Word Soup 6 - Spooky Soup

Word Soup for those STILL not in the know is Preston's very exciting and newly spooky live lit night at the Continental.

It was also last Tuesday. So for those who weren't there and for anyone who wants to relive the magic, here's my (admittedly not very) spooky round up of the best Soup yet.

This month's music came from Annie Tiley who performed her own historical songs, often with a murderous element, and covered Johnny Cash. She said that she doesn't particularly want to be known as a spooky singer but her performances of her slightly sinister songs made her a perfect Halloween choice.

The first reader was poet, Ron Sowcroft, who has won acclaim from the Guardian Books Website for his poetry and shortlisted for the Bridport Prize. He entertained with poems about bats, Halloween and nuclear holocaust.

Following him was Peter Crompton, one of the open mic performers from Word Soup 3, now with his own performance slot. The reading started on familiar territory with an impassioned reading of his work: 'I'm a Skeleton,' followed by a very on-theme and very funny poem about witches who use brooms for pleasure (yes, that kind of pleasure) and 'My Really Bad Rocky Horror Themed Party' based on, well, you can guess.

Unfortunately Ramsey Campbell was unable to attend due to the dreaded flu that seems to be doing the rounds but our super red tighted compere spectacular, Jenn Ashworth stepped in to the breach. She managed to more than fill Ramsey's big shoes with the first ever performance of a chapter from her not-even-published-yet-it's-so-new novel, Cold Light.

It featured a spooky flasher in a Halloween mask and the true horror of mid 90s teenagers frosted make up. It seems that Cold Light is going to be just as good as, 'A Kind of Intimacy.'

After the break and just a little gin, it was the turn of the open micers.

This month they were...

Norman Hadley - who read poetry set in a judgemental second hand bookshop

Max Henry -  who read a seafaring tale told from two perspectives

Rachel McGladdery - who read the true and (I feel so wrong for typing this but trust me) funny story of how her Dad broke the news he had AIDS to her.

Next up was Rob Shearman, Doctor WHO scriptwriter and winner of the World Fantasy Award for his first short story collection, Tiny Deaths. He read a story from the collection about a woman who gives birth to antique furniture whenever she gets pregnant. As well as being funny and a bit sinister, it was surprisingly moving. Have a look at the video and let me know what you think.

And finally, Word Soup and Manchester Blog Award finalist, Richard Hirst , presented his multimedia spectacular, The History of Zombies which charted zombies from their origins in 1963 through a period in slavery to acceptance in modern society through the medium of many many hand drawn pictures of zombies.

Next Word Soup is on the 17th November and is on the theme of Old, so get your open mic thinking caps on! If you can't make it to the event, make sure to follow it on Twitter.

This post was written by Melanie Webster who likes pineapples, black tights and people commenting on blogs.

All video is credited to Norman Hadley.