It may have been a dreich day yesterday, but the pupils of P6/7 at @hazlehead_primary_pc fair cheered me up with their enthusiasm for their stories and workshop!
The school is exploring different cultures through their sports and so we had two tales – one about a Sumo wrestler and another about a Heeholua (Hawaiian Lava Sledding) race!
#ScottishInternationalStorytellingFestival
#SISFStoryRipple2022
#SISFStoryRipple
Johnny and I were particularly chuffed last night to be asked to judge the Halloween poster competition at Middleton Park Nursery and Primary School Parent Council‘s Halloween Spooktacular!
The pupils had put in SO much hard work – from Nursery all the way up to P6. As a storyteller I was particularly taken with this one of Baba Yaga’s house! 
What a wonderful night I had last night at Middleton Park Nursery and Primary School – the Parent Council and the school organised an amazing evening for all the pupils (and their grown ups!)
As well as telling spooky stories with the help of an annoying fairy (you know who!) and a grumpy skeleton (aye he was there too), I got to judge the Halloween poster competition – which was really tricky with all the impressive entries!
The school got some funding from the Scottish International Storytelling Festival‘s #SISFStoryRipple and in return their good deed included a book hunt around the school grounds (books all donated by families and locals in the community)!
Book Week Scotland runs from the 14th to the 20th November – I still have some availability that week if you’d like to book a storyteller for your school, facility or club! 🙂
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/
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 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.
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.”
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.
I’ve got two storytelling sessions coming for our friends at HANDSS as part of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival‘s #sisfripple
And what a wonderful good deed that they’re doing in return? I totally love it! (And hint to the team – the worse the joke, the MORE I’ll love it 
)
They have looked at the reason HANDSS is in existence, which is to develop the social skills of kids attending the club. “We will tell jokes for a month, to brighten up the month of November and make little recorded voice clips of children telling their jokes to share on social media and the children can also share their jokes face to face with people that they meet.”
Hallowe’en is now well and truly on its way and with it come the spooky stories!
I’m doing a number of private events, but here are some of my upcoming spooky storytelling sessions
On Sunday 30th October, I’ll be telling Ghostie Stories in Aden at 4.30pm for young witches, warlocks, ghoulies and their grownups! – unfortunately this event is sold out, but do watch out for other storytelling sessions at Aden Country Park Mintlaw AND they have HEAPS of other Halloween activities this weekend so do have a look at their page and events!
The evening session for adults only (Aden’s Terrifying Tales!) is back for another booked out session – but don’t worry if you’ve been before… There are some new stories and haunting tales from further out in the Shire to be told!
On Tuesday 1st November, I’m excited to be making a return visit to TClub – Special Needs Tuesday Club in Peterhead where Cauld Johnnie (recently turned into a book by Epic Tales!) will be making an appearance! – this is just one of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival#sisfripple funded events coming up in the next few weeks!
On Thursday the 3rd November I’m going to be at Middleton Park Nursery and Primary School for their Scottish International Storytelling Festival#SISFRipple event and can’t wait to entertain all the pupils and their grown ups with spooky tales!
Finally on Friday 4th November, The Grampian Association of Storytellers – GAS is holding one of its Scottish International Storytelling Festival events with the Elphinstone Institute – 5 local storytellers for the price of one! Sheena Blackhall (Poet), Diana Peers from Once upon a tune, Jackie Ross from Jackietales, David Brown from Half Man, Half Myth – Storyteller and myself!
More details here – https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=462333925938043&set=a.462332462604856
What a fantastic and busy weekend! 
On Saturday I was telling stories and doing some living history up at Aden Country Park in Mintlaw for the The Book of Deer Project. This was then followed up by some ghost stories for the grown ups with Derek Jennings.
And on Sunday I was telling stories at the Stonehaven Tolbooth Museum which linked very neatly into some of the items in the museum – of course I was too busy and didn’t get any photos, but had some fantastic audiences!
Here’s some photos 
The car is all packed for tomorrow’s storytelling and living history at Aden Country Park!
Butter Making, grinding flour using a real medieval quern stone, making clay pots and exploring dye – cannae wait! Some tickets still available, only £2.67!
Tickets for 2pm session – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stories-and-hands-on-activities-for-families-tickets-252087549647?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
Tickets for 3.30pm session – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stories-and-hands-on-activities-for-families-tickets-252089445317?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
For those of you who haven’t seen it, here’s a link to the full programme of events relating to the Book of Deer’s return to the North East of Scotland. It’ll be displayed at Aberdeen Art Gallery from the 2nd July to the 2nd of October 2022, but there are events happening all over the North East – including, of course, our storytelling and living history events this coming Saturday and the 14th July
https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/AAGM/whats-aberdeen-art-galleries-and-museums/book-deer
Pauline Cordiner - Scottish Storyteller 