News has reached me of a tremendously groovy conference being organised by the good people from The Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies (a publication that fills a significant gap in Irish academic life).

Entitled "It Came from the 1950s: Popular Culture, Popular Anxieties" (and being held in Trinity College, Dublin on the 15th and 16th of May) it offers plenty to stir the blood of Horror/Sci-Fi enthusiasts.

Highlights include talks by David J. Skal¹ & Kim Newman,² discussions of "The Fifties Hammer Invasion" & "The Image of the Female Juvenile Delinquent in the 1950s", and (tying in with an early Dreadful Thoughts offering) a paper on "Night of the Demon and British Occultism in the 1950s".

Best of all, it costs not a penny. All you have to do (to ensure your spot) is send an email here confirming your attendance.

If that offer of free fun and stimulation doesn't move you, then I despair. You're probably a pod-person.

I'll be attending on both days - so 'twould be splendid to see any regular readers, Dreadful Thinkers, or pint-buying stalkers there. Let me know.

What: "It Came from the 1950s: Popular Culture, Popular Anxieties".

Where: Trinity College, Dublin (Botany Building).

When: Thursday 15th & Friday 16th of May (full schedule here).

1. He of the indispensable The Monster Show. If you haven't read it, do so this instant. [back]
2. Of…a million and one things, though I'll always be most grateful to him for his editing of my much-loved (and much-thumbed) BFI Companion to Horror. [back]