A Gothic History of Dangerous Books and their Readers is a ghost tour at 157 Alexander St in Vancouver, BC, on Thursday, October 22 from 6 PM to 8:30 PM. That's one week before Halloween, and entry is CA$39.67. Vancouver has 14 other Halloween events within three days of this one.
Thursday, October 22 · 6 PM – 8:30 PM
UTC-07:00157 Alexander St | Vancouver, BC
TicketsCAD 39.67
Haunted houses, creepy monsters and scary noises are all things we associate with Halloween, but many of them come from Gothic fiction.
Gothic fiction spread across Europe in the 1700s and 1800s, helped by new developments in printing, the growth of a mass book market, and the fact that more people were reading for pleasure. As these novels became more popular, people also began worrying about what reading them might do to their readers. Gothic novels were full of fear, violence and the supernatural, and reading them was sometimes seen as a dangerous hobby.
In this lecture, Dr Katherine Bowers will look at where Gothic fiction came from, why it became so popular, and why people became so concerned about its readers. She will also look at how Gothic fiction influenced the way fear is created in popular culture, from haunted houses and monsters to many of the sounds, settings and conventions we still recognize today.
Dr Katherine Bowers is Associate Professor of Slavic and Eastern European Studies at the University of British Columbia, where she also directs the Centre for European Studies. Her research focuses on genre and narrative theory, particularly in the context of the nineteenth-century Russian novel. Her book, Writing Fear: Russian Realism and the Gothic, was published in 2022 by the University of Toronto Press.
Agenda
6:00 PM doors open. Guests are welcome to arrive early, order drinks, and have dinner before the lecture begins.
7:00 PM lecture begins, followed by Q&A.
8:15 PM wrap up. Guests are welcome to stay for conversation and another drink.
157 Alexander St, 157 Alexander Street, Vancouver, Canada
Sip and Learn Toronto
It is on Thursday, October 22, 2026, from 6 PM to 8:30 PM, one week before Halloween.
It takes place at 157 Alexander St, 157 Alexander Street, Vancouver, Canada.
Tickets are listed at CA$39.67. Prices can change, so check the ticket page for the latest.
It runs for about 2.5 hours, from 6 PM to 8:30 PM.
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