity. Behind the eerie castles and haunted houses\, many of these stories explored big questions about women’s roles in society: their work\, education\, independence\, and sexuality. \n\n\n\nThis talk looks at how women writers used horror and the supernatural to push back against the expectations of their time. By turning everyday anxieties into eerie\, unsettling fiction\, they revealed the darker sides of patriarchy and colonialism. From Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho to Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre\, and the ghost stories of Elizabeth Gaskell\, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and E. Nesbit\, women have long used Gothic fiction to explore what it really costs to be independent. And as the popularity of horror films and series like The Haunting of Hill House show\, the ghosts of lost female histories don’t stay buried for long. \n\n\n\nDoors open at 7:00pm\, talk starts at 7.30pm – come down early to grab a good seat! Or book a live stream ticket to enjoy from your sofa. \n\n\n\nDr Emma Liggins is a Reader in English Literature in the Department of English at Manchester Metropolitan University and Co-Director of the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies. She has published widely on the short story\, Victorian women’s writing and the supernatural. Publications include (with Andrew Maunder and Ruth Robbins)\, The British Short Story (Palgrave\, 2010)\, The Haunted House in Women’s Ghost Stories\, 1850-1945: Gender\, Space and Modernity (Palgrave\, 2020) and a chapter on ‘The Edwardian Supernatural’ in The Edinburgh Companion to Twentieth-Century Gothic (Edinburgh University Press\, 2022). She is currently researching memorial cards\, cemetery headstones and dark tourism for a new book on Victorian and Edwardian Death Spaces: Gender and Memorialisation for Manchester University Press.
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/gothic-fiction-the-female-writer/
LOCATION:Arches London Bridge\, 8 Bermondsey Street\, London\, SE1 2ER\, United Kingdom
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20250723T183000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20250723T200000
DTSTAMP:20250616T113352Z
CREATED:20250616T113351Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250616T113352Z
UID:1194-1753295400-1753300800@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:MODERATION: Elaine Castillo in conversation with Susan Barker
DESCRIPTION:Susan Barker\, author of Old Soul\, and member of the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies will be in conversation Elaine Castillo and discussing her novel\, MODERATION. \n\n\n\nBlackwell’s Bookshop\, Manchester \n\n\n\nDoors: 6.30pm\, starts: 6.45pm \n\n\n\nTickets are £4. Admission is free when purchasing a copy the book. \n\n\n\nAbout the author: \n\n\n\nElaine Castillo\, named one of “30 of the Planet’s Most Exciting Young People” by the Financial Times\, was born and raised in the Bay Area. Her debut novel\, America Is Not the Heart\, was a finalist for numerous prizes including the Elle Big Book Award\, the Center for Fiction Prize\, and the Aspen Words Literary Prize and was named a best book of 2018 by NPR\, Real Simple\, Lit Hub\, The Boston Globe\, San Francisco Chronicle\, The New York Post\, Kirkus Reviews\, and the New York Public Library. \n\n\n\nAbout Susan:  \n\n\n\nSusan Barker is the author of four books. Her third novel\,The Incarnations\, was a New York Times Editors’ Choice and Notable Book\, a Kirkus Reviews’ Top Ten Book of the Year and shortlisted for the Kirkus Prize for Fiction. An excerpt from her fourth novel\,Old Soul\,won a Northern Writers’ Award for Fiction in 2020. Susan currently lives in Manchester\, where she is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University. \n\n\n\nAbout the book: \n\n\n\nGirlie\, a thirty-something Filipinx-American\, works a day job at a social-media moderation centre\, flagging and removing the very worst that makes it on to the internet. She’s good at it\, too – dispassionate\, unflinching\, maybe because she learned by necessity to cauterise all her emotions when she was still a kid – so it’s no surprise to anyone when the social-media company for which she works offers her a big pay rise and an office to start moderating its new venture: virtual-reality theme parks\, stunning simulations of civilizations long-since dead.Despite the isolation that virtual reality requires from colleagues\, friends\, and family\, the unbelievable perks of her new job mean she can solve a lot of her family’s problems with money and mobility. She doesn’t have to think about the childhood home they lost back in the Bay Area\, or history at all—she can just pay any debts that come due. But when she meets William Cheung\, Playground’s wry\, reticent co-founder (now Chief Product Officer) and slowly unearths some of his secrets\, and finds herself somehow falling in love\, she’ll learn that history might be impossible to moderate and the future utterly impossible to control. \n\n\n\n“Castillo is a literary firecracker… Reading her is like pressing your finger on a bruise just to feel the thrill. If you liked Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow\, and Tomorrow\, and Tomorrow\, and/or The Circle by Dave Eggers\, you’ll like this.” – Pandora Sykes
