This year, Halloween is going to be a bit quieter.
No lavish costume parties or guising means much of the social element of this time of the year is thrown out of the window, so what can we do instead?
I think this is the year that we look to the old ways of celebrating - with folklore and myth. The classic ghost story can be found in nearly all cultures across the world and folklore is interwoven into our daily lives with old wives tales, ancient monuments, fairy stories and local legends. Be careful where you step in the Borders, as Red Caps stalk our forgotten battlefields and crumbling pele towers waiting to claw at you, howls echo across the hills from ghostly hellhounds, and the Eildons themselves hide an entrance into the fairy underland. The Borders is a place of myth and legend, and I’ve not met many Borderers who don’t have a wee tale of a paranormal or supernatural experience that they’re willing to share. My own grandfather claims to have heard the stampeding hooves of a ghostly reiving party at Black House off the Yarrow Valley, and whilst he was a joker in his lifetime this wasn’t a tall story he made up for entertainment. Even he himself has perhaps been seen as a ghostly figure on occasion in our building.
As I am sure you are gathering from the above - I love ghost stories and myths. There is so much joy to be found in the sharing of them - but alas we can’t all gather around the fire for a night of storytelling, so instead lets look to our books. I’ve selected a few of the ones that I have been reading this month, as well as favourites from years gone by. Why not visit your local bookshop, and read one under the covers, if you dare!
The Haunting of Alma Fielding - Kate Somerville
Currently being featured on BBC Radio Four this week! Written as a story, but telling the factual events that happened in a paranormal investigation of a woman who was experiencing significant poltergeist activity in the 1930s. Was it genuine phenomena, or a brilliant fraud?
Cursed Britain - Thomas Waters
A very detailed look at the history of black magic and witchcraft in Britain. Not a ghost story itself, but still perfect for this time of year! I love my history and sometimes fact can be stranger than fiction. Who fancies a trip to Boscastle’s Museum of Witchcraft & Magic?
Hag: Forgotten Folktales Retold
I have yet to sink my teeth into this one as I only got my hands on a copy this week! A collection of reimagined folktales from Britain and Ireland, written by some of our most interesting women authors. I am particularly excited to read Imogen Hermes Gowar’s (author of the much lovedThe Mermaid & Mrs Hancock) contribution
Tom Cox is one of my favourite authors. Having produced several marvellous non fiction books, this was his first foray into fiction. A selection of short stories, I was so gripped by ‘Help the Witch’, that I initially forgot that it was just a story. What resulted was a feeling of genuine discomfort and terror - which did return when the backstory deepened in the later non-fiction ‘Ring the Hill’. For music lovers, there is also an accompanying concept album.
A Tomb With a View - Peter Ross
Another excellent nonfiction, with a darker theme. I will disclose that my childhood bedroom overlooked a graveyard (Of course it did. On reading this back I am starting to think my general weirdness & predisposition to anything spooky isn’t so strange) so I don’t find graveyards to be chilling at all. Instead they are peaceful havens full of whispers of the stories of past lives. Maybe it’s the archaeology degree coming out but - who is buried here? How did they live, and why did they die? This is the perfect book for anyone who asks the same questions. As an aside, if the subject intrigues you then keep an eye out for future performances of The Dark Carnival, a wonderful theatre piece that is as multifaceted as our real human lives are. Comical yet moving, showcasing the light and dark of our everyday lives. I would love to see it again - but there is also a fantastic album available to stream on Spotify. Listen to it with a whiskey, and perhaps a tissue for the more emotional moments.
The Silent Companions, The Corset & Bone China - Laura Purcell
Three recommendations in one! Laura Purcell is quite clearly another of my favourite authors, and essentially introduced me to gothic fiction outside of the usual suspects of Frankenstein, Dracula, etc. Once started, each book has to be read in one go because I couldn’t bear ‘not knowing’. The stories are brilliant & well developed - not sacrificed for the sake of gore or horror . The scares do indeed come though, ‘The Silent Companions’ was essentially a white knuckle ride and ‘Bone China’ left me considering whether to sleep with the lights on. I am really looking forward to Laura’s next book ‘The Shape of Darkness’ coming out next year, even more so because it includes a pug called Morpheus. Even if everyone else dies, let Morpheus live! Or perhaps ‘live on’ is the better turn of phrase….!
The Coffin Path - Katherine Clements
Ghostly phenomenon set in an isolated hilltop house on the moors. I don’t think I need to go on any further - a very good twist at the end that I really didn’t see coming. Funnily enough, I think about this book every time I watch ‘Our Yorkshire Farm’.
Paranormal Intruder - The Terrifying True Story of a Family in Fear - Caroline Mitchell
This is an apparently true story, and it is brilliant. The phenomena described is pretty daunting - reading it is like being stuck in a particularly demented episode of Most Haunted. Definitely calls to memory ‘Pipes’ from Ghostwatch. Even if you are a sceptic, I think you can still enjoy the ‘what if’ possibility that many of these books touch on.
I think I could go on and on with recommendations - whilst I am a wimp when it comes to scary films, clearly I am a glutton for punishment when it comes for scary stories. Whether a real life experience or just really good fiction - I want to hear and read it all! If you too are looking for something slightly more atmospheric to celebrate All Hallow’s Eve, then I hope something from the above catches your eye. Let me know what you think!
On a final note, the second full moon of this month falls on Halloween itself this year. We celebrated the Harvest Moon at the start of the month, however this full moon is known as the rather more chilling ‘Blood Moon’.
Sleep tight.