Women and the Gothic: An Edinburgh Companion Edited by Avril Horner and Sue Zlosnik Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2016. ISBN: 978-0-7486-9912-4 Reviewed by Donna Mitchell A welcome addition to the field of Gothic criticism, Horner and Zlosnik’s Women and the Gothic: An Edinburgh Companion mixes established classics of the canon with recent films, novels and video games, and examines them through the lens of feminist and/or post-feminist theory. The main purpose of this study is not only to explore how the representation of women and identity in the Gothic has evolved over time,

These four videos mark the conclusion of the AHRC-funded MOOC at Stirling on eighteenth-century Gothic across the arts. The videos examine the multifaceted expressions of the Gothic aesthetic in the visual arts. You will also find a concluding message from Dale Townshend and myself at the bottom of this page. If you have any questions regarding the videos, the content, material, or ideas presented in these or any of our MOOC's sections available on the Gothic Imagination website, please do not hesitate to get in contact with us. From September 2016 Dale Townshend will be contactable at

This set of three videos considers the development, appearance and furnishing of the Georgian Gothic interior as exemplified especially in British country houses.   If you are interested in eighteenth-century Gothic architecture, interiors and furniture, you may be interested in my forthcoming monograph, Georgian Gothic: Architecture, Furniture and Interiors, 1730–1840, to be published in later October 2016 by Boydell & Brewer. The book will be launched at Strawberry Hill House, Twickenham, on 17 November 2016. You can register to attend at: https://www.eventbrite.co.u

Hello, and welcome to the videos from the third week of our MOOC, The Gothic Revival, 1700–1850: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. We’ve got plenty of material in store for you, in a session devoted to an exploration of the Gothic literary aesthetic beyond the example of The Castle of Otranto.  In these videos we will take you through some of the aesthetic foundations of early Gothic writing, including an account of the distinctions between horror and terror, the importance of Shakespeare to the Gothic aesthetic, and the culmination of the so-called ‘first wave’ of Gothic writing (r

Hello, and welcome to the archive of our videos from the second week of our AHRC-funded MOOC, The Gothic Revival, 1700-1850: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. In the first session we started to make inroads into the manifold meanings of the term ‘Gothic’ in the eighteenth century, including the term’s associations with the ancient Gothic tribe, its perceived associations with British history, the architecture of the middle ages, literature, fashion and modern sub-culture, and more. In this session we are going to be paying sustained attention to a short text that is often held to be the f

Welcome to The Gothic Revival, 1700-1850: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. The videos included here, and those in my subsequent five posts, are drawn from a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) designed and delivered by me and Dale Townshend at the University of Stirling, and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council as part of the larger project entitled Writing Britain’s Ruins, 1700-1850: The Architectural Imagination. The MOOC ran for six weeks from 29 February 2016. These videos offer exciting and intensive explorations of the Gothic aesthetic in British culture of the

‘Strawberry Hill Gothic’ is a label often banded about when discussing eighteenth-century domestic Gothic architecture and design. Frankly, it not an overwhelmingly positive label: the important Victorian architects, designers and writers Charles Locke Eastlake (1833–1906) and A.W.N. Pugin (1812–52) made sure that Strawberry Hill was ingrained in our minds and imagination as a whimsical and, effectively, bad piece of eighteenth-century Gothic. Eastlake, in his monumental study, A History of the Gothic Revival (1872) condemns Walpole and his villa, Strawberry Hill: The interior, or

Fantastika Journal Call for Papers for First Special Edition Issue  “Fantastika” – a term appropriated from a range of Slavonic languages by John Clute – embraces the genres of fantasy, science fiction, and horror, but can also include alternative histories, gothic, steampunk, young adult dystopian fiction, or any other radically imaginative narrative space. The goal of Fantastika Journal is to bring together academics and researchers who share an interest in this diverse range of fields with the aim of opening up new dialogues, productive controversies and collaborations. We invi

Women’s Ghost Literature in Nineteenth-century Britain Melissa Edmundson Makala Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2013. ISBN: 978-0-70832-564-3 Reviewed by Donna Mitchell Melissa Edmundson Makala begins her study of women’s ghost writing in nineteenth-century Britain by considering the various reasons for its increasing popularity, most notably its ability to function as a subversive means of discussing political and social issues. She notes that the nature of this genre allowed writers to explore the social tensions and inequalities which existed for certain groups without alienati

First, a preface. The last time I voluntarily watched a full dance production, it was Edward Scissorhands, and I hated the hedges. I generally plonk myself on the sofa for The Nutcracker at Christmas just for the Cossacks, which is my favourite bit. I am not a traditional dance fan; I tend to only watch a story I have a narrative interest in, otherwise I cherry pick sequences to be enthralled by the marvellous grace and athleticism of the dance. So, this is not a ballet review, it’s a Frankenstein review. I saw the new Liam Scarlett production in the cinema, as I missed out on affordable