Midsummer Weird

A Day of Strange Fiction, Folklore and The Uncanny

Join us for a day of strange stories, readings, conversations and interactive fun with panels of authors and experts in everything weird and wonderful. Doors at 1pm.

• Opportunities to buy authors’ books and have them signed            
• Food will be available to purchase at the event

Featuring: Adam Z Robinson, Bronte Schiltz, Ceri Houlbrook, Elizabeth Dearnley, Hwaet Zine, Jeremy Dyson, Lucie McKnight Hardy, Mark Morris, Matthew Bellwood, Michael Stewart, Sacha Coward and Toby Hadoke… with more names to be announced.

*The day is set to include:

Ghost Story Theatre with Adam Z Robinson of The Book of Darkness & Light
Host of the Ghost Story Book Club podcast, Adam will present his original ghost story, The Cry of The Bubak. A haunted man flees to a health facility to escape his past, only to have it catch up with him in a most horrifying way. Writer Adam is the Founder of The Book of Darkness & Light, a company that create unforgettable ghost story shows and have toured across the UK and as far afield as Canada.

Tales of the Weird: Haunted Yorkshire: A British Library Panel
Tales of the Weird is a British Library series where the gothic and supernatural meet, featuring stories that move between the eerie and the unexpected. Editor of new instalment, Haunted Yorkshire, Elizabeth Dearnley, will be joined by contributors Jeremy Dyson (The League of Gentlemen) and Mark Morris to discuss the collection of chilling tales exploring Yorkshire’s uniquely haunting influence on horror literature.

Quatermass and the Televisual Gothic
Explore the huge cultural impact of landmark British sci-fi fiction serial, The  Quatermass Experiment, first shown by the BBC in 1953. Unleashed in the wake of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, Nigel Kneale’s innovative series captivated the burgeoning television audience with high quality, suspenseful science fiction that influenced decades of gothic film and TV. The panel will feature stand-up comedian Toby Hadoke, who recently published a book on The Quatermass Experiment, and Bronte Schiltz, writer and journalist who contributed to re-releases of the film versions of the first two Quatermass stories.

Folklore:  In Conversation with Sacha Coward and Ceri Houlbrook
Sacha Coward, author of Queer as Folkore and Dr Ceri Houlbrook, Lecturer in History and Folklore and writer of folklore-inspired fiction, join us for a gripping guide to the weird yet everyday world of British folklore. Chaired by Adam Robinson, it’s set to be a fascinating journey through the many forms of folklore, from village rituals to fairytales, to the hidden queer history of myths and monsters.

Weird Fiction: Michael Stewart In Conversation with Lucie McKnight Hardy & Bronte Schiltz
Step into the captivating world of weird fiction with Lucie McKnight Hardy, author of the dark, disturbing and quietly devasting Night Babies. She will be joined by PhD candidate for Gothic Studies, Bronte Schiltz, whose work includes creative non-fiction, short fiction, poetry and theatre. She has contributed to the new Comma Press short story anthology, Monster Capital: Tales of Modern Unease. Chairing the panel will be the multi-award winning author of Black Wood Women and champion of all things gothic, Michael Stewart.

Ghost Stories with Matthew Bellwood
Leeds-based theatre-maker, storyteller and creator of 365 Leeds Stories, a project that map’s people’s thoughts and experiences of living in Leeds, Matthew Bellwood, will perform the classic tale The Night Wire by HF Arnold. We will also hear true tales of local Weird, including Mary Bateman, The Yorkshire Witch, and The Astounding Adventures of Charlie Peace, a murderer said to haunt the cells of Leeds Town Hall.

Hwæt! Present the FOLKLORE FUNFAIR
Ancient fun for modern folks! The creators of the Hwæt! Zine present an immersive set of custom-made games inspired by the myths, legends and folklore of the British Isles, featuring the Hook-A-Hag Stone, The Zodiac Wheel of Fortune and many more.

*Line-ups are subject to change without notice