31 Days of Halloween: Day 30

And now the penultimate day of our Halloween celebrations. It was the last day of celebrating with Rob, as he had to work on Halloween itself, so we had some nice things planned for the evening together.

Today's Tea

Sunday's Halloween tea was the wonderfully named A Nightcap on Elm Street from Tenacious Tea! It's Ceylon and Pu'er teas with cacao husks, coconut, coffee beans and cornflower petals. It's a very unusual but really quite moreish brew.

Today's Story

The penultimate classic tale of horror this month was 'The Japanned Box' by Arthur Conan Doyle.

‘Blood Month and Virgin Queen’

Looking ahead to November, I read 'Blood Month and Virgin Queen' from Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun.

Samhain Forest Bathing

I went to a really great Samhain forest bathing session on Sunday, run by Natalie Rossiter Wellbeing. The session ended with tea, parkin and reflection around a fire. I feel like I really needed this.

Eyeball Bath Bomb

Eyeball bath bomb from Bomb Cosmetics!

Halloween Dinner

We had our Halloween Dinner tonight because of work commitments on Halloween itself. Rob made us an amazing and very seasonal Pumpkin and Sausage Casserole!

Halloween Gifts

We exchanged our (now) traditional Halloween cards and gifts. These are the final seasonal whiskies for the sets we'll be enjoying at Christmas.

31 Days of Halloween: Day 29

On to Saturday now, and another busy day with several costume changes!

Today's Tea

Saturday's tea was the final vial from my Rosie Lea Tea gift set... Wolfsbane! It's green sencha with sea buckthorn and cornflower petals. Wow, I've had more sea buckthorn than I was expecting this Halloween!

Today's Story

Saturday's classic tale of horror was 'The Damned' by Algernon Blackwood.

‘The Modern Hallowe’en’

I read another chapter from Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun on Saturday... 'The Modern Halloween'.

Litter-Pick in the Woods

It was the monthly Friends of Bailey's Wood litter-pick on Saturday morning, and in honour of the spooky season, fancy dress was encouraged. Am I fleeing the Castle of Otranto? or am I on a community litter-pick? It's hard to tell!

Hannah’s Bookshelf Halloween Special

Saturday was also the day of my Hannah's Bookshelf Halloween Special on North Manchester FM, featuring the shortlisted (and winning) entries for this year's 3 Minute Scares competition. And, as is tradition, I presented the show in fancy dress!

Dinner with my Mother-in-Law

And it was Halloween Dinner (potato pie), dessert (pumpkin pie), and a film (The Lost Boys pie) at my mother-in-law's on Saturday night.

31 Days of Halloween: Day 28

Friday was quite a busy day for me. Mostly, it was work stuff, but there was still time for a good bit of seasonal celebration too!

Today's Tea

Friday's Halloween tea was Spooky Halloween Spice from Tea-Adora! It's black tea with ginger, coriander, cinnamon, orange peel and cloves!

Today's Story

Friday's classic tale of horror was 'An Inhabitant of Carcosa' by Ambrose Bierce.

‘Saints and Souls’

The next seasonal chapter of Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun that I read on Friday was 'Saints and Souls.

Halloween Film Afternoon

We had the Halloween party at Castlerea Care Home this afternoon. I did my annual dramatic reading of The Raven (with audience participation), then we watched The Mummy and drank a brew of Dried Mummy's Brains!

Fancy Dress Cluedo

Friday night Cluedo with my mother-in-law at Halloween can only mean one thing... it was the return of Fancy Dress Cluedo!

31 Days of Halloween: Day 27

Another very late blog post, but I'm determined to catch up! We're into the big weekend now, so there's a lot to cram into these posts! I'm up to Thursday now.

Today's Tea

Thursday's Halloween tea was Mystischer Hexen Tee from Sonnentor. It's got Hanfblätter, Zitronenverbene, Krauseminze, Ringelblumen, Spitzwegerich, Rosenblüten und Zitronenmelisse!

Today's Story

Thursday's classic tale of horror was 'In the Penal Colony' by Franz Kafka.

‘Samhain’

I returned to Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun on Thursday, to read about this season's festivities. I started off with (obviously) the chapter titled 'Samhain'.

Tonight's Halloween Look

Thursday's Halloween look was a wee bit more colourful and a wee bit less creepy than the previous ones!

Ghost Story Read-Along Live

I did my final Facebook Live video for my Ghost Story Readalong on Thursday. The readalong was a lot of fun (for me, at least). I'm really glad I chose Ghost Story to reread, as I'd forgotten how many things I like about. And I think the fact that I talked non-stop about it for nearly FOUR HOURS this month proves that!

Halloween Earrings

Thursday's Halloween earrings were my pink planchettes!

The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue

I had such a lovely evening on Thursday, out for a screening of The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue (possibly my favourite zombie film ever) at Chapeltown Picture House.

Live and Spooky Campfire Stories (Cat Cavendish)

The final Campfire Stories video from Flame Tree Press was on Thursday, and it was Catherine Cavendish reading an excerpt of her new novel Dark Observation. I've had a lot of fun watching these and discovering new writers to read!