Wilkie in Whitby; a Bi-centenary Celebration
As part of AGC’s own twentieth anniversary celebrations, we will be joined by members of The Dracula Society (www.thedraculasociety.org.uk) and the Wilkie Collins Society (www.wilkiecollins.com) for a convention over the weekend of 8th-9th June 2024. We have booked the Whitby Museum for Saturday and will host a day of talks, performances etc. There will be a small charge on the door to cover the cost of the room hire. Dinner that evening will be at the Royal Hotel. It is planned that a guided walk (or walks) will take place on the morning of Sunday 9th and that A Ghostly Company’s AGM will be held that afternoon.
Wilkie Collins was born 8th January 1824 and is today best remembered for two of his novels The Woman in White and The Moonstone the latter of these being a favourite with M. R. James. Collins stayed at the Royal Hotel, Whitby in 1861.
Stories of his such as ‘A Terribly Strange Bed’ ‘The Dead Hand’ and ‘Blow Up With the Brig!’ have appeared in anthologies of horror stories. He also wrote a novel called The Haunted Hotel and other short stories with a supernatural theme include; ‘Mad Monkton’, ‘The Dream Woman’, ‘John Jago’s Ghost’, ‘Miss Jéromette and the Clergyman’, and ‘Mrs Zant and the Ghost’. The Complete Shorter Fiction edited by Julian Thompson was brought out by Robinson Publishing Ltd in 1995. Prophetic dreams sometimes feature in the works of Wilkie Collins, especially in his novel Armadale.
If you are interested in joining us for the weekend of 8th and 9th June 2024, please contact us.