Folkestone Garden Centre

If terracotta pumpkins are your thing and you wish to add some spooky decorations to your garden then the Wyevale chain of Garden Centres in the UK are selling pumpkin and skulls that you can place a tea-light in. And the bonus is they don't rot! (Although I would take them inside, e.g. a shed or greenhouse over winter just in case the frost causes them any damage).

Sunday 2nd November 2014

Folkestone Zombie Walk 2014

Well despite the intentions of the town's former mayor and some evangelical types that think they know best, all the hoo-ha in the local newspaper trying to ban the walk on the grounds that it disrespectful to the dead or hospital patients only served to make the walk bigger and better!

So well done to Planet Folkestone for organising another great free event that can only add to the reasons to visit Folkestone - and on top of all that raise money for the local hospital. And to all you nay-sayers who can't differentiate between fictional characters and reality... get a life!

So here are some of the pictures from the day's festivities.

So roll on next year's zombie walk, and may there again be participants from toddlers to pensioners. May there again be the variety of undead that we've seen this year, from Minecraft zombies to vegetarian zombies (Quorn brains only please!). Let there be fantastic make up from scars to beer can's embedded in someone's head. And let there also be fun and topical humour - yes there was a zombie with a sign saying "I survived Ebola"!

Saturday 1st November 2014

Happy Halloween 2014

Friday 31st October 2014

Halloween Party pumpkins 2014

Well I've been a bit lax in putting on party photos this year but here's a taster of the pumpkins people brought along last Saturday...

Tuesday 28th October 2014

Halloween Home Bargains

I'd not been in this store before and the Halloween decorations were much of a muchness as with other bargain stores, however I'd been tipped off that there were pumpkin spiced candles. There were two sizes of spiced pumpkin candle and a smaller apple & pumpkin scented candle. Also there were refills for the Airwick plug-in that was Sweet Vanilla & Pumpkin scented and for the Glade spray air freshener that was Maple Pumpkin scented. So worth buying some samples before they all sell out.

Saturday 11th October 2014

Terror and Wonder at The British Library

If you are in London and in the vicinity of St Pancras or Euston you might want to spend 60-90 minutes of your time visiting a newly opened exhibition at The British Library. Just in time for Halloween, it chronicles the history of gothic imagination from Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto published in 1764 to the current day.

The exhibition contains many first and early editions on books on display together with other diverse exhibits including: the original 'wererabbit' from the Wallace & Grommit film, to a letter by HP Lovecraft, film posters and set designs from Hammer films, a letter purportedly sent from Jack The Ripper to the police, manuscripts from such authors as MR James, prints of works by such artists as Henry Fuseli and film clips from the likes of Bride Of Frankenstein, The Innocents and The Wicker Man. Clive Barker has also lent some items for the exhibition too.

Well worth a visit and there's plenty to buy from the shop too!

Friday 10th October

Asda leads the way... again

The biggest aisle of decorations of the big four supermarkets. Yes most of it is edible stuff that can be found in competitor stores, but Asda just manages to do that bit extra. A larger selection of partyware (cups / plates / shaped plastic beakers etc) or a greater choice of costumes including adult costumes. And there are always some fun items... I was quite looking forward to possibly buying some of the ravens, but sadly they weren't lifelike enough for me and were a bit too cute, however the haunted vintage phone looked fun!

However look further away from the Halloween aisle and other goodies were also to be had. I picked up a t-shirt that had a print on that makes me look like I've been disembowelled and in the music section there are several compilation CDs of Halloween music at £5 each or 2 for £9. Now I have a large collection of Halloween tunes from the 1920s to present day but there were some tracks on this years choice of compilations that even I didn't have. So I spent £14 and walked away with 9 CDs of Halloween music!

Thursday 9th October 2014

Tesco Halloween 2014

Not quite as good as a few years ago when they had plenty of different CDs of Halloween music from all different eras, or last year when they had some metal tea-light holders that were good value for money.

Again the costumes a sweets are all there. The only thing that I found somewhat unusual this year was the Gorgon's animated head.

On a really positive note though, Tescos are selling Reeces Peanut Butter Pumpkins for 65p each!

