Every year, some religious leader makes a really ridiculous comment about Halloween. For 2010, the prize goes to the Rt. Rev. David Gillet, Bishop of Bolton, who 'wants people to come away from Halloween's darker side'...

The Telegraph has announced a ghost story competition, with judges novelist Susan Hill, Andrew Franklin, Managing Director of Profile Books, and Lorna Bradbury, Deputy Literary Editor of The Daily Telegraph. For details of the competition as well as Susan Hill's commentary on the art of the ghost story, see http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/8093081/Telegraph-ghost-story-writing-competition.html?utm_source=tmg&utm_medium=TD_8093081&utm_campaign=culture3010

English Heritage has, according to the Guardian, 'given the official seal of approval' to this year's Whitby Gothic Weekend ...

An interesting article about the relaunching of Hammer Horror with the filmic remake of Let the Right One In can be found here: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/77035cd4-e2bd-11df-8a58-00144feabdc0.html Being a Hammer-fan of old, I cannot wait to see the film.

For more ideas on carving your pumpkin, see Ray Villafane Studios: Ray's Pumpkin Carving tutorial at http://www.villafanestudios.com/pumpkins.htm

H.P. Lovecraft opens his essay ‘Notes on Writing Weird Fiction’ with the following declaration: My reason for writing stories is to give myself the satisfaction of visualizing more clearly and detailedly and stably the vague, elusive, fragmentary impressions of wonder, beauty, and adventurous expectancy which are conveyed to me by certain sights (scenic, architectural, atmospheric, etc.), ideas, occurrences, and images encountered in art and literature. I choose weird stories because they suit my inclination best—one of my strongest and most persistent wishes being to achieve, momentari

The third in the Gothic Imagination Film Series: Coraline Monday 1 November, 4-6 in Pathfoot B17. Informal discussion afterwards. Everyone welcome. Organiser is Sarah Anderson at saa00051@students.stir.ac.uk

Boy meets girl. Boy gets girl. Boy kills girl?

Neil Gaiman proposes that, since there are so few traditions that involve giving books: on Hallowe'en or during the week of Hallowe'en, we give each other scary books. Give children scary books they'll like and can handle. Give adults scary books they'll enjoy....

I've got a particular interest in the ways figures of folklore are appropriated for Gothic or Horror, and so was intrigued to see that La Llorona, the Weeping Woman, has been taken up by Universal Studios and given her own 'Scare Zone' at this year's Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights.