2017 Hyde started to research and write about belief in the supernatural in the 1990s, and initially
blogged under the name "
Jourdemayne". This
pen name was borrowed from a 15th-century woman, also known as the "Witch of Eye" who was eventually burnt for
witchcraft in
Smithfield, London in 1441. The persona was chosen by Hyde because "she was sought by many for her knowledge of dark matters". In her public appearances and writings, the following supernatural phenomena have been covered extensively: • Werewolves •
Vampires •
Witches •
Demons •
Ghosts •
Krampus Public appearances across the UK at QED 2016. Hyde has been invited to speak at several different events including
Skeptics in the Pub gatherings all across the
UK (
Winchester,
Birmingham,
Manchester, etc.) as well as the international sceptics convention "
QED – Question, Explore, Discover" in Manchester, where she is a regular speaker. Hyde has spoken twice at the
"Skeptics on the Fringe" in
Edinburgh with two of her lectures,
"Interview With a Vampire Expert" and
"The Natural History of the European Werewolf", both of which were received well with the sceptical audience.
International appearances Hyde's talks at conventions outside the UK have been given mostly in the
US, including a post-
Halloween public lecture on "The Natural History of the European Werewolf" for the New York City Skeptics, and an appearance with the same talk at
Skepticon-5 in
Springfield. She has also been invited to the Ratio Forum for Popular Science in
Sofia,
Bulgaria in 2013 where she gave a talk on Vampires and attended a panel discussion along with
Susan Blackmore. In 2017, Hyde delivered a presentation about
The Restless Ghost of Wrocław at the
17th European Skeptics Congress at the
University of Wrocław,
Wrocław Poland. In 2018, Hyde delivered a presentation about the historical roots of vampire folklore in Eastern Europe at
CSICon in
Las Vegas,
Nevada. Janet Hodgson, who had been a child at the time of the case, also made a rare appearance on the show, along with
Guy Lyon Playfair, both of whom were deeply insulted by the rationalistic comments Hyde made during the discussion. This resulted in Lyon Playfair posting on his blog concerning this. This situation eventually led Hyde to write about the case and its background, providing a general explanation and several examples regarding why people fabricate malevolent figures. In 2011, Hyde was appointed managing editor of
The Skeptic, a UK magazine promoting science and critical thinking, As editor-in-chief, Hyde has been working with an international advisory board of experts from many different fields, some of whom are globally recognised scientists, science educators and science enthusiasts, including
Susan Blackmore,
Stephen Fry,
Derren Brown,
Brian Cox,
Richard Dawkins,
Edzard Ernst,
Robin Ince,
PZ Myers,
Phil Plait,
Massimo Polidoro,
Simon Singh,
James Randi and
Richard Wiseman.
The Ockham and Rusty Razor awards In 2012, Hyde proposed the idea of a prize that could be given to those with serious achievements within different fields of sceptical activism, in order to provide recognition to people investing large amounts of work in promoting science and scepticism. Starting that year, the Ockham Awards Ceremony has been an annual event at
"QED – Question, Explore, Discover". The prize is officially awarded by
The Skeptic magazine in several categories, agreed upon by a committee featuring sceptics including
Chris French,
Richard Wiseman,
Wendy Grossman,
Jon Ronson and
Simon Singh. In 2017, the "Rusty Razor" Award, an ignoble recognition for "bad thinking", was added to the proceedings.
Upcoming book In a 2018 interview with
Susan Gerbic, Hyde revealed that she is writing a book to be called
Unnatural Predators that explores common themes in human folklore throughout history using a combination of historical, psychological, and anthropological perspectives. ==Awards and honors==