Why are we so fascinated by haunted houses? They crop up again and again in pop culture and I feel like it’s one of the first spooky things we discover as children. Most episodes of Scooby-Doo have some form of haunted house going on, after all.

I haven’t had a Netflix account for at least a year, but when I (briefly) reactivate it this winter, I’ll be paying a visit to some old favourites, because if there’s one shining light in Netflix’s library, it’s the horror series.

Did you know that Halloween isn’t an American invention? It actually began in Britain and Ireland as Samhain, an ancient Celtic festival that heralded the beginning of winter and the ‘darker half’ of the year.

In Irish storytelling traditions, the supernatural is entwined with the natural world (including the various traumas inflicted on the land, from invasion to famine). Here are three of my favourite stories.

The Ashkenazim have a long and dark history combined with living in Central and Eastern Europe. This has led to a rich folklore full of forests, doppelgangers, and questions over the complexity of a human soul.

Is witchcraft inherently feminist? Is the relationship even a good thing? And what does it mean nowadays to be a witch? Let’s look at the past, the present, and the personal, with reference to one of my favourite books.

From Charles Dickens to Daphne du Maurier, I love a quick spinechiller. Yes, I know, it’s nearly summer, but here are my six spooky short story suggestions, ideal for a skin-shivering quick read under a parasol…

Among the most intriguing things I learnt, as it was repeated many times over, was that there were more ghosts per square mile in England than in any other country in the world. But why should this be the case? – Roger Clarke, A Natural History of Ghosts