Abbie’s Horror and Rock Society Strikes a Chord with Fans of Gory Stories

Out of the lab and into the group chat! Biology student Abbie hung up her white coat and put on her vampire teeth to start the Horrorock Society. She told us about uniting fans of scary faces and slapping basses.

Motivation 

When I joined Uni in 2019, I was looking for a music or film-based society, and I couldn’t find one. Then I realised - People who are into gory classic horror tend to also be into classic and modern rock. I had the idea to start the Horrock society – a group for people who like horror movies and rock music.

Virtual Horrock meetups

We’ve done movie nights, games nights, and for Halloween, we all dressed up as icons – rock stars and characters from movies.

Once, we put albums onto a spinning wheel, and whichever one it landed on, you’d listen to that night.

In October, every week we’d watch a different horror film at the same time, then talk about it afterwards.

The group chat for the society is really friendly. Even though we can’t be face to face we feel close. Some people will be up talking ‘til 3!

Becoming a Leader

I’ve never been someone who’s in charge or something before. I’ve mainly been a team member not a team leader.

It’s tough. You have to make hard decisions. You have to know everything that’s going on in the group and know when to step back and say – I need help with this.

Starting the Society

I filled in the ‘start a society’ form, had a virtual meeting with Stephen, and then set about finding a committee. I got a friend on board, set up a Facebook page and reached out to other students through Facebook pages.

We’ve never been a face to face society – we were about to have our first meeting, then lockdown started!

Getting Trained up
In June there was committees training session. We learned about finances, what a treasurer does, how to promote ourselves, and be active on social media.

Steve went through it all with us. The SU are great, they’re really responsive off their Facebook page and live chat.

Why Join a Society? 
You’ll meet a lot of people you wouldn’t have met. If you get yourself on committee, you’ll get loads of experience for work, for your CV. Skills that until you think about them, you don’t realise you’ve gained them.

If you’re thinking of starting your own society, you just need four people to fill your essential roles. The training is straightforward, and you get the opportunity to ask questions.

A Reference from Stephen Smallman, Societies Coordinator

With all the trials and tribulations of the past twelve months, the Horrorock Society has consistently held events and activities which is in no small part due to Abbie's commitment as a volunteer. Without the infrastructure and longevity other groups have to fall back on, Abbie has been proactive in ensuring her group can still deliver for their members.

Get Involved with Horrorock Society! 

Like them on Facebook or follow them on Instagram  

Wednesday 25^th March 2020