Its the grand finale. Our Dancing Dead Girl for Day 31 of #31DaysOfMacabreDanse is of course Lady Gaga youtu.be/xGaZBfJOyAc?...

Day 30 of #31DaysofDanseMacabre and today's dancing dead girl is the sacrifical maiden from Igor Stravinsky's 'The Rites of Spring' (1913). Pic: Pina Bausch's choreography, 1984. Performance view, Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York, 2017.

Day 29 of #31DaysOfMacabreDanse and our Dancing Dead Girl takes the form of a swan. Not, as you might expectation, Odette from Swan Lake but the Dying Swan.

Welcome, foolish mortals to day 28 of #31DaysOfMacabreDanse where we invite you to watch the Waltzing Dead, also knows as the dancing ghosts from the ballroom in the Haunted Mansion.

Day 27 of #31DaysOfMacabreDanse and children can be such monsters. Abigail (2024) is a reimagining of Universal's Dracula's Daughter and sees a group of criminals recruiting to kidnap the daughter of a wealthy businessman. However, said child is no ordinary ballerina...

Day 26 of #31DaysOfMacabreDanse presents the Dancing Dead (Girls) of Christopher Bruce’s 1981 Ghost Dances. It tells stories of love and compassion, as death – in the form of the ‘ghost dancers’ – interrupts the daily lives of a series of ordinary people.

A semi-dead, semi-dancing girl for Day 25 of #31DaysOfMacabreDanse as we visit one (of many) options from Matthew Bourne's reimagined contemporary ballets in the form of Aurora from Sleeping Beauty: A Gothic Romance.

For Day 24 of #31DaysOfMacabreDanse we present to you Lily Frankenstein, our Dancing Dead Girl played by Billie Piper.

We're playing catch up at Danse Macabre HQ after a hectic pre-Halloweek weekend. Bear with us as we bring you up to speed in all things #31DaysOfMacabreDanse

For Day 23 of #31DaysofMacabreDanse, we return to the theme of dancing dead girls in white with 'Dr Semmelweiz' (2023) starring Mark Rylance, about Dr Ignaz Semmelweis' work to prevent postpartum infection. His work was dismissed, leading to a nervous breakdown, and he died in an asylum.

Day 22 #31DaysOfMacabreDanse presents the vampire bat ballet sequence from Louis Feuillade's silent film serial Les Vampires (1913-15). In Episode Two - The Ring That Kills ballerina Marfa Koutiloff (Stacia Napierkowska) performs as a vampire bat en pointe but dies on stage.

For Day 22 of #31DaysofMacbreDanse, we have the Danse Macabre crew on Romancing the Gothic (www.youtube.com/@RomancingTh...). The image is from our screening of Guy Maddin's 'Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary' (see Day 15) for Dracula in Derby conference.

A belated day 20 of #31DaysofMacabreDanse with the classic novel of death, a young woman and dance: 'Bruges-la-Morte' (1892) by Georges Rodenbach. The narrative follows a widower haunted by his dead wife, and still living amongst her relics. Image: Fernand Khnopff's cover design, 1892.

For Day 19 of #31DaysofMacabreDanse, our dancing dead girl is the Prima Ballerina (Summer Glau) in 'Waiting in the Wings', Angel (S3: E13). In this episode, a ballerina is cursed to dance the same ballet, nightly, forever. To break the spell, she must dance the wrong steps leading to her death.

Some goth rock melodrama for your #31DaysOfMacabreDanse Day 18 with Creeper. An example of theatrical metal, the band includes worldbuilding and story arcs with their albums, creating personas for the members and expanding the stories in their music videos.

Our Dancing Dead Girl for Day 17 of #31DaysOfMacabreDanse is Monster High's Draculaura. Daughter of Dracula, our girl is harbouring a secret; she might be a Vampire but she's also a Witch and the two are mortal enemies.

Let me in a your window for Day 16 of #31DaysOfMacabreDanse. The debut single from Kate Bush, Wuthering Heights, released in 1978, is a self penned number sung from the point of view of Cathy's ghost.

