Did you know that Carterhaugh started in England? And that it was, at least initially, the product of jetlag, delirium, and possibly a little bit of spite? 

You know, just like all good ideas.

Almost nine years ago (how??), there was a conference on folklore and the Gothic just outside of London, and we were absolutely determined to go. We managed to get funding to present the extremely Gothic and folklore-y dissertation chapters we were writing at the time (Wuthering Heights, ghosts, and disability for Sara and Silas Marner and fairy tales for Brittany.)

Between the excitement and the jetlag, once we got there, there was no sleep for us.

We had an adorable little hotel room with two tiny twin beds, and we kept doing that annoying thing where one of us would whisper “…are you still awake?” at the other one until we both gave up, and, for some unholy reason, started talking about the academic job market.

We have no wish to turn this email into a Rant of Fire (we can always do that another time), so we’ll just say that the academic job market was abysmal. That year, there was one, count ‘em, one full-time academic job in folklore.

It’s a great topic for two graduate students to fixate on at 3am when they have conference presentations to give the next day.

And then one of us – we couldn’t tell you who – shouted into the darkness, “We should have our own school.”

At which point, we both had a really good laugh. 

And then we got very, very quiet.

And then we got up, turned on the lights, and opened up our computers and started brainstorming the idea that would eventually become our school, Carterhaugh.

What can we say, England is magical.

And this is why we are seriously beside ourselves that the Great Courses asked us to help create and be the folklore experts/ magic minions on their Enchanted England trip. And we really, really want you to come with us.

We can’t promise that you’ll have the best idea of your life while you’re there (although WHO KNOWS), but we can absolutely promise:

• That we will intensively nerd out with you (In person! On location! All over England!) for a week.
• All the Arthuriana: St. Nectan’s Glen, Tintagle Castle, Slaughterbridge, Camelford, and so much more it’s ridiculous.
• A visit to Sara’s old Oxford college, where we’ll do a talk and Sara will probably cry from sheer joy and nostalgia.
• The world-class Cornwall Museum of Witchcraft. 
• A Shakespeare play (and context from us about the ways Shakespeare is profoundly folklore-y).
• Stonehenge, because obviously.
• An in-person gathering with TERRI WINDLING. You probably already know Terri from her monumental editing, writing, and general championing of folklore and fantasy literature, but you may have seen her around Carterhaugh, too. She is, quite literally, the best.
• Afternoon tea. So much tea. 
• Some really cool off-the-beaten track gems, like a guided tour of the Wallace Collection and a chat with the owner of Treadwell’s (a ridiculously cool and magical esoteric bookshop in Bloomsbury)
• Wild and windy moors. 

And truly, we’re just scratching the surface. You can read a detailed itinerary (and sign up!) here.

We’re not going to lie to you, this might be the coolest thing we’ve ever done. When Sara got the email asking if we wanted to do this, she actually screamed and dropped her phone and scared the very nice cashier who was helping her. Brittany just stared off into space for a moment like…

We would so love to share this wild dream of a trip with you. And to just actually hang out, learn, and travel together IN PERSON.

If you have questions or want to join us, leave us a comment or shoot us an email. We can’t wait to hear from you!

P.S. If you’re a solo traveller and you want to find a roommate for this trip, let us know! We were able to connect two Carterhaugh folks already, which fills our hearts with ✨folklore sparkles✨