London Fortean Society

  Sunday 28 December 2025 ’Twixt Xmas & NY We don’t have a meeting in December, but fortean friends old and new are invited to get together for a drink mid-way between the end-of-year festivities.  A new venue this year: the newly-reopened Blue Maid  pub on Borough High Street,  five minutes from London Bridge or Borough stations. Lots of beers on offer – but the three hand-pulled ales (two bitter, one mild) are £5 a pint, and only £4 on a Sunday! Burgers or pizza can be ordered in from the pub. The Blue Maid 174 Borough High Street, SE1 1HR Sunday 28 December 2025, 7.30pm onwards  

 Coming up at the Bell in 2026 Jan 27 – Dr Jay Sullivan – Victorian Mummymania  Feb 24 – Stevyn Colgan – A Policeman’s Progress from Law to Lore  Mar 31 – Dr Kate Cherrell – Celebrity Séances Apr 28 – David Southwell – The Fortean and Folklore Origins of Hookland May 26 – Deborah Hyde – A 21st-Century Werewolf in Hull? Jun 30 – Richard Marshall – The Levitating Hamster Tickets for each talk will be available a month before the event, with full details on our flyers, on this blog and on our FB page https://www.facebook.com/LondonForteanSociety/ The Bell 50 Middlesex Street E1 7EX (Tubes: Liverpool Street, Aldgate, Aldgate East)  Meetings are on the last Tuesday of the month and start at 8pm (doors 7.30)

Tuesday 25 November 2025 The Tomb of the Mili Mongga   While exploring and discovering an entire recently extinct mammal fauna on an Indonesian island, Prof Samuel Turvey heard stories of a mysterious wildman called the mili mongga, a giant yeti-like beast supposedly living in the island's remote forests.  Professor of Conservation Biology at the Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Sam Turvey draws together scientific exploration, anthropology, cryptozoology, folklore and more in this fascinating talk, which explores the many reasons why we might believe in stories about wildmen. The Bell, 50 Middlesex Street E1 7EX  (Tubes: Liverpool Street, Aldgate, Aldgate East) Tuesday 25 November 2025 8pm (Doors 7.30) Tickets £5/£3 https://wegottickets.com/event/681091/  

Whose claws are scratching at the church door? What’s that ghost tumbling over the moor? Who’s that figure cut into the earth? What can I do to lift this curse?  Join us for a legendary trip through the seventh Haunted Landscape, our day of expert talks on British ghosts, magic, and folklore. Photo by Henrik L. on Unsplash The Haunted Landscape: Ghosts, Magic and Lore 22 November 2025 10 am - 5 pm  In advance: Standard £25 / Living Support £17 / Student £21 (inc. £2 venue levy) Advance Tickets Online: £12   (inc. £2 venue levy)  Advance Tickets Conway Hall , 25 Red Lion Square, London, WC1R 4RL Tube: Holborn London Fortean Email List Age Recommendation: All ages. Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult. Photo by AJO JOSE on Unsplash Going to the Haunted Landscape, online and at Conway Hall, next Saturday? Or planning to? It'll be a deep, dark dive into British folklore with some fine speakers.  Here is the schedule for the day:  10:00 Intro  1...

Tuesday 28 October 2025 Fifty-plus Years of Fortean Television   Since the late 1960s, there has been a largely unbroken strand of television programmes concerning the weird, the rum and the downright uncanny. From the days of three channels to today's several hundred, there have been fortean-themed shows from the famous (and notorious) to the deeply – and often rightfully – obscure and from the sublime to the ridiculous.  One half of the Fortean Times “resident couch potatoes”, Stu Neville , takes a not entirely reverent ramble through the last five decades of weirdness-themed telly. Venue: The Bell, 50 Middlesex Street E1 7EX (Tubes: Liverpool Street, Aldgate, Aldgate East) Date: Tuesday 28 October 2025 Time: 8pm (Doors 7.30) Tickets £5/£3: https://wegottickets.com/event/678167/  

SORRY -- This event is now sold out   EXTRA! Book Launch:  An Opinionated Guide to Haunted London NOTE: This is an extra meeting at the Bell -- not the usual day! SOLD OUT    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. SOLD OUT 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/   SOLD OUT  

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/

  Coming up at the Bell 26 August – Dr Anna Milon – Revisiting the Horned God (and Goddess?) 30 September – Rob Stephenson – Posthumous Indignities of the Famous 28 October – Stu Neville – Fortean TV 25 November – Prof Samuel Turvey – The Tomb of the Mili Mongga TBA – ’Twixt Xmas & NY – Fortean drinks gathering   Tickets will be on sale a month before each event from WeGotTickets; the ticket link will be here, and at  www.facebook.com/LondonForteanSociety          

  Tuesday 24 June 2025 The F olklore of South London Parks Enjoy some larks in south London parks. London writer and tour guide Chris Roberts talks about history, development and challenges facing open spaces in London. They are places of joy, relaxation and adventure and the setting for his fascinating new collection of short stories, South Parks (reviewed in FT458, and available tonight), in which he explores folklore, myths and the cultures around or linked to London’s open spaces. There are talking statues, strange cults, pagan estate agents and a very wrong horse. There are foxes and a vengeful toilet goddess – but also stories of love, friendship, family life and growing up. Meanwhile in Brockwell Park a song as old as time is sung again and in Streatham Common some herbivores revert to their man-eating roots. Come and celebrate these places to play in, stay in and spend the day. Date:  Tuesday 24 June 2025 Time: 8pm (Doors 7.30) Venue: The Bell,  50 Middlesex S...