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/moderation-elaine-castillo-in-conversation-with-susan-barker/
LOCATION:Blackwell’s Bookshop\, 146 Oxford Road\, Manchester\, M13 9GP\, United Kingdom
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20250709T173000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20250709T184500
DTSTAMP:20250430T071038Z
CREATED:20250430T071037Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250430T071038Z
UID:1086-1752082200-1752086700@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Contemporary Gothic Reading Group 4: Heather Parry\, Carrion Crow
DESCRIPTION:Join members of the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies for the final discussion of our Spring/Summer Contemporary Reading Groups for 2025. This is the last of a series of 4 reading groups (this year there are two in person and two online). These free sessions\, which we run in the summer months\, give us a chance to explore the prominent role of the Gothic in modern and contemporary culture. Come along for a relaxed conversation among enthusiasts and avid readers. \n\n\n\nThis reading group takes place online on Teams. The Teams link will be emailed to you two days before the reading group\, and on the morning of the event. \n\n\n\nFORMATThe session will be led by one of our postgraduate Gothic researchers Quen Took and Becky Alaise. There is no need to prepare questions or reviews. Please just turn up on the day ready to chat about the book. \n\n\n\nAUDIENCEThis reading group is free and open to everyone\, but please note that regular attendees tend to be postgraduate researchers and members of staff. For this reason\, the group might not suit total beginners. \n\n\n\nFor more information on the Contemporary Gothic Reading Group and other events organised by the Gothic Centre\, please visit our website: https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/ \n\n\n\nor join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1589997731237020 \n\n\n\nAbout Carrion Crow \n\n\n\nA powerful and spine-tingling gothic tale exploring mother-daughter relationships\, sexuality\, and class.There are some facts about the world that only your mother can teach you.Marguerite had been confined for the sake of her wellbeing.That’s what her mother had said.Marguerite Périgord is locked in the attic of her family home\, a towering Chelsea house overlooking the stinking Thames. For company she has a sewing machine\,Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Managementand a carrion crow who has come to nest in the rafters. Restless\, she spends her waning energies on the fascinations of her own body\, memorising Mrs Beeton’s advice and longing for her life outside.Cécile Périgord has confined her daughter Marguerite for her own good. Cécile is concerned that Marguerite’s engagement to a much older\, near-penniless solicitor\, will drag the family name – her husband’s name\, that is – into disrepute. And for Cécile\, who has worked hard at her own betterment\, this simply won’t do.Cécile’s life has taught her that no matter how high a woman climbs she can just as readily fall.Of course\, both have their secrets\, intentions and histories to hide. As Marguerite’s patience turns into rage\, the boundaries of her mind and body start to fray.And neither woman can recognise what the other is becoming.
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/contemporary-gothic-reading-group-4-heather-parry-carrion-crow/
LOCATION:Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/avif:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/476/2025/04/https___cdn.evbuc_.com_images_1016305173_897211129163_1_original.avif
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20250626T173000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20250626T184500
DTSTAMP:20250430T065844Z
CREATED:20250430T065843Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250430T065844Z
UID:1073-1750959000-1750963500@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Contemporary Gothic Reading Group 3: Hell Followed with Us
DESCRIPTION:Join members of the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies for the third of our Spring/Summer Contemporary Gothic Reading Groups for 2025. This in-person reading group takes place during our Gothic Crossroads conference at Manchester Metropolitan University. These free sessions\, which we run in the summer months\, give us a chance to explore the prominent role of the Gothic in modern and contemporary culture. Come along for a relaxed conversation among enthusiasts and avid readers. \n\n\n\nManchester Poetry Library\, located on the ground floor of the Grosvenor East building on Manchester Metropolitan University All Saints campus\, is the North West’s first public poetry library. The library will be open for browsing from 17.15 onwards. To find out