#AUTUMN BEAUTY I was struck by the unsettlingly dark beauty of the #Bronte family home & churchyard when I visited Haworth. Shrouded in mist among the #autumn leaves it was clear no coward soul could live here. Glorious in its gothic gloom.

THE HOLLY KING regains power at the #AutumnEquinox. His strength peaks during Midwinter, at which point the Oak King is reborn. His reign tells us #Autumn is finally upon us.

The Butterfly Lovers is considered one of China’s four great folktales. Set in the Eastern Jin dynasty, it tells the tragic love story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. Zhu was the only daughter of a wealthy family. Despite living in a time when women were not allowed to... #LegendaryWednesday 1/6

Excited to reveal I have a piece on the vampire's lost reflection in this issue on The Mirror. The artwork looks fantastic, and I can't wait to read the other contributions.

CALLING SHAPES & BECKONING SHADOWS Rackham's folkloric fairy trees (1914) are unsettling and windblown calling forth the shadows to celebrate impending darkness as the winter months approach #FolkloreSunday

GHOST APPLES The uncanny name for when freezing rain settles on the fruit & ices over creating a frozen coating. The apple defrosts before the ice does & the rotting apple falls out of the bottom leaving its gothic icy 'ghost' behind! #FolkyFriday

Great theme for this, and the conference is in Yorkshire this year and includes a day trip to Whitby. What's not to like! Gothtastic. Count me in!

Excited to reveal I have a piece on the vampire's lost reflection in this issue on The Mirror. The artwork looks fantastic, and I can't wait to read the other contributions.

The Howling Celestial Dog (Xiaotian Quan, 哮天犬) is no ordinary hound. It is the loyal companion of Erlang Shen(二郎神), charging through myth to hunt, fight, and slay demons. First seen in a Song dynasty painting of a white dog chasing a fiend, 1/2 #mythology #art

Japanese ukiyo-e print by Utagawa Sadahide, originally made in the Edo era, this re-carved edition is from the late 20th Century. #JapaneseArt #ukiyoe #dragon

I have this book!

AUTUMN GRAVEYARD At this time of year, even the graves have shadows. Enjoying the unsettled beauty September in Yorkshire #gothicautumn

GOTHIC BIRD-WOMEN from a painting by Hans Thoma 1886. Demonic women such as #Sirens and #Harpies are often imagined as half- bird, half-maiden & gifted with the power of a bewitching song.

AUTUMN FAIRIES John Anster Fitzgerald's 'Rabbit Among the Fairies' is a glorious depiction of fairies in #autumn. If you look closely the rabbit is held captive by the tricksy fairies, symbolised by a rather menacing fairy to the left wielding a hawthorn spear #GothicFairies

WOODLAND ENCOUNTER WITH FAIRIES Malevolent fairies enchant a peasant woman in a stunning painting by Yulia Litvinova. The fae are contemporary manifestations of Polevoi or Rusalka, dangerous inhabitants of forests & rivers #GothicFairies

Check out the new Open Graves, Open Minds Project page on @manchesterup.bsky.social Gothic MUP site. It gives an overview of the project, our publications & our forthcoming book on Gothic Fairies @hertsresearch.bsky.social ttps://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/the-open-graves-open-minds-project/

Thanks to all the wonderful delegates who attended our OGOM Project #SeaChanges event at the British Library. I particularly enjoyed seeing all the mermaid images on the screens for 'today at the library'. It gave me a real buzz to see our event get underway! Loved it!

AUTUMN FAIRIES John Anster Fitzgerald's 'Rabbit Among the Fairies' is a glorious depiction of fairies in #autumn. If you look closely the rabbit is held captive by the tricksy fairies, symbolised by a rather menacing fairy to the left wielding a hawthorn spear #GothicFairies

T is for TRITON Greek Sea God, half man, half fish, son of Poseidon. I am worn out with dreams; A weather-worn, marble TRITON Among the streams (W.B. Yeats) #SeaChanges

A big OGOM thank you to @betsycornwell.bsky.social for her insight into the Selkie myth and how it can be adapted into fiction and memoir #SeaChanges. A beautiful and memorable reading for everyone attending the online day. So glad you could stay for days 2 & 3 Betsy!

A big OGOM thank you to #SeaChanges keynote ‪@kgarner.bsky.social‬ so much helpful advice on humanities funding seamlessly interwoven with her research into Scottish #mermaids and Romanticism. We are sharing the slides with all our delegates. Wonderful to have you!

Although we couldn't attend the #seachanges conference this week, delegates can find out more about our @ogomproject.bsky.social books, and take advantage of a special 30% discount here... manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/the-open-gra... @billbloodyhughes.bsky.social

So grateful to @ogomproject.bsky.social for bringing us together for the dream mermaid conference. A brilliant three days thinking about submarine fantasies 💦🧜‍♀️🩵

On my way back from the fantastic #SeaChanges conference organised by @ogomproject.bsky.social. Best opportunity to present my project on #mermaids before I go into hiding for the last stretch of writing

A big OGOM thank you to our star keynote @catherinespooner.bsky.social for bringing sparklefication to our discussion of #GothicMermaids #SeaChanges and for being such a wonderful long standing supporter of our research project for over 15 years!

