iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Jennifer Wallis-Bernard @harbottlestores.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Plus @morbidmae.bsky.social (and Neil Pemberton)'s paper was a tour de force, looking at how Netflix's Monsters series often problematically blurs the boundaries between fact and fiction. #horror

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Josh Coulthard @joshcoulthard.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Featuring papers by @morbidmae.bsky.social, Anna Pririe @celinaberill.bsky.social, Poppy Philligreen, George Fowles, Jomar de Vrind, @emma-nelson.bsky.social, James Davison, @dr-r0bert.bsky.social, @edjfm.bsky.social, me, and Anna Probert!

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Dr Meaghan Allen @morbidmae.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Finally got around to watching “Weapons” (2025) & what an eerie, wild ride. Also, GLADYS.

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Dr Meaghan Allen @morbidmae.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

A fun mashup of my 2025 paper for the @northwestmedieval.bsky.social symposium (naturally on blood) & an inside joke about Hellzones, Calzones, & Sacrificial Zones

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North West Medieval Studies Postgrad Network @northwestmedieval.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

2026 marks a return to @chethamslibrary.bsky.social for our fifth anniversary and just as the NWMS was founded to give a voice to PGR’s, this year’s symposium is specifically about exploring the rabbit holes that define post graduate research, we hope to see you there!

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North West Medieval Studies Postgrad Network @northwestmedieval.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

2026 marks the fifth anniversary of the North West Medieval Studies Graduate Symposium so in honour of that here is a thread of what has come before!

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Dr Laura Varnam @drlauravarnam.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

The cfp for next year’s MAMO (the Middle Ages in the Modern World) conference is live! We’ve got amazing keynote panels, speakers, and special events- check it out!! themamo.org

Cfp for the Middle Ages in the Modern World conference

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Grumpy Philosopher @stevecooke.org · 10/06/2026

I used to think this government was merely indifferent to the damage being done to UK universities. Now I realise that the harms are intended.

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Ellesse Patterson 🐝 @elpatterson.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

In October, the upcoming PGR-led conference, Dark Enchantments: Gothic Folklore and the Monstrous Fairy-Tale, will be held at the University of Sheffield. Interested in getting involved? Follow the QR code and send us your abstracts by the end of July! 🦇👻 (Risen from the🪦 with a new QR code).

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Alicia Spencer-Hall @aspencerhall.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Cannot wait to see this in print!!! #MedievalSky 🗃️

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Dr Meaghan Allen @morbidmae.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Beyond thrilled to share the my monograph proposal “Sanctity, The Body,& Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Popular Culture & Cryptomedievalism has *OFFICIALLY* been approved by @archumanities.bsky.social to be included in @aspencerhall.bsky.social new series “Intercessions: Sanctity in the Pre/Modern World”

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Order of the Good Death @ordergooddeath.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

A new documentary is bringing conversations about deathcare, funeral practices, and greener end-of-life options to a wider audience. Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiLl...

youtube.com

DEATH BOOM | Official Trailer

YouTube video by QC Entertainment

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Dr Meaghan Allen @morbidmae.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

My heart is broken. Another core Scooby lost. Anthony Stewart Head (20 February 1957 - 5 June 2026) you were the best Watcher a Slayer, her Scoobies, & generations of fans could ask for. #AnthonyStewartHead #Buffy #restinpeace #Giles

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Dr Meaghan Allen @morbidmae.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Scott Midson casually dropping these philosophical heavy hitters (plus Levinas!) during his talk about Human(oid) robots in the sweltering heat at the “(Re)Iamaging Faces” conference today held by Manchester Museum and Creative Manchester.

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Morbid Movies Podcast @morbidmovies.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

Dracula (1958) is being re-released by Hammer with additional footage that censors found to be too gruesome. Sounds absolutely delightful. #filmsky #moviesky #horror www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ma...

theguardian.com

Hammer to rerelease 1958 Dracula in UK with long-lost footage added

Classic starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing will include footage censors decided was too gruesome

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Siobhán Jolley @siobhanjolley.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

Learned from my publisher that my new book dropped early in the National Gallery shops today! If you would like to look at nice pictures of Saints and learn fun things about them, this is the one for you.