more about the library and its mission\, click here. \n\n\n\nFORMATThe session will be led by one of our postgraduate Gothic researchers Quen Took and Becky Alaise. There is no need to prepare questions or reviews. Please just turn up on the day ready to chat about the book. \n\n\n\nAUDIENCEThis reading group is free and open to everyone\, but please note that regular attendees tend to be postgraduate researchers and members of staff. For this reason\, the group might not suit total beginners. \n\n\n\nFor more information on the Contemporary Gothic Reading Group and other events organised by the Gothic Centre\, please visit our website: https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/ \n\n\n\nor join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1589997731237020 \n\n\n\nAbout Hell Followed with Us: \n\n\n\nAn instant New York Times bestseller\, this furious\, queer debut novel about embracing the monster within and unleashing its power against your oppressors is perfect for fans of Cemetery Boys. \n\n\n\nPrepare to die. His kingdom is near. \n\n\n\nSixteen-year-old trans boy Benji is on the run from the cult that raised him―the fundamentalist sect that unleashed Armageddon and decimated the world’s population. Desperately\, he searches for a place where the cult can’t get their hands on him\, or more importantly\, on the bioweapon they infected him with. \n\n\n\nBut when cornered by monsters born from the destruction\, Benji is rescued by a group of teens from the local Acheson LGBTQ+ Center\, affectionately known as the ALC. The ALC’s leader\, Nick\, is gorgeous\, autistic\, and a deadly shot\, and he knows Benji’s darkest secret: the cult’s bioweapon is mutating him into a monster deadly enough to wipe humanity from the earth once and for all. \n\n\n\nStill\, Nick offers Benji shelter among his ragtag group of queer teens\, as long as Benji can control the monster and use its power to defend the ALC. Eager to belong\, Benji accepts Nick’s terms…until he discovers the ALC’s mysterious leader has a hidden agenda\, and more than a few secrets of his own.
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/contemporary-gothic-reading-group-3-hell-followed-with-us/
LOCATION:Manchester Poetry Library\, M15 6BG
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20250624T170000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20250624T190000
DTSTAMP:20250617T130334Z
CREATED:20250617T130333Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250617T130334Z
UID:1199-1750784400-1750791600@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Coded Black Launch Celebration
DESCRIPTION:Join British Academy Global Professor and friend of the Gothic Centre\, Maisha Wester to celebrate the launch of Coded Black\, the social Justice game for the PC.
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/coded-black-launch-celebration/
LOCATION:The National Videogame Museum\, Castle House\, Angel Street\, Sheffield\, S3 8LN
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20250604T150000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20250604T163000
DTSTAMP:20250430T070622Z
CREATED:20250401T133103Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250430T070622Z
UID:1060-1749049200-1749054600@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Contemporary Gothic Reading Group 2\, Special Edition: Susan Barker Reading Old Soul
DESCRIPTION:As part of Manchester City of Literature’s Festival of Libraries 2025\, Manchester Metropolitan University presents a special edition of its Contemporary Gothic Reading Group. \n\n\n\nThis event will take place at Manchester’s finest neo-Gothic library\, The John Rylands. In this appropriately eerie setting\, Susan Barker will be reading from her recently published novel\, Old Soul\, followed by a Q&A and group discussion. \n\n\n\nIt is free and open to everyone\, but registration is required. \n\n\n\nAbout Old Soul: \n\n\n\nWhen two grieving strangers meet by chance in Osaka airport they uncover a disturbing connection. Jake’s best friend and Mariko’s twin brother each died\, 6\,000 miles apart\, in brutal and unfathomable circumstances. \n\n\n\nEach encountered a mesmerising\, dark-haired woman in the days before their deaths. A woman who came looking for Mariko – and then disappeared. \n\n\n\nJake\, who has carried his loss and guilt for a decade\, finds himself compelled to follow the trail set by Mariko’s revelations. It’s a trail that weaves across continents and centuries\, leading back to the many who have died – in strange and terrifying and eerily similar ways – and those they left behind: bewildered\, disbelieved\, yet resolutely sure of what they saw. \n\n\n\nAnd\, at the centre of it all\, there is the same beguiling woman. Her name may have changed\, but her purpose has never wavered\, and as Jake races to discover who\, or what she is\, she has already made her next choice. \n\n\n\nAbout the author: \n\n\n\nSUSAN BARKER is the author of four books. Her third novel\, The Incarnations\, was a New York Times Editors’ Choice and Notable Book\, a Kirkus Reviews’ Top Ten Book of