As usual forgot to take photos, but here's a couple from @catherinespooner.bsky.social's and @coffinboffin.bsky.social's wonderful keynotes 🩵

Woo hoo the Tote bags and Programmes have arrived for #SeaChanges looking forward to meeting all the delegates! #GothicMermaids

THE FAERIES by William Allingham 1850 Up the airy #mountain, Down the rushy glen, We daren’t go a-hunting For fear of little men #FairyTaleTuesday Image: Henry Meynell Rheam

THE FAERIES by William Allingham 1850 Up the airy #mountain, Down the rushy glen, We daren’t go a-hunting For fear of little men #FairyTaleTuesday Image: Henry Meynell Rheam

Book Cover of the Day:

KEYNOTE 'The luck of the Ningyō: Hybridity and the rise of the fake museum mermaid'. Looking forward to sharing my research with all the wonderful attendees at #SeaChanges @britishlibrary.bsky.social #GothicMermaids

WINGED #WOLVES Have an early tradition in Folk Tales such as ‘The Story of Lyubim Tsarevich and the Winged Wolf'. This beautiful edition of the Winged #Wolf & other Fairy tales was published in 1893 and illustrated by Arthur Layard #FairyTaleTuesday

PUMPKINS It's the first day of September and #autumn is creeping in. These wonderful #pumpkin scenes reflect those who are open to the magic of this time of year. 🎨Kate Greenaway; Valentine Cameron Prinsep

In Chinese #folklore, Liezi (列子), sage of the Warring States, learned the Way of the Wind Immortals—riding the wind like breath across mountains and plains. Each spring, he returned to the eight wilds, awakening the earth; each autumn, he vanished into the Wind Cavern, and with him, 1/2

Woo Hoo the box of printed programmes for @OGOMProject #SeaChanges conference has arrived!! Only a week to go. We're so excited to meet all the delegates. If you are going to be joining us join with our hashtags #SeaChanges #GothicMermaids @UHresearch

We are excited to reveal that Sea Changes @britishlibrary is full to capacity re: in person tickets. Those still wanting to join us can attend online on Saturday for talks, flash fiction & keynotes (Scottish mermaids & Selkie fictions) #GothicMermaids Online ticket option below

GOTHIC GARDENING This glorious #autumn beauty from my garden gives a dark #gothic twist to the myth of the #sunflower which was born from a water nymph in love with the Sun god Apollo. When he did not return her affections her hair turned into golden petals, her face into the flower #FolkloreSunday

FISHY NETSUKE 根付 These exquisite miniature sculptures have a long history & reflect important aspects of Japanese folklore. Popular during the Edo period in Japan (1615–1868). Spirits & magical creatures including human fish hybrids or Ningyō are common #SeaChanges

In #JapaneseFolklore, rokurokubi are #yokai that appear as regular women but with the curious ability to extend their necks. There are actually two types of rokurokubi, one whose neck is able to stretch out to an extraordinary length and wander around while the body is... #FolkloreThursday 1/4

IN THE COMPANY OF #WOLVES explores the representation of the #wolf in fairy tales & gothic texts through a collection of essays. It includes the research I did over many years into the myth of wolf children or children raised by wolves & the literature associated with them #FairyTaleTuesday

WINGED #WOLVES Have an early tradition in Folk Tales such as ‘The Story of Lyubim Tsarevich and the Winged Wolf'. This beautiful edition of the Winged #Wolf & other Fairy tales was published in 1893 and illustrated by Arthur Layard #FairyTaleTuesday

BOTANICAL GOTHIC Nature is amazing. Snapdragon seed heads resemble tiny skulls!! These are the ones I saved from last year. I love how gothic they are #Botanicalgothic

VAMPIRE BAT Inhabiting a liminal space between day & night, folklore & reality. The Bat's relationship to the #vampire was sealed by Buffon in 1733. Darwin named the #vampirebat in 1832, inspiring gloriously dark symbols in Père Lachaise Cemetery #FolkloreSunday

FISHY NETSUKE 根付 These exquisite miniature sculptures have a long history & reflect important aspects of Japanese folklore. Popular during the Edo period in Japan (1615–1868). Spirits & magical creatures including human fish hybrids or Ningyō are common #SeaChanges

KEYNOTE 'The luck of the Ningyō: Hybridity and the rise of the fake museum mermaid'. Looking forward to sharing my research with all the wonderful attendees at #SeaChanges @britishlibrary.bsky.social #GothicMermaids

This looks great!

The Sea Changes programme looks fantastic! Unfortunately we can’t be there this year, but keep an eye out for a special MUP conference discount coming soon 👀📚

BOOK OF SHADOWS A guide for #witches containing beliefs, symbols, rituals, lore, incantations, spells, divination methods, sabbat rites etc. Gerald B. Gardner, father of modern Witchcraft, claimed to have inherited a fragmentary book of shadows in 1939 #FairytaleTuesday

PYEWACKET the name of a witch's familiar detected by witchfinder general Matthew Hopkins in 1644 and the mind-reading cat belonging to sympathetic witch Gillian, played by Kim Novak in romantic comedy Bell Book & Candle (dir. Quine, 1958). #FolkloreSunday