Thursday 9th October 2014

Sainsburys possibly underwhelms at Halloween

Popped into Sainsburys today and felt discombobulated. It's strange that you can be underwhelmed or overwhelmed but never just whelmed! If that was a state then I guess that would be where I found myself. There was plenty of sweets and costumes but nothing that really set the world alight, and in the store that I visited there wasn't even any Indian Corn that you could buy for decorations like in previous years.

There were some glass tea-light holders and the witch wasn't badly designed, but there was nothing that I would call exceptional this year.

Thursday 9th October 2014

Selfridges get into the Halloween Spirit

All the major supermarkets in the UK now seem to have their decorations out. I haven' bothered to take pictures of the sweets as they are fairly generic, but am to give a quick low-down on some of the other goodies!

So let's do the high-class store first! Selfridges tend to be a bit more expensive, but this year they've put out some of the more unusual items so far.

Of the more interesting goodies were a salt and pepper set both in the shape of glass skulls, glass skull shot glasses, a card trivia game, brain ice cube moulds, wooden plaques and zombie cookie cutters. Yes they are a bit expensive compared to other shops... but if you are shopping in Selfridges, I guess you already know that!

Thursday 9th October 2014

Halloween breakfast cereals

I noticed this packet of Shreddies in the supermarket on Sunday. Limited edition cinnamon flavoured Shreddies. Nice packaging.

Monday 6th October 2014

Halloween Beer - Part 6

Well I have just returned from Belgium so here are some of the Halloween themed beers I've found this year. The Black Witch ale came from Morrisons who were a bit light on seasonal beers but then it is the start of the month and they are usually the best place to go nearer Halloween.

Fantome beer was an artisan beer from Belgium which was a tad more expensive, but worth it both in taste and bottle design. 

I had seen Quintine before with the witch logo, and Lucifer and Belzebuth have had redesigns this year, but the Zombi porter is a new one on me.

Monday 6th October 2014

Morrisons Halloween 2014

The UK supermarket has put out its usual wares. Nothing outstanding for the collector, just the usual partyware and sweets.

Monday 6th October2014

Marks & Spencer's Halloween 2014

Was in a Marks & Spencer store last week and saw the below display of Halloween merchandise. There were other displays of edible goodies - usual stuff although there were some pumpkin shaped jelly sweets made for vegetarians without the usual pig gelatin.

I didn't buy anything but the cauldron shaped sign looked nice as did the now annual pumpkin piñatas. I already have cake cases and lights but if I didn't these might be worth a look. Also there was a 'pin the nose on the witch' game to keep children amused which seemed well illustrated.

Monday 6th October

Halloween Weather Vane

Well it went up about a month ago... I just haven't got round to putting a picture of it up on here yet!

Saturday 27th October

Another uninspiring TKMaxx halloween...

Every year I used to look forward to finding a TKMaxx store rammed with different and interesting halloween decorations - items not normally available in the UK. Often TKMaxx would be the first shop to put out their decorations. Some items were large and justifiably a bit expensive, but still worth having for the fact that it was unlikely that any of your fiends would have them at their halloween parties. Yet in recent years it seems that the local TKMaxx's have bypassed halloween and moved straight on to Christmas decorations. In the Folkestone store there was nothing (although some cupcake cases had been spotted by a friend earlier in the week). The Ashford store just had this solitary sad looking stand...

Sunday 21st September 2014

John Lewis Halloween 2014

Again, the usual fare you'd expect from John Lewis. A bit more tasteful than other outlets, but this comes at a price. The tea-lights that hang from metal spiders' web holders are nice, but I picked up something similar from Clintons last year with hanging pumpkins. The terracotta pumpkin is probably the best item on offer, but commands a price tag of £15! There is a metal haunted house again into which you put tea-lights... but again it is smaller that the really good one sold 3 or 4 years ago - and again it is covered in that horrible glittery paint. The rest of the items range from sweets to partyware.

Sunday 21st September 2014

Clintons Halloween 2014

The costumes and cheap tatt doesn't appear to be out yet in the Folkestone store! The candles are nice but expensive, and this year I'm not that impressed by the ceramics as I was last year... but there is promise of more stock over the next few weeks.