the Year and shortlisted for the Kirkus Prize for Fiction. An excerpt from her fourth novel\, Old Soul\, won a Northern Writers’ Award for Fiction in 2020. Susan currently lives in Manchester\, where she is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University. \n\n\n\n“This is the kind of story you tell around a campfire as the lights of civilization begin flicker out around you; a global\, intelligent\, and ambitious archetypal nightmare” – KRISTEN ROUPENIAN\, author of Cat Person \n\n\n\n“Susan Barker’s Old Soul beguiles\, terrifies\, and utterly seduces you as swiftly and slyly as the mysterious woman at its center. It’s at once a thriller\, a postmodern mystery\, and an existential horror tale\, but perhaps most deeply it speaks to our current moment: the drift and terrors of loneliness\, the risks of intimacy and a piercing nostalgia that never lets us go” – MEGAN ABBOTT\, author of El Dorado Drive \n\n\n\nThis event will be hosted by the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies\, https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/ [manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk] \n\n\n\nThe Contemporary Gothic reading group runs every year between May and July and usually offers a combination of in-person and online events\, including author talks. \n\n\n\nFor more information\, please visit our Gothic Centre website or find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1589997731237020/ [facebook.com]
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/contemporary-gothic-reading-group-special-edition-susan-barker-reading-old-soul/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20250521T173000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20250521T184500
DTSTAMP:20250430T070522Z
CREATED:20250430T070520Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250430T070522Z
UID:1079-1747848600-1747853100@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Contemporary Gothic Reading Group 1: T. Kingfisher\, The Hollow Places
DESCRIPTION:Join members of the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies for the first of our Spring/Summer Contemporary Reading Groups for 2025. This is the first of a series of 4 reading groups (this year there are two in person and two online). These free sessions\, which we run in the summer months\, give us a chance to explore the prominent role of the Gothic in modern and contemporary culture. Come along for a relaxed conversation among enthusiasts and avid readers. \n\n\n\nThis reading group takes place online on Teams. The Teams link will be emailed to you two days before the reading group\, and on the morning of the event. \n\n\n\nFORMATThe session will be led by one of our postgraduate Gothic researchers Quen Took and Becky Alaise. There is no need to prepare questions or reviews. Please just turn up on the day ready to chat about the book. \n\n\n\nAUDIENCEThis reading group is free and open to everyone\, but please note that regular attendees tend to be postgraduate researchers and members of staff. For this reason\, the group might not suit total beginners. \n\n\n\nFor more information on the Contemporary Gothic Reading Group and other events organised by the Gothic Centre\, please visit our website: https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/ \n\n\n\nor join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1589997731237020 \n\n\n\nIf you’d like to join us for our next in-person Reading Group on 4 June\, which includes a special Q and A with local author Susan Barker\, it is being held at John Rylands Library on Deansgate during the Festival of Libraries. To register\, click here. \n\n\n\nAbout The Hollow Places \n\n\n\nAward-winning author Ursula Vernon\, writing as T. Kingfisher\, presents a terrifying tale of hidden worlds and monstrous creations \n\n\n\nRecently divorced and staring down the barrel of moving back in with her parents\, Carrot really needs a break. And a place to live. So when her Uncle Earl\, owner of the eclectic Wonder Museum\, asks her to stay with him in exchange for cataloguing the exhibits\, of course she says yes. \n\n\n\nThe Wonder Museum is packed with taxidermy\, shrunken heads\, and an assortment of Mystery Junk. For Carrot\, it’s not creepy at all: she grew up with it. What is creepy is the hole that’s been knocked in one of the museum walls\, and the corridor behind it. There’s just no space for a corridor in the museum s thin walls or the concrete bunker at the end of it\, or the strange islands beyond the bunker s doors\, or the whispering\, unseen things lurking in the willow trees. \n\n\n\nCarrot has stumbled into a strange and horrifying world\, and They are watching her. Strewn among the islands are the remains of Their meals and Their experiments. And even if she manages to make it back home again\, she can’t stop calling Them after her. \n\n\n\nThis text has echoes of Algernon Blackwood’s classic tale of supernatural horror\, ‘The Willows’ (1907) – you may wish to give this a read for comparison\, if you’ve not come across it before. Available for free online here.
