So listen, this time last week I'd finished lecturing for the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies about the cultural conditions that make Folk Horror happen, which meant lots of news reports about Satanist plumbers in Epsom and media mediums, and I got in Prediction and Mystic Meg and Space Barbie and spontaneous memorials, so it was useful for me because it helped me to put into words the things that have been in my mind for ages. I was grateful for and humbled by the unwavering faith of Josh Saco (of Miskatonic and Cigarette Burns Cinema) and frankly relieved by the overwhelming positivity of the response.
If you were there, thank you. I never mean to inject as much personal history into my talks, but it keeps creeping in. Which I suppose is how I work: I'm not an expert, I'm someone with a bit of theory training and a desire to write about the things I like.
I overran, which I'm a bit sad about. Several people missed the end because of trains and that. Should I ever do another, I'll give myself more time to rehearse.
So off the back of it, I got asked to tell Love Horror what my favourite horror film is (and in clickbait fashion, the Answer May Surprise You). And I've already been asked to send my text to someone for publication, and Miskatonic recorded it for their students' own use, so I'll guess I'll see how I did from the other side eventually.
I'm planning on giving a copy to my Patreon supporters and Kickstarter backers too; and that leads me to the next bit of news. We Don't Go Back: A Watcher's Guide to Folk Horror is now written, and now I have some of Steve Horry's illustrations (and if you were at the lecture, you'd know him as "Steve from Tunbridge Wells"), some of which are here, I have begun the process of putting the physical books together. More updates as events warrant.
