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ghoulguides.bsky.social
The Ghoul Guides
@ghoulguides.bsky.social
280 followers 130 following 43 posts
A multimedia project exploring all things spooky, ghoulish and Gothic from academic researchers @laurenjnixon.bsky.social and @mazgoing.bsky.social. Podcast: podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ghoulguides | Website: theghoulguides.wordpress.com
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ghoulguides.bsky.social
Real ghouls match their bookmarks to their books.

Did you check out our spooky season reading recommendations? We had weird and witchy reads (including CJ Cooke’s The Ghost Woods, pictured) as well as some culty and corrupt options.

Listen: shorturl.at/f5yA9
(other podcast platforms available!)
November 12, 2025 at 3:48 PM
ghoulguides.bsky.social
THEY’RE BURNING THE LABUBUS.

The Association is in session and we’re discussing the Labubu craze, the people crying demon, and the Gothic history of moral panics. Guest starring Lauren’s Labubus, obviously.

Apple: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/26fk...
September 5, 2025 at 5:30 PM
ghoulguides.bsky.social
This evening’s meeting of the Ghoul Guides Association is Lauren’s thought on Wednesday season 2 so far, as well as some recommending reading if you’re looking for some more dark academia, mystery or weirdness.

Spotify link (or find us on other platofrms!) open.spotify.com/episode/6IkC...
August 29, 2025 at 6:31 PM
ghoulguides.bsky.social
What do zombies have to do with masculinity, empire and identity? Everything, it turns out!

Listen now on your favourite podcast platform or head over to our YouTube for our review of 28 Years Later (2025) featuring special guest @kathleenh42.bsky.social and a discussion of the franchise so far
August 16, 2025 at 10:10 AM
ghoulguides.bsky.social
If you listened to our recent episode and felt a craving for Butter, it’s on the half price offer in Waterstones! A confronting exploration of femininity and consumption that will leave you uncomfortably hungry.

This isn’t an ad, we just can’t walk past a Waterstones without going inside okay.
August 2, 2025 at 6:25 PM
ghoulguides.bsky.social
Have you read Asako Yuzuki’s ‘Butter’ yet? This week at the Ghoul Guides Association, @laurenjnixon.bsky.social reviews the global bestseller and recommends some more reading! #GothsAssemble
August 1, 2025 at 6:17 PM
ghoulguides.bsky.social
Ghouls, what does the sublime, the British Empire and custard creams all have in common? Pteridomania, baby!

On this meeting of The Ghoul Guides Association, Lauren deep dives the Victorian cult of the fern - and its Gothic influences.

Listen now: open.spotify.com/episode/30WD... #GothsAssemble
July 18, 2025 at 7:50 PM
ghoulguides.bsky.social
This month’s films include Aussie sensation Dangerous Animals and some old school Mexican horror.
July 7, 2025 at 4:52 PM
ghoulguides.bsky.social
I’m (Lauren) pleased to announce the safe arrival of my first child, ‘The Gothic at War’, weighing 75 pounds. It was a long and difficult birth but worth the effort.

If you want to support my sweet child, why not order a copy for you library: www.uwp.co.uk/book/the-got... #AcademicChatter #Gothic
July 1, 2025 at 10:18 AM
ghoulguides.bsky.social
Minutes of recent Ghoul Guides Association meetings:
- moustaches, pros & cons
- human wet wipes
- rich people: cult?
- Lauren mentions Silvia Moreno Garcia, repeatedly.

Our review of Nosferatu (2024) and thoughts on Sirens (2025) inc. what to read next up now! open.spotify.com/show/24nPZ5p...
June 21, 2025 at 7:03 PM
ghoulguides.bsky.social
New episode! This time Mary delves into the early modern era to explore the #Gothic history of witch trials, a King with a vendetta, a self-proclaimed Witch Finder General, and Lauren's dubious family history: Podcast: podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gho...

YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp8L...
Title card for our episode. Text reads: "The Ghoul Guides Present: WITCHING HOUR: EARLY MODERN HUNTS. A Ghoul Guides Association Video." On a light pink background is a wood cut image of a witch and a devil figure both riding on broomsticks towards another woman.
November 18, 2023 at 5:38 PM
ghoulguides.bsky.social
"And how often was he thrown into complete dismay by some rushing blast, howling among the trees, in the idea that it was the Galloping Hessian on one of his nightly scourings!"

Washington Irving, THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

#31DaysOfHalloween
Black and white photo taken in the woods, showing lots of trees, and in the foreground dead trees lying on the floor.
October 16, 2023 at 9:25 PM
ghoulguides.bsky.social
"My cognizance of the pit had become known to the inquisitorial agents-the pit whose horrors had been destined for so bold a recusant as myself-the pit, typical of hell, & regarded by rumor as the Ultima Thule of all their punishments."

Edgar Allan Poe, THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM

#31DaysOfHalloween
Photograph of the Pit & Pendulum bar in Nottingham, with the black name written on a red sign.
October 16, 2023 at 9:15 PM
ghoulguides.bsky.social
‘It was not a haunting. It was possession and not even that, but something she couldn’t even begin to describe. The creation of an afterlife, furnished with the marrow and the bones and the neurons of a woman, made of stems and spores.’

Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno Garcia

#31DaysOfHalloween
October 14, 2023 at 5:13 PM
ghoulguides.bsky.social
“I've got to warn ya! You're doomed if you stay! Go. Go! […] You're doomed! You're all doomed!!”

#31DaysOfHalloween #FridayThe13th #Mayhem
Photo of a Jason Vorhees hockey mask on a playing card (Jason from the Friday the 13th franchise) held in front of a tall mayhem film festival poster.
October 13, 2023 at 7:30 PM
ghoulguides.bsky.social
"The ruin of Whitby Abbey, which was sacked by the Danes, and which is the scene of part of "Marmion," where the girl was built up in the wall. It is a most noble ruin [...] there is a legend that a white lady is seen in one of the windows."

Bram Stoker, DRACULA

#31DaysOfHalloween
Black and white photo of Whitby Abbey, with its reflection able to be seen in the body of water in the foreground.
October 12, 2023 at 8:12 PM
ghoulguides.bsky.social
"Wouldst thou like the taste of butter? A pretty dress? Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?"

THE WITCH

#31DaysOfHalloween
Photo of two goats in an inside enclosure, both looking at the camera and both with two horns. One goat is stood on a platform on the wall, and the other one is poking his head over a wooden fence.
October 11, 2023 at 3:00 PM
ghoulguides.bsky.social
"'Why the Drowning Pool?' [...]
'I guess it had something to do with local witches' [...]
'That's why locals say it was haunted. By the restless souls of the witches and innocents drowned there.'"

Syd Moore, THE DROWNING POOL

#31DaysOfHalloween
Photo of the Thames estuary, showing a wall covered with seaweed descending into the water.
October 10, 2023 at 3:09 PM
ghoulguides.bsky.social
"When He woke, He found himself extended upon the pavement of the Church: It was Illuminated, and the chaunt of Hymns sounded from a distance [...] The Lamps had been lighted during his sleep, and the music which he heard was occasioned by the Monks."

Matthew Lewis, THE MONK

#31DaysOfHalloween
Photo of Gothic church in twilight, with yellow light illuminating the bottom of the church. The big doors in the centre of the church are in darkness.
October 9, 2023 at 3:45 PM
ghoulguides.bsky.social
"The whole church took on something fantastic, supernatural, horrible; eyes & mouths were opened, here & there; one heard the dogs, the monsters, & the gargoyles of stone, which keep watch night & day, with outstretched neck & open jaws, around the monstrous cathedral, barking."

#31DaysOfHalloween
Photo of an ornate spire from which several gargoyles are sticking out.
October 8, 2023 at 6:38 PM
ghoulguides.bsky.social
New episode of the Ghoul Guides Association has dropped! And in this episode (thanks to one of listeners for the request) Lauren and Mary discuss some of their fav Gothic books.

🎧 Podcast: podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gho...

📺 Youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tka...
Episode thumbnail. Text reads: "The Ghoul Guides Present: What should I read next? Gothic Book Recommendations. The image is a black and white photo of a book surrounded by a pair of glasses and a skull.
October 7, 2023 at 2:22 PM
ghoulguides.bsky.social
"Upon the ground within it stood a large chest, which he went forward to examine; and, lifting the lid, he saw the remains of a human skeleton. Horror struck upon his heart, and he involuntarily stepped back."

Ann Radcliffe, THE ROMANCE OF THE FOREST

#31DaysOfHalloween
Photo of a Skeleton dressed in a white doctor's coat, a bow tie, and a pair of black glasses. He is standing in a shop, and looks like he is smiling. On his chest is a framed paragraph which says "Meet Mr. Bones."
October 7, 2023 at 2:13 PM
ghoulguides.bsky.social
"In speaking of his intelligence, my wife, who at heart was not a little tinctured with superstition, made frequent allusion to the ancient popular notion, which regarded all black cats as witches in disguise."

Edgar Allan Poe, THE BLACK CAT

#31DaysOfHalloween
Photo of a black cat sitting on a paved part of a garden. In the background is the green lawn, a wall and some green plants. In the top left corner is exposure from the sun which is casting rays on the rest of the picture. The cat is also wearing a yellow collar.
October 6, 2023 at 3:02 PM
ghoulguides.bsky.social
"The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea,
The plowman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me."

Thomas Gray, ELEGY WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY CHURCHYARD

#31DaysOfHalloween
Black and white image of a church and church yard filled with graves. There are clouds in the sky and a path in the middle leading to the church, with graves on either side.
October 5, 2023 at 3:22 PM
ghoulguides.bsky.social
"You're lost, you're angry in the woods! And no one here is here to help you. There's a f*cking witch and she keeps leaving sh*t outside your door. There’s no one here to help you! She left little trinkets; you f*cking took one of them! "

THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT

#31DaysOfHalloween
Photo taken in the woods in Sheffield. Among the trees and a canopy of green leaves, in the centre is one big tree against which has been piled long branches and sticks as if to make some kind of structure
October 4, 2023 at 3:24 PM