Halloween author Lesley Bannatyne attempts to set a Guinness World Record in Davis Sq.

[marycurtin.livejournal.com]

McIntyre & Moore Booksellers presents Halloween author Lesley Bannatyne conducting a book launch party and Guinness record attempt on Saturday, October 27. 7:00 pm: gathering & book signing at McIntyre & Moore Booksellers, 255 Elm St. in Davis Square, Somerville, near the Red Line. 7:30 pm: official Guinness record attempt in the category, “Largest Gathering of Halloween Witches (Reciting Poetry).” Free and open to all ages. Come in a witch costume and parade with Bannatyne from McIntyre and Moore to the center of Davis Square where everyone will read the text of “Witches Night Before Halloween” OUTLOUD. (One does not need to buy a book to participate!) For information call McIntyre & Moore Booksellers call (617) 629-4840 or log onto www.mcintyreandmoore.com.

“’Twas the night before Halloween and all through the cottages
The witches were stirring their brews and their potages.
Their cupboards were bursting with hop toads and newts
And they'd shined up their pointy-toed fancy dress boots.”
--from “Witches’ Night Before Halloween”
(text by Lesley Bannatyne, illustrations by Adrian Tans)
[Copies available for sale at McIntyre & Moore.]


One of the leading authorities on Halloween, Lesley Bannatyne, who is also a Somerville resident, is angling to set a Guinness World Record by assembling the largest number of Halloween witches in celebration of her newly released Halloween children's book "Witches' Night Before Halloween.” According to Bannatyne, as of October, 2007, Guinness reports that no one has ever attempted, never mind broken, this record. Is she worried about competition for the title? "I hope others will attempt to break our record. If more people gather together around Halloween to stage public events involving literature, it's all to the good!"

In order for this feat to work, all participants must come to McIntyre and Moore at 7pm dressed in a Halloween witch costume (men, women and children welcome; imaginative variations encouraged) and sign their name on an official Guinness list. The group will process from McIntyre and Moore to the center of Davis Square and welcome in the Halloween season by reciting the text from "Witches Night Before Halloween." Notary Public Nancy Shafman and Edwin Smith, Esquire will officially verify the attempt. If the group sets the record, all involved will receive certificates. Other perks for participants: bragging rights, plus possible inclusion in the Guinness books and online sites. Bannatyne also plans to upload a video of the gathering onto YouTube.

Background on Lesley Bannatyne:

As one of the leading authorities on Halloween, Lesley Bannatyne has shared her knowledge of the holiday on television specials for Nickelodeon and the History Channel ("The Haunted History of Halloween"), with Time Magazine, and has given talks at venues as diverse as the 2000 Halloween Convergence in New Orleans and the St. Louis Art Museum. She contributed the Halloween article to World Book Encyclopedia and is Halloween Advisor to the Vampire Empire. Bannatyne is the author of “Witches' Night Before Halloween”, “A Halloween Reader: Poems, Stories, and Plays from Halloweens Past,” “A Halloween How-To: Costumes, Parties, Decorations, and Destinations,” and “Halloween: An American Holiday, an American History,” all available from Pelican.

Bannatyne has worked for 30 years as a freelance writer and contributes frequently to the Boston Globe and Christian Science Monitor, covering stories ranging from local druids to Tibetan immigrants to Noh theater. She currently resides in Somerville, with her husband, daughter, and a (naturally) black cat. For more information on Bannatyne, visit www.fas.harvard.edu/~bannatyn.