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Dr Meaghan Allen @morbidmae.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Slayers gotta slay (or dust!). Casually changing the tone at the encountering Biblical Bodies Showcase held at UoM through SALC.

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Dr Meaghan Allen @morbidmae.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Prepping the “Reality of the Rulers” from the Gnostic ‘Hypostasis of the Archons’ found in the Nag Hammadi library (c. 400 ce) & feel as though I am going to teach my students some avante-garde Star Trek fanfic. #religion #gnostic #medieval #genesis #bible #history #theology #scifi

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Order of the Good Death @ordergooddeath.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

1. Here’s what we covered in this month’s Order Member newsletter! • Human composting finally takes root in NY, & why legalization wasn’t the finish line • When museums sanitize queer grief: what happens when context disappears from an AIDS-era masterpiece?

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Suzanne Karr Schmidt @drkarrschmidt.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Puzzle Binding! Tricky! These are almost as rare as hen's teeth, and we just... Had One??? And, it includes HOW Many Books? (Five from Germany c. 1601 and a blank one at last count...) #Vexierbuch #DosADos @newberrylibrary.bsky.social (Case C 823 .966)

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Blue Wave @votebiue.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

I knew I saw this somewhere before. Funny that it’s almost exactly what’s actually happening now.

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Steven R. Shaw, PhD @shawpsych.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Now this is a movie plot!!! Someone understands grad school.

Movie description of the B horror move Death PhD. Gawdawful movie.

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Dr Meaghan Allen @morbidmae.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Rebranding this version of “Wuthering Heights” as “Smutt-ering Heights” really helps with a change of perspective. Think, “I’m here for the visceral & the visual” not the historically accurate & emotionally vituperative. #wutheringheights #emilybronte #bronte

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Kristof Smeyers @kristofsmeyers.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

Hi everyone, I'm organising a conference in Leuven, 4-5 June, and you're all invited*! It's called 'Performing evil: the mediation and display of diabolic spectres 1700-2000' and here is the call for papers (get in touch if you'd like a pdf!). Please share widely! *to submit an abstract before 21/3

CALL FOR PAPERS: PERFORMING EVIL: the mediation and display of diabolic spectres, 1700-2000'. 4 & 5 June 2026, Leuven.

This conference explores the tangled histories of supernatural, diabolic evil and all kinds of spectral apparitions in the last three centuries – Walter Scott’s ‘malignant and unhappy beings’. Specifically, it is interested in how and why ghosts, spirits and related apparitional phenomena were framed as diabolic, demonic or malign manifestations from the afterlife.

Diabolic connotations of ghosts and spirits did meaningful cultural work. They were mobilised to discredit ghost beliefs and spiritual practices, to delegitimise competing beliefs, or to invest doctrinal arguments with occult authority. They could also function as tools of scepticism and ridicule as well as triggers of wonder, fear and religiosity. Put differently, the nexus of ghosts and evil is deeply historical. And it was often articulated through performative means: in gestures and expressions of (dis)belief, in visual and textual representations, in séance rooms, on the stage and on the page. Emerging from this nexus are theatrical spirits of evil, staged, embodied, and made legible through mediation and display. In this sense, every ghost is a theatrical ghost. Through the focus on the construction and staging of diabolic spirits, this conference aims to develop a methodological framework for studying historical forms of occultism and demonology more broadly in terms of performance.

Exploring how the relationship of spectrality and evil has shifted in shape over time and across different cultures, the conference invites contributions that can consider a wide range of historical actors – clerics, mediums, ghost-hunters, debunkers, necromancers, stage
performers, eyewitnesses.

