Tag Archives: geoff holder

In which the author gave a talk at the ghost club in London…

 

On Saturday 17th March I was delighted to return to The Ghost Club, this time with a talk on ‘The Jacobites and the Supernatural’. My previous talk for the august institution (founded 1862 and still as sprightly as ever) was ‘Aleister Crowley and the Hauntings of Boleskine House’.

 

The Jacobite rebellions of the 17th and 18th centuries convulsed Scotland, Ireland and England – almost leading to regime change in Westminster – before the cause was extinguished at Culloden, the last pitched battle in Britain. The adventure was also steeped in supernatural belief, from magical healing and witchcraft to second-sight, crisis apparitions and deals with the Devil. Drawing on my book of the same name, ‘The Jacobites and the Supernatural’ was a journey through battlefield phantoms, Black Dogs, haunted castles, holy wells, water turned into blood, and, yes, endlessly multiplying spectres of Bonnie Prince Charlie.

 

The event was for memebers and guests only, but joining on the door is always an option. The event took place at 2pm, in The Committee Room at The Victory Services Club, 63 Seymour Street, just off Edgware Road, London, W2 2HF. A kind thanks to all those in attendance.

 

For more information on the Ghost Club, visit – www.ghostclub.org.uk

 

 

In which the author appears on the ‘Paranormal Podcast’ again…

 

 

That gentleman and scholar Jim Harold has just posted another slice of his inestimable internet supernaturalia, ‘The Paranormal Podcast’, this one featuring my second appearance on the American show. Jim and I discuss the meaning and reality (or otherwise) of hauntings, with reference to poltergeists, apparitions, doppelgangers, fetches, and the dubious genre of ‘haunted telly’. Somehow we also managed to shoehorn in time slips (ghosts-as-time-travellers), the ‘survival hypothesis’ (ghosts-as-conscious-spirits), the ‘stone tape’ notion (ghosts-as-recordings) – oh, and some knickers. It was great fun.

 

The show ‘What are Hauntings?’ can be downloaded for free from here!

 

http://jimharold.com/the-paranormal-podcast/what-are-hauntings-with-geoff-holder-paranormal-podcast-229/

 
 

In which the author succeeds in the realm of romantic fiction (and chocolate)…

 

Choc Lit, publishers of romantic fiction, have just announced the short list for their chocolate-themed 2012 Short Story Competition. And, nestling among the ten candidates on the list, is a story by yours truly. If you are of the opinion that romantic fiction is a bit of a stretch from what I usually write, then I invite you to consider the title of the piece, and what it implies for the content. It’s called Blood and Chocolate…

 

The full short-list can be found here.

 
 

In which the Author launches another video book trailer…

 

There’s another video book trailer cannonading around cyberspace. The video for Paranormal Cumbria can be found on this website here, on youtube and at bookreel.tv.

 

The trailer was put together by Jamie Cook, webmaster of this parish, and the book itself is due out on March 31st.

 

 
 

In which the Author is interviewed by Scotcampus Magazine…

 

 

The February issue of the free student magazine Scotcampus features a Q & A style interview with the humble author, entitled ‘Spooky Scotland’. I ramble on about loch monsters, vampires, Jacobites and the supernatural, ghosts, and other examples of Scottish paranormalism, with particular reference to Dundee, Glasgow and Iona.

 

Free copies can be picked up from this week (15th February) at student-frequented bars, cafés, record shops and arts venues. The online link is here:

 

http://www.scotcampus.com/2012/01/spooky-scotland-qa-geoff-holder/

In which the author talks to zombies…

Many thanks to all those who turned up on January 30th at the Arches in Glasgow for the Stage to Page workshop of scenes from the play what I wrote.

 

Seeing the script from ‘I Walked With A Zombie’ change from hesitant read-through to actual performance in less than 60 minutes was something of a head-churning experience, not to say a humbling one (rewrite, rewrite…). My thanks to the actors – Lucy, Lindsey, Elle, Mikhail, John and the tall chap whose name I’ve rudely forgotten – for embodying the parts so well, and to director Marcus Roche for making my words work in real time.

 

Further tips of the titfer to Mark MacNicol and the Playwrights’ Studio for setting up the event, and writer Chris Dolan for being an inspiring guest facilitator. It was also splendid to meet the two other writers having scripts workshopped on the night, Stewart Ennis and Cicely Gill. Their plays did have a distressing lack of zombies, I thought, but then you can’t have everything.

 

To view images from the evening, visit the ‘I Walked with a Zombie’ gallery page.