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A brief history of comic book vampires – including a homage to Donald Trump

In Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula (1887), an English solicitor (Jonathan Harker) is sent to Transylvania to assist Count Dracula, an aristocrat, in his move to England. When Harker discovers Dracula lying in a coffin after feeding on blood, he understands the threat that Dracula poses to England.

The Conversation · Oct 31, 2025

The Children’s Booker prize will include works of translation – here are five expert recommendations to get your kids excited

The buzz around the newly announced Children’s Booker has focused on its potential to “tell kids they matter”, as they get their own version of this prestigious literary prize. With children actually included in the judging process, the prize has the power to bring thousands more young people “into the…

The Conversation · Oct 31, 2025

Scary stories for kids: All About Ghosts is a non-fiction book that gave me all the knowledge to spot spectres

All About Ghosts by Christopher Maynard is a non-fiction book for children curious about spectral beings. First published in 1977, this book grabbed many children with the vice-like grip of a reanimated hand from a mouldering grave.

The Conversation · Oct 30, 2025

Scary stories for kids: A Series of Unfortunate Events taught me that grief can’t be understood but can be managed

Sourcing family friendly frightening fiction can be a bit challenging. That said, while straightforward horror texts rarely serve family audiences, the gothic is a mode of storytelling that has a long history of delighting and disgusting parents and children alike.

The Conversation · Oct 28, 2025

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere is an underwhelming ode to ‘the boss’

In the last ten years, Bruce Springsteen has cemented his status as a bona fide music legend.

The Conversation · Oct 27, 2025

John Grisham’s The Widow: a legal mystery that asks if a sleazy lawyer can ever be seen as a ‘good’ victim

Is there such a thing as the “perfect victim”? Is it an old lady who is suddenly mugged on the street? And where does a greedy lawyer, eager to profit from an elderly widow’s demise, fit in? Would we have sympathy if he was manipulated and wrongly accused of her…

The Conversation · Oct 24, 2025

A brief history of the haunted house in western cinema and literature

A door creaks shut, unexpectedly; a footstep is heard on the stair; a face seen at the window. The haunted house is a staple of gothic writing, television and film, but what is it about this humble setting that holds such a fascination?

The Conversation · Oct 22, 2025

Scary stories for kids: these tales of terror made me a hit at sleepovers as a pre-teen

Seeing the cover of Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (1981) has a powerfully Proustian effect on me: my stomach drops a little bit and a shiver of twinned fear and delight runs down my spine, even now, some 35 or so years after I first encountered…

The Conversation · Oct 21, 2025

Monsters, menopause and bold women – what to see, read and visit this week

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has long served as a parable – a warning against the hubris of playing God, the dangers of motherless creation, reckless parenthood and unchecked scientific ambition. It’s a story that continues to resonate, revealing how little human ego and error have changed over time.

The Conversation · Oct 17, 2025

Scary stories for kids: Watership Down made me aware of my mortality at age four

When I think of my first encounter with horror, I don’t think of a vampire, a witch, or even a possessed girl’s head spinning round (I saw The Exorcist at the age of seven). I think of a Sun God, I think of teeth and claws slicked with blood, I…

The Conversation · Oct 17, 2025