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Next Talk on 3 Dec: “Krampus – Santa’s Little … Helper?” by Deborah Hyde
London Skeptics in the Pub is an award winning lecture series. We cover science, technology, history, philosophy and related current affairs.
After a long break, we restarted our events in December 2025 at KC Continental Stores (26 Caledonian Road, Kings Cross, N1 9DT). We meet (usually) on the first Wednesday of the month to hear a speaker and join in a Q&A.
We’ll be asking for a £4 from everyone to help pay for our equipment, hire costs and speakers expenses. We don’t take any money for ourselves. Some special events WILL be ticketed and the link will be included in the event details. When in doubt, just turn up!
London Skeptics in the Pub is an inclusive and welcoming place for everyone. We won’t tolerate any kind of prejudice or any behaviour that makes people uncomfortable, either at our events or on our social media. There may be times when we miss something so we encourage anyone to tell us if there is a problem; we promise to listen to you and we will do our utmost to deal with it. Skeptics in the Pub is for everyone and we hope that you will all help us to make it a friendly community.
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Next Talk
Krampus – Santa’s Little … Helper?
Deborah Hyde
3 December 2025 Wednesday 19:30
KC Continental Stores (directions)
26 Caledonian Road, Kings Cross, N1 9DT
Have you been naughty or nice?
St Nicholas may bring good children rewards, but he has a companion who has different clients. Discover this central European tradition whose popularity is rising again.
Close your eyes and wish for gifts … if you dare.
Deborah Hyde is a writer and presenter. She wants to know why people believe in the supernatural, and uses psychology, cultural anthropology, history and folklore to shed light on this intractable strand of human nature.
January 2026
The Science of Weird Shit
Professor Chris French
Goldsmiths, University of London
7 January 2026 Wednesday 19:30
KC Continental Stores (directions)
26 Caledonian Road, Kings Cross, N1 9DT
Opinion polls show the majority of the general public accepts that paranormal phenomena do occur. Such widespread experience of and belief in the paranormal can only mean one of two things. Either the paranormal is real, in which case this should be accepted by the wider scientific community which currently rejects such claims; or else belief in and experience of ostensibly paranormal phenomena can be fully explained in terms of psychological factors. This presentation will provide an introduction to the sub-discipline of anomalistic psychology, which may be defined as the study of extraordinary phenomena of behaviour and experience, in an attempt to provide non-paranormal explanations in terms of known psychological and physical factors. This approach will be illustrated with examples relating to a range of ostensibly paranormal phenomena.
Chris French is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, where, up until 2024, he was also Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit. He retired from Goldsmiths in 2020. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, and a patron of Humanists UK. He has published over 200 articles and chapters covering a wide range of topics within psychology. His main area of research is the psychology of paranormal beliefs and anomalous experiences. He writes for the Guardian and the Skeptic magazine. His most recent book is The Science of Weird Shit: Why Our Minds Conjure the Paranormal (2024, MIT Press).