Dublin’s pleasing terrors
My review of the 2018 Dublin Ghost Story Festival is out in this month’s Fortean Times.
All posts filed under: Ghosts
Out now: “Spirits of Place”
‘Spirits of Place’ is out now, featuring my essay on hellmouths and cursed Spanish royals.
Purgatory in Spanish Folklore
In rural Spain, the night still belongs to the ánimas, the spirits of the dead who didn’t go straight to Heaven or Hell.
Folklore Thursday Tweets | July 21
I’ve been there only once, fifteen or twenty years ago, but this Folklore Thursday made me feel like booking flights to the Czech Republic: The Czech Bogeyman — typo: it should be “bubak”. Apologies!– looks like an evil scarecrow, but can cry like a baby to lure his victims. The Bubach: evil scarecrow who drives a cart pulled by cats and weaves the souls of his victims. #FolkloreThursday pic.twitter.com/UYtu804gjv — Maria J Pérez Cuervo (@mjpcuervo) July 21, 2016 Tintin’s Ottokar — that of the sceptre– was supposed to be Ottokar IV of Syldavia, a fictional country I’d love to visit one day. The story of Ottokar II of Bohemia, however, could well be turned into a comic. King Ottokar II built Houska Castle over a hole in the ground thought to be a Gateway to Hell. #FolkloreThursday pic.twitter.com/OqdqN26tv7 — Maria J Pérez Cuervo (@mjpcuervo) July 21, 2016
Folklore Thursday tweets | June 30
My Folklore Thursday tweets from June 30th.
Guillermo del Toro on Crimson Peak
Guillermo del Toro is a self-confessed fan of the Gothic Romance. I spoke to him about early influences and the pleasures and pains of reviving the genre on screen.
The return of Gothic Romance
Guillermo del Toro described his recent film Crimson Peak as a “classic Gothic Romance”, a subgenre that has been consigned to oblivion for nearly four decades. But what is Gothic Romance, what makes it different to horror and why did it fall into obscurity?
