31 Days of Halloween: Day 31

It's the big day... and the finale of my 31 Days of Halloween. Today wasn't quite as full-on as yesterday, but we managed to do a few final spooky season things to mark the occasion.

Dracula: Prince of Darkness

Despite today being the first time for ages we could have a lie-in (with an extra hour as well), Rob and I woke up super-early, couldn't get back to sleep and so ended up watching Dracula: Prince of Darkness at breakfast time.

Samhain Nature Walkshop

This afternoon I went on a Samhain Nature Walkshop with Natalie Rossiter Wellbeing in Worsley Woods. It was a mindful activity so I didn't take any pics to share on social media. But after yesterday's hectic schedule, I very much enjoyed the change of pace - forest-bathing in the rain FTW!

Ghostwatch

We finished our month of Halloween celebrations in style. We rewatched Ghostwatch in full for the first time since it aired in 1992, and joined in with #NationalSeance2021 Twitter conversation!

Today's Tea

Today's tea - the final Halloween tea in my collection - was Wolfsbane from Monster Mash Teas. Fortunately, this tea isn't actually made of wolfsbane (aka aconite) because it's poisonous to both humans and werewolves. This was actually a rather pleasant mint tea.

And that's the end of my fire-walking, forest-bathing, haunted whisky-tasting, cocktail-shaking, ghost-watching, tea-sipping month of Halloween.

31 Days of Halloween: Day 30

The big weekend is here! And today was a busy day, involving several costume changes and a little bit of performance (and some pumpkin pie!).

Litter-Pick in the Woods

In honour of the spooky season, the monthly Friends of Bailey's Wood litter-pick was a fancy dress this month. I went as an angel, for reasons that might become clear shortly!

Hannah's Bookshelf Halloween Special

The Hannah's Bookshelf Halloween Special was on North Manchester FM. I presented the shortlisted stories for this year's 3 Minute Scares competition and, as is customary, I presented the show in fancy dress (the other half of my two-part costume for the day).

Dinner with my Mother-in-Law

Rob and I were at his mum's tonight for a Halloween dinner tonight. We took the opportunity to show off our Cluedo costumes in person, and also to partake of her very special pumpkin pie. My costume was not the most comfortable, so I did change into a slightly less coherent outfit later in the evening (complete with Halloween headband, Billy the Puppet earrings, and an appropriately spooky dress).

Today's Story

Today's story - the final story (as my book of '31 Horror Stories' turned out to only have 30 in it) - was 'Corabella' by David Fletcher. A creepy-kids story with a great final line. A good way to conclude my Halloween story-a-day.

Today's Tea

Today's tea (the penultimate tea!) was Bram Stoker from The Literary Tea Company, a fruit infusion with morello cherries. It's blood-red, of course, and it tastes delightfully and dramatically of sour cherries.

31 Days of Halloween: Day 29

My Halloween month is about to go up a gear as we approach the big day. I've got a few things planned for this weekend, but Friday was a pretty busy day as well.

Dracula Film Afternoon plus The Raven

Today was the annual Halloween Afternoon at Castlerea House (the care home where I volunteer on Friday afternoons). I kicked things off with the now-traditional dramatic reading of The Raven, complete with audience participation. And then the big event was the film. This year, the residents voted for their favourite Dracula and Bela Lugosi won! I think there might have been something wrong with my popcorn though.

Fancy Dress Cluedo

Every Friday, me, Rob and my mother-in-law play Cluedo together online. In honour of the spooky season, we played this week's game in fancy dress. We each picked our favourite character and dressed up as them for the night. I think we did pretty well too - my mother-in-law knitted a 7' scarf especially for tonight, and I learnt how to tie a cravat! Rob's mask was truly unsettling, though and I don't know if he should wear it again.

Ten Tales

The second series of Ten Tales, my series of seasonal (and local) ghost stories continued tonight on North Manchester FM. The second tale in this series is called 'Nocturne', and it's set in Crumpsall.

Today's Story

Today's story was 'Not After Midnight' by Daphne du Maurier. By far the longest story in the collection, this one builds up slowly with plenty of intrigue and suggestion. Oh, and a slightly obnoxious narrator.

Today's Tea

Today's tea was We Are the Weirdos, Mister from Tenacious Tea, rooibos with orange, ginger and star anise.