London Month of the Dead - A History of Living with the Dead

GRAVE MATTERS A History of Living with the Dead with Roger Luckhurst At Highgate Cemetery Chapel On Wednesday 1st October 2025 from 7:00 pm Why do we bury our dead—and what does it say about us? Join cultural historian and author Roger Luckhurst for a fascinating talk exploring how humans across time and cultures have confronted the universal dilemma of what to do with the dead. From the grandeur of the Pyramids of Giza to the solemn cenotaphs of fallen soldiers, from catacombs to columbaria, Luckhurst weaves together art, history, literature, and popular culture to reveal the shifting landscapes of remembrance. To celebrate the launch of his new book "Graveyards", this talk traces the evolution of burial practices from ancient rites and religious traditions to Victorian grave-robbing, overcrowded city cemeteries, and the emergence of garden cemeteries. In an era of cremation, cryogenics, and digital memorials, are graveyards becoming relics themselves? With his trademark wit and insight, Luckhurst explores the cultural, emotional, and architectural legacies of the dead and what they leave behind for the living. Tickets £12.50 including a Victorian punch. Please click here to buy. ROGER LUCKHURST is Professor of Nineteenth-Century Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London and has written for the Financial Times, Guardian and London Review of Books, as well as being a regular contributor for the BBC. His books include "Gothic: An Illustrated History" (T&H, 2021), "Zombies: A Cultural History" (2015) and editions of novels by Bram Stoker, Robert Louis Stevenson and H. P. Lovecraft.

GRAVE MATTERS
A History of Living with the Dead
with Roger Luckhurst At Highgate Cemetery Chapel
On Wednesday 1st October 2025 from 7:00 pm

Why do we bury our dead—and what does it say about us?

Join cultural historian and author Roger Luckhurst for a fascinating talk exploring how humans across time and cultures have confronted the universal dilemma of what to do with the dead. From the grandeur of the Pyramids of Giza to the solemn cenotaphs of fallen soldiers, from catacombs to columbaria, Luckhurst weaves together art, history, literature, and popular culture to reveal the shifting landscapes of remembrance.

To celebrate the launch of his new book "Graveyards", this talk traces the evolution of burial practices from ancient rites and religious traditions to Victorian grave-robbing, overcrowded city cemeteries, and the emergence of garden cemeteries. In an era of cremation, cryogenics, and digital memorials, are graveyards becoming relics themselves? With his trademark wit and insight, Luckhurst explores the cultural, emotional, and architectural legacies of the dead and what they leave behind for the living.

Tickets £12.50 including a Victorian punch. Please click here to buy.

ROGER LUCKHURST
is Professor of Nineteenth-Century Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London and has written for the Financial Times, Guardian and London Review of Books, as well as being a regular contributor for the BBC. His books include "Gothic: An Illustrated History" (T&H, 2021), "Zombies: A Cultural History" (2015) and editions of novels by Bram Stoker, Robert Louis Stevenson and H. P. Lovecraft.