Manchester's Autumn Festivals - GrimmFest

This is coming up pretty soon, so you need to be quick to get to it. However, continuing the festival roundup is Grimm Up North's GrimmFest. This is all about horror and sci-fi movies, shorts, Q&A, etc.

Classics are kicking off the season with A Nightmare on Elm Street (30th Sept), including the chance to win a signed box set. There's an amazing double-bill planned midway through (3rd Oct) - Goblin playing along to Suspiria and Dario Argento's cut of George A Romero's Dawn of the Dead (which includes more Goblin music!). Goblin will be signing in between those films.

It wouldn't be a horror festival without some silly-titled films, so laugh along with Zombeavers (4 Oct) where you'll all be dammed! and Wolfcop (5 Oct), described as Dirty Harry...only hairier.

They've saved some of the best until last (5 Oct), with new release Life After Beth and personal recommendation Dead Snow 2 - I've seen the first film and not a lot beats nazi zombies...except bigger, gorier and funnier nazi zombies!

Let us know in the comments what films you make it along to and what you thought.

Manchester's Autumn Festivals - Science

Continuing last week's theme, here's a few things to highlight from the Manchester Science Festival this year.

First in the lineup is 'The Serpent's Promise: the Bible retold as science' (Oct 23, Blackwell's Bookshop), in which geneticist Steve Jones discusses his book (a re-write of the bible in the light of science) and highlights things the bible got right and the things it didn't.

'The Archaeology of a Revolution' (Oct 24, meet outside the Angel Health Centre) takes you on a guided tour of Manchester's industrial heritage along Chapel Street, which is also where you'll find Sacred Trinity, the home of SUB and ARA.

On the same afternoon, Claire McDermott and I will be part of the Manchester Gothic Festival cross-over event, 'What is this thing called Steampunk?' (Oct 24, MOSI). Join us in the Power Hall for a panel discussion on all sorts of elements of Steampunk. Claire and I will be presenting God in the Steam, a look into the possibilities of Steampunk to enhance spiritual life.

Every good goth loves bats, right? The 'Urban Naturalist: Bats' event (Oct 25, Manchester Museum) will help you gen up on this flying mammal and guide you through the 18 species of UK bat and many more interesting things.

For the artistically inclined, there's an interesting 'Dress of Glass and Flame' (27 Oct, Manchester Art Gallery) on display, which as the name suggests is an artwork of alchemical wonder that presents a glass dress holding a living flame.

For those interested by the subject matter of the SUB service on the afterlife, 'Ancient Egyptian Mummies and Modern Science' (Oct 30, John Rylands Library) might provide some interest as Professor Rosalie David talks about her life and work as an Egyptologist.

Finally, for those who like a bit of sci-fi, MOSI will host a few double-bills presented by Film Hub North West Central and Grimm Up North as part of the BFI 'Days of Fear and Wonder' season:
Brazil & 12 Monkeys (Oct 29)
Total Recall & Starship Troopers (Oct 30)
Alien & Prometheus (Oct 31)

Let us know in the comments what you're looking forward to and give us an update on any you manage to make it to.

Manchester's Autumn Festivals - Literature

Manchester is a wonderful city. There's usually a lot of things going on in and around it. As autumn starts to reveal her colours and its populous has returned from holidays and is settling back into working/learning routines, the city hosts a few big festivals to keep us entertained.

Manchester Literature Festival (6 Oct - 13 Nov) kicks off with Danish Crime and an event with Arne Dahl (Oct 6) followed by a couple of talks about graphic novels (Oct 7). On Oct 8, Manchester Salon Presents 'North & South' at Elizabeth Gaskell's House (local Industrial Revolution era ghost story writer)! Oct 9th brings a personal recommendation of some local writers I know - David Gaffney being joined by Anneliese Mackintosh and Socrates Adams. Oct 10 has a talk on Underground Crime. Oct 11 showcases some more friends - In the Dark (Nija Dalal-Small and others trying to change how we think about radio) and Bad Language (currently hosted by fellow SUB member Fat Roland). A bit more insight comes from Gaskell's Manchester Walking Tour on Oct 15 and the festival just keeps going.

This is just a few of the darker/gothic items from the listing to draw your attention - I encourage you to have a look through and see what you can catch. Let us know in the comments what you see and what you thought of it :)

Delving into the past

Just a short blog entry this week to say that I've now linked to the write up of the Blood service from within the Past Events page. I'll keep adding write ups over the next few weeks and months, as time allows. Check on twitter for future updates on that.

Also, I'm approaching other bloggers for content, so look out for some new guests blogs coming up soon :)

What do we do in gatherings?

At this year's Greenbelt, we were asked for a copy of the service so that people who experienced it on site could take it home to explore further with their home churches and/or to think about in more detail personally. We're really happy to share what we come up with and are encouraged that you want to spend time on that journey with us.

I've pondered the best way to do this and will provide links on the 'Past Events' page of the blog. Each link with take you to a document that gives details and/or script of what that topic covered. Let me know if there's anything else you would like.

We've been plotting a new gathering for quite some time now, but summer preparations, vacations and house moves delayed us a little. We're just trying to sort out a (really fantastic) location to hold this next gathering, themed on pilgrimage. More details when we know them, but we'd love to see you. If you're coming from outside of Manchester, let us know and we can assist you and try to make your journey smoother :)