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Download the NCTX Buses app now. credits contents Off ice Onesie Alan Gilby ([email protected]) Editor-in-Chief Jared Wilson ([email protected]) Editor Bridie Squires ([email protected]) Editorial Assistant Emily Thursfi eld (emily.thursfi [email protected]) Designer Natalie Owen ([email protected]) Sales and Marketing Manager Ash Dilks ([email protected]) Sales and Marketing Assistant Ashwin Balu ([email protected]) Ghost Town DogDaze What’s The Deal? 15 16 A howlin’, trippy tale of 21 A twisted Notts version of a Creative Digital Assistant Spooky doors, paranormal pugs, bishops and transform- tarot card deck for you to check Curtis Powell ([email protected]) entertainment and real-life ghost-bustin’ boggers are afoot ations in a ruff alternate reality out what your future holds Videographer Georgianna Scurfi eld (georgi.scurfi [email protected]) Art Editor Alex Kuster ([email protected]) Ayup Duck Get Your Acts Together 8 Notts news straight from the fowl-mouthed duck, plus 30 Celebrate Just The Tonic’s birthday by reading about Fashion Editor Overheard in Notts and City Stylin’ Johnny Vegas in a Santa outfi t Anna Murphy ([email protected]) Snap Notts Literature Editor 10 Tunnin’ Up Pictures and a poem that capture the student nightlife 33 Poetry, expanding horizons and opposing austerity are LP Mills ([email protected]) and tomfoolish charm of Lenton some of Lytisha T’s daily goings-on Poetry Editor Aly Stoneman ([email protected]) 13 A Keymaster in Notts Our Nottingham Things A bloke who designs escape rooms tells of ghoulish 34 Poetry workshops and the locals’ favourite stuff meet Stage Editors secrets and psychopathic musings Julie Andrews and The Sound of Music Hazel Ward ([email protected]) Dom Henry ([email protected]) 18 Abbey Endings 37 Music Reviews Screen Editor A history of death at Newstead Abbey, and a chat with Featuring Juga-Naut x Sonnyjim, Paul Ibboston, Chloe Ash Carter ([email protected]) The White Lady who haunts it McShane, J. Cooper and Theorist Sports Editor Realm of Darkness 39 Noshingham Gemma Fenyn ([email protected]) 19 Don’t stamp your feet too hard, or you could end up in We ventured to Kean’s Head, Cosmo, and Lagan, one of the many caves of Notts hoping for no horror stories the next day Photography Editor David Hammond ([email protected]) 24 Farah Kandaker Poster 40 Stuff To Do Cover and Poster Nottingham is re-imagined with creatures and ghoulish All the spooky and normal-ish events you shouldn’t Farah Khandaker (@fkhart) fi gures lurking abaht the place miss before and on All Hallow’s Eve Art Works More Stuff To Do 26 Take a look at a henna tattoo and a charcoal illo, and 41 Interns Photographers All the goings-on, and our Screen Editor’s F For Film read about this issue’s cover artist Rachel Forrest John Ahmed column on Mayhem Film Festival Rachael Halaburda Mann Hans Dan Lyons Tom Morley 29 Improv On The Goose Is Loose Eve Smallman Mike Zimorski Twenty-year-old troupe MissImp explain that improv 46 Will a hero answer our call to stop the rise of the isn’t as scary as this October issue machines? Writers Illustrators Hannah Beresford Raphael Achache Alexandra Eva Brudenell Chrysotomou Barend Harris Joseph Earp Mark Leary Benjamin Knight Leosaysays Scott Lomax Rikki Marr featured contributor thanks to all our members Darrell Martin Jenny Mure Hannah Mawla Alex McDougall Chris McLoughlin Ryan Orridge Adrian Reynolds Natalie Mills Corrina Rothwell Adam Chippendale, Alex Dick, Alison Evans, Amanda Simons, Ryan Muress Emmy Smith Unnecessarily tall, and Andrew Cooper, Andy Kitt, Barb Raynor, Barbara Morgan, Baz Sam Nahirny prone to headgear, Byfi eld, Bryn Attewell, Carol Williams, Chris George, Chris Adrian Reynolds LeftLion’s Blather writer Middleton, Chris Rodgers, Chris Sloandog Sloan, Christopher Nick Tyler Adrian divides his time Chant, Craig Durbin, CTRL Entertainment, David Cooper, David Georgina Wilding between freelance writing Knight, Dom Henry, Duncan McKenna, Elizabeth Watkins, Emma jobs Alan Partridge would Bowden, Frances and Garry Bryan, Geoff C, Helen Stirland from turn down, and having a the Kilpin, Ian Brewster, Ian Chaplin (a good egg), James Cooper, crack at whatever strikes Jayne Tinsley, Jeremy Gibbard, Jerome Robinson, Jim from Lee