Summary

I am an Associate Professor of Cultural and Social History, specialising in supernatural and environmental history, the history of beliefs and mentalities, folklore, and Victorian popular culture. I joined the University of Portsmouth in 2007, having previously taught at the University of East Anglia.

Biography

I am a cultural and social historian who mainly focusses on nineteenth-century Britain and Europe. I have published widely on the history of the modern fantastical imagination since 2006. Through monographs, edited collections, journal articles, and book chapters I have explored supernatural folklore, ghost stories, magic and the occult, Victorian monsters and early science fiction, weird literature, and Gothic representations of urban and marine environments. My books include the award-winning The Legend of Spring-heeled Jack: Victorian Urban Folklore and Popular Cultures. (2012, paperback edn, 2017), and The Magical Imagination: Magic and Modernity in Urban England, 1780-1914 (2012). My next book, The Perilous Deep – A Supernatural History of the Atlantic (Reaktion) will be released in 2025. 

Formerly the director of the interdisciplinary Supernatural Cities research project between 2016-2022, I am currently co-director of the University of Portsmouth’s Centre for Port Cities and Maritime Cultures. I am on the editoral boards of Revenant and Coastal Studies and Society. 

I am co-principal investigator on the Lloyd’s Register-funded ‘From Sail to Steam, Carbon to Green’ research project which will run from 2025-2031. Previously, I was awarded AHRC funding to lead a research project entitled 'Lost Voices: Spiritualism in the First World War' (2017). 

As creator and director of Portsmouth Darkfest, an annual cultural festival in the city between 2016-2021, I gained experience of leading collaborations between scholars, creatives, and local community engagement. I have continued to develop initiatives at the interface between academic-creative practices, including a pilot Portsmyth app, and I welcome collaborations with creative practitioners.

A highly experienced course leader, lecturer, and tutor, I teach across the undergraduate History degree programme, and both lead and teach on the MA Victorian Gothic: History, Literature and Culture distance learning course. 

I am also a very experienced PhD supervisor and won the University of Portsmouth’s Outstanding PhD Supervisor Award in 2017. I am currently at full supervision capacity but should be able to take on new students from autumn 2025.

I completed my PhD in History at the University of East Anglia in 2007, having previously studied for a MA in Modern History at Birkbeck College, University of London (2001), and a BA Hons in Modern History at Anglia Ruskin University (1992).

Research interests

Over the last twenty years my research interests have evolved from an exploration of historical urban supernatural beliefs to the relationship between modernity, enchantment, and the Gothic, to a current focus on environment, folklore, storytelling, and placemaking practices. I also have developing interests in theories of the fantastical, the history of the imagination, and the appeal of fantasy and folklore in twenty-first century culture.

Current and near-future research projects include:
o    Exploring the relationship between coastal environments, affective landscapes, and folkloric beliefs. Currently guest editing a ‘coastal imaginaries’ special issue of Coastal Studies and Society.
o    Researching the psychogeography of nineteenth-century seafaring in relation to safety at sea.
o    Developing research on the recent revival of interest in folklore and the place of fantasy in contemporary culture.  
o    A longer-term monograph project exploring theories of the fantastic and the modern history of the fantastical imagination, c.1750 - 2000.

Discipline Areas

• History

Teaching responsibilities

BA (Hons) History

MA Victorian Gothic: History, Literature and Culture

MRes Humanities and Social Science

Media availability

I have previously provided expert commentary for Channel 4, BBC 2, Radio 4, and a number of film, television, and audio-drama production companies. I am available for media engagements.