Catherine Spooner

Professor Catherine Spooner holds a Chair in Literature and Culture at Lancaster University, specializing in Gothic studies and fashion theory. She serves as co-editor of The Cambridge History of the Gothic Volume 3 and has curated exhibitions at the Victoria & Albert Museum and British Library.

Her research examines:

• Gothic subcultures and fashion aesthetics
• Literary representations of costume and identity
• Post-millennial 'Happy Gothic' in popular culture
• Cultural afterlife of the Lancashire witches

Recent award-winning work includes 'Post-Millennial Gothic' (Allan Lloyd Smith Prize 2019) analyzing Gothic's evolution in Tim Burton films and Twilight series. Her current monograph explores Gothic, whiteness and fashion from Marie Antoinette to contemporary politics.

She teaches modules on Fashion on Film and Gothic literature, and supervises PhDs on Gothic media and costume studies. As co-President of the International Gothic Association (2013-2017), she organized global conferences on Gothic futures.