Author Archives: Sam George

About Sam George

Associate Professor of Research, School of Humanities, University of Hertfordshire Co-convenor OGOM Project

Love Song for a Vampire: Total Eclipse of the Heart

Posted on 13th February 2017 by Sam George

Once upon a time there was light in my life But now there’s only love in the dark Nothing I can say A total eclipse of the heart Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ is a love song for … Continue reading →

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Vampire Theatricals: An Exploration of Vampires on the Stage

Posted on 13th February 2017 by Sam George

Last week on ‘Reading the Vampire’ we explored ‘The Vampire Theatre: Stage Plays and Victorian Melodrama’ our workshop texts were J. R. Planché, The Vampyre, or Bride of the Isles (1820); William Thomas Moncrieff, The Spectre Bridegroom (1821); George Blink, The … Continue reading →

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Harry Potter: Magic and Herbology at the British Library

Posted on 29th January 2017 by Sam George

Harry Potter: A History of Magic, British Library  20 October 2017 – 28 February 2018 Libraries can be very magical places so it is fitting that the British Library are to host a stellar exhibition on Harry Potter this year. For … Continue reading →

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Join Us For A Literary Weekend At Cumberland Lodge

Posted on 27th January 2017 by Sam George

 The Literature staff at University of Hertfordshire are having a residential weekend  in Cumberland Lodge again this year (the weekend of 10th-12th February). We will be arriving Friday evening and  departing Sunday afternoon. This year we are sharing the programme with staff … Continue reading →

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Better the Devil You Know: Part Two

Posted on 22nd January 2017 by Sam George

I raised questions about visual images of the devil in my Better the Devil You Know post yesterday, even suggesting that he was once blue and winged rather than red and horned. Following this discussion Daisy alerted me to this wonderful … Continue reading →

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Better the Devil You Know: Was the Devil Once Blue and an Angel?

Posted on 21st January 2017 by Sam George

I have always wondered how the devil came to be depicted as red with horns and cloven feet and I once heard that one of the first visual images of the devil depicts him as a blue angel. So did … Continue reading →

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All the Better to See You With: Wolves and US

Posted on 11th January 2017 by Sam George

I found myself in Bolton in the pantomime season en route to Glasgow and was fortunate to stumble across an exhibition on ‘Animals and US’ at Bolton Central Library and Museum.  This ‘family-friendly’ exhibition, purports to show how animals feature in … Continue reading →

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Shakespeare’s Fey Subplot in YA Gothic

Posted on 8th January 2017 by Sam George

When I was a child in Cumbria it used to be common for people to say you must be a changeling if you had nothing in common with your parents and there were also stories circulating that the gypsies who … Continue reading →

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Is the End of Time in Sight for Doctor Who?

Posted on 5th January 2017 by Sam George

It has been a while since Doctor Who featured on the site, though I remember posting an All Sorts of Scary (pun intended) story on the  Kandy Man and the unlikely rise of gothic sweets some time ago!! Dr Ivan Phillips, … Continue reading →

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Dark Musings From A Discarded Christmas Tree

Posted on 3rd January 2017 by Sam George

  There is something of an arboreal theme going on on the blog just now following the announcement of the Beasts of the Forest conference. If you are decorating your tree you might like to read Hans Andersen’s unsettling account of … Continue reading →

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