Andy Paciorek and I were honoured to be asked to undertake the role of keynote speakers at the Scottish Pagan Federation’s 25th anniversary conference on the 21st April 2018. So, along with Rich Blackett, Folk Horror Revivalist and Head of Asatru UK we headed off on the train for the beautiful city of Edinburgh. A chance to spread the word of Folk Horror and to perhaps catch up with a few friends, old and new.

We did both and a lot more, the team at the Scottish Pagan Federation were amazing, such a wonderful bunch of people, they truly made us feel welcome and valued within their amazing community. Everyone I spoke to throughout the day had such an incredibly positive vibe and the whole experience was a joy from start to finish. We managed to catch some amazing speakers, including our very own Rich Blackett, who’s talk on werewolf cults was one of my personal highlights of the day, and Dr. Julian Goodare whose work on Scottish witchcraft has been a great point of reference for much of my own study. We were also lucky enough to catch up with good friends in the form of Grey Malkin, Beano Jameson, Julia Jeffrey, Gillian Chadwick, Faracy Moon Grouse, and Candia and Tony McKormack. We also made a lot of new friends along the way too so thanks to you all for talking to us, you know who you are. All in all it was a real pleasure to be a part of something so much fun and so amazingly positive.

Sometimes in life we forget to be thankful for the simple things, good friends, fun times and the chance to spend time with like minded individuals. That’s why this weekend was so special, we got all of that and so much more. So thank you to Steffy, Ebony and all the team, they ensured everyone involved in the day had a wonderfully positive experience from start to finish.

Thanks to the Scottish Pagan Federation and to photographer Michael Rampersad for allowing us to reproduce some of his amazing photographs.