Xavier Aldana Reyes is Reader in English Literature and Film at Manchester Metropolitan University. He is a founding member of the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies and co-president of the International Gothic Association.

Dan Salkey is the co-founder of Small World, a consultancy that sources, builds, and runs curated super-teams. He's worked for and with blue-chip companies such as Adidas, Nissan, and LinkedIn, helping transform their creative output.

Tessa Love is a writer whose work focuses on the undertones of culture and human experience. Her work has been featured in Outside Magazine, The Believer, Longreads, BBC, and more. She is also a cultural researcher and trend analyst specialising in youth behaviours and insights. She has produced reports, articles, white papers, and films that have informed the strategies of some of the world’s biggest brands, and she previously served as the editorial director of Western Europe for the global youth insights and research agency YPulse.