LeftLion Magazine has an him as interesting. In the & Fletcher Coff ee, John Dabell, John Shaw, Jonathan Woodcock, process, he’s become Joshua Sayers, Julian Bower, Kaye Brennan, Liam Clark, Livi and estimated readership of one of Basford’s leading Jacob Nieri, Manon de Moor, Mark D, Mark Durkin, Matthew 40,000 and is distributed to mesmerists, and scripted Riches, Justin Clark, Mum/Kay, Nicola Greer, Nicola Williams, short fi lms and stuff for Nigel Cooke, Nigel Tamplin, Paul Argyle, Paul Jarman, Paul over 350 venues across the city theatre, comics, and telly. Spicer, Peteandreet, Philip Radnell, Qanon TheGreatAwakening, of Nottingham. You can check out White Lily, an eleven-minute story of Rachel Hancorn, Ray Sharpe, Richard Goodwin, Ron Mure, Ruth doomed love set on a spaceship, on Amazon Prime. It’s on McIntosh, Simon Blackham, Stephen Legg, Stuart Wilson, The YouTube too. He knows more weird shit than is good for a Smiths, The Team at Toast Nottingham, Toni Price, Tormund If your venue isn’t one of them, man, and was a support worker at a homeless hostel for a Giantsbane, UK Young Artists, Zoë Cooper few years. or you’d like to advertise, If you’d like your name printing in every issue, plus loads of Read Adrian’s words on pages 8 and 16 of this issue. other LeftLion gifts and perks, hit up the website below: contact Ash on 0115 9240476, email [email protected] or adrianinspires.com leftlion.co.uk/members visit leftlion.co.uk/rates leftlion.co.uk/issue106 5 editorial Happy October, you beautiful people. What a whirlwind few weeks it’s been. Coming at you live from Sneinton Market, it is I, LeftLion’s Editorial Assistant and designated biscuit scoff er, Emily Thursfi eld. How do you do ? Last month, Bridie decided to lay down her keyboard and boggered off on holiday, leaving me, an overdramatic worryguts, in charge of the whole operation. While she was sunning it up in Lisbon and eating her weight in pastel de natas, I was trying my hardest to keep it together and not have a tantrum. Luckily for you, copious amounts of peppermint tea and a few quick pets of the off ice dog kept me sane long enough to produce this rag for your lovely lot. Welcome to LeftLion’s most spine-chilling edition yet; the spooky special, if you will. The cooling down of the country’s climate inspired us to channel our love of eerie autumn festivities, and tap into the undiscovered world of the weird and wonderful for a magazine full of ghosts, haunted histories and a demon pug in Bishop’s clothing. Creepeh. Let’s start with the cover. This pile of cutesie creatures you see before you was dreamed up by Farah Kandaker, illustrator and all-round evil genius. Known for her ability to make even #LookUpDuck the scariest of monsters look endearing, Farah had plenty of fun conjuring up critters to Grim is as grim does. lord over the city for the next month. It’s best you keep an eye on ‘em, mind; they’re unruly photo: Tom Morley boggers, and have a tendency to leap off the cover and go running around the pages, looking for treats. Find out about Farah’s graphic novel, Cat Ghost, on page 26. After a spot of digging, we found out there’s been plenty of paranormal happenings going off at Newstead Abbey, so we stuck on our investigation cap and got right into the building’s gruesome history on page 18. We even managed to track down the White Lady of Newstead for a chat; she’s been fl oating round the place for yonks and has let us in on her story. We’ve also got an exploration of Notts’ secret caves by Joseph Earp, and our City Archaeologist Scott Lomax gives us a heads-up on the developments surrounding the underground kingdom. Continuing with the phantasmal vibes, you can discover your life’s fortune over on page 21 with your very own set of Nottingham tarot cards, and our Literature Editor LP Mills got more than he bargained for when his mate told him about a “spooky door” discovered in an old cinema in Mapperley. Read all about it on page 15. LP’s been a busy beaver this month, as he’s been working hard on the next best thing to hit the airwaves. LeftLion proudly presents to you: History of the Weird Midlands. A few months back, LP and I got chatting over a pint of lime and soda, and he confi ded in me his plans to record a spooktacular podcast to accompany this issue.