Tag Archives: Enlightenment

Vampires, werewolves, and Jane Austen

Posted on 24th April 2020 by William the Bloody

I am being interviewed here by Brian from Toothpickings. I talk about vampires and werewolves, the folklore of these creatures and its transmutation into literature. I also make some very tenuous links between this, the Enlightenment, Jane Austen and paranormal … Continue reading →

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Frankenstein and Counter-Enlightenment

Posted on 9th March 2018 by William the Bloody

I’m sure many will have seen the furore stirred up in social media, particularly among Gothicists, by the Sun’s article on Frankenstein, which screams, ‘SNOWFLAKE students claim Frankenstein’s monster was a misunderstood victim with feelings’. I don’t think it’s altogether … Continue reading →

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Jack Zipes on the Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Posted on 11th May 2017 by William the Bloody

The renowned fairy tale critic Jack Zipes has a new book out on the diverse manifestations of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice motif in folklore and literature, from Lucian and Ovid, through the Grimms, to Harry Potter. There’s a thought-provoking interview with … Continue reading →

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Walpole: The House and the Letters

Posted on 10th February 2016 by firekrank

The New York Review of Books has in its latest issue an article by Geoffrey Wheatley, ‘Walpole: The House & the Letters’. It as the name suggests a look at Strawberry Hill, the Gothic abode Walpole engineered for himself, and his … Continue reading →

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CFP: Special Issue of ‘Image [&] Narrative’ on Horace Walpole

Posted on 4th February 2016 by firekrank

The journal Image [&] Narrative is seeking papers for a special issue on Horace Walpole. Abstracts of 300 words need to be sent in by 1st June 2016 and the finished 5000 word articles will need to be submitted by 1st February … Continue reading →

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Roger Luckhurst, ‘The birth of the vampyre: Dracula and mythology in Early Modern Europe’

Posted on 16th October 2015 by William the Bloody

An extract here from Roger Luckhurst’s excellent introduction to the OUP World’s Classics edition of Dracula. The notion that the vampire is universal and archetypal is debunked, and its origins shown to lie in the Enlightenment response to folkloric panics … Continue reading →

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Review of British Library Gothic Study Day

Posted on 8th January 2015 by firekrank

I’m starting this year by looking backwards towards the end of last year which seems oddly suitable as a scholar of the Gothic. Early in December 2014, though it seems longer ago, I attended the Gothic Study Day at the … Continue reading →

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Dale Townshend, ‘Review of Elisabeth Bronfen’s Night Passages: Philosophy, Literature, Film’

Posted on 21st December 2014 by William the Bloody

Dale Townshend, University of Stirling, gives a thoughtfully analytical review of Elisabeth Bronfen’s Night Passages: Philosophy, Literature, Film, which itself looks a very interesting exploration of Gothic themes, in particular the image of Night, as the underside of Enlightenment in … Continue reading →

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