Our speakers
If you've attended CULTure Babylon’s previous events, you’ll know that we put the CULT into culture, by showing great films and further exploring their themes with the insight of our brilliant speakers.
This year is no exception and we're proud to introduce some outstanding speakers once again.
Christine Pike
Christine is a lifelong fan of Gothic fiction and is the inspiration behind Lady Chillers - a touring project created to revive the works of forgotten women authors of ghost stories in atmospheric performed readings.
Christine is also a visual artist and was recently commissioned to make some work for the newly opened Wetherspoon pub in Downham Market - if you visit the Whalebone this weekend, be sure to check out 'Field and Fen' in the main front bar.
http://chillers.culturebabylon.com
Dr Charlie Oughton
Dr Charlie Oughton is a broadcaster, author, lecturer, performer and journalist specializing in taboo (particularly serial killers), horror (particularly Stephen King) and gender studies.
Currently working on a book about everything related to Stephen King’s IT for McFarland & Co publishing, Charlie has also contributed to several collections on the themes of women in horror, cult and horror film fandoms and silent cinema.
He has also written for magazines including SciFi Now, Starburst, Little White Lies, Scream, Rue Morgue, The Dark Side, Fangoria and Ain’t It Cool News and contributes regularly to Real Crime’s publications. This is alongside presenting DVD commentaries and liner notes, judging international film festivals and co-organising arts events.
Well-versed in the weird and wonderful, he is also an occasional actor (Grindsploitation and the forthcoming Bad Moon Rising), presenter and historical storyteller with a penchant for audience interaction and vaudevillian shenanigans.
He is a lecturer in all things media and culture-related at Regent’s University London, University of the Arts London and The University of Southern California and has toured his film studies and real-crime related cabaret lectures to critical acclaim at events including the British Film Institute’s Stephen King Summit, London Horror Festival, the Shock and Gore Festival, Nine Worlds Geek Fest, and Bram Stoker International Festival.
He also has a serious ‘thing’ for How to Train Your Dragon.
Dr Maureen James
Maureen James is a writer, speaker, teacher and storyteller. In 2013 she was as awarded a PhD for her research into the Legends of the Lincolnshire Carrs, a set of dark stories collected in North Lincolnshire in the late nineteenth century. Two years later she was awarded a Local History Book Award by the Cambridgeshire Association for Local History for her book Cambridgeshire Folk Tales.
With a multi-disciplined approach to the past, Maureen's talks are not just informative but also entertaining and enlightening.
www.tellinghistory.co.uk