I'm a Senior Lecturer in Media, teaching across a variety of modules but specialising in Alternative Media and Storytelling in film and television, specialising in cult film, horror, television, underground comics and music. I am also a co-founder of the Centre for Contemporary Legend research group and a member of the CCMS steering committee.

My research interests relate to the communication of folklore and contemporary legend in the media including: all areas of horror, folk horror; folklore on screen; the supernatural and children’s television. I’m interested in supervising PhD students in any of these areas.

My work examines the communication of folklore and hauntological aspects of British 1970s television (for adults and children), and the impact of this upon modern media and perceptions about folklore. I am particularly interested in unsettling horror, onscreen representations of the supernatural, the use of stone circles on screen, the work of Nigel Kneale and ‘spooky’ television programming aimed at children.

I regularly publish on a variety of topics related to my interests, I frequently collaborate with colleagues on research projects which have recently included co-editing a book on the television phenomena The X-Files and a research paper examining the cultural implications of perceptions of witchcraft as shaped by YouTube algorithms. I also conduct a significant amount of work with my Centre for Contemporary Legend colleagues in order to develop the profile of folklore studies and promote public and academic engagement and diverse representation within the subject. I welcome PhD proposals in the area of horror, folk horror, hauntology or the broad area of folklore and contemporary legend on screen and in the media.

Taught modules include Alternative Media, heavily grounded in theory, examining underground comics, music, social and political movements, film, television and comedy. I also teach Storytelling in Film and Television which uses textual analysis to consider how meaning is created onscreen across a number of examples from both classic and cult film and television. I am a member of The Folklore Society and the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research. I am also involved in practice related to my teaching outside of my work, including performing live music with my band The Sleazoids and carrying out digital video editing work for feature film, music videos and online projects.

Specialist areas of interest:

• Folklore and folk horror in film and television
• Alternative culture