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.

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.

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

Wo hoo the IGA is in Yorkshire this year and there's rumoured to be a trip to Whitby. Count us in!

📚 Now available! 📚 THE TIGER SKIN AND OTHER TALES OF THE UNEASY, published by @blpublishing.bsky.social I’ve wanted to bring Violet Hunt’s supernatural fiction back for a while now, so am happy to see these stories reach a wide audience again. Please share!

Thank you. Lovely to see you!

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!

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/

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!

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

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

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

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!

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!

X is for XANA Nymph-like beings that inhabit rivers & lakes in Northern Spain. Part of Asturian folk tradition, their legacy endures today. XANA emerge on Saint John's Eve & they can use magic to shapeshift into dragons or Cuélebre. Image: P. Swan, Water Nymph 1907 #Seachanges

C is for CEASG In Scottish folklore the CEASG is #mermaid with the tail of a salmon. Said to grant three wishes to anyone who can catch her. She can be found in Scottish streams and rivers #SeaChanges #GothicMermaids 🎨Waterhouse's Mermaid 1900 has a silver salmon tail

Great day 2 at the Sea Changes conference @britishlibrary.bsky.social! #seachanges

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

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

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

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

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

Please help me share the CFP for this Literature Compass Special Issue dedicated to the work of Simon J James and covering key Victorian and Edwardian writers like H. G. Wells, George Gissing, Dickens, Wilde, George Du Maurier, and Conan-Doyle on behalf of Hadas Elber-Aviram.

"Harvey Weinstein, overseeing the US release of Princess Mononoke for Disney in 1999, suggested that American audiences might find a two-hour-plus Japanese animation a little too long; Suzuki sent the now disgraced film producer a samurai sword with a note saying: 'no cuts'."

📢Excited to reveal the lovely poster for our Sea Changes event at the @britishlibrary Knowledge Centre & online 6-8 Sept booking now! opengravesopenminds.com/sea-changes-20

OVER ON THE OGOM BLOG Update on BOOKING for Sea Changes: The fairy tale gothic of mermaids. selkies and enchanted hybrids of ocean and river 3- day conference 6-8 Sept (online attendance available on day 1) #GothicMermaids opengravesopenminds.com/events/booki...

Hieronymous Bosch, who died #otd 9 Aug 1516 Death and the Miser, c. 1485/1490 It’s all happening here. (National Gallery of Art, Washington)

Please join us online. And keep an eye open as we are trying to make some in person bookings available. We have a fabulous programme--please visit the website and share too

MY LOCAL GRAVEYARD in late summer. I am looking forward to the autumn leaves falling on these otherworldy tombs made of Yorkshire stone. They have endured since 1832. Seldom visited by humans now.

IT'S BLACKBERRY PICKING TIME but never eat blackberries after Michaelmas, Sept 29, because the DEVIL has spat on them! When Archangel Michael defeated Lucifer in a huge battle in hell he landed in a thorny blackberry, maddened, he spat on and cursed the fruit!

VAMPIRE COLLAGE by Max Ernst (1891 – 1976), From 'Une semaine de bonté' a novel and artist's book published in 1934. The #Vampire images are created by cutting up and re-organizing found illustrations from Victorian encyclopedias and novels

RAINY DAY BATS In Japanese, #bat is 蝙蝠 komori; they are associated with happiness and good fortune. Here their wings are seen to resemble the folding and unfolding of an umbrella Image: Yoshitoshi

There are places to join us online; we're looking to see if you can join us in person too (the BL's capacity is limited but we may be able to free up space). Visit our website to see keynotes and abstracts--there's a fabulous range of papers. (BlueSky very coy: our mermaid not really adult content!)

Crikey.....

#HansAndersen died 150 years ago this month. He continues to have a profound effect on my own writing. FAIRY TALES London: Ward, Lock & Co. circa 1890 is one of my treasures. Fairies light lanterns on the cover; the tales contain both darkness & light #FairyTaleTuesday

ICE SKATING GOTHIC OWLS Adriaen van de Venne's enchanting C17th engraving of an #owl couple ice-skating & accessorising with some rodents #owlawarenessday #owlishmonday

GRAVEYARD OWLS The Irish name for a barn owl is 'Scréachóg Reilige' or Graveyard Screamer!! Eeerily beautiful and darkly enchanting!🎨Barn Owl Highgate #OwlAwarenessDay

If you love all things gothic, I'd highly recommend following @coffinboffin.bsky.social.

In Japan, August is ghost season so I plan to share lots of ghostly Japanese art. This print by Katsushika Hokusai (1831) is titled 'The Ghost of Kohada Koheiji' and is from the series 'One Hundred Ghost Stories.' #JapaneseArt #ukiyoe #ghosts

HISTOIRE DES VAMPIRES Illustrated French treatise on #vampires and evil spectres from 1820. Excited to browse this!

BRITISH GOBLINS This remarkable painting is inspired by Rossetti's 1862 poem 'Goblin Market'; painted by English artist Hilda Koe (c. 1901). 'We must not look at goblin men, We must not buy their fruits: Who knows upon what soil they fed Their hungry thirsty roots?'

Thank you. Just getting started on here. I appreciate the support!

@coffinboffin.bsky.social - stumbled across this today; might be good for someone’s @ogomproject.bsky.social presentation at the Sea Changes 2025 conference…? www.sworder.co.uk/auction/lot/...

OVER ON THE OGOM BLOG Molly the Merrow, our #SeaChanges conference mascot makes an appearance! Molly the Merrow t.co/5D5GvpJzRJ

C is for CEASG In Scottish folklore the CEASG is #mermaid with the tail of a salmon. Said to grant three wishes to anyone who can catch her. She can be found in Scottish streams and rivers #SeaChanges #GothicMermaids 🎨Waterhouse's Mermaid 1900 has a silver salmon tail

B is for BEN-VARREY Ben-Varrey is the Manx word for the mermaids that supposedly inhabit the mystical waters around the Isle of Man. Beguiling, seductive & benevolent, they bless those who help them with good fortune & even hidden treasure, featuring in Manx Fairy Tales 1911

A is for AMBOINA MERMAID Writers recorded the capture of a mermaid on the island of Amboina 1712. Said to be 5 feet long, it screeched like a mouse & would not eat fish. The mermaid appears in 'Fishes, Crayfish & Crabs', a collection of the region's sea-life (1712) #SeaChanges

MERMAID A-Z A #mermaid a day to mark the build up to our conference: Sea Changes: The fairytale Gothic of mermaids, selkies, and enchanted hybrids of ocean and river 6-8 Sept British Library & online #GothicMermaids #SeaChanges opengravesopenminds.com/sea-changes-... Image