The big difference between the Théâtre du Grand Guignol and a Hookland Shocker is that Grand Guignol plays rarely featured supernatural elements. In Hookland, the supernatural gets everywhere. A modern murder would naturally be preceded by a historical tale of suicide by Faery torment.

The Shockers are English Grand Guignol - owing much to the horror tradition of Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre. Titus Andronicus is the theatre of blood. Horror shows were not an invention of the French - though they added many refinements.

While Hookland has a history of traditional pantomimes, it also has a tradition of Christmas ‘Shockers’. Akin to Théâtre du Grand Guignol, these horror shows are known for their bloody mix of folkore and true crime. A typical ‘Shocker’ will flip from Clapperclaws to gallow-ghost murderers.

This was deeply humbling.

When you come across a forgotten grave in that part of the boneyard that has already been reclaimed by the wood it was once cut from, your memory for superstition sharpens. You recall unbidden how if a name is erased on a stone, the dead below wake. – #MattAdams, 1981

Thank you Anne.

Roast Perry recipe:
Perry, use a dry perry like Burridge’s Cunning Hill
Some pear brandy, maybe Gentle & Daughters Witch’s Tears
Gently heat in a pan, add some brown sugar if you must
Add orange zest and spices - cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, cloves
Heat for 30 minutes and then give to the Bone Horse.

Yes, I like roasted perry even more, but there is no Pear Man on the tree - such is the constant neglect of the pear as prince of archaeophyte English fruits.

The Apple Man may be one of my favourite Hookland Christmas Tree ornaments, but that might partly be due to my fondness for roasted cider.

Day 9 of the #HooklandChristmasTree has us pulling the Apple Man from the box, finding him a branch. A painted china charm of him sleeping in his tree, a group of boys at its base whipping and hollering to wake him. How else to get apples for roasted cider to feed the Bone Horse?

Thank you.

Thank you Ruth.

Thank you Elizabeth. And to them.

The consulting magicians of the Wolf Parlour - offices in Hebden Bridge, E17 and Atlanta.

Wow.

That would be a very different comic. I mean, I used to be Mr. Grasso’s boss in the days we would give presentations to Scotland Yard about terrorism and drink with Richard Harris and try to explain comics to him so I know how mad that story gets with you, me and Mr. Grasso.

In my head there is an Old Gits comic where a trio of bickering specialist occultists get called in to sort out the messes of the WitchTok curse the moon generation … that just happens to owe something to those three.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And that mate is my three effing spirits as well.

Thank you Tamsin.

Thank you.

Thank you Eva.

Thank you Ed.

Thank you Tom.

Bear update: liver in worse state than Ollie Reed, but doing a little better each day.

Hookland might be the only county Nokes where the journalists ask: “Was it curses?” and: “Were there any bite marks?” at a press conference about a murder enquiry. - #DICallaghan in conversation with #DSNokes