Mark Rees

A bit like this one towards the end - that was part of its charm!

Final day of Porthcawl Fair, final ride on the ghost train. It won't be the same without you, Coney Beach! 👻🚃
(Full video coming soon!)

Getting Gothic in Margam Castle, at the heart of a very autumnal Margam Park. 🎃🍂
PS Save the date: I'll be doing a very exciting ghosts and folklore event here November the 1st!

Treated myself to a little Gothic reading. Purely for research purposes, of course. 🦇

Hello pumpkin! 🎃🍂

Happy October the 1st! 🍂🎃
And with that, a cold breeze filled the air…
#Halloween

Temperate rainforest restoration project to begin in Cornwall Cornwall Wildlife Trust is to begin a temperate rainforest restoration project at its 150-acre site near Looe.

Temperate rainforest restoration project to begin:
"Cornwall Wildlife Trust is to begin restoring a temperate rainforest habitat near Looe... The trust said its 150-acre site was 'an ideal location' due to its humid valleys and 'rare and important species'
www.bbc.com/news/article...

‘She wrote the best first line – and the most chilling stories’: Stephen King on the dark brilliance of Daphne du Maurier From Rebecca to The Birds and scores of creepy short stories, Du Maurier was queen of the uncanny, writes the US horror maestro

Stephen King on the dark brilliance of Daphne du Maurier:
‘She wrote the best first line – and the most chilling stories’
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/s...

Welsh folklore tells us to take care tonight:
"Michaelmas Day was credited with uncanny power in Wales. There was an old superstition that on this night the Cistfaens (warriors' graves) were illuminated by spectral lights for the ghosts of ancient warmen were engaged in deadly fray."

Friday night with Welsh National Opera... happy weekend!

Libraries - Swansea Our libraries offer a range of services, including access to hundreds of council services online.

Halloween (Nos Calan Gaeaf) is a time for ghost stories — and Swansea has plenty to tell:
🎃 Morriston Library: 20 Oct 11am
🎃 Killay Library: 24 Oct 11am
🎃 Oystermouth Library: 24 Oct 2.30pm
🎃 Gorseinon Library: 27 Oct 11am
Venue details here: www.swansea.gov.uk/libraries

Halloween in Wales: History, Folklore & Swansea’s Most Haunted Places 🎃👻
Very pleased to be touring Swansea this spooky season with four spine-chilling talks for Swansea Libraries.
Free entry and maybe a few goosebumps along the way - full details below! 👇

Ghost sculptures return to haunt city centre
"More than 50 ghostly sculptures will haunt streets and green spaces in York this autumn, as a popular history trail returns."
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... #halloween

Porthcawl Elvis Festival, Wales - Europe's largest event to celebrate the King of Rock 'n' roll - is nigh. The charity shops are certainly ready! 👑

Charlie Brown x Halloween III: Season of the Great Pumpkin 🎃💀🧙‍♀️
🎨 Jeremy Allison

National Trust reports bumper apple and pumpkin crops at its sites Near-ideal conditions have led to high yields at some of the country’s best loved orchards and walled gardens

No need for the Wicker Man this year:
"National Trust reports bumper apple and pumpkin crops at its sites"
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

"An Autumn Lane" 1886 🍂🌙
John Atkinson Grimshaw
A hauntingly atmospheric street scene from Victorian artist John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836–1893).
As the nights draw in, golden autumn days are just around the corner…

Happy Autumn Equinox!
It's the first day of autumn, when day and night will be roughly equal length.
Days will get shorter, nights will get longer, and all coffee will be pumpkin spiced.
Farewell summer, hello spooky season... 🍂🎃
#autumnequinox #halloween

"All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds."
Loved WNO's revival of Bernstein's Candide just as much as the premiere in 2023 - bravo!
#wnocandide

Impressive pumpkin collection - quite a harvest!

Getting Gothic in Cowbridge 🪦
A lovely evening at Holy Cross Church for Brahms’s Requiem, performed by English Chamber Voices to close this year’s Cowbridge Festival.
Quick wander round the graveyard first, too — as you do!

Hello pumpkins 🎃 🍂

Autumn leaves, Neath Castle 🎃🍂

The hidden benefits of pumpkin spice Americans spend upwards of $800 million on pumpkin spice items every year

Now THAT'S a headline that makes me feel much about my autumn drinking habits:
"The hidden benefits of pumpkin spice" 🎃
www.independent.co.uk/life-style/h...

Pumpkin spice, autumn waves.
Happy Monday, all... 🎃🍂

100 days until Christmas. ❄
The Mari Lwyd is coming... 🐴

I'll be kicking off the new season of Dracula Lunchtime Bites with a talk on the Sublime Landscapes of Dracula this Wed. It's free and online - book a ticket here! 🧛‍♂️🦇
www.ticketsource.co.uk/draculalunch...

Opening night of WNO's new production of Tosca at a wet and windy Wales Millennium Centre!
Starring Swansea’s own Natalya Romaniw in the title role, it’s wonderfully dark and moody.
Full review in the Western Mail soon...
#wnotosca #opera

Did you know... there's a tiny Dracula statue hidden in Hungary? 🧛‍♂️
Perched just outside Budapest’s Vajdahunyad Castle - a building inspired by Transylvanian fortresses - this little bronze statue shows Count Dracula reading... Bram Stoker’s Dracula! 🦇

Good morning from Switzerland! Who needs an alarm when you have cowbell?