A wonderful evening of ghostly stories at Curio Bookshop in Oxford. I performed three inc The Signalman by Charles Dickens, and my own. Sitting in a veil at the front of a room is a good way to get people to be quiet; I should have done this at primary school! @DickensMuseum

Xmas is a perfect time for ghost stories! Come to a special evening of terrifying tales at Curio Bookshop in Oxford, where I and Catrin Lawrence, will be your storytellers. Be prepared for a delightful evening of chills...and not because of the weather! Link to tixs in the pic.👻

Pumpkins: Halloween is one night. Tonight. If you have to waste a food item (and I strongly suggest you don't), please put it out for one night, then safely dispose of it. Please DO NOT put it out for the wildlife. Once you've handled it, cut it, left it out in the open,

Most had either experienced something themselves or knew someone who had. This blog post summarises these spooky tales. What better way to approach Halloween on this blog than to follow their fascinating conversation? https://t.co/XrRvVTVMJh #Halloween #spooky #Supernatural

On 24 October 1812, Eleanor Porden wrote fascinating account of an evening spent with her family’s close friends, in which they discussed superstition and the supernatural, particularly the possibility of possessing the gift of Second Sight.

#HappyHalloween !!! If you want a big scare, and one set in #Oxford, please check out my book, which is 4 years old this month!!! Thanks @foxandinkbooks for the mention 👻🎃👻

Happy Halloween! Our last Spooky Read is @sampopewriter's The Haunting of Lindy Pennyworth. This is spooky lit at its finest - paranormal rituals, Victorian haunting and a family curse. ⁠ Get a copy via the link in our bio if you're brave enough!⁠ ⁠ #Haunting #YA #Halloween

Thank you so much, @Oxonlibraries for displaying Lindy with these excellent scary stories for Halloween! It made my day seeing this! @foxandinkbooks

Thank you @frankcottrell_b for highlighting this. As an English lit/Spanish lit grad, who teaches literature, I'm horrified by current attitudes towards arts subjects. We say it's awful that children don't read anymore but don't fund the arts. And then politicians say this.

Spooky, but beautiful: the northern lights glowed through the cloudy Manitoba night sky 🌌✨

Britain has 2,800 food banks

Night after night, something has been moving our mini-pumpkins in our garden. We set up a camera and caught the culprit! (S)He comes every night, multiple times a night, and either carries or noses them down to the other end of the garden! @ChrisGPackham @BBCCountryfile

And just to add a special shout-out to the wonderful archives I've had the pleasure of visiting over the past four years of my research: @DerbyshireDRO, @bodleianlibs, the Royal Academy of Arts, the #CairdLibrary @RMGreenwich, @britishlibrary, who all do amazing work!

Happy World Letter Writing Day! To mark this occasion, here's a brief write-up of some of the letters I read @bodleianlibs today, between William and Eleanor Porden and various correspondents. Turnips make a very odd appearance!

Not the biggest fan of the named @CocaCola bottles as I always feel I'm stealing someone else's but in France it's been fun to pretend I'm Anaïs.

If you're a member of @RMGreenwich, please come to my talk tomorrow, 6.30pm, on the life of Eleanor Anne Porden! She's done much more than *just* being married to John Franklin - she was an acclaimed poet and fascinating person. Hope to see you there!

Happy Brexit referendum anniversary day. It weakened the economy. Reduced investment. Tanked the pound. Damaged the City. Increased red tape. Increased immigration. Decreased the rights of the young. Staffed billions wasted. But hey - Johnson has PM on his CV and his partner in

Is this rubbish by my street meant to look like #DonaldTrump ? 🤔

I completely agree with this by @AnthonyHorowitz in @Telegraph. The difference I saw in a decade working in a school library was astonishing and depressing and led me to stop doing a job I once loved. https://t.co/EB9kFNxUbV

we need to see a more honest review like this of some of the more blatant offenders. Part of the reason why I stopped being a children's librarian was because I was becoming disillusioned with the tripe being marketed at children (not just from celebs). They deserve better.