Ellen Cheshire

In March, I was drawn to the body as a site of pressure, something shaped, disciplined and ultimately consumed by performance. In April, that focus shifted. The body remained central, but now as something more unstable, a threshold rather than a vessel. The Gothic moved outward into blood, desire and transformation. April’s theme, Vampires: Desire, Identity and Transformation (Part I), was shaped by a new stage reimagining of Dracula at the Noël Coward Theatre, adapted by Mor

In February I was lingering in the shadowy rooms of haunted houses. In March I found myself drawn onto the stage. Here the Gothic no longer belongs to architecture but to the body itself. Performance becomes the threshold and crossing it comes at a cost. March’s theme, Obsession and Art: When Performance Takes Possession, was shaped by seeing The Red Shoes at the Mayflower Theatre. Seeing this ballet adaptation, choreographed by Matthew Bourne, of the 1948 Powell and Pressbu

Few novels have cast a longer cinematic shadow than Frankenstein. Since its publication in 1818, Mary Shelley’s story of creation, rejection and responsibility has generated hundreds of stage and screen interpretations, most of them circling the same familiar narrative: Victor Frankenstein creates life. The creature is rejected. Tragedy follows. Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley in The Bride! When the trailer for The Bride! appeared, I admit I had some reservations. It seeme

Looking back over the past few years, I have set myself annual challenges that combine theatre and film in ways that push me to see work I might not ordinarily seek out. In 2024 I undertook a project revisiting all the productions I had seen at the theatre and cinema in 1984. In 2025 I focused on filling in gaps in my Sondheim knowledge, watching musicals live and exploring his top forty films. Both years encouraged me to view familiar works differently, to take risks and to

After January’s journey into the dark forest — where fairy tales unravelled and wishes carried consequence — February moved indoors. The Gothic lens shifted from tangled woods to enclosed spaces, from external threats to the unease that seeps through walls and settles into floorboards. February – It Walks Around the House at Night Venue: Chichester Festival Theatre Theme: Haunted Houses It Walks Around the House at Night is a contemporary ghost story rooted in one of the mo

For the first screening of Wuthering Heights at my local cinema, my mum and I settled into our favourite seats, surrounded by around sixty other people ready to watch the latest interpretation of Emily Brontë’s novel. We had both enjoyed Saltburn , and I had been particularly taken with Promising Young Woman , so expectations were high. The trailer promised something bold, stylised and unapologetically Gothic. The heightened aesthetic, anachronistic music and costuming did n

In 2026, I’m exploring theatre, film, and fiction through a Gothic lens. Each month revolves around a key stage show, paired with films and novels that echo, extend, or twist its themes. The goal is to step outside my usual choices, dive into stories that unsettle, delight, or surprise, and see familiar genres in a new light. From fairy-tale forests to shadowed halls, the year promises a journey through imagination, consequence, and a little delicious darkness. Read more abou

With Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein in cinemas now, ahead of its Netflix release, it seemed like a good time to write up my visit earlier this year to Bath, seeking out locations with a Mary Shelley connection. There aren’t as many as for Jane Austen, but they’re worth the search. I whiled away hours in the fascinating Mary Shelley’s House of Frankenstein , which brings the novel’s enduring visual power and legacy vividly to life. Mary Shelley spent a pivotal period in Ba

When I first visited Efteling in 2024, I stayed in Bosrijk, the park’s beautiful woodland accommodation. It’s the perfect halfway point between fairytale and reality: self-catering cottages tucked among whispering trees, close enough to hear the distant hum of the park yet peaceful enough for quiet evenings by the lake, watching the water shift and reflect the last light of day. That first trip was wonderful but all too brief. I saw enough to fall under Efteling’s spell but

On the way back to the south coast after a weekend in Saffron Walden, I took a small detour via Gants Hill — where I used to live, where my mum grew up, and where my grandma had her home. A quick look round, a wander past familiar streets, and then on with the plan. I also stopped at Shalom Hot Bagels Bakery to pick up some goodies for an upcoming home screening of Yentl as part of my 1984 Revisited project . That was always part of the itinerary. So was finally ticking off s

Earlier this year I was asked to write the lead essay for the BFI's release of Ken Russell's Gothic. Written by Stephen Volk it's a wild...

Edgar Allan Poe's name is synonymous with horror and detective fiction. He is considered to be the father of both the detective story,...

This is the final post on film versions of Alice in Wonderland with a particular emphasis on the Gothic and the Uncanny, which I...

This is the third of four posts on film versions of Alice in Wonderland with a particular emphasis on the Gothic and the Uncanny, which I...

I have long been interested in film versions of Alice in Wonderland, well with the surname Cheshire how could I not be! Over the years I...

On 9 February 2019 I led a Study Day on Gothic Cinema at Saffron Screen. In the morning I gave an overview of Film Form and Gothic...

Last month I graduated with a MA in Gothic: Culture, Subculture, Counterculture from St Mary's University Twickenham. The University is...

Next month I will be giving a conference paper on films featuring plastic surgery which is part of my research for my MA in Gothic...

In many of the reviews for Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak critics made reference to Horace Walpole’s novel The Castle of Otranto as...

With the UK release of Christophe Gans new version of the Beauty and the Beast myth still a few months away, thought I'd revisit...