Nottingham Waterstones (Credit: Rhiannon Dunbar)

Women in Horror festival coming to Waterstones Nottingham

By Rhiannon Dunbar

Waterstones Nottingham is hosting a Women In Horror festival celebrating and championing all things female in horror literature and film.

The event will include talks, workshops, screenings and more, covering a wide range of topics and themes.

It is happening on Friday (Nov 9) and Saturday (Nov 10).

Waterstones are collaborating with a range of businesses and individuals including Monstrous Flesh, Nottingham Horror Collective and Fortune and Glory Film Club.

Clelia McElroy, the founder and director of Monstrous Flesh, will be hosting a workshop on the anti-heroines of horror and thriller cinema.

She said: ā€œThis is a condensed version of the five week course I am currently delivering at Broadway cinema on the same topic.

ā€œWe will be looking at certain tropes associated with ā€˜female villainsā€™ in these genres, as well as the representation of queer and non binary villains in horror, and interrogating the (often not so subtle) misogyny behind these portrayals.ā€

Whilst there is a focus on analysing horror in literature and cinema, there will also be the opportunity to watch a screening of the 1931 classic Frankenstein.

And the chance to design and paint your own ā€˜spookyā€™ mug with Nottingham-based illustrator Yasmin Cousins.

Clelia McElroy stressed the broad cultural and societal importance of a festival such as this.

She said: “Dedicated events like this one contribute to a broader cultural conversation about gender, representation, and stereotypes, as well as the power of storytelling on future generations.ā€

She added that this type of event is crucial as we have moved from a place of asking why women like the genre, to instead recognising and celebrating the achievements of women who create and consume horror.

This helps to create a more ‘inclusive and equitable’ industry.

Tickets for the main event, which range from Ā£8 to Ā£18, are available to purchase on.

Booking for Yasmin Cousinā€™s Spooky Mug Workshop is available here.

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