31 Days of Halloween: Day 21

And another kind of quiet day on the Halloween front, with just another daily story and tea. I'm building up to much more at the weekend though!

Today's Story

Today's story was 'Evening Primrose' by John Collier. It reminded me a little of the Twilight Zone episode with the department store mannequins. Loved this one!

Today's Tea

Today's tea was Moonrise from Broom Apothecary. I found this one when we were staying in Bakewell last month - it's a camomile, rose petal, verbena and linden blossom herbal brew. And gosh, that's a relaxing cup of tea. I don't normally enjoy camomile tea but this one was absolutely lovely.

31 Days of Halloween: Day 20

Another day of Halloween in a very busy week (which is why I'm posting this one a bit late). Just a story and a tea for me today.

Today's Story

Today's story was 'The Veld' by Ray Bradbury. I think this might be one of my favourites so far. It looks like it's a story about out-of-control tech, but the horror turns out to a wee bit more domestic.

Today's Tea

Today's was Pumpkin Spice Chai Black Tea from Twinings. Time to get out the big cup... And just to say that if the retro packaging is making you worry I was drinking out-of-date tea, fear not! This is an import, so the packaging and design are different!

31 Days of Halloween: Day 19

I'm going to be posting this one a little late, as I've had a lot on this week and have fallen behind with my Halloween posts. Fortunately, I haven't fallen behind with my celebrations, so I've still got things to share!

Those Conspiracy Guys at Chapeltown Picture House

On Tuesday night, we were at Chapeltown Picture House to see a live show by Those Conspiracy Guys. Lot of laughs. Quite a bit of weirdness.

Today's Story

Tuesday's story was 'Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper' by Robert Bloch, which is kind of a joke at the expense of obsessive Ripper fans until the end, when it gets a little silly.

Today's Tea

Today's tea was Jack's Brew from Rosie Lea Tea, which promised to be toffee, pumpkin and liquorice flavour. And it was indeed toffee, pumpkin and liquorice flavour, and very nice it was too.

31 Days of Halloween: Day 18

Another day of Halloween, but another quiet one. Things are going to get busier later in the week, but today I'm content with my daily horror story and another Halloween-themed tea.

Today's Story

Today's story was 'The Words of Guru' by C.M. Kornbluth. This was another new one for me. It's very short but packs a lot into the space (quite a bit through implication and suggestion). It definitely leaves you with questions.

Today's Tea

Today's tea was Fairies Chapel from The Tea Crew, a green rooibos (don't think I've had one of those before) with fruit and berries. The lemon and raspberry give this one a nice sharpness and pleasantly light flavour. (And if you don't think fairies are very Halloween-y, you're reading the wrong fairy stories.)

Ten Tales returns to North Manchester FM!

I am delighted to announce that Ten Tales: Ghost Stories for North Manchester is returning to North Manchester FM for a second series this winter. Every Friday at 10pm, I'll be sharing a brand new and original piece of fiction, written by yours truly exclusively for North Manchester FM.

The nights are drawing in, and there's a bit of a chill in the air (or at least, you can imagine there is). It's the perfect time of year for old-school ghost stories on the wireless. Ten Tales belongs to the classic tradition of spooky seasonal stories... but with a uniquely North Manchester flavour. From Crosslee to Crumpsall, Hollinwood to Harpurhey, these stories draw on settings and history from around the local area, but with my own off-beat take on them. And they're (almost) all cosy tales for those darker nights.

Essentially... imagine if M.R. James had visited Dam Head estate instead of the British Library...

Ten Tales: Ghost Stories for North Manchester returns on Friday 22nd October at 10pm. The first story is entitled Redeem Thy Misspent Time. It's set in Blackley Village, where the church bells have started ringing again...

Episode List

Redeem Thy Misspent Time (Fri 22nd Oct)
Nocturne (Fri 29th Oct)
The Third Uncle George (Fri 5th Nov)
The Ice Palace (Fri 12th Nov)
Bradshaw's Vinegar (Fri 19th Nov)
Wireless (Fri 26th Nov)
Peril in Darkingford (Fri 3rd Dec)
Cream Crackers (Fri 10th Dec)
Nut-Nan in the Hazel (Fri 17th Dec)
One Hundred and Thirty Aged Men Sat Down to an Excellent Dinner (Fri 24th Dec)

You can listen to Ten Tales: Ghost Stories for North Manchester every Friday at 10pm on 106.6FM (if you're in the North Manchester area) or online (if you're further afield). Episodes will also be available on the station's 'Listen Again' service for a limited time after broadcast.