  Tuesday 27 May 2025 The Devils of Loudun A Case of Demonic Possession in 17th-century France Aldous Huxley’s The Devils of Loudun was an account of a 17th-century case of demonic possession in an Ursuline Convent in Loudun, France. Ken Russell’s film T he Devils was a rather more salacious re-telling. In 1617 Urbain Grandier became priest of the church of St Pierre du Marche and canon of la Collégiale de Sainte-Croix in Loudun. Seventeen years later he was found guilty of sorcery for having made a pact with the devil, and responsible for the demonic possession of the nuns in the town’s Ursuline Convent. He was tortured then burnt at the stake in the market place. Witnesses claimed to have seen demons escaping from the flames. How could a man of God find himself accused of maleficium ? Wayne Perkins relates one of the strangest and most infamous cases of witchcraft in 17th-century France and early modern Europe. Venue: The Bell, 50 Middlesex Street E1 7EX (Tubes: Liverp...

  Tuesday 29 April 2025 The Shakespeare Furore   The Shakespeare authorship question first burst into public consciousness 170 years ago. Early questioners included many prominent figures of the 19th and 20th centuries. In the last two decades, while those defending the orthodox narrative have increasingly characterised the authorship question as a conspiracy theory, over 50 peer-reviewed articles challenging the traditional narrative have been published in academic journals. Now award-winning journalist Elizabeth Winkler’s book Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies: How Doubting the Bard Became the Biggest Taboo in Literature is making waves. A London Library event featuring Winkler in discussion provoked a furious attack by a Times journalist, who depicts authorship questioners as “conspiratorial fantasists” aligned with the far right, a threat to “a liberal society” and the question as “a contagion of superstition and ignorance”. Dr Ros Barber explores what is r...

Art / Magic / Lore returns to Conway Hall this summer to explore the lesser-trodden paths of wild folklore and myth. From pagan counterculture, rebel folk, and roadside magic, we will discover the activism and resistance threading through occult history. Saturday, 26 April 2025 1.30 pm doors, 2 pm start.  £15/ £11 Concessions / Advance Booking Conway Hall , 25 Red Lion Square, London, WC1R 4RL Tube: Holborn London Fortean Email List   Phil Hine – Delinquent Elementals A fascinating glimpse into the pagan counterculture, from the ‘Satanic Panic’ to ‘occulture.’ In Delinquent Elementals: The Very Best of Pagan News, Phil collects some of the finest articles, news reports, interviews, and humour that appeared in this singular publication, providing a fascinating glimpse into the pagan counterculture. He charts the historical timeline of the Satanic Panic scandal of the late 1980s, documents previously uncollected information, and provides a wide selection of practical knowledge a...

The tale of two forgotten mystics: Tahra Bey, who took 1920s Paris by storm as an ‘Oriental’ missionary, and Dr Dahesh, who harnessed Western science to create a pan-religious faith in Lebanon. Travelling the world, they reflected the desires and anxieties of a troubled age. Tuesday, 15 April 2025 6.30 pm doors. 7 pm start.  £10 / £7 Concessions / £7 Livestream  Advance Booking Conway Hall , 25 Red Lion Square, London, WC1R 4RL Tube: Holborn London Fortean Email List The interwar period was a golden age of the uncanny. Clairvoyants, fakirs, Theosophists, mind-readers, miracle-workers and jinn-summoners—all assured the masses that, just like the newly discovered invisible forces of electricity, radiation and magnetism, unseen spiritual powers commanded a realm of hidden human potential. This was a transnational movement of eccentrics, gurus and prophets, with East and West interacting in unexpected ways. Drawing on untapped sources in Arabic as well as European records, Raphael...

  Tuesday 25 March 2025 Women of the Golden Dawn The Golden Dawn is the most talked about and accidentally well documented magical Order of the last 150 years. It was set up with women and men working together as equals, and that created a harmony and a “roundedness” to their rituals even when the ink was barely dry on them. Respectable, disreputable, sociable and dedicated, quite a few of the members made names for themselves outside the Lodges. Geraldine Beskin , co-owner of the Atlantis Bookshop, talks about Moina Mathers, Florence Farr, Annie Horniman and other women who were not in supporting roles – they were great achievers both within the Golden Dawn and in the wider world.  Date: Tuesday 25 March 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/652812/