London Month of the Dead

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From medieval plague pits to famous churchyards to Victorian vampires and infamous serial killers, the living meet the dead in London every day. To engage with and even celebrate that reality, the is presenting 42 events over the month of October. These carefully-crafted presentations will be delivered by experts from disciplines such as taxidermy, osteology, archaeology, environmental history, philosophy, paranormal studies, and forensic pathology. The events include private tours of crypts, archives and museums, storytelling, performances, workshops, formal lectures, and walking tours. The series is very popular - 14 of the events are already sold out. The following will briefly describe the remaining choice of options and provide links for significant instructions and purchasing of tickets.



On Extinction: What does it mean to die the ultimate death? with Melanie Challenger
Venue: Kings Head on 3rd October 2019 at 7:00 pm
Tickets £12
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In this lecture, author and researcher Melanie Challenger explores the meaning of extinction from the perspective of environmental history, bioethics, and philosophy. Topics will include: detachment from nature, current mass extinctions, artificial intelligence, and the human effect on the world.

The Flight of the Soul: Butterfly setting and preservation in the cemetery with Suzette Field
Venue: The Dissenters' Chapel, Kensal Green Cemetery, 5th October 2019 from 11:00 am
Tickets £45
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This workshop is presented by insect taxidermist and graphic artist Suzette Field. The class, held in the grounds of Kensal Green cemetery, is an introduction for beginners (no experience necessary) on the techniques used in setting butterflies. There will be a talk on insect taxidermy and then a practical session of setting butterflies.

The cost includes all materials, set of framed butterflies and additional setting boards, and a gin cocktail. See More info for important instructions to the venue.

Rogue Taxidermy: A two-headed or winged rat workshop with Suzette Field
Venue: The Dissenters' Chapel, Kensal Green Cemetery, 6th October from 11:00 am
Tickets £70
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This workshop is another offering by taxidermist and graphic artist Suzette Field. Rogue taxidermy is described as 'the surrealist's approach to the preservation of the animal kingdom dedicated to reinventing the natural world as seen in dreams, or even nightmares.' This course will introduce beginning students to basic taxidermy and the creation of a surrealist two-headed rat. This course will introduce students to the process and techniques of basic taxidermy.

Cost includes all materials, a tour of the catacombs, and a gin cocktail. See more info for important guidance notes about the course.



A Great Garden of Sleep: A Guided Tour of Brompton Cemetery and Visit to the Catacombs with Robert Stephenson
Venue: Brompton Cemetery, 12th October 2019 at 11:00 am
Tickets £12
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Robert Stephenson is a qualified City of London Culture and Heritage guide and a trustee at Kensal Green and Brompton cemeteries, as well as a London historian, folklorist and gravestone expert. This tour will explore the notable features of the famous Brompton Cemetery, including a visit to the catacombs.

Acts of God: Catastrophe in the Capital with Matt Brown
Venue: Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 12th October from 1 pm
Tickets £12
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Matt Brown is the editor-at-large of The Londonist and in this lecture, he brings to life the lesser-known and obscure stories of disaster and catastrophe that have occurred in London over the many centuries. Tickets include a gin cocktail.

Sparkling Cyanide: The Forensics of Agatha Christie with Carla Valentine
Venue: Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 12th October 2019 at 3:00 pm
Tickets £12
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Carla Valentine is technical curator of Barts Pathology Museum, part of the School of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary University of London. In this lecture, she will examine how realistic the crimes are in Agatha Christie's novels using the real-life cases that inspired the author. Tickets include a gin cocktail.

Erotic Death Art: Exploring Death and the Maiden Imagery with Dr Christina Welch
Venue: Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 12th October 2019 at 5:00 pm
Tickets £12
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Dr Christina Welch is a senior lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Winchester, and programme leader for the masters degree in Death, Religion and Culture. In this lecture, Dr Welch will present the iconography of Death and the Maiden from 16th-century Reformation German painters to calendar art produced in 21st-century Europe. Tickets include a gin cocktail.

The Ultimate Femme Fatale: The Extraordinary Life of Marchesa Casati with Celine Hispiche
Venue: Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 12th October 2019 from 7:30 pm
Tickets £15
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Celine Hispiche is a comedian who has performed in clubs and shows across the world, including Saturday Night Live. In this performance of stories and song, she pays tribute to an eccentric resident of Brompton Cemetery: Luisa, Marchesa Casati Stampa di Soncino, who was an Italian heiress and a patroness to the arts during the early 20th century.



