Folk Horror and the Urban Wyrd Weekend

Name: Folk Horror and the Urban Wyrd Weekend
Start: 2026-03-21T10:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-03-22T18:30:00+00:00
Location: York St John University

Schedule

Sat, 21 Mar, 2026 at 10:00 am to Sun, 22 Mar, 2026 at 06:30 pm

UTC+00:00

Location

York St John University | York, EN

York Literature Festival are delighted to announce that individual tickets are AVAILABLE for all events at the Folk Horror and Urban Wyrd weekend Saturday 21 & Sunday 22 March
Events on Saturday 21 March - York St John University De Grey Lecture Theatre
Introductory talk on Folk Horror and the Urban Wyrd by Professor Robert Edgar and Dr Wayne Johnson - 10am-11am https://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/show/lecture-folk-horror-the-urban-wyrd/
Lucy Rose, The Lamb, 11.30-1pm https://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/show/lucy-rose-the-lamb/
Lucie McKnight Hardy, Night Babies, 2pm-3.30pm https://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/show/lucie-mcknight-hardy-night-babies/
Andrew Michael Hurley, Saltwash, 4pm-5.30pm
https://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/show/andrew-michael-hurley-saltwash/
An Evening with Ramsey Campbell, 7pm-8.30pm https://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/show/an-evening-with-ramsey-campbell/
Evening event at the Black Swan - join Alex Bestwick who will be hosting a special folk horror short fiction event - 9pm
Events on Sunday 22 March at York St John University Creative Centre
Talk on Spectral York - Dr Adam James Smith - 11:30-12:30pm https://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/show/spectral-york/
Dan Coxon - Come Sing for the Harrowing: Short Stories 1:30pm-3pm https://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/show/come-sing-for-the-harrowing-short-stories-with-dan-coxon/
Amy Jane Stewart - Hex House - 3pm-4:30pm https://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/show/the-hex-house-with-amy-jane-stewart/
Evening event at the Black Swan - join Lowen Frampton-Thorburn and the York Society of Hauntologists reading group to discuss Robert Aickman's 'The Hospice' from 5:30pm
Authors appearing include Lucie McKnight Hardy, a writer of novels and short stories. Her novels include Water Shall Refuse Them (Dead Ink Books, 2019), which was shortlisted for the Mslexia Novel Competition 2017 and longlisted for the Caledonia Novel Award 2018, Dead Relatives and her forthcoming novel, Night Babies.
Ramsey Campbell, the highly acclaimed horror writer, editor, and critic, called "Britain's most respected living horror writer," known for his psychological, subtle, and often unsettling tales, moving from Lovecraftian roots to unique, slow-burn supernatural fiction set in his native Merseyside, earning numerous awards like World Fantasy and Bram Stoker Awards.
Lucy Rose is a Sunday Times Bestselling author and award-winning filmmaker with an interest in gothic, girlhood, horror, and literary fiction. Her short fiction and nonfiction have been published in Dread Central, Mslexia, The Observer, The Nerd Daily and more. Lucy’s debut novel, The Lamb is published by W&N Books (UK) and Harper (US). It was selected for Foyles Book of the Month, named best debut novel of 2025 by Cosmopolitan and Spotify
Andrew Michael Hurley is a celebrated British gothic/folk horror author known for atmospheric novels The Loney, Devil’s Day and Starve Acre, often exploring rural landscapes, folklore, and the uncanny. Starve Acre was adapted as a film and released in 2013, starring Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark. His breakthrough novel, The Loney, was a Costa First Novel Award winner, establishing him as a significant voice in contemporary British fiction, with his latest novel Saltwash released in October 2025.
Dan Coxon is an award-winning editor and writer based in London. He has been a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Awards and the British Fantasy Awards (six times), with Writing the Uncanny (co-edited with Richard V. Hirst) winning the British Fantasy Award for Best Non-Fiction 2022. His short stories have appeared in various anthologies and magazines, including Shakespeare Unleashed, Beyond the Veil, Fiends in the Furrows III and Great British Horror 7: Major Arcana. His latest fiction anthology as editor is Unquiet Guests. His latest collection as author is Come Sing for the Harrowing.
The York Society of Hauntologists is a reading group that meets monthly to discuss folk horror, uncanny and wyrd fiction. Alex Bestwick will be hosting a short fiction event,
Professor Robert Edgar and Dr Wayne Johnson are academics and writers based at York St John University and editors of the Routledge Companion to Folk Horror. Dr Adam Smith is a Associate Professor at York St John university and is an expert on satire and the 18th Century, as well as being a key member of the Hauntology and Spectrality research group.