About me and how to get in touch

I’m Dr Steph Lay, and I’m a cognitive psychologist, horror writer, and researcher. I completed my PhD in 2015. but I’ve always had a fascination with strange and eerie things: I love ghost stories, horror and generally anything unsettling, so exploring why certain near-human faces feel so unsettling was a perfect topic for me!

I first read about the valley when I was looking for a subject for my MSc Psychology dissertation, and saw a blog post all about it. I was fascinated but back then, there was hardly any psychological research into the topic so I said to myself “That sounds fun, I’ll give it a go.”

I never expected that twenty years later, I’d still be talking about it! I’m now an independent researcher, gathering local stories of the unexplained for a project investigating whether the new city of Milton Keynes might be more haunted than anyone realises.

I also work with Peter Laws on the YouTube channel Into The Fog, helping to curate the real-life experiences sent in by viewers and creating atmospheric artwork to bring these paranormal stories to life. I’m particularly proud of adding some uncanniness to this video about the famous Fox Hollow Farm case: it featured some super-eerie mannequins gathered around a haunted swimming pool!

Overall, my creative and academic work brings together psychology and the paranormal, exploring not only why strange experiences unsettle us, but why they matter.

I always enjoy talking to folks about my research and I’m available for interviews, talks or articles, or if you’re also researching in the same area, I’d love to chat. If you’d like to get in touch, fill in the form below and I’ll get back to you.