Sunday 21st September 2014

99p Store puts out its Halloween decorations

The usual cheap fare as you would expect. Nothing out of the ordinary or of exceptional quality worth buying to keep. But still one of the cheapest places to go to kit out a party with disposable decorations and paper plates.

Tuesday 9th September 2014

Halloween decorations hit Poundland

Well in the UK, the prize for the first shop I've seen with Halloween decorations in goes to... Poundland. The picture below just shows the tea-light holders, which come in cat, ghost and pumpkin designs as well as some cylindrical designs. There were also two more sections with the usual make-up and costumes.

Nearer the time, I'm sure the aisle will expand as more items get put out. Also Poundland usually do some interesting horror DVDs too; so let's hope this continues in 2014.

Monday 8th September 2014

Krampus postcards!

A lucky find at a local Antiques Fair today! Three original Krampus cards for £10 that would normally cost £10 each. A bit early for Christmas, but worth posting!

Sunday 7th September 2014

H G Wells in Sandgate

Yesterday I had a surprise phone call from someone wanting to attend a lecture I am giving on 11th September at St Martins Church Cheriton on authors that have written about Folkestone and the surrounding areas. The gentleman in question also asked whether it would be possible for me to plug a local exhibition at my talk on H G Wells, who is one of the authors I will be covering anyway. As a bit of mutual publicity never did anyone any harm, I agreed and popped down to the exhibition in Sandgate this morning to check it out and drop off a poster publicising my talk.

It is only in a small shop with a room at the back showing a short audio visual film, but it is very well put together considering the space available and they are selling plenty of H G Wells novels, booklets and other items. Admission is free and the exhibition is running for about 6 months, opening from 10-4. It seems the exhibition is staffed by volunteers and hasn't had a formal opening just yet or got any posters or flyers printed. It won't take you a long time to look around and watch the film - 30-45 minutes should be ample time - but it is well worth a visit if you are interested in H G Wells and his connection to this part of Kent.

The exhibition is about 6 shops along from the Chichester Hall on the north side of Sandgate High Street, opposite the Riveria Court block of flats. So go visit it and support a local group that is passionate about local history and this great pioneer of Science Fiction.

Saturday 30th September 2014

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Day of Syn 2014

Well, sadly the weather certainly conspired to defeat the smugglers on the 50th anniversary Day of Syn at Dymchurch.

A few dozen hardly souls braved the rain at The Ship pub for the introduction of the characters and this number had swollen to a couple of hundred for the gathering and battle on the slipway about an hour later, but the sodden weather damped spirits somewhat and I confess I didn't even make it to the recreation ground this year, preferring the comfort of the Ocean Inn where Dead Horse Morris were performing indoors rather than outside in the car park.

It was good to see local artist Terry Anthony selling his latest Scarecrow print from within the Smugglers Chest shop alongside his other prints and postcards. However after last year's excellent art exhibition in the Village Hall which featured a lot of Dr Syn inspired art - this year the Dr Syn themed art was almost absent, which was a shame. (There was just one table on which the art was themed for the day.)

That said, if the weather had been better, then there would have been a lot of good things to be said about the day. The colour programme was the most professional booklet produced for these events that I'd seen - perhaps a proof read for spelling errors might not go amiss next time though!

Sadly the tide was in so there was no prospect of a beach battle and the sea too rough for the smugglers' ship to land on the slipway but pockets of smugglers did have skirmishes with the redcoats who were firing from the safety of their Martello Tower.

On a plus, the fair-weather character of Jack Sparrow was conspicuous in his absence. One had heard a rumour that he would not be attending for fear that his mascara would run! And for his absence alone this Day of Syn felt more like a proper Day of Syn than for many a year. A proper 'Thorndike' Day of Syn where the key character is the Scarecrow and not some kiddy-friendly effete Disney pirate. A Day of Syn free from mincing!!!

So, a soggy Day of Syn, still enjoyable for the die-hard fans. But you had to feel sympathy for all those participants costumed up who would have been soaked to the skin, or for the shops and businesses whose trade would have suffered due to the low numbers of visitors. Roll on Day of Syn 2016!

Monday 25th August 2014