As Halloween approaches, many parents and homeowners wonder what the legal position is on trick-or-treating in the UK. From age limits to antisocial behaviour, Marc Cornock explores what’s allowed and where the line is drawn.

From ancient Samhain rituals to the words of medium Doris Stokes, this article explores how Halloween reflects our enduring fascination with death, the afterlife, and what lies beyond the veil.

Halloween is often filled with spooky costumes and scary decorations, but for children it doesn’t need to be overwhelming. By focusing on fun, inclusivity and safety, you can create celebrations that are age-appropriate, welcoming and full of positive memories – whether at home or in the classroom.

The tradition of carving faces into pumpkins can serve as a way of mastering our fear of death – this article explains why.

Halloween is all fun and games until the skeletons decide to stay. UK Legal expert Marc Cornock explores what the law says when the spooky season’s guests don’t return to their graves and why even the undead can be trespassers.

What is it about Gothic stories that captures our imagination? And why do so many of its tropes and motifs lead to Ireland?

When it comes to Halloween, do Christians and Pagans have anything in common?

Why is Halloween, an evening traditionally used to honour the deceased, now associated with all things spooky and gruesome? 

From bonfires to bobbing apples, explore how Welsh people have celebrated Nos Galan Gaeaf through the centuries and how it is linked to Halloween. 

According to mathematics we'd all die in a zombie apocalypse but nature and computer science offer us more optimistic outcomes. 

From The Walking Dead to Call Of Duty WWII, zombies are everywhere. Join us on an exploration of the undead amongst us...

Swimming around without any self-control, the better to spread infection. Are killifish zombies, raised from the dead? No.

Although we all die, how we mark the end of a life varies between places and cultures. This article and associated animation explores different customs and traditions that people around the world perform in relation to death.

Most people haven't heard of advance care plans or may avoid planning for end-of-life care. Dr Erica Borgstrom tells us why...

Check out the FREE content from Open Thanatology, The Open University’s interdisciplinary research group for the study and education of death, dying, loss and grief.

An uncertain world. Can systems thinking free us from fear? Simon Bell & Charles Cutting's graphic novel asks the question.

Research into brain activity when we're scared may point the way to overcoming fear.

Recoil at the number 13? Scream at spiders? At some point, we all get scared. But why, and how? This article explores the science behind fear.

Does magic only exist in the wizarding world for the likes of Harry Potter? Dr Sara MacKian explores all the enchantment and spiritualities of our muggle-filled land.

Western culture can't seem to shake off portraying women as witches. Dr Chloé Germaine Buckley wonders why.

With the release of Stephen King's 'It' and the terrifying character Pennywise we look back on this article, published last year, questioning why we are scared by the faces clowns pull.

Stephanie Forward outlines the life and legacy of the author of 'Frankenstein', Mary Shelley.

How Ken Russell’s Gothic reinstates the missing woman at the Villa Diodati.

What does Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus tell us about the author and the time at which the play was written? This free course, Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus, will help you to discover the intricacies of the play and recognise how a knowledge of the historical and political background of the time can lead to a very different ...

How Ken Russell’s Gothic foregoes radical politics in favour of sex and necromancy.

In this free course, Delacroix, you will be introduced to a variety of Delacroix's work and will see how his paintings relate to the cultural transition from Enlightenment to Romanticism. You will study Delacroix's early career, his classical background, the development of Romantic ideas and their incorporation into his work. You will have the ...

This free course, Art in Renaissance Venice, considers the art of Renaissance Venice and how such art was determined in many ways by the city's geographical location and ethnically diverse population. Studying Venice and its art offers a challenge to the conventional notion of Renaissance art as an entirely Italian phenomenon.

This free course, featuring interviews with famous crime fiction authors, explores psychological theory and research on the relationships we form with fictional characters.

This free course, A spiritual revolution? Wicca and religious change in the 1960s looks at the ‘crisis’ of traditional religion in the Sixties in the Western world. It explores the process of religious renewal, looking at the development of Wicca, the prototypical form of modern Paganism. Originally presented as a Goddess religion of great ...

As the only planetary body everyone is familiar with seeing in the sky, the Moon has long been an object of fascination and speculation. This free course will teach you about the nearest planetary body to Earth: the missions to the Moon, the basic facts of its composition, the cratering on its surface, and the ancient eruptions that flooded many...