If, like me, your childhood bookshelves were studded with Dean Koontz and Stephen King, you might enjoy this article from the Guardian. It explores why we, as children and adults, are drawn to the things that scare us. I can definitely remember one particularly wet British holiday with my parents, made bleaker by my brand…

Ever wondered where the word ‘Gothic’ comes from? Or how the Gothic movement came to capture the imagination of 18th Century England? If so, have a look at The Art of Gothic: Britain’s Midnight Hour. The first episode, Liberty Diversity Depravity explains Gothic history, moving from classical Greek architecture to the French Revolution via the…

We are loving London’s Month of the Dead, a celebration of our capital’s ‘past, present, future and hereafter’. Sadly, you’re too late for the bone archive and the insect taxidermy workshop, as these are both sold out. But you can still meet some of London’s undertakers, to experience a ‘day in the life of death’.…

As Halloween approaches, there are of course more opportunities for ghostly adventures. We at 26 Ghosts particularly like the look of Terror and Wonder: The Gothic Imagination, a British Library exhibition that covers 250 years of gothic history. http://www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/gothic/ We might duck out when we get to the Twilight section. But we’re definitely keen to…

Ever heard the story about the bride on her wedding day who hides in a chest during a game of hide-and-seek, and whose mouldering skeleton is only discovered years later? You probably have. It’s a real chestnut, and lots of houses in England lay claim to being the house where the story took place. But…