The History of the Ghost Story

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Hear how the origins of the ghost story are rooted in horror, madness, and even humour. Followed by Q&A.

Across time, ghosts and ghouls have continued to inspire and mesmerise authors. Since their inception, literary ghosts not only haunt and horrify, but also ask readers to turn inwards. From ideas of madness prompted by Shakespeare’s ghouls, to the laughter that Dickens’s phantoms inspire, this talk will explore how the history of the ghost story is more human than you might think.

Join Dr Emily Vincent on a journey through endlessly popular classics like A Christmas Carol, alongside lesser-known spectral tales, to see why the ghost continues to stubbornly haunt our pages. Not forgetting its funny phantoms, this talk discovers how humour is an unexpected but important part of the ghost story’s history: from Robert Browning’s poem mocking séance mediums, to Oscar Wilde’s amusingly old-fashioned ghosts. Whether you are a seasoned lover of gothic fiction or simply curious about the spirits that haunt literature, prepare to see these classic phantoms in an illuminating new light.