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/contemporary-gothic-reading-group-1-t-kingfisher-the-hollow-places/
LOCATION:Online
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20250516T180000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20250516T200000
DTSTAMP:20250311T145054Z
CREATED:20250311T145053Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250311T145054Z
UID:1024-1747418400-1747425600@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Ann Radcliffe and Women's Gothic Writing
DESCRIPTION:Free public lecture on seminal 1790s Gothic writer\, Ann Radcliffe\, by Dr. Deborah Russell (university of York). \n\n\n\nAnn Radcliffe (1764-1823) was “the great enchantress” of her generation\, in the words of Thomas de Quincey. She changed the face of fiction in the Romantic period and shaped the development of Gothic romance. The extraordinary impact of her work also helped to cement an association between this genre and women writers and readers. But\, of course\, Radcliffe was far from the only woman writing Gothic fiction in the formative early days of the genre. This lecture will explore Radcliffe’s career in the context of the other women who inspired her\, imitated her\, and contested her vision of the Gothic. \n\n\n\nGenerously funded by the AHRC as part of the ongoing Ann Radcliffe\, Then and Now project based at the University of Sheffield. Followed by a drinks reception. \n\n\n\nDr Deborah Russell is a Senior Lecturer in Eighteenth-Century Literature at the University of York. Deborah’s research interests focus on Gothic fiction\, with a particular emphasis on women’s writing and discourses of national identity. She also works on Romantic-era theatre\, thinking about silence on stage\, spectacle\, and the politics of adaptation.
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/ann-radcliffe-and-womens-gothic-writing/
LOCATION:Mappin Hall\, Sir Frederick Mappin Building\, Sheffield\, S1 3JD\, United Kingdom
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20250516T093000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20250516T163000
DTSTAMP:20250430T072034Z
CREATED:20250318T153549Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250430T072034Z
UID:1046-1747387800-1747413000@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:The Lithic Gathering: a symposium exploring shifting temporalities and mythologies of ritual stone structures within art and visual culture.
DESCRIPTION:This one-day symposium organised by The Scholars of the Stones at MMU gathers Arts and Humanities academics and/or artists working in relation to Neolithic or other ancient stone structures\, focusing on the themes of materiality\, mythology\, affect and temporality. \n\n\n\nRitual/sacred stone structures\, such as henges\, dolmens and cairns of the Neolithic and Mesolithic era have been (re)visited\, (re)used and (re)invoked by societies over the centuries in relation to spiritual\, cultural and functional needs and desires. In the 20thcentury\, within a British context\, Stonehenge featured prominently in visual and popular countercultures\, whilst in the 21st century\, stone-specific or folklore zines and wanderlust communities have emerged in relation to these stone sites. \n\n\n\nProgramme \n\n\n\nPresentations will explore the ways in which these structures – and/or the materiality of the stone/the lithic itself – merges\, redefines or shifts historical and mythological narratives in relation to their manifestations within global visual cultures and artistic practices. \n\n\n\n@scholarsofthestones \n\n\n\nKeynotes: \n\n\n\nProfessor Tim Edensor – Landscape and place\, local shifting meanings and ludic practices\, and the ethic of care for monoliths \n\n\n\nDr Charlotte Coull – Living tradition or dead civilisation? Indian megaliths on British time \n\n\n\nCurrently confirmed panel session speakers include: \n\n\n\nDr Jennie Bailey – The Stones of Rochdale: Three Creative Pieces Inspired by Place \n\n\n\nAnna Gidman and Ralph Parker – Hengeing a house- housing a henge: Revisiting the henge as a design tool and method for living \n\n\n\nDavid Berwick – O Maen \n\n\n\nDr Ian Grosz – This is Our Place: Narrative and Interpretation at the Callanish Standing Stones. \n\n\n\nCristina Moraru – Touching Time: The Aesthetic and Affective Presence of Sacred Stones in Contemporary Photography \n\n\n\nMartha Lineham – Haptic and Tender Practices of Ancient Rural and Contemporary Urban Stone Circles \n\n\n\nPaul Vivian – Acoustics and non-human agency in Neolithic and Bronze Age rituals at Stone Circle sites \n\n\n\nLiúsaidh Ashley Watt – Stones in Focus \n\n\n\nThe presentations vary from short films\, artist show and tells and traditional papers. Final programme released nearer to event. There will be time chaired for questions at the end of each panel session.
