31 Days of Halloween: Day 29

A slightly quieter day today, but still chock-full of Halloween goodness!

Samhain Forest Bathing

Just perfect Samhain forest bathing session this afternoon with Natalie Rossiter Wellbeing, finding beauty in decay, sycamore for protection and messages in the trees, then soul cakes, mulled apple juice and reflection by the fire.

Autumn Charm

One of the things we did on today's Samhain forest bathing was to make up our own plant folklore. The idea of let-go leaves and holly to prevent the holding of grudges seemed particularly apt, so I collected some up and made myself a little autumn charm.

Halloween Cupcakes

Halloween cupcakes!

31 Halloween Films: Resident Evil

Back to our film list this afternoon, and the random number generator has decreed that we are watching Resident Evil this evening!

Halloween Dinner

We had our traditional Halloween Dinner tonight... Pumpkin and Sausage Casserole!

Halloween Gifts

And after dinner, we exchanged our traditional Halloween gifts... the final two whiskies for our seasonal tasting sets that we'll have in December.

31 Halloween Films: Dracula: Prince of Darkness

There is a small chance we won't make it through all of our list by the end of October, but for tonight, we have Dracula: Prince of Darkness.

31 Days of Halloween: Day 28

Very big day today, with several outfit changes. So much Halloween. So much.

Bailey’s Wood Halloween Litter-Pick

It was the Friends of Bailey's Wood Halloween Fancy Dress Litter-Pick in the woods today. So I went dressed as... Bailey's Wood.

Hannah’s Bookshelf Halloween Special

This afternoon, it was the Hannah's Bookshelf Halloween Special on North Manchester FM, when I played the shortlisted stories for this year's 3 Minute Scares competition (and revealed the winner, of course). As is tradition, I was in fancy dress for the show, and I decided to go monochrome this time.

British Library Weird Fiction Subscription

I've signed up for a monthly British Library Tales of the Weird subscription, and the first one arrived this weekend. It's The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson! (Can't promise my hair will match the cover for every month though!)

Halloween Dinner

Halloween dinner with my parents tonight... autumnal stew and dumplings, followed by apple cake.

31 Halloween Film: Urban Legend

S-S-S-SOMEONE'S IN THE BACK SEAT!!

31 Days of Halloween: Day 27

I had a day off today (partly to catch up with my sleep after all the events this week!). Plenty of time for Halloween stuff in the evening though!

Library After Hours

We had an amazing evening at Chetham's Library tonight for a Library After Hours tour. Love this place!

Fancy Dress Cluedo

Fancy Dress Cluedo is back for the third year! Woohoo! And the third year of me having to Google how to tie a cravat!

31 Days of Halloween: Day 26

Today was a long day. And even though there was only one Halloween event, it was a big one (and one I've been looking forward to/nervous about) since we came up with the idea at the end of the summer.

A Nightmare on Nelson Street

Tonight was A Nightmare on Nelson Street, our Halloween event at the Pankhurst Centre. I led visitors on a spooky walk up Nelson Street, sharing weird history stories (including bodysnatching, a medical museum, and a surprising story about the past life of 62 Nelson Street), then we came back to the Pankhurst Centre for hot cocoa and Tales of the Spookiest Suffragettes!

31 Days of Halloween: Day 25

Today was a very big day, with three separate (and very different) events on the cards. We also did some festive stuff at home afterwards, as we moved into the final week of celebrating.

Crumpsall Park Halloween Story Walk

I led another Halloween Story Walk this morning, this time for Friends of Crumpsall Park. This was such a fun event to do - loved working with the kids to come up with a spooky story about the park. The Crumpsall kids did come to a different conclusion than the Blackley kids on Monday though... they decided I must be the werewolf! One of the kids drew a picture of me as a witch, being transformed into a werewolf by a tornado and it's my absolute favourite thing.

Castlerea Halloween Film Afternoon

We had our annual Halloween Film Afternoon at Castlerea Care Home this afternoon. This year we watched Frankenstein Created Woman, with spooky movie snacks of course. I also did my traditional dramatic reading of 'The Raven' for the housemates (with audience participation)!

Green Quarter Weird History Walk

I led a Halloween weird history walk for GRUB MCR tonight, taking walkers from Angel Meadow to Red Bank and telling tales of bodysnatching, swimming baths, ragged schools and railways along the way.

Samhain Candle

We lit our Samhain candle from Chalice Creations tonight. Rose, sandalwood and orange to scent the season.

Pumpkin Lantern

Rob carved our pumpkin lantern tonight! And what a fine lantern he is too!

Little Gem Squash

Another lovely recipe for our Groobarbs Autumn Squash Box... South African Style Baked Little Gem Squash!

31 Halloween Films: Saw

Tonight's film from our Halloween list was the one we were sort of thinking would come up last Saturday! But it was so good to watch Saw again after seeing Saw X!

31 Days of Halloween: Day 24

It's the one day this week when I don't have a Halloween event to do, so it's just a fairly standard day at work for me. Okay, it was a little bit festive!

Halloween Soreen

Lunchtime Halloween malt loaf, because nothing says lunch better than a vampiric cyclops cherry!

Spaghetti Squash Pasta Bake

More squash antics with our Autumn Squash Box from Groobarbs! Tonight's tea was Spaghetti Squash 'Pasta' Bake. First time we've had spaghetti squash as a pasta substitute!

31 Halloween Films: Ginger Snaps

The random number generator has decreed that tonight we're watching Ginger Snaps tonight!

My Year in Books 2023: October

Okay, so it's a very short post today. 31 Days of Halloween doesn't always leave much time for reading. That said, I did read one book, and it was a very good one!

In case you're curious, here are the rest of my reviews for the year so far: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September

Ghostwritten by Ronald Malfi (2022)

There was a lot going on this month, so I knew I wouldn’t get chance to do a lot of reading. But I was keen that any reading I did was right for the season. And I think I made a very good choice! I got Ghostwritten in one of my Abominable Books boxes, and it’s been sitting on my to-read pile since then, just waiting for the right time! It’s a collection of four (almost) standalone novellas, each focused on a book or story that is cursed in some way: an unpublished manuscript, an old book that needs to be delivered to a new owner, a book created by a lonely child, and a choose-your-own-adventure game. I knew that the subject matter would be to my taste, but I was really taken with Malfi’s writing. Although the novellas differ a little in terms of their tone, there’s a distinct style and voice that I found really enjoyable. I was completely immersed in each one, and so I couldn’t pick a favourite (though some of the descriptions of places in The Dark Brothers’ Last Ride were just perfect). I say these are ‘almost’ standalone, as they are set in the same ‘universe’. There’s a very subtle overarching narrative that links them, and I really enjoyed the light touch Malfi uses to create this. There are tiny hints to another story that isn’t told in any of the novellas that was beautifully intriguing and sinister. Overall, this is perfect Halloween reading!