Hallowe’en 2007

Anyone attending the meeting of the Thames Valley Writers’ Circle on 30^th October could be forgiven for assuming they had entered a Witches Coven. In the darkened room, lit only by candles, the outlines of cauldrons and broomsticks could be made out with many of those seated around the room wearing tall pointed hats. It was of course the annual optional Halloween competition for stories and poems of horror and gore.

No fewer than seventeen members read their contributions with the aid of a wind-up torch and one member even told his story using a power point presentation. Adrian Faulkner took first prize with a poem entitled ‘Trick or Treat’ in which the door is opened to an ever increasingly alarming set of visitors demanding ‘trick or treat’. It’s the only time in the year that Adrian’s writing rhymes and scans. His poem can be read by clicking here. Runner-up was Duncan Howard with ‘Dear Prudence’ and taking third prize was Jo Baker with ‘Night Riders’.

The evening’s proceedings were completed (with the lights up) by Neil Somerfield with a display of ‘Psychological Mysteries’ during which he accurately predicted member's thoughts and randomly selected lines from books. Now that was really scary!