Day 15 of #31DaysofMacabreDanse and it's Guy Maddin's 'Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary' (2002), a film of Royal Winnipeg's Baller adaptation of 'Dracula' (1897). Filmed in the silent film tradition, the addition of colours - golden, green and red - add depth and symbolism.

Day 14 of #31DaysofMacabreDanse, and we turn to a lost a film, 'The Dance of Death' (1919). Written by Fritz Lang, and directed by Otto Ripert, this silent horror film centres on a dangerous dancing woman (Sascha Gura).

Day 13 of #31DaysofMacabreDanse and it's unlucky for some. In this case, the Treginnis family in 'The Haunted Ballroom', first performed in 1934 with music and libretto by Geoffrey Toye and choreography by Ninette de Valois. Image: Alicia Markova and Robert Helpmann

Day 12 of #31DaysOfMacabreDanse brings a Dancing Dead Girl from the mind of Rob Zombie. Loving Dead Girl (1998) was the second single from Zombie's Hellbilly Deluxe album and features Sheri Moon as the titular Dean Girl.

Day 11 of #31DaysOfMacabreDanse is a recurrent motif in art and media. Death and the Madien evolved from the Danse Macabre (yes, where we took the inspiration for our name) and became popular first during the Renaisance and later revived in the Romantic era.

Day 10 of #31DaysOfMacabreDanse and for your Friday night feast we bring you a colab between 2/3 of Danse Macabre and The Ghoul Guides Association youtu.be/R6n5TGVfb6o?...

Day 9 of #31DaysOfMacabreDanse, and our dancing dead girls are stitching a seam across the eye. Season 2 of So You Think You Can Dance in 2006 gave us a zombie group number to Ramalama (Bang Bang) by Roísín Murphy

Day 8 of #31DaysofMacabreDanse and we wonder 'to sleep, perchance to dream' (Hamlet, 3:1) with 'La Sonnambula'. Premiering in 1946, at the City Center of Music and Drama, New York, it was created by George Balanchine.

Alice in Wonderland (Jonathan Miller, 1966), my favourite adaptation.

I'm delighted to be delivering a talk on 23 Oct 2025 btwn 5–6.30pm (BST) for @gothicauob.bsky.social My talk is titled: ‘Battling Satan in Your Underpants: Censoring Capcom’s Ghosts ‘n Goblins Videogame during the Age of American Satanic Panic’ Details 👇 uobgothica.wordpress.com/2025/10/06/s...

Register & sign up below for 2 exciting #Halloween season #Gothic events! ⬇️🎃

Day 7 of #31DaysofMacabreDanse and we move to the past once more with 'La Bayadère' (1877). Consisting of four acts and seven tableaux, the original choreography was by Marius Petipa, music by Ludwig Minky and libretto by Sergei Khudekov.

Day 6 of #31DaysofMacabreDanse and today we are looking at Frau Troffea, reputedly the first recorded victim of the 1518 dancing plague that started in Strasburg, Alsace. Image: Engraving, Hendrik Hondius, based on the work of Pieter Brueghel.

I ended up spending longer in Bologna than expected this week, and this was one of the unexpected delights of that extra time. It’s an early sixteenth century tondelli - round stained glass window - showing the Triumph of Death, made in the German regions, and based on an engraving by Albrecht Dürer

Best way to spend Saturday - so much gothic delight in one place! Just watched a great talk by @macabredanse.bsky.social 's Kate Harvey and a brilliant writing workshop with @icysedgwick.bsky.social gave me ideas for my YA :) Makes my dark little gothic heart happy. #WritingHorror #HorrorStudies

Thrilled to be presenting my research on (marine) hauntology and 'Rebecca' (Du Maurier) at the upcoming Unquiet Shores Conference in Edinburgh Napier, organised by @hauntedshores.bsky.social and @macabredanse.bsky.social. Check out the programme: tinyurl.com/5yf38hws

@hauntedshores.bsky.social @macabredanse.bsky.social been doing final tech check for remote attendance, excited for Wednesday morning. Got my coffee machine ready! #GothicStudiesNerd