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/the-lithic-gathering-shifting-temporalities-and-mythologies-of-ritualstone-structures/
LOCATION:SODA (School of Digital Arts)\, 14 Higher Chatham Street\, Manchester\, M15 6ED\, United Kingdom
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/476/2025/03/image.png
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20250402T140000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20250402T170000
DTSTAMP:20250319T090419Z
CREATED:20250319T090418Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250319T090419Z
UID:1048-1743602400-1743613200@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:North West Long 19C seminar
DESCRIPTION:\, Wednesday 2 April\, 12-5 pm \n\n\n\nOur friends The North West Long Nineteenth Century Network are a group of Man Met scholars and postgraduates that share interests and collaborate with Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies on aspects and topics of Victorian Gothic. \n\n\n\nJoin them for the next North West Long Nineteenth Century research seminar on the topic of ‘Transnational Popular Print in the Long Nineteenth Century’ that includes contributions on the Gothic in the nineteenth century.  \n\n\n\nDate and Venue: GM G.09A on Wed 2nd April\, 12-5pm. \n\n\n\nProgramme \n\n\n\nInternational Scholar Talk \n\n\n\nWe’re really delighted to have Dr Jeroen Salman from the University of Utrecht join us for the afternoon. \n\n\n\nManchester Scholar Papers \n\n\n\nDr Jodie Matthews (MMU): Title: “Follow the Plants: Rhizomatic Reading Across Borders”   \n\n\n\nClara Dawson (Manchester): Title: “’Avian Poetics: Human-Bird Relations in the Nineteenth Century.”  \n\n\n\nSonja Lawrenson (LJMU and MMU): Title: “The Punch Almanack in its Transnational Contexts” \n\n\n\n‘PhD in Progress Panel’ \n\n\n\nRebecca Alaise (MMU): Title: “Sparring for Sonic Supremacy: Gothicising the Battle Between German and Italian Classical Music in Literature of the Fin de Siècle.”  \n\n\n\nSarah Dutson (MMU): Title: “Transnational Spiritualism in the Neo-Victorian Gothic Context.”  \n\n\n\nHaseeb Khan (MMU): Title: “Seeking a Long History of British Muslim Identity in Liverpool and Manchester.”  \n\n\n\nGareth Rees (MMU): Title: “Why Resurrect David Lloyd George?” \n\n\n\nFor further info and to register please click here. Any questions\, please email Sonja Lawrenson on s.lawrenson@mmu.ac.uk.
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/north-west-long-19c-seminar/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20250227T180000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20250227T180000
DTSTAMP:20250128T114019Z
CREATED:20250128T113507Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250128T114019Z
UID:973-1740679200-1740679200@manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Ghosts: In History & Performance 
DESCRIPTION:Ever wondered why Gothic fiction and nineteenth-century ghost stories were often set in old-fashioned country houses? This special event combines a short talk on Gothic architecture by researcher Dr Emma Liggins with a spine-chilling ghost story performance by award-winner writer and theatre maker Adam Z Robinson. \n\n\n\nEmma’s talk\, ‘Gothic architecture and the development of the ghost story’\, asks why tales of haunting dwelt on the ancestral home with its many rooms and corridors from the 1790s to the late nineteenth century. Why was the haunted country house\, castle or abbey so popular with readers? Why were servants key characters? How did this link to travel and tourism? This talk begins with Ann Radcliffe’s popular Gothic novel The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) and considers its influence on Victorian ghost stories such as Mary Braddon’s ‘The Shadow in the Corner’\, Elizabeth Gaskell’s ‘The Old Nurse’s Story’ and Henry James’ ‘The Turn of the Screw’.  \n\n\n\nAdam Z. Robinson will perform adaptations of Algernon Blackwood’s ‘The Kit Bag’ (1908) and Bram Stoker’s ‘The Judge’s House’ (1891) from his stage show Nightmares. \n\n\n\nDr Emma Liggins is Reader in English Literature in the Department of English at Manchester Metropolitan University and Co-Director of the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies. She is the author of The Haunted House in Women’s Ghost Stories\, 1850-1945: Gender\, Space and Modernity (2020).https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/ \n\n\n\nAdam Z. Robinson has just finished touring his show Nightmares which includes the performance of 3 classic Victorian and Edwardian ghost stories: Algernon Blackwood’s ‘The Kit Bag’ (1908)\, E. Nesbit’s ‘John Charrington’s Wedding’ (1891) and Bram Stoker’s ‘The Judge’s House’ (1891). https://adamzrobinson.com/ \n\n\n\nTickets are £25 per person. Please note that limited tickets are available. Refreshments will be available on the night.
URL:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/event/ghosts-in-history-performance/
LOCATION:The Old Dining Room\, Thirsk Hall\, Kirkgate\, Thirsk\, North Yorkshire\, YO7 1PL\, United Kingdom
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/476/2025/01/Adam-Z.-Robinson.jpg
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END:VCALENDAR