Monthly Archives: October 2012

In which the Author talks about Haunted St Andrews on Halloween…

 

 

Poltergeists. Secret mummified corpses in the Haunted Tower. Apparitions of the White Lady and other distaff spectres. Death warnings. Doppelgangers. Vortices of invisible evil.

 

All these subjects will be present and correct on Halloween night when I’m the guest of Abertay Historical Society at the St Andrews Preservation Trust Museum, 12 North Street, St Andrews, KY16 9PW.

 

The illustrated talk starts at 7.30pm and a small charge is made for non-members. Places are limited – it’s a small museum – so book a place at 01334 477629, or email curator@standrewspreservationtrust.org. Copies of Haunted St Andrews will be available for sale on the night.

 
 

In which the Author spills blood all over the Daily Mail…

 

 

‘Murder and Mayhem in the City where the Streets Ran with Blood’. Phew, you don’t get many headlines like that. That’s the introduction to a piece on my new book The Bloody History of Scotland: Edinburgh that appeared in the Daily Mail on Monday, October 22. You can read the full piece here, or by clicking on the image. The article is reproduced by kind permission of the Daily Mail and journalist Jim McBeth.

 

And a quick reminder that I’m giving an illustrated talk based on The Bloody History of Scotland: Edinburgh at Blackwell’s Bookshop, South Bridge, Edinburgh, on November 6. The event, which will have time for book signing, starts at 6.30 and tickets are free – details from the City of Literature website.

 
 
 
 

In which the Author turns up at the Whitefield Halloween Festival…

 

The Whitefield Halloween Festival in Bury, Greater Manchester, lasts for more than a week, with an impressive range of activities and events. On Wednesday 24th October I’m taking part in what is billed as a “Horror Writers Q & A”, a three-way event with fantasy novelist Ian Graham and Scott Stanford author of The Darker Side of Oz and Abaddon Rising.

 

The event is at the Welcome Inn (61 Bury Old Road, Whitefield, M45 6TA), starting at 7pm, and there will be ample opportunity for the audience to quiz the three of us – aspiring writers welcome. And if you turn up early at 5pm, you’ll catch bearded-weirdie cryptozoologist Richard Freeman talking about his adventures “In Search of Real Monsters” – definitely worth catching. See www.halloweenfest.org.uk/ for full details, follow on Facebook and check out the launch party video on that there YouTube.

 

In which the Author talks bodysnatching at Bellshill…

 

On Thursday 25th October I’ll be lurking with intent at the Bellshill Cultural Centre, talking about the history of Scottish bodysnatching, possibly with an element of audience participation.

 

The event starts at 7pm and is free, Booking not essential but advisable, on 01698 346770. The illustrated talk is part of the North Lanarkshire Cultural Festival, Encounters.

 

Is that graveyard dirt on your hands, sir…?

In which the Author has hi-jinks in a stately home…

 

 

My thanks to everyone who came along to Haddo House on Saturday 20th October, for my talk on ‘Sex, Lies and Poltergeists’. Good audience, good questions.

 

Thank also to the organisers, Public Image Events and the National Trust for Scotland, as well as the writer Allan Burnett, who gave us an excellent ‘Crime Tour of Haddo’ after the event.

 

Below you’ll find a few quick snaps from the event!

 

 

 

In which the Author heads off for Haddo House and the Unsolved Festival…

 

A quick reminder that on Saturday 20th October I’m appearing at ‘Unsolved’, Aberdeenshire’s Crime & Mystery Festival, which is taking place at the stately home of Haddo House near Methlick. Amidst the murders and crime writing, the films, and CSI tours of the house and gardens, at 4pm you can find me in the grand library (sadly without Colonel Mustard and a candlestick) talking about ‘Sex, Lies and Poltergeists’.

 

Aberdeenshire has the second oldest poltergeist case in Scotland, and I’ll be giving details of episodes from the 17th century to the present day, drawn from Haunted Aberdeen, The Guide to Mysterious Aberdeen, The Guide to Mysterious Aberdeenshire (all for sale on the day) and the forthcoming Poltergeist Over Scotland. Expect rains of stones, inundations, apports, wall-shaking noises, flying furniture and other inexplicable terrors, plus a fair dose of poltergeist hoaxing and fraud, as well as sexual shenanigans.

 

Tickets are £6 (£4 for concessions) and can be secured via the National Trust for Scotland website www.nts.org.uk/unsolved, or by phoning 0844 4932179. #

 

Programme for the weekend – Unsolvedleaflet2012