Day 1 of #unquietshores conference is now underway. In session 1 - echoes from antiquity (parallel sessions) I've been learning about the death of Pan in literature around the 1910 period. #gothicConference @hauntedshores.bsky.social @macabredanse.bsky.social

Luna (currently cat sitting) is listening quietly to Veres Ottilia presenting "nobody underneath a big wave: sedimentary remnants in Alice Oswald's Nobody: a hymn to the sea" #unquietshores session 1a @hauntedshores.bsky.social @macabredanse.bsky.social

That's it, no more #unquietshores #unquietshores2025 posting from me, thanks 2everyone involved from @hauntedshores.bsky.social @macabredanse.bsky.social +uni of Edinburgh. Hopefully didn't annoy everyone with my tangents...Counting the appearances of the god Pan (4!) Or love for Black Phillip.🐐

Had an absolute blast at @hauntedshores.bsky.social and @macabredanse.bsky.social wonderful 'Unquiet Shores' conference. I got to speak on trauma, water, and sound in horror film, with a very generous reception to my (typical) insistence on inserting trauma and gender into EVERYTHING. Cheers!

Excited to teach a writing workshop & talk about Jane Campion’s “The Piano” plus uncanny sounds & images at the Unquiet Shores conference @edinburghnapier.bsky.social! Thanks @hauntedshores.bsky.social @macabredanse.bsky.social for a lovely time! #hauntedshores #unquietshores #creativewriting #piano

Taking my Silent Reading Party wherever I go! Big thanks to @hauntedshores.bsky.social @macabredanse.bsky.social for the chance to play music at the Unquiet Shores conference @edinburghnapier.bsky.social! 🎹🔊 #silentreadingparty #silentwritingparty #hauntedshores #unquietshores #pianoimprovisation

It took me ages to get those screenshots from the video. I'm rather pleased with myself for this one.

Over on the Danse Macabre socials, we are about to start our epic annual daily gothic dance post for the whole of October. Follow along on twitter, bluesky, or Instagram with #31DaysOfMacabreDanse for a whole month on Dancing Dead Girls.

Day 5 of #31DaysofMacabreDanse and we have dancing, dead cheerleaders in Lorn's 'Acid Rain' music video.The dead cheerleader is a favourite Halloween costume, but here the effect is more melancholy. Despite the contemporary setting and the movement away from ballet . . .

Day 4 of #31DaysOfMacabreDanse is for the Emos. Helena was the second singe from My Chemical Romance's 2004 album Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. Often considered their breakthrough commercial hit, the song was a tribute to Gerard and Mikey Way's grandmother.

Day 3 of #31DaysOfMacabreDanse and we're back on stage with the romantic ballet La Sylphide. There's men in kilts, witches, dark forests, and, of course, the ethereal Sylphs and our inevitable dead dancing girl

Tis the #Halloween séance season 👻 and a great time to read the #TalesOfTheWeird @britishlibrary.bsky.social collections! Summoned to the Séance features 14 lesser-known stories from Arthur Conan Doyle, H. G. Wells, Florence Marryat, F. Scott Fitzgerald and more. Really enjoyed editing this! 👻

Day 2 of #31DaysOfMacabreDanse and we're off to the vampire masquerade ball of Van Helsing (2004). Our dancing dead girl Anna Valerious waltzes in a glorious blood red gown, and is dipped by Dracula in front of a mirror to emphasise that she is surrounded by dead bodies (in the form of vampires)

Day 1 of #31DaysOfMacabreDanse is for the OG Dancing Dead Girl Giselle. In this 1841 ballet, peasant girl Giselle dances herself to death* when betrayed by her lover Albrect and returns from the grave summoned by the Wilis - vengeful female spirits.

Buckle in folks, because today is day 1 of #31DaysOfMacabreDanse and our theme for this year is Dancing Dead Girls across all media.

Are you ready for it? Spooky season approaches and so does #31DaysOfMacabreDanse