Faffing Friday Edition #22 But Make It Spooky
Trick or Treat stats, the power of women, real life horror and ghost stories, spooky streaming watchlist recs and my little Quaintrelle 👻
We ran out of our supply of trick or treat sweetie stash in super fast time last night. Something has changed. Our neighbourhood seemed overrun with more little ghouls and werwolves than usual. We had to stop answering the door by about 6.30pm as we had nothing left. I was looking forward to sweeping up the usual leftovers of ‘ket’ as we call it in our family.
Consumer spending for the event is forecast to be £776m this year, says the price comparison site Finder, up from YouGov’s estimates of about £12m in 2001.
That’s a lot of Haribo!
I woke up yesterday morning to this in my Insta feed from the wonderful
These words really resonated with me as it reminded me of some of the thoughts I shared in my Ted Talk. It should be live on the Tedx platform in a couple of weeks btw .. eek .. I’m so excited about that.
I’m still on Cloud 9.
Saoirse Ronan broke a part of the internet this week with a real life scary story so many women can resonate with ..
Movies and books wise I love the horror/gothic genres and tbh there’s not much that really scares me unless it’s about real life paranormal that can’t be explained. That’s why I’m too scared to read ‘The ghost story that has haunted my life.’
I feel as if it might be a bit too close to home of a story of my own. One that I’ve never written down. If you are brave enough to read let me know 🙈
I’ve started collecting ghosts this year from The York Ghost Merchants.
York Ghosts are individually packaged in exquisite travelling boxes featuring a hand drawn Ghost Merchants shop, to make the ghost feel at home on its journey from the Shambles to far away places. The Original York Ghost is wrapped in an 1852 map of York, and our Little York Ghost comes in the “Boo” box with oval gilt edged viewing aperture.
I managed to wait long enough in one of their online queues earlier in the year to get me a little limited edition spook. There were just 5,000 made.
My little ghost is known as The Quaintrelle.
How apt is this description…
‘Quaintrelle’ was a word used for a woman who ‘Embraces a life of passion, expressed through personal style, leisurely pastimes and cultivation of life’s pleasures’. A Dandizette of sorts, seeking decadence in the most fashionable way permitted ( and most likely, not permitted). This fancy Ghost has a veil of deep rose and palest lemon, swirled elegantly across a chartreuse body.
You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve wanted to buy a ghost when I’ve been in York but the 2 hours+ queues are not for me no matter how much I wanted one.
I’m hooked now and want another one to keep her company 👻
STREAMING RECS 🍿 I always have a growing watch list of horror /spooky/gothic movies or tv series.
Current list of unwatched include:
The Substance with Demi Moore - a fading celebrity takes a black-market drug: a cell-replicating substance that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself.
Agatha All Along Season 1 - part of the Marvel Universe - Kathryn Hahn plays the selfish, sardonic and hilariously petty witch Agatha Harkness, When a mysterious goth teen saves her from a spell she's been trapped in, she assembles a coven of witches so they can together undergo a series of trials that will grant them each what they most desire.
From Season 3 - a bit of a binge for you if it’s new to you. The residents of a small town struggle to find a way out when mysterious unknown forces keep them from leaving.
Apartment 7A - a prequel to iconic Rosemary’s Baby.
The Radleys - The Radleys are a seemingly average family with a juicy secret: they're vampires.
I have however watched the latest Salem’s Lot and I’d recommend you give it a wide berth. I was so disappointed. Almost 2 hours of my life I’ll never get back.
Right, I’m off to add Haribo to the weekend shopping list.
Happy spooky season .. nearly Christmas now 🤣
Lots of love,
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