Halloween Stories Wanted for Hannah's Bookshelf on North Manchester FM

3 Minute Scares is back for its tenth terrifying year!

Can you tell a scary story in just 3 minutes? Want to have your work played on the radio? This month, I’m looking for spooky flash fiction from around the world for inclusion on Hannah’s Bookshelf, the weekly literature show on North Manchester FM.

On Saturday 25th October, I’ll be hosting the annual Hannah’s Bookshelf Halloween Special, and as part of my seasonal special, I’ll be playing a selection of my favourite 3 Minute Scares stories on the show (broadcast on FM and on digital). Want to be part of it? Submit a recording of your spooky story (maximum 3 minutes) by midnight on Monday 20th October.

The only rules are that stories must be your own original work, have some connection to the season, and be in English (the language of the broadcast). And please ease off the swears – stories have to be radio friendly! All you need is a microphone and a story – once you’re ready to submit your story, click on the ‘Start Recording’ button on my website to record your story and submit it. Remember to enter your name and email address when submitting your story.

If you aren’t able to submit via a recording and would like another method of taking part, please message via my website for more information.

Please share this call with anyone who you think might be interested – I’d like to cast the net as wide as possible. My favourite spooky stories will be broadcast on the Hannah’s Bookshelf Halloween Special at 2pm on Saturday 25th October, on digital radio and 106.6FM.

Autumn Equinox: Day 6

The sixth day of our Autumn Equinox festivities... and time for a picnic!

Turton and Entwistle Reservoir

We went for a picnic today at Turton and Entwistle Reservoir today. It was so sunny!

Colourful Forest Tea

We took a moment to enjoy the season with Colourful Forest tea. I can't remember where I got the tea from, but it was nice to just pause, sip the tea, and let the season and the forest wash over us.

Autumn Equinox: Day 5

It's the fifth day of our Autumn Equinox festivities, and we had quite a lot planned for today. It's nice to be off work, so we can have a bit of seasonal fun today.

Autumn Equinox Walk in the Park

This morning, I led a seasonal walk for Friends of Crumpsall Park. To be honest, it just descended into a mushroom hunt, but there were some beautiful specimens to be found.

Hannah’s Bookshelf Autumn Equinox Special

Then this afternoon it was my annual Hannah's Bookshelf Autumn Equinox Special on North Manchester FM, where I played seasonal flash fiction from 15 writers, played some seasonal music, and ate some apple pies with the volunteers at the community centre where the radio station is based.

Autumn Equinox Dinner

We had our traditional Autumn Equinox dinner of vegetarian meatloaf and root vegetable & saffron rice tonight.

Autumn Equinox Gifts

And after dinner we exchanged our traditional gifts and cards. These whiskies will go into the tasting set that we'll enjoy in December.

Dark Night of the Scarecrow

We rounded off the evening with the traditional Autumn Equinox film... Dark Night of the Scarecrow.

Autumn Equinox: Day 4

It's the start of squash season! Hooray! We didn't have any time for festivities today (work), but we did have time for squash.

Spaghetti Squash

We got a spaghetti squash in this week's Groobox delivery, so we had it for tea, baked with cheese and truffle oil. 'Tis the season!

Autumn Equinox: Day 3

Another day of celebrating the Autumn Equinox, but another day of being too busy for festivities. I've got a feeling my posts this year are going to be totally dominated by food. Well... it is harvesttime.

Corn on the Cob

I started off the harvest season with corn on the cob (at the start of our Lammas celebrations), so it's only fitting that I'm rounding off the season with it as well. We've had a lot of sweetcorn in our Groobox deliveries this summer!

Autumn Equinox: Day 2

The second day of our Autumn Equinox celebrations, and unfortunately rain sort of stopped play for a bit today. The woodland walk I was meant to be leading this morning was cancelled, and then we had to move the Poetry in the Park session for the care home indoors. Still, the rain eased off in the afternoon, so not all was lost.

Autumn Equinox Celebration

In lieu of our planned Poetry in the Park event, I did an indoor Autumn Equinox Celebration at Castlerea Care Home. We had poetry, music, apple pies and lots of seasonal conversation.

Autumn Equinox Walk in the Woods

This evening, I led a woodland walk for Friends of Bailey's Wood to celebrate the changing seasons. As well as talking about the folklore and astronomy of the equinox, we also spotted some lovely signs of autumn, including conkers, acorns and very cute mushrooms. The sun was just starting to set as we finished the walk, which looked fabulous through the trees.

Autumn Equinox: Day 1

It's the first day of our Autumn Equinox celebrations for this year! I've got a few seasonal events and celebrations planned, but today was a work day so no festivities. Instead, today seemed to be all about eating as many sweet seasonal treats as possible. I didn't plan it that way, but it happened.

Apple & Cinnamon Baton and Maple Pecan Danish

I thought it would be nice to start the Autumn Equinox off with some seasonal pastries.

Toffee Apple Muffin and Iced Pumpkin Spice Caramel Macchiato

The internet went down at work today, so we decided to have one of our meetings in a coffee shop instead. And who I am to resist a new seasonal coffee menu?

Apple Pies

When we got back to the office, I remembered I'd brought in a box of apple pies as well. So that was the afternoon sorted!