The new Seven Sages of Rome Database demonstrates the utility of digital approaches for unlocking popular premodern narrative traditions.

Sea Changes publications Regarding the CFP for Sea Changes publications, we omitted to ask that you please email us with expressions of interest by end of October if you intend to submit, including an abstract (200–300 words) and short bio (150–200 words). We can then give you feedback on whether your topic is a good fit for the proposed publications (and is not already being covered, for example). We can also then give you further guidance on addressing the overriding theme of Sea Changes and Gothic enchantment. Hispanic Heritage Month and Latin American/Latine Gothic…

Gothic Studies is pleased to announce a number of editorial positions.

Win a hardcover copy of THE BEAUTIFUL ONES Shipped anywhere in the world ​*** "A little magic, a lot of heart." Silvia Moreno-Garcia's The Beautiful Ones is a charming tale of love and betrayal, and t...

Sea changes: The fairytale Gothic of mermaids, selkies, and enchanted hybrids of ocean and river Following our very successful conference in September 2026, we invite participants from that event and other scholars to submit essays to be included in an edited collection and a special journal issue. Full fathom five thy father lies;Of his bones are coral made;Those are pearls that were his eyes:Nothing of him that doth fade,But doth suffer a sea-changeInto something rich and strange.Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell: Ding-dong.Hark! now I hear them,—ding-dong, bell.

Please Do Not Feed the Plants is a charming article by the Long Victorian and it focusses on ‘Professor Jonkin’s Cannibal Plant’, one of the stories in Daisy Butcher’s Evil Roots anthology for the British Library. The story is inspired by the Pitcher Plant which is carnivorous and has pendulous pitcher‑shaped leaves that trap and digest foraging, flying, or crawling insects.   This strange plant was a favourite of Victorian botanical artist Marianne North (1830 –1890). She was known for her travels and her plant paintings which also feature detailed studies of insects.

Bill Hughes welcomes Dan Waters Daniel Waters, who has a new YA dystopian novel out, Be Disarming has long been a friend of the Open Graves, Open Minds Project. Dr Sam George and I first came across Dan’s work while exploring the sudden rise of Young Adult paranormal romance fiction that accompanied the Twilight phenomenon. These were novels where humans had love affairs with vampires (and pretty soon, other supernatural creatures). The genre of romance fiction embraces that of Gothic horror, darkening the former and imbuing the latter with sympathy.

We are extremely proud to announce that the Justin D. Edwards Prize 2026 for an edited collection best advancing the field of gothic studies has been awarded to Sam George and Bill Hughes, eds., The Legacy of John Polidori: The Romantic Vampire and its Progeny (Manchester University Press, 2024). This prestigious prize was awarded to us at the International Gothic Association conference in Hull last week where the OGOM crew were out in force presenting on the conference theme of Gothic Selves/Artificial Others.  You can read OGOM at the IGA…

Date and Time: 18th July 2026, 18:30-19:45 BST (followed by optional drinks from 20:00) Location: St Pancras Old Church Graveyard, Pancras Road, London, UK In this event, Associate Professor Sam Ge…

Our guest blog is by Dr Harriet Fletcher, Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication at Anglia Ruskin University. Her new book, Gothic Celebrity: Fame and Immortality from Lord Byron to Lady Gaga (Bloomsbury) is a fascinating study of the relationship between the modern phenomenon of celebrity and the Gothic mode, ranging from John Polidori’s fictional dramatisation of Lord Byron in ‘The Vampyre’, through Oscar Wilde, Hollywood noir, Andy Warhol, Lady Gaga, and What We Do in the Shadows. Dr Fletcher contributed a brilliant chapter on this theme in our collection…

St Pancras Old Church entrance Vampiric Origins and Gothic Afterlives: John Polidori and St Pancras Old Churchyard tour - plus book offer 18 July 2026 18:30 - 19:45 (GMT +01:00 London), St Pancras Old Churchyard, Pancras Road, LondonDr Sam George, Open Graves, Open Minds Project There are still tickets left for Sam's tour and talk at the beautiful St Pancras Old Churchyard, the resting place of John Polidori, author of The Vampyre and of the wonderful pioneering feminist Mary Wolllstonecratf, mother of Mary Shelley. The place has a fascinating history!

Date and Time: 18th July 2026, Tour 18.30-19.45 GMT (followed by optional drinks from 20.00) Location: St Pancras Old Church Graveyard, Pancras Road, London, UK Event Description In this event, Associate Professor Sam George, Co-convenor of the Open Graves, Open Minds Project and an expert in literary vampires, delves into the origins of the first vampire tale in English, John Polidori’s The Vampyre (1819). This vampire emerged out of the same story-writing competition at the Villa Diodati as did Frankenstein’s monster. Attendees will learn how Polidori transformed the East European peasant vampire of old into a pale-faced, dead-eyed, licentious English aristocrat.

Whitby Abbey seen from the south west (by Jeff Buck, CC BY-SA 2.0) There have been a lot of exciting events that I have saved up for a post (unfortunately, I'm too late for some of them, so I apologise to the organisers and to you all!). Events later in July will appear in a subsequent post. CFP: Ann Radcliffe, Then and Now Conference 2027 Ann Radcliffe, Then and Now; University of Sheffield, 24-26 June 2027 Deadline: 15 September 2026 Since 2024, the Ann Radcliffe, Then and Now project, funded by the AHRC, has sought to reintroduce Ann Radcliffe to 21st-century readers by exploring both her contemporary influence and her lasting legacies.

I am pleased to announce the CFP for Sheffield Gothic’s forthcoming conference Dark Enchantments: Gothic Folklore and the Monstrous Fairy Tale. The conference will take place in Sheffield, UK, on October 29-30, 2026. You can visit the Dark Enchantments website and see the description on the image below for possible submissions and papers (deadline Friday, 31 July). The theme coheres well with OGOM’s research on Gothic Enchantment, and the material that has fed into our forthcoming book Gothic Enchantment with the Fairy Realm in Literature and Culture (Manchester University Press, forthcoming 2026/7).