Come with us, rend the veil and raise the spirits.This is the world of the seance and the clairvoyant, of voices from beyond and teleporting objects. From 1848 to the 1920s there was an explosion of interest in the new 'science' of spiritualism and everybody who was anybody wanted to explore the latest phenomenon that united belief in the living dead with the scientific belief in electrical energy. From children banishing the devil to a middle-aged Scotsman flying round the room, from telephone calls to the spirits and the resurrection of ancient Egyptians, and from ectoplasmic extrusions and ghostly apparitions in lonely vicarages caught on Kodak Brownies, this was a movement that informed not only horror fiction, but also the suffragettes and socialism, that crossed the class and gender barriers and helped create the modern world.

Tickets £12 including a delightful gin cocktail.

Clive Bloom
Professor Clive Bloom is Emeritus Professor of English & American Studies at Middlesex University. He was a historical consultant to the BBC and has written for The Financial Times, The Times, The Guardian, The independent, The Irish Times and the London Evening Standard. He is the author of numerous books on political protest, revolutionary movements, popular culture and gothic literature.