Taking Gothic and Vampire Literature as our theme for World Book Day on Thursday 2nd March, we celebrated the appeal and history of these genres of writing.

Starting the day with an assembly, Professor Alexandra Van Blagden introduced us to the subject of haematophagy… it’s a bit of a mouthful to say…but we marvelled at the chewing jaws of a leech and the blood-letting manners of vampire bats. This was followed by some Literature readings delivered by Sixth Formers, and the rich and varied takes on original folkloric vampyr tales.

Students were turned into vampires at Break and Lunchtime, not by blood transfusions, but by the judicial use of face paint. Students and staff had their photograph taken in front of our Gothic Ruin backdrop. This was achieved with some skill by Mr Crooks, as we all know vampires do not appear in mirrors or photographs. There was also competitions for the best dressed vampires and a quiz. Sumptuous editions of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” were awarded as the prizes.

In the afternoon Students and Staff were subjected to readings and poems, as the Sixth Formers performed to them in their classrooms.

Mr Logan, QEs Librarian said “These events take a lot of organising and they simply wouldn’t work if the School Community did not engage, so we should be proud that even with the pressures of a busy school we can still stop and celebrate Literature, whilst at the same time having fun!”

Robert Logan
School Librarian