The word Gothic conjures associations with the dark and melancholy, the weird and feared, and haunted places and people. In this talk Roger Luckhurst will offer an unprecedented look at the ways this uncanny style has manifested itself through architecture, literature, film, art, video games, and more. From the works of Victor Hugo and E. T. A. Hoffmann to Southern Gothic, ancient folklore, and classic horror movies, Professor Luckhurst will explore how an aesthetic that began in the margins has been reinvented through the centuries to become part of mainstream global culture.

The talk will delve into Gothic traditions and settings around the world, from the sublime Alps and Australian outback to the Arctic wasteland, from the dark folkloric realm of the forest to the postindustrial landscapes of abandoned hospitals and asylums, and then beyond the bounds of the planet to unknowable cosmic horror, showing how as the Gothic has traveled across the globe and through time, it has morphed according to the shape of our changing fears and anxieties. Professor Luckhurst will lift the veil on our fascination with the eerie, morbid, and supernatural.