This conference aims to study cultural intersections and interactions to arrive at a more granular understanding of discursive, practical and material connections between spirits and evil. At the same time this lens zooms out, making visible broader dynamics of knowledge construction in specific historical moments. How, for instance, did hauntings and possessions shape communities and audiences? How did religious or folkloric ideas about the devil inform spectral encounters?

We hope to bring together historians, art historians, theatre and literary scholars, folklorists and anthropologists from every stage in their career around the above questions. We welcome 20-minute papers on topics that include but are by no means limited to:
- making spectral evil visible: performance, arts, media, technologies, popular cultures
- making spectral evil invisible: popular and occult knowledge circulation
- performing (un)belief: practices and rhetoric, summoning and debunking on the stage (from popular stages to the lecture hall and the laboratory)
- materiality of spectres: the function of bodies and objects
- diabolic spirits and (intellectual, vernacular, theological, folkloric) ideas about morality, mortality and temporality
- occult performance and ‘cultural scripts’ of ghost encounters (from necromancy to poltergeists)
- affect and emotions: fear, grief, trauma… and hope

Send abstracts (c.250 words) and bios (c.100 words) to kristof.smeyers@kuleuven.be before 21 March 2026. Please do get in touch if you have any questions.

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Dr Sam Hirst @romgothsam.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

I'm running a popular romance course at the University of Liverpool... but only if enough people sign up! Come and join us! www.liverpool.ac.uk/continuing-e...

A poster for 'Falling in Love with Love: A History of Popular Romance: An Online Course' including front covers from the following books:
Fantomina by Eliza Haywood, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, The Sheik by E M Hull, The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer, Tabitha in Moonlight by Betty Neels, Indigo by Beverley Jenkins, Hen Fever by Olivia Waite, The Isle of the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri

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Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.blacksky.app · 12/01/2026

semi-regular reminder that ICE was only created in 2003 when you are asked to imagine a world without ICE, you're basically being asked to remember where you were when Lilo & Stitch came out

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Order of the Good Death @ordergooddeath.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

Win an entire library on death, grief, and what it means to be human. Which book are you reading first? Enter today by becoming a Tier 2 Order Member by December 19th: www.orderofthegooddeath.com/membership *Must have a U.S. mailing address.

graphic featuring a painting of a woman holding a duster reading a book in a library

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Dr Meaghan Allen @morbidmae.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

Seminar for ‘History of Forensic Science & Medicine’ is about polygraphs & LFPEs today so naturally I’m showing a clip of Pedro Pascal’s @vanityfair.com interview. #forensics #history

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Manchester University Press @manchesterup.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

Publishing today! From village rituals and fairytales to UFOs and fanfiction, witches, wizards and wickermen, British folklore is a living tradition that continues on. Available from all good bookshops and online now. @cerihoulbrook.bsky.social @odavies9.bsky.social #folklore #booksky

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Carsten Timmermann @ctimmermann.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

I recommend this article, which provides an excellent introduction to the history both of the term autism and the ways in which the label has been applied to a changing set of human characteristics, in line with changing scientific and diagnostic approaches. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

journals.sagepub.com

How autism became autism - Bonnie Evans, 2013

This article argues that the meaning of the word ‘autism’ experienced a radical shift in the early 1960s in Britain which was contemporaneous with a growth in e...

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Carsten Timmermann @ctimmermann.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

Or read one of Dr Evans' journal articles on the issue - you can access a list of publications through this link. research.manchester.ac.uk/en/persons/b...

research.manchester.ac.uk

Bonnie Evans

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Carsten Timmermann @ctimmermann.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

Autism is back on the front pages. Why not read the book that my excellent @manchester.ac.uk @manchstm.bsky.social colleague Dr Bonnie Evans has published on the history of autism? It's open access and you can read it online for free. www.manchesterhive.com/display/9781...

