NEWS
SOMERSET AND EXMOOR COAST FESTIVAL
20 MARCH 2024
Somerset and Exmoor Coast Festival has included the self-guided ghost walk from Witches, Giants and a Ghost Cat book as one of their featured activities for the festival held 21-29 September 2024: somersetcoastfestival.co.uk/events/self-guided-ghost-walk-of-dunster/
ARTICLE ON EXMOOR VISITOR
15 MARCH 2024
An article on Exmoor Visitor highlighting the self-guided ghost walk aspect of the 'Witches, Giants and a Ghost Cat' book.
THE FAVOURITE BOOK LIST ON SHEPHERD
1 MARCH 2024
Author Nina Dodd shares three books that were her favourites when doing research for her 'Witches, Giants and a Ghost Cat' book:
THE BEST BOOK LIST ON SHEPHERD
26 DECEMBER 2023
Author Nina Dodd shares five books that she found especially interesting when doing research for her 'Witches, Giants and a Ghost Cat' book:
INTERVIEW ON SPOOKY ISLES
14 DECEMBER 2023
An article on UK's leading independent paranormal online magazine, Spooky Isles, where author Nina Dodd talks about 'Witches, Giants and a Ghost Cat' book and reveals her favourite stories. See the interview here: Mysteries of Dunster: Interview with Nina Dodd
'WITCHES, GIANTS AND A GHOST CAT' AVAILABLE AT WATERSTONES
24 NOVEMBER 2023
'Witches, Giants and a Ghost Cat' is now also available at Waterstones web shop: www.waterstones.com/book/witches-giants-and-a-ghost-cat
DUNSTER BY CANDLELIGHT 1-2 DECEMBER 2023
21 NOVEMBER 2023
We are looking forward to being part of Dunster's biggest annual event Dunster by Candlelight on 1st and 2nd of December!
'Witches, Giants and a Ghost Cat' book will be displayed in Dunster Living shop's window and the author, Nina Dodd, will be in the shop, if you wish to have a chat about the stories and superstitions Nina collected for the book.
The medieval village of Dunster will be closed for traffic from 3.30pm onwards on Friday and Saturday and the streets will be full of food and artisan stalls, music, fire jugglers, knights showing off their sword skills, puppet shows and all things magical.
Dunster Living shop, where you can buy both the book and prints made of the book's illustrations, will be open on 1st and 2nd of December 10am - 10pm and on Sunday 3 December 10am - 5pm.
ARTICLE ON MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS
5 NOVEMBER 2023
It is great to see so much publicity about the 'Witches, Giants and a Ghost Cat' book - this time an article was published in the Manchester Evening News!
www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/we-live-britains-most-haunted-28021617
ARTICLE ON THE CITIZEN NEWSPAPER
2 NOVEMBER 2023
Author Nina Dodd's interview and article about Dunster's ghosts in the American newspaper The Citizen, which is published in Auburn, New York.
See the interview here: auburnpub.com
ARTICLE ON POLISH EXPRESS
1 NOVEMBER 2023
A Polish language article about Dunster's ghosts and author Nina Dodd in the British weekly Polish Express: polishexpress.co.uk
ARTICLE ON AUSTRALIAN INKL
31 OCTOBER 2023
The articles started by the publishing of 'Witches, Giants and a Ghost Cat' book are spreading around the world now!
www.inkl.com/news/every-home-has-a-ghost-haunting-stories-from-dunster-somerset
ARTICLE ON SOMERSET COUNTY GAZETTE
31 OCTOBER 2023
Great to see another article about Dunster and 'Witches, Giants and a Ghost Cat' book - this time in Somerset County Gazette: www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/23889596.tales-ghosts-west-somerset-village-dunster/
ARTICLE ON BRISTOL LIVE
31 OCTOBER 2023
Article about Dunster and 'Witches, Giants and a Ghost Cat' book in popular Bristol Live:
www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/local-news/we-live-britains-most-haunted-8870420
ARTICLE ON TIMES OF BRISTOL
31 OCTOBER 2023
An article about Dunster's ghosts and an interview with Nina Dodd, the author of 'Witches, Giants and a Ghost Cat'.
See the article here: timesofbristol.co.uk/we-live-in-britains-most-haunted-village-every-home-has-a-ghost/
ARTICLE ON SOMERSET LIVE
31 OCTOBER 2023
"One businessman I spoke to even said that he can't tell his staff about the ghost experiences he has had or they wouldn't come to work." www.somersetlive.co.uk/whats-on/halloween-somerset-we-live-britains-8867604
ARTICLE ON YAHOO LIFE
31 OCTOBER 2023
Read it here: uk.style.yahoo.com/britains-most-haunted-town-dunster-144044769.html
ARTICLE ON NATIONAL WORLD
31 OCTOBER 2023
An article about Dunster and 'Witches, Giants and a Ghost Cat' book on National World, a British news publishing online platform: www.nationalworld.com/news/uk/halloween-britains-most-haunted-location-somerset-village-dunster-4392225
ARTICLE ON METRO: 'Village where nearly every home has a ghost'
30 OCTOBER 2023
Great to see an article about Dunster and 'Witches, Giants and a Ghost Cat' book on such a well-read platform as Metro!
metro.co.uk/2023/10/30/inside-uks-most-haunted-village-where-most-homes-have-a-ghost-19741358/
INTERVIEW ON YAHOO NEWS