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Category Archives: Critical thoughts
2017 – PhD Reflections
As Sam has already blogged (in very flattering terms), I passed my viva on Friday 16th December. (Minor corrections if you were wondering). Following this I have taken two weeks of radio silence to celebrate Christmas, the end of 2016, … Continue reading
Dark Musings From A Discarded Christmas Tree
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
Posted in Critical thoughts
Tagged Christmas Tree, Eco criticism, Fir Tree, Hans Andersen
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Folk Gothic and Folk Noir
We’ve mentioned the growing interest in folk Gothic a couple of times on this site, where the darkness of Gothic narrative roots itself in folk traditions (or invented replicas of such traditions). Folklore, too, interests us in the form of … Continue reading
Theodore von Holst, ‘Frankenstein’ (1831)
A very erudite and penetrating article here by Ian Haywood of the University of Roehampton on the frontispiece to Mary Shelley’s 1831 edition of Frankenstein by Theodore von Holst, a protégé of Henry Fuseli. Haywood’s essay uses the image of … Continue reading
Posted in Critical thoughts
Tagged art, Frankenstein, illustration, Mary Shelley, Monsters
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Gothic Sensibilities: Charlotte Bronte Stitches Her Dead Sibling’s Hair Into Her Shoes
Just when you thought the Bronte sisters could not get any more gothic Charlotte Bronte’s silk shoes from 1850 reveal that she repaired them using her dead sibling’s hair!! This may seem maudlin to us but it was evidently an … Continue reading
Posted in Critical thoughts
Tagged Charlotte Bronte, hair, John Donne, Love tokens, The Relic
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Fairy Tales, feminism, and strangeness
A handful of interesting items on fairy tale here. First, a very scholarly but readable and fascinating account of the classic English fairy tale, ‘Mr Fox’ (a Bluebeard variant). Then, there’s a review, ‘A Dwarf Becomes a Wolf Girl in … Continue reading
Posted in Books and Articles, Critical thoughts
Tagged adaptation, Angela Carter, Fairy tales, Feminism, Folklore, Giambattista Basile, women
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Gargoyles and Temptation
This is a fascinating piece from the always-wonderful Folklore Thursday on the history and significance of gargoyles. It begins and ends with the presence of these ambivalent creatures in popular culture, from a childhood memory of the animated series Gargoyles … Continue reading
Posted in Critical thoughts
Tagged architecture, Folklore, gargoyles, Holly Black, Paranormal romance
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Whitby, Goth, and Steampunk
An incisive article here by Claire Nally of Northumbria University on the proliferation of subcultures around Goth and steampunk, focusing on Whitby (and a nod to OGOM collaborator Catherine Spooner’s work).
Posted in Critical thoughts
Tagged Dracula, Genre, Goth subculture, music, neo-Victorian, steampunk, subcultures, Whitby
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Post-millennial Vampires
Posted slightly late for Hallowe’en, but this essay by Prof. Dale Townshend on the contemporary, post-millennial vampire and what it might stand for is hugely insightful.
Posted in Critical thoughts
Tagged consumerism, nationalism, neoliberalism, otherness, post-millennial, Vampires, xenophobia
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Goths Just Wanna have Fun!
Thanks to those who shared or commented on my article in The Conversation. I replied to over 40 comments on the day. There are some gems in this publication and I have just uncovered Catherine Spooner’s article Goths Just Wanna … Continue reading