Talking Heads- Horror and the Gothic: Unleash your Inner Zombie

Dr Linnie Blake discusses zombies, horror and the value of Humanities
Words by Sophie Bannister

Gothicist and Principal Lecturer in Film Dr Linnie Blake

Welcome to the very first Talking Heads, where we explore why the Humanities matter in today's society. In this week's instalment, Student Press Office journalist Sophie Bannister talks to Dr Linnie Blake and Dr Xavier Aldana Reyes about their exciting upcoming Gothic week, their work with Horror, and how zombies are taking over our television screens.

You can find out more information about Dr Linnie Blake by clicking here. You can also discover more information about the subjects discussed by accessing Linnie here. 

Gothic Postcard Winner is Dead Good

Words by Claudia Conerney

Competition winner Kate Owen

Manchester Metropolitan University is delighted to announce that Kate Owen from Sir John Deane’s College in Cheshire is the winner of the 2012 Postcards from the Dead competition. Entrants were required to write a postcard in no more than 200 words based on the point of view of a fictional character from a gothic novel that they are studying at A-Level. Kate chose to write her entry from the point of view of the house in Edgar Allen Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. She told us, “the house might not strictly be a character, but when I read the short story I was inspired by the atmosphere of the house. For me, it was as if Poe had created a malevolent entity that could drive people insane and lead them to their deaths and I wanted to have fun exploring that idea.”

Andy Moore, English lecturer at MMU, certainly enjoyed reading her work, “The standard of entries was extremely high and it was very difficult to choose an overall winner. However, Kate’s entry was incredibly imaginative and very well written. The English department at MMU congratulate her on her achievement.”

In addition to a £25 Amazon voucher, Kate’s work will be professionally illustrated and designed and she will receive 100 copies of her postcard.

Congratulations also to our runners up, whose work was highly commended by our judging panel, Luke Percival from Saints Peter and Paul Catholic College in Widnes, Heather Dowling from Sir John Deane’s College in Cheshire and Victoria Waterhouse from Cronton Sixth Form College in Cheshire. 

‘Postcards from the Dead’ is a subsidiary of our main competition, ‘Postcards from the Past’. For further details about the rules and how to enter, please visit http://www.mcln.org.uk/ or visit the Postcards from the Past blog  here.