Skip to main content

The Mysterium: the World’s Most Bizarre and Enigmatic Phenomena

£8 plus booking fee (Advance tickets)
Saturday 9 December 2017 2-5pm
Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL
Tube: Holborn
 
The Mysterium is a thoroughly modern exploration of the world’s most bizarre and enigmatic phenomena. Drawing on contemporary folklore, unsolved mysteries and unsettling oddities from the dark corners of the internet, three of its authors delves into some of the strangest and most enduring stories of our modern age.
 
Co-author David Bramwell (The No9 Bus to Utopia/Haunted Moustache/ The Odditorium) introduces the afternoon with a brief look at three fascinating stories from the book:
 HikikomoriWhy are a million Japanese unable to leave their bedrooms?
  • The Toynbee Tiler
  • Who is the mysterious Toynbee Tiler, and why has he or she embedded the message ‘Resurrect Dead on Planet Jupiter’ in over 600 linoleum tiles across North and South America? And what does it have to do with David Mamet??
  • Salish Sea Mystery
  • Why do human feet keep washing up on a beach in British Columbia?
 
David Bramwell - Operation Mindfuck, the story of how a counterculture movement, intent on disrupting our media, just might have been responsible for our post-truth age of fake news.

In the 1960s a mind experiment, Operation Mindfuck, was designed by Robert Anton Wilson and Kerry Thornley to shake the western world out of its grip of rationality and control. It was adopted by fringe groups, including the Cacophony Society and Church of the Subgenus (Bob Dobbs) to spread disinformation through the worship of Eris, goddess of chaos. It led to the creation of Burning Man, Satancon and Fight Club. But was it a victim of its own success, leading to the rise of fake news and The Church of Kek, an occult group who used meme magic to support Trump in 2016? What can we do to stop it? Or should we welcome in this age of uncertainty?

Mark Pilkington - Behind the Flying Saucers
In his 2010 book and documentary film Mirage Men, Mark Pilkington explored the origins of the over-arching American UFO mythology in Cold War counter-intelligence and espionage operations. For this new presentation he’ll consider the UFO lore's roots in 1940s and ‘50s Red Scare paranoia, and take a look at its most recent manifestation, in rock star Tom Delonge’s ’To The Stars’ project to expose secret extraterrestrial interstellar technologies on Earth.
 
Mark Pilkington is a writer, editor, and filmmaker. He has written for numerous publications in England, including The Guardian and The Times. He lives in London.
 
 
Jenny Rowe - The Panacea Society.
A secretive religious group which has its roots in the predictions of an 18th Century middle-aged serving maid. Members believe that the true Garden of Eden is located in Bedford, that their Panacea has the power to cure all ills and that God knows the best procedure for baking potatoes.
 
Jenny is a writer, improviser and actor. She performs dark, improvised Tim Burton-inspired musicals with her company, The Maydays. And she writes science fiction in an occasionally productive way. In 2016 she was asked to play Mabel Barltrop - the founder of the Panacean Society - for The Bedford Play written by Mark Burgess. The Maydays, an award winning improvised comedy and theatre company. As one of the UK’s top schools for improv, we offer critically acclaimed live shows ...
 
£8 plus booking fee (Advance tickets)
Saturday 9 December 2017 2-5pm
Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL
Tube: Holborn

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Haunted Landscape: Witchcraft, Ritual and the Supernatural 2023

It’s getting darker. Join us at Conway Hal l as we explore the Haunted Landscape, our annual gathering of witchcraft, folklore, ghosts, and fairies from the British Isles. Speakers this year: Jamie Canton, Nigel Pennick, Dr. Helen Frisby, Kirsty Hartsiotis, Sandra Lawrence, Allyson Shaw, James Edward Frost, and Francis Young.  Live and online. The Spro Mine by Vlash on flickr Saturday 18 November 2023 Doors, books stall, and coffee from 9.30am. Talks 10 am - 5 pm. Lunch 1 pm-2 pm (ish) £25 / £18 concessions. £15 live stream. Advance tickets Conway Hall , 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL Tube: Holborn Directions A link to all live streams will be sent out to all online participants after booking.  London Fortean's Mailing List Facebook event page 10 am Allyson Shaw - Ashes and Stones: A Scottish Journey in Search of Witches and Witness.  A moving and personal journey, along rugged coasts and through remote villages and cities, in search of the traces of those accused of witchc
  *** TUBE STRIKE *** Although the tube strike has been called off, we'd already shifted the date of our next meeting at the Bell, Jeremy Harte speaking on Gypsies and the Supernatural , from Tuesday July 25 to Tuesday August 1 . Please note that we're sticking with this new date.

Haunted London: Ghosts of The British Museum and Bloomsbury

 London is an old and haunted City; join us for ghost stories of central London. Noah Angell on ghostly sightings at the British Museum, Roger Luckhurst discusses a cursed object in the Egyptian rooms of the British Museum and Sarah Sparkes presents the hauntings and other unexplained happenings of Senate House. Wednesday 10 April 2024 Doors, books stall, and drinks from 6.15 pm Talks 6.30 pm - 9.30 pm £15 / £12 Advance tickets Conway Hall , 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL Tube: Holborn Directions London Fortean's Mailing List Facebook event page Noah Angell – Ghosts of the British Museum: A True Story of Colonial Loot and Restless Objects When artist and writer Noah Angell first heard murmurs of ghostly sightings at the British Museum he had to find out more. What started as a trickle soon became a landslide as staff old and new, from guards of formidable build to respected curators, brought forth testimonies of their inexplicable supernatural encounters. It became clear tha