Speakers and Talks

The following eight experts will come together for this unique event examining the science and history of ghosts.
The event will consist of a morning and afternoon session, with four speakers in each session.
Download a PDF of the schedule here and a word version here.

Investigating 'haunted' locations:
A scientific approach
Professor Richard Wiseman
University of Hertfordshire psychologist, best-selling author, and lead researcher on the record-breaking investigation into Edinburgh's Underground Vaults, uncovers the science of hauntings.



Imaging the impossible:
The truth about spirit photography

Gordon Rutter
Photographer, founder of the Edinburgh Fortean Society, and head of the Charles Fort Institute, reveals whether spirit photography is the gateway to the afterlife.




Things that go bump in the mind:
The psychology of apparitions

Dr Caroline Watt
Psychologist from the Koestler Parapsychology Unit (Edinburgh University), and co-author of the world's best-selling textbook on parapsychology, searches for the ghosts lurking deep within our brains.



The Haunted:
A social history of ghosts

Professor Owen Davies
University of Hertfordshire historian, international expert on witchcraft and magic, and author of 'The Haunted: A Social History of Ghosts', discusses ghosts through the ages.




'No More Ghosts!':
The Regency Phantasmagoria

Dr Mervyn Heard
Historian, performer and author of 'Phantasmagoria: The Secret Life of the Magic Lantern', explores the popular predeliction for ghost-raising with the magic lantern at the start of the 19th century and its unfortunate effect.



"Dialogue with the Dead":
Creating ghosts for television

Stephen Volk
The writer of Ken Russell's 'Gothic', the highly controversial cult BBC hoax documentary 'Ghostwatch' , and ITV drama' Afterlife' reveals how best to conjure spirits on the small screen.



Grappling with Ghosts:
Staging ghost effects in the modern theatre

Paul Kieve
Illusionist, magical consultant ('The Invisible Man', 'Lord of the Rings', 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'), and author of 'Hocus Pocus: A Tale of Magnificent Magicians', explores the smoke and mirrors used to create spectres on stage.

Inside Most Haunted
Dr Ciaran O’Keeffe
Psychologist, author ('Ghost Hunters: A Guide to Investigating the Paranormal'), and regular contributer to Living TV's Most Haunted takes you on a backstage tour
of one of the most watched programmes about the paranormal.