The End of All Things: A History of the Apocalypse with Dr Richard Barnett
Venue: 13th October 2019 at 1 pm
Tickets £12
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In this lecture, Dr Richard Barnett explores the appearance and influence of apocalyptic visions in contemporary politics, literature, and pop culture. Tickets include a gin cocktail.

Walkies in the Paradise Garden: The Secret History of Pet Cemeteries with Professor Julie-Marie Strange
Venue: Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 13th October from 3 pm
Tickets £12
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Julie-Marie Strange is Professor of Modern British History at Durham University. In this talk, she explores the history and origins of the UK's earliest pet cemeteries. Tickets include a gin cocktail.

Shot Dead: Post Mortem Photography with Holly Carter-Chappell
Venue: Bromton Cemetery Chapel, 13th October 2019 from 5:00 pm
Tickets £12
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In this lecture, Holly Carter-Chappell will consider the 19th-century custom of photographing the dead. Over the course of the talk, she will discuss the ethical issues around displaying images of the dead using recent real-life examples. Tickets include a gin cocktail.

The Dark, The Devious, and The Dead: A torchlit walk through the cemetery and puppet show at Brompton Cemetery with Drew Colby
Venue: Brompton Cemetery, 13th October 2019 from 7:30 pm
Tickets £12
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Drew Colby is the UK's only full-time hand shadow performer with performances across the world for three decades. The evening will include a torchlit walk through the cemetery and puppet show of the tales: The Highwayman, The Suffolk Miracle and The Witch called Five. Tickets include a gin cocktail.

Ghosts of Extinction: The Resurrection of Lost Species with Professor Bill Adams
Venue: The Kings Head, 17th October 2019 at 7:00 pm
Tickets £12
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Bill Adams is Moran Professor of Conservation and Development at the University of Cambridge. In this talk, Professor Adams discusses 'de-extinction,' which attempts to resurrect extinct species like the Dodo, passenger pigeon, or wooly mammoth.

The Eternal Journey: The Egyptian Book of the Dead with Dr Anna Garnett
Venue: The Chapel, Highgate Cemetery West, 10th October 2019 at 7:00 pm
Tickets £12
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In this talk, Egyptologist and curator of the Petrie Museum Dr Anna Garnett will explore the spells, prayers and incantations contained within The Book of Emerging Forth into the Light or the Book of the Dead, which was a compilation of spells to assist the soul of the dead in the underworld. Tickets include a gin cocktail.

Morbid Ink: The Human Memorial Tattoo with Dr John Troyer
Venue: Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 19th October 2019 at 1 pm
Tickets £12
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Dr John Troyer is the Director of the Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath. In this talk, he will discuss the narrative and imagery of memorial tattooing. Tickets include a gin cocktail.

Death Wish: Inside the mind of a psychopathic killer with Jennifer Rees
Venue: Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 19th October 2019 from 3:00 pm
Tickets £12
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In this talk, Jennifer Rees will examine the brain patterns and behaviour of psychopaths using case studies of serial killers. At the end of the talk, audience members will be invited to take a psychopath screening test developed from forensic profiling techniques. Tickets include a gin cocktail.



How to Get Away with Murder: A salon in the cemetery with Naomi Ryan
Venue: Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 19th October from 5 pm
Tickets £12
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Naomi Ryan is a barrister and government lawyer. In this talk, she will discuss some of the strangest acquittals in legal history. Tickets include a gin cocktail.

Death and the Maiden: A torchlit walk and candlelit concert of Schubert's string quartet No 14 in D minor with the Vanitas Quartet
Venue: Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 19th and Sunday 20th October 2019 at 8:00 pm
Tickets £15
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The Vanitas Quartet will be performing Schubert's string quartet No 14 in D minor at sundown at Brompton Cemetery Chapel. Tickets include a gin cocktail.

Deviant Burials: The Archaeology of Execution and Exclusion in early London with Professor Andrew Reynolds
Venue: Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 20th October 2019 at 1:00 pm
Tickets £12
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Andrew Reynolds is Professor of Medieval Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology, UCL. In this talk, Professor Reynolds will discuss the burials of people who transgressed social norms in Anglo-Saxon times by presenting evidence from excavated skeletal remains and written laws from the period. Tickets include a gin cocktail.

