London Fortean Society

EXTRA! Book Launch:  An Opinionated Guide to Haunted London NOTE: This is an extra meeting at the Bell -- not the usual day!    London is probably the most haunted city on earth, and in the latest addition to Hoxton Mini Press’s “Opinionated Guide” series, Fortean Times ’s news editor Ian Simmons takes you on a tour around some of the city's spookiest sites. Ian will be talking about some of the best stories from the book, as well as a few that didn't make it.  Copies will be available for purchase and signing. There will be wine... This event is free but please "buy" a ticket as usual because of room capacity. Date: Thursday 16 October 2025 Time: 8pm (Doors 7.30) Venue: The Bell, 50 Middlesex Street E1 7EX Tubes: Liverpool Street, Aldgate, Aldgate East Tickets: Free --  https://wegottickets.com/event/676242/  

9th October 2025  7 pm (Doors 6.30 pm) Conway Hall , 25 Red Lion Square, London, WC1R 4RL Whether a sceptic or paranormal enthusiast, we all know a haunted house when we see one. From Medieval Scotland to Enlightenment-era London, Victorian suburbs to pre-Civil War Louisiana, Caitlin Blackwell-Baines will explore the particular features, contexts and histories that lend a building the dreaded identity of a haunted house. How to Build A Haunted House 9th October 2025  7 pm (Doors 6.30 pm) £10 standard / £6 Living Support / £7 Students /  £7 Online /  Advance Booking Conway Hall , 25 Red Lion Square, London, WC1R 4RL Tube: Holborn London Fortean Email List   What makes a house haunted? Why do some buildings conjure up a reputation for being particularly creepy, while others leave us unmoved? Barring the possibility of a looming afterlife, what are the particular features, contexts and histories that lend a building the dreaded identity of haunted house? Caitlin B...

Tuesday 30 September 2025 Posthumous Indignities of the Famous   This illustrated presentation tells the shameful tale of the posthumous ignominy inflicted on some notable corpses over the last thousand years. City of London guide and cemetery supremo Rob Stephenson tells how defilement has been visited upon the sacred remains of kings and queens as well as the honoured dead like Albert Einstein and Charlie Chaplin.  (The image here is of Oliver Cromwell.)  Tuesday 30 September 2025 8pm (Doors 7.30) The Bell, 50 Middlesex Street E1 7EX (Tubes: Liverpool Street, Aldgate, Aldgate East) Tickets £5/£3  https://wegottickets.com/event/674558/

25 September 2025  7 pm (Doors 6.30 pm) Conway Hall , 25 Red Lion Square, London, WC1R 4RL Ben Machell uncovers the archives of psychic researcher Tony Cornell and his investigations into ghosts, poltergeists and psychic powers. Between 1950 and 2010, he became perhaps the world's most prolific investigator of psychic phenomena and paranormal events. Ben will be in conversation with artist and researcher Sarah Sparkes . 25 September 2025 7 pm (Doors 6.30 pm) £10 standard / £6 Living Support / £7 Students /  £7 Online / Advance Booking Conway Hall , 25 Red Lion Square, London, WC1R 4RL Tube: Holborn London Fortean Email List The Society for Psychical Research was founded to shine light on the shadowy world of the supernatural. Distinguished members have included prime ministers and Nobel Prize-winning scientists. But the most prolific of all the SPR’s paranormal investigators was a young British naval officer named Tony Cornell. A rationalist and a sceptic, he became haunted b...

Tuesday 26 August 2025 Revisiting the Horned God (and Goddess?) London is a magnet for Horned Goddesses: from the patroness of London, Elen of the Ways, who is said to have appeared to Chesca Potter in St Pancras Old Church, to the theorised deities of Flinders Petrie and Harold Peake, to the Gallo-Roman figurine of a seated antlered woman held in the British Museum (room 69).  Dr Anna Milon discusses why Horned Goddesses have held such fascination for us over the past century, and what they have to do with their better-known counterpart, the Horned God. And speaking of the British Museum figurine, who is she? Our speaker holds that she is the goddess Rosmerta, usually a consort of Mercury, but this time associated with Cernunnos. Date:  Tuesday 26 August 2025 Time: 8pm (Doors 7.30) Venue: The Bell, 50 Middlesex Street E1 7EX ( Tubes: Liverpool Street, Aldgate, Aldgate East) Tickets: £5/£3 https://wegottickets.com/event/672095/

    Tuesday 29 July 2025 An Unusually-Inked Artist (Heads up: this one’s not for the squeamish!)     Artist Katie Taylor talks about a deeply personal project that dives into the weird and wonderful relationship we have with our bodies. After losing a significant amount of weight, Katie had surgery in 2022 to remove excess skin – then decided to keep it. Not just keep it, but she turned it into leather, working alongside experimental archaeologist Theresa Emmerich Kamper. Yep, real human leather. The process was intense – ending up with a soft, touchable material from her own body. It’s a project that gets people talking about the body, identity, and what we’re allowed to do with ourselves. Tuesday 29 July 2025 8pm (Doors 7.30) The Bell, 50 Middlesex Street E1 7EX (Tubes: Liverpool Street, Aldgate, Aldgate East) Tickets £5/£3: https://wegottickets.com/event/666702/