Here's one to get your teeth into. "A day packed with top speakers and debates, all about vampires", at Goldsmiths on 8 March 2014. The Seriously Staked symposium tackles all things vampiric from a rational viewpoint, including the folklore, biological parallels and even the politics. Here's the agenda:
- Can science explain vampires?
- Do real vampire hunting kits exist?
- How have vampires impacted western culture?
- What is the crossover between vampires and other anomalous phenomena?
- Was Transylvania vampirism a communist trick to attract tourists?
- What is the London vampire community today?
- Do real vampires exist?
The speaker line-up includes a horror expert, the editor of Skeptic magazine, a curator of firearms, an occasional Londonist contributor and a man who was convinced he was becoming a vampire.
Our friends at Transpontine observe that New Cross's most famous vampire — Gary Oldman, who played Dracula in the 1992 film — probably won't be in attendance.
Seriously Staked, 8 March 2014, Goldsmiths College, £15 rising to £25 after earlybird period. It is co-organised by ASSAP (the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena) and the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths College, University of London.