Women in Horror Month 2024: An Interview with Catherine Cavendish

    What inspired you to start writing? I’ve been writing since I could hold a pencil so I think it must be in my genes. My late Mum used to write short stories so that may have been an influencer. What was it about the horror genre that drew you to it? I love the delicious scares and the fact that these are scares you know are all right. They’re not going to harm you, even though you daren’t raise your head from under the duvet when you’ve switched the light out. I love the compulsive storytelling, complex characters,…
Halloween Haunts: From Soul Cakes to Bones of the Holy–Halloween European Style by Catherine Cavendish

Halloween Haunts: From Soul Cakes to Bones of the Holy–Halloween European Style by Catherine Cavendish

I suppose, in some ways, I had a somewhat deprived childhood. Oh, nothing serious, but when I grew up in the northern English town of Halifax, nothing really happened on Hallowe’en. There was no Trick or Treating and no kids ran the gauntlet of their mother’s anger by tearing holes in her best white sheets to make ghost costumes. There were precious few Jack O’Lanterns. In fact, I don’t recall seeing many pumpkins around anyway. I do have a vague recollection of bobbing for apples round at a friend’s house, but that’s about as Hallowe’en as it got. So I…