As part of their Halloween weekend supplement, the The Press and Journal interviewed me about Halloween!
It’s my favourite time of year, so I was glad to oblige 
Here’s the link – https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/lifestyle/4943035/halloween-aberdeen-shetland-psychic/
Pauline Cordiner, a spooky storyteller from Aberdeen
Every neighbourhood has one: the house that goes all out for Halloween.
Proudly taking the honours in Garthdee is Pauline Cordiner, a professional spooky storyteller who brings north-east folklore and history to life in schools, community groups and at events across the area.
“In every neighbourhood there is always that one house that is decorated from top to bottom for Halloween and all the kids flock round for sweets,” laughs Pauline.
“Well, we’re that house so I’m going to light a fire pit in the driveway so the children can toast marshmallows and I’ll tell some Halloween jokes and stories.”
‘Halloween changed my life’
Halloween is a milestone moment in Pauline’s life as it was on October 31, 21 years ago, when a storytelling event changed her life forever.
“I used to volunteer at Archaeology Link Prehistory Park near Oyne and they were looking for people to tell stories for Halloween,” says Pauline.
“I was shy, unable to stand up in front of people and talk, but for some reason, I found myself volunteering for this and it just went swimmingly.”
Unlocking her storytelling spirit, Pauline left her job as a laboratory chemist for Shell to pursue a career in the spoken word.
Poltergeists
Now her terrifying tales and haunted history capture the imaginations of adults and children across the north-east.
“It’s such a rewarding occupation, people seem to have this attitude that stories are for children and very often parents will come up and say I really enjoyed that,” says Pauline.
And with Halloween only days away, Pauline is keen to share some of the spine-tingling local folklore she has dug up through her meticulous research.
One fascinating tale dates back to 1825 when a man who lived in Longside near Mintlaw was tormented by a poltergeist.
“The man claimed he was being tossed in his bed and sheets would be thrown off him,” says Pauline.
“Everyone at the time thought he was a bit highly strung and an attention seeker.”
Gory murder
Face lighting up as she tells the tale of how a local news reporter spent the night at the house with friends, witnessing flying buckets and bowls and the sound of rocks raining from the ceiling, it’s easy to see how Pauline enthralls people with her storytelling.
Determined to get to the bottom of the story, Pauline delved deeper into the history of the site and made a startling discovery.
“What I then looked into was if anything had happened in that house before and I found that in the neighbourhood there was a woman who was murdered by her lover and it was quite a gory murder,” says Pauline.
“The woman was a widow and he was her lover.
“She was widely believed to be pregnant with his child and he came by her house and asked her to go for a walk before church on Sunday, and when they were down at the river he pushed her in and held her down, and she bobbed up and she managed to swim downstream, and he crossed the river and got a stick and basically bludgeoned her about the head until she went down again and drowned.
“After that there were other stories about a woman trying to beckon men off the road, pointing to the river.”
Another Halloween story Pauline enjoys telling is a bit more light-hearted.
“During Victorian times, there was a bit of a fashion in Stonehaven where people would dress up in sheets and run around the streets and graveyard,” laughs Pauline.
“It’s was all quite Scooby Doo.
“One chap who decided to run round the streets dressed up as a ghost was chased by a group of people down the main street and into an alleyway where he was captured by a fish wife who was smoking her pipe.
“She pulled the sheet off him and he was dealt with.”
Through her work, Pauline hopes to show that storytelling is for everyone.
“For people with additional support needs or those who are neurodiverse, the revelation that you don’t need to write to tell stories is huge,” says Pauline.
“For me to be able to stand there in front of them and tell a story without there being a book, a script, I think that’s quite an eye-opener for a lot of people.”
For more information about Pauline go to her website.
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Pauline Cordiner - Scottish Storyteller 