Cover of Dr Bonnie Evans' book The Metamorphosis of Autism: A History of Child Development in Britain (Manchester University Press, 2017)

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Dr Meaghan Allen @morbidmae.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

How can the divine exist in cyberspace? What even IS the divine? Tune in to the newest episode of Dames Macabre to hear our insights & thoughts on Sunnydale’s resident “technopagan” Jenny Calendar (including her connections to early #medieval time reckoning). #podcast #buffy #history #culture

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Institute of Historical Research @ihr.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

Job alert! Come and join us for 12 months in our lovely @chppc.bsky.social team. We're seeking a fixed-term Lecturer in Historic Environment, who'll work on our projects, including research, publishing and digitisation. Closing date 29 August. Please share! www.jobs.london.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

jobs.london.ac.uk

Lecturer in Historic Environment:London Senate House

The University of London

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Dr Meaghan Allen @morbidmae.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

New episode of Dames Macabre with @alexcarabine.bsky.social has dropped discussing the #femmefatale in episodes ‘Witch’ & ‘Teachers Pet’! . . . #Buffy #Buffythevampireslayer #gothic #medieval #vampire #podcast #history

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Dr. Jeroen W.P. Wijnendaele @drdragases.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Stop using WeTransfer right now.

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Hallie Rubenhold @hallierubenhold.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

People throw out treasure. I’m not going to say which library was throwing out this scrapbook of newspaper clippings from 1910-1911 DOCUMENTING THE ENTIRE CRIPPEN CASE, but it’s in the right hands now (mine). Literal archival material, including things I’d never seen before. #StoryofaMurder

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Dr Meaghan Allen @morbidmae.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

Please rate, review, and subscribe! (And share with your friends, family, and peers!)

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Dr Meaghan Allen @morbidmae.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

Want to learn about how the modern is really #medieval? About how H.P. Lovecraft is connected to #BuffytheVampireSlayer and Aristotle? CHECK OUT DAMES MACABRE! open.spotify.com/episode/0Ulk...

open.spotify.com

Dear Listeners... Welcome to Dames Macabre

Dames Macabre · Episode

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Dr Meaghan Allen @morbidmae.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

Wonderful presentation from Amanda Power on “sacrifice zones” at today’s NWMSN Annual Conference

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Dr Meaghan Allen @morbidmae.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

✨Slightly blurry phone screenshots of my first ever official business cards!!! Square format with rounded corners because why not? 🤷🏻‍♀️ ✨ #medieval #phd #historian #Buffy

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Manchester University Press @manchesterup.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

Any Medievalists want a copy of the newest edition of Debating #Medieval Europe - The central and later Middle Ages - for... free? Our DME books serve as an entry point for understanding the distinctive historiography of their periods. Hit repost and we'll add you to the giveaway 📗👇 #booksky

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Manchester University Press @manchesterup.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

We're excited to announce the launch of Foundations of Horror Studies, a brand new series from Manchester University Press. This series explores key concepts, critical trends, and historical developments within global #HorrorStudies Find out more ⬇️ manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/series/found...

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Josh Coulthard @joshcoulthard.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

🎉 CFP for the annual NWMS Postgrad Symposium. To be held at Chetham’s Library Tuesday 5th August 2025. Open to any PG or ECR. Papers should speak to the theme of community but any paper with a medieval theme is welcome. Email title, ~200 abstract and short bio to nwmsreading@gmail.com by 18th July 🎉

Call for papers for this year’s annual North West Medieval Studies Network Postgrad Symposium is now open. This years symposium will take place at Chetham’s Library on Tuesday 5th August 2025. All postgraduates and early career scholars are welcome to submit. We are especially interested in papers which speak to the theme of community but are open to any paper with a medieval or medievalism theme.

To present email your title, a ~200 abstract and a short bio to nwmsreading@gmail.com by 18th July

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Dr Meaghan Allen @morbidmae.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

For **YEARS** I have been trying to remember the name of this magical and haunting book from my childhood. Today --thanks to the r/whatsthatbook thread -- I have found it!!! Honestly shaking with relief, joy, excitement, and nostalgia (and I course I immediately purchased a copy on Abe Books).

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