On Wednesday 18th September PubSci is excited to welcome writer, folklorist, and celebrated skeptic Deborah Hyde to talk about A Natural History of Vampires.
Peter Cushing as Hammer House of Horror’s Count Dracula
We know Halloween is next month, but PubSci is beating the rush by getting our spook on early this year with a September Special looking at the natural history of vampires.
Long before charming-but-terrifying vampires fuelled the plot of numerous Hammer Horror films, even before FW Murnau made the groundbreaking Nosferatu in 1922, itself inspired by Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the idea of the vampire has fascinated Western Europe since the early 1700s.
But this tradition was a real part of Eastern European lives for centuries before that. On Wednesday 18th September PubSci welcomes folklorist, writer and skeptic, Deborah Hyde, to take us through the natural history of vampires.
The vampire archetype has been taken up by art of all kinds, as both fascinated and scandalised Victorian society, but what is the reality behind the tales of the predatory, living dead, and how did belief in vampires make its way to nineteenth century New England?
Could there be some truth behind vampire myths…? Science, even? Come to PubSci to find out.
Book now – only the brave will learn the answers!
PubSci is delighted to welcome Deborah to our spooky September special.
More information below
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A gentleman fleeing a vampiric winged seductress.
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Join us upstairs at the Old King’s Head, near London Bridge tube. Doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start. Talks run for ~45 minutes and are followed by a Q&A session. The Old King’s Head has a happy hour before 7pm, and the kitchen serves excellent pub grub.
Reserve your place on Eventbrite now! PubSci is a pay-what-you-can event – please consider making a donation with your reservation to help us cover our costs.
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About the speaker
CSICon 2018: ‘Interview with the Vampire Expert’
Deborah Hyde is a writer, folklorist and cultural anthropologist. She was editor of the ‘Skeptic Magazine’ for ten years and is an elected fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Enquiry.
She writes and lectures extensively about superstition, cryptozoology, religion and belief in the paranormal, with special regard to the folklore, psychology and sociology behind these phenomena.
Deborah has appeared on TV and at conferences as an expert on Vampires and the sociology of supernatural beliefs, and is one of the resident experts on the BBC podcast and live-tour ‘Uncanny’ where she offers a rational, historical perspective on peculiar events.
PubSci is delighted to welcome Deborah to talk about A Natural History of Vampires.
Count Orlok in F.W. Murnau’s 1922 “Nosferatu”
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There is no charge for attending PubSci talks, but we have a traditional whip-round to cover expenses – consider it a “Pay What You Can” event. Very few of us carry cash these days, so you can contribute digitally through our TipJar or make a donation when registering for ticketed events with Eventbrite. Please help PubSci continue putting on events. PubSci has no other source of funding.
We aim to keep PubSci accessible for all, although it is unsuitable for under 18s as we meet in the function room of a pub. Regrettably, there is no wheelchair access.
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We used to meet on the first Wednesday of the month but PubSci is now on the third Wednesday. Join us upstairs at the Old King’s Head near London Bridge Underground (Borough High Street east side exit) every month apart from December for a regular dose of Sipping, Supping & Science.
Address:
The Old King’s Head (upstairs room)
King’s Head Yard
45-49 Borough High Street
London SE1 1NA
I hope you reserved your place early, because the event is fully booked and there’s a long waiting list. For those lucky enough to be attending, Chris will have copies of his new book for sale: The Science of Weird Shit – Why Our Minds Conjure the Paranormal.
Chris French is Emeritus Professor and Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit in the Psychology Department at Goldsmiths,University of London. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and a Patron of UK Humanists.
Welcome to PubSci’s year-end blog post.
We kick off the new year with somebody who will be familiar to attendees: our very own Mike Lucibella. Mike spent five seasons in Antarctica as editor and photographer of The Antarctic Sun, official paper of the US Antarctic Program.
PubSci 