Sources & Influences Vampire stories have always proven quite popular. In fact, Bram Stoker’s Dracula has never gone out of print – a rare feat for a novel! -- and has been adapted to film more than any other fictional text, over 40 times (Melton, Introduction). But have vampires always been popular? Actually, we find their stories so common today that it seems like they’ve been with us since forever. But that’s not the case. The Combat of the Giaour and Hassan (1835) by Eugè

...comes to a radio near you.... Ghosts, a mysterious stranger, and what is going on with that hat? Tune in ( see below ) to find out in our latest auricular adventure, as it comes to radio this spring. Our latest, The Ghost of Vauxhall Walk , combines two 1882 stories by Charlotte Riddell; alongside its ration of ghosts, there is also a mysterious stranger, and what in the world is going on with that hat? Tune in at 95.5 FM, or go online to kcbpradio.org . What’s more, KCBP

A Literary Tour Through Victorian London Celebrating Christina Rossetti's birthday earlier this month with a walking tour. “She is the finest woman-poet since Mrs. Browning, by a long way; and in artless art, if not in intellectual impulse, is greatly Mrs. Browning’s superior.” (Dante Gabriel Rossetti) The poet Christina Rossetti, is perhaps best remembered for 'Goblin Market', 'Remember', and 'In the Bleak Midwinter'. The daughter of Italian poet,scholar and political exile

Celebrating William Blake’s birthday with a poetic, historical, and slightly mystical stroll through the city that shaped a visionary. William Blake was very much a child of London. He rarely left the city, and the streets, churches, and riverbanks seeped into his poetry and art. This is a look at London - not as we experience it, but rather as Blake perceived it: full of angels, revolution, and strange beauty. 🚶‍♂️ Stop 1: Soho – Blake’s Birthplace Location: 28 Broad Stre

"Gathering from the best sources authentic information about underwater world". Cover of "L'Algerie" Magazine, 15 June 1884 Jules Verne:...

Celebrating the birthday of Charles Dickens (BOTD 7th February) with a look at how travel and trains impacted his literary output ... The...

Dancing and Singing(Peasants Returning from Work) - Ma Yuan , 1160-1225 They have been out in the fields all day, and the baskets...

Anne Bonny was perhaps one of the more notorious pirates working the High Seas in the 18th century; and one of the most mysterious. We...

‘Such a day, rum all out*:⁠—Our company somewhat sober:⁠—A damn’d confusion amongst us!⁠—rogues a-plotting;⁠—great talk of...

The Victorian era, spanning from 1837 to 1901 under the reign of Queen Victoria, is often celebrated for its elegance, refinement, and...

Today, August 30th, marks the birthday of one of the most influential figures in literary history, Mary Shelley. Born in 1797, Mary...

“One day, in the autumn of 1845, I accidentally lighted on a MS. volume of verse in my sister Emily’s handwriting. Of course, I was not...

Introduction George Bernard Shaw, born on July 26, 1856, in Dublin, Ireland, was a playwright, critic, and polemicist whose works have...

Harriet Beecher Stowe is a name synonymous with American literature and social change. Born on June 14, 1811, in Litchfield, Connecticut,...

The name Arthur Conan Doyle usually conjures up images of deerstalker, pipe and violin. Indeed, Doyle's Sherlock Holmes has become an...

On this day, April 19th, Lord Byron passed away in a coma at Missolonghi, brought on by a fever, and disastrous blood-letting from his...

The Tales from the Penny Bloods has just passed our one-year anniversary and we want to thank everyone who's joined us. Please stay tuned...

Happy International Tea Day! Today, as we celebrate the soothing elixir that has warmed hearts and sparked conversations for centuries,...

Introduction The 18th century was a period of great transformation and enlightenment; one of the more prominent names from this era is...

When Edward Fitzball’s The Flying Dutchman; or, The Phantom Ship premiered in London in 1826, it brought together all the makings for a...