Mummies, Magic, and Medicine: The Truth Behind the Bandages with Dr Campbell Price
Venue: Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 20th October 2019 at 3:00 pm
Tickets £12
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Dr Campbell Price is Curator of Egypt and Sudan at Manchester Museum, University of Manchester. This talk will explore the historical and present-day fascination with Egyptian mummies and what it reveals about the thoughts and prejudices of the living. Tickets include a gin cocktail.

Capital Punishment: The Execution Sites of London with Robert Stephenson
Venue: Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 20th October 2019 at 5:00 pm
Tickets £12
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Robert Stephenson is a qualified City of London Culture and Heritage guide and a trustee at Kensal Green and Brompton cemeteries, as well as a London historian, folklorist and gravestone expert. In this talk, he will recount execution tales from locations such as Tower Hill, Tyburn, Smithfield, and Charing Cross. Tickets include a gin cocktail.

To Be, Or Not To Be: Literary Suicides with Gary Lachman
Venue: Highgate Cemetery Chapel, 24th October 2019 from 7:00 pm
Tickets £12
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Gary Lachman is the author of twenty-two books on a range of topics. In this talk, he will explore the themes and lives of writers who have taken their own lives and others who have written literature about self-destruction. Tickets include a gin cocktail.



The Abode of the Flesh: A guided tour of Abney Park cemetery with the Doyennes of Death
Venue: Abney Park Cemetery, 26th October 2019 from 2:00 pm
Tickets £12
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The 'Doyennes of Death' is a two-woman storytelling team composed of cemetery historians Romany Reagan and Samantha Perrin. On this storytelling guided tour, the historians will explore the stories of women interred in the cemetery.

Count Dracula: Bram Stoker and London with Roger Luckhurst
Venue: Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 26th October 2019 at 1:00 pm
Tickets £12
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This talk will examine Bram Stoker's personal life in London, as well as the appearance of London in his novels with particular attention given to Dracula and The Jewel of Seven Stars.

Baptism of Blood: A New History of the Vampire with the 'Prof of Goth' Nick Groom
Venue: Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 26th October 2019 at 3:00 pm
Tickets £12
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Nick Groom is Professor of English Literature at the University of Exeter. In this talk, he will use literary and artistic representations alongside forensic and medical perspectives to explore the history of vampires starting from the eighteenth century to the twenty-first century. Tickets include a gin cocktail.

Spiritual Vampires: What You do after You're Dead with Professor Clive Bloom
Venue: Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 26th October 2019 at 5:00 pm
Tickets £12
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Professor Clive Bloom is Emeritus Professor of English & American Studies at Middlesex University. In this lecture, he will explore the interest in spiritualism (seance, teleportation, and psychics) from 1848 to the 1920s.

Der Vampyr: A candlelit concert performance of highlights from Heinrich Marschner's supernatural opera by Gothic Opera
Venue: Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 26th and Sunday 27th October 2019 at 7:30 pm
Tickets £15
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A new production by Gothic Opera celebrates the bicentenary of the publication of The Vampyre by John Polidori in 1819. Heinrich Marschner's opera Der Vampyr (1828) was based on the play Der Vampir oder die Totenbraut by Heinrich Ludwig Ritter, which was based on Polidori's The Vampyre. Tickets include a gin cocktail.

Unnatural Predators: The Folklore of Fear with Deborah Hyde
Venue: Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 27th October 2019 at 5:00 pm
Tickets £12
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Deborah Hyde is the editor of The Skeptic Magazine. In this talk, she will discuss human fears, folklore, ghost stories, and superstitions over time. Tickets include a gin cocktail.

Voices in the Ether: Communing with the Dead with Rhodri Hayward
Venue: Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 27th October 2019 at 1:00 pm
Tickets £12
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Rhodri Hayward is Director of the Centre for the History of Emotions at Queen Mary University of London. In this talk, he will explore how spiritual experience has been interpreted alongside advances and developments in telecommunications. Tickets include a gin cocktail.

Dead Hand: The Science of Automatic Writing in Mid-Victorian London with Robert Dickins
Venue: Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 27th October 2019 at 3:00 pm
Tickets £12
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This talk will explore the Victorian mediums' practice of automatic writing and what this meant for spiritual authority and power dynamics within societal and religious hierarchies.

The Frankenstein Phantasmagoria: Candlelit Concert with Magic Lantern show
Venue: Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 1st November 2019 at 7:00 and 8:30 pm
Tickets £15
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The Frankenstein Phantasmagoria uses original Victorian magic lanterns to create dramatic sights and sounds. This performance will be set to specially arranged music of the 'Kosmische Glass,' a descendant of the glass armonica.

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