Draw the curtains, make some cocoa, try to ignore that rapping, tapping at your chamber door, and tune in the wireless for a brand new story every Friday night... only on North Manchester FM 106.6.

31 Days of Halloween: Day 17

A bit of a quieter Halloween day for me after yesterday's fun. I just stuck to my daily story and tea today.

Today's Story

Today's story was 'A Little Place off the Edgware Road' by Graham Greene. I've read this one before but forgot how much I liked it. The story is creepy, but it's the amazing setting that wins it for me. Brilliant.

Today's Tea

Today's tea was Mary Shelley from The Literary Tea Company, which promised to be an aromatic violet black tea (and I LOVE violet flavour). I wish I give you an idea of how good this smells. It's SO violety. I love it!

31 Days of Halloween: Day 16

My Halloween month continued today, though I'm a bit tired after the week so far! We had something cool planned for the day that I've been looking forward to for a while.

Chilling Cocktails

Rob and I had a day off which we decided to fill with cocktails and horror films. We tried out some of the recipes in Chilling Cocktails: Classic Cocktails with a Horrifying Twist by Jason Ward, and teamed them up with the films that inspired them.

Reckless 80s Teenager

We're starting our film and cocktail night with Friday the 13th, and a cocktail Jason Ward calls the Reckless 80s Teenager!

Scrèam de Menthe

Our next film and cocktail combo was Scream and a cocktail called Scrèam de Menthe! Welcome to the 90s!

Redrum

Our final film this evening was The Shining, and we had the cocktail Jason Ward calls Redrum. Now, you notice that I wrote our cocktail as 'Red Rum', not 'Redrum', on my board. That's because, ever since we went to Southport, Red Rum has been my favourite celebrity horse. My favourite Red Rum story is that, after he retired, he lived in a field with his best friend, Andy the donkey. Red Rum loved Andy, so I feel like he would've wanted Andy to have a cocktail named for him as well. And so our final cocktail of the night was an Andy. Because you can't have Red Rum without his best friend Andy, can you? (This one wasn't from Jason Ward's book. It's all my own invention.)

Today's Story

Today's story was 'Taboo' by Geoffrey Household, a werewolf story! Or is it?

Today's Tea

Today's tea was All of Them Witches from Tenacious Tea, another spiced apple brew. The spice in this one is distinctly clove-y, which feels very seasonal. (This one also has an awesome name, but it's actually only my second favourite name from Tenacious Tea... we'll get to my favourite later this month.)

31 Days of Halloween: Day 15

Another day of Halloween month... and I wasn't sure I'd have much to say in today's post, as I was out for a distinctly non-Halloween day trip with the residents of the care home where I volunteer. Still, I've got a couple of things to add to my month of celebrations.

Blackpool

I didn't think I'd be able to count the care home day trip to Blackpool today, as it was really sunny and not at all spooky. But then I saw some festive garlands on the North Pier... Happy Halloween!

Today's Story

Today's story was 'Dead on Her Feet' by Cornell Woolrich, a semi-hardboiled detective story that paints a rather gruesome image in your mind.

Today's Tea

Today's tea was Spider's Kiss from Rosie Lea Tea, a butterscotch and marshmallow flavoured black tea. My first thought was: spider's kisses sure are comforting. My second was: oh, this tastes a bit like H.P. Lovecraft. Both those thoughts make sense in context.

31 Days of Halloween: Day 14

My Halloween month continues! I have to admit after the excitement (and terror) of yesterday, I felt like I should take it a little easier today! But I still had some nice seasonal things to enjoy.

Halloween Gifts!

My mum got me a present to say well done for last night. How cute are these little fellas?

Myst Rum

For the past couple of months, me and my brother have been replaying the Myst games for the first time since they came out (although I think we only ever played the first two all the way through, and then part of the third one). So far, we're up to Riven, as we only get to play for a couple of hours on a Thursday, and we don't always get chance to meet up every week. It seemed only fitting to accompany our replay tonight with some Myst Drinks spiced apple rum liqueur. Tis the season after all!

Today's Story

Today's story was 'Suspicion' by Dorothy L. Sayers. I'm not sure if I've read this one before but gosh... I LOVED that ending!

Today's Tea

Today's tea was Spiced Pumpkin Pie from Suki Tea. It's a herbal tea, and it looks like you could just eat it straight from the packet! It's incredibly light and delicate, but not unpleasant for it. Not as spicy as I was expecting, but still a nice flavour.