GIVEN THAT it sits in the shadow of the house of the writer of the first Gothic novel, it is appropriate that St Mary’s University College, Twickenham, is offering a new MA in the subject. Horace Walpole’s Strawberry Hill House was the inspiration for his novel The Castle of Otranto, and Dr Maria Mellins has continued the tradition of Gothic writing with her recently published Vampire Culture, in which she researches those interested in all things vampiric. The vampire genre has grown in popularity following the Twilight series of books and the films they inspired. Dr Mellins, a Catholic and senior lecturer in screen media, is helping to teach St Mary’s new master’s degree in Gothic Studies. She told us that she has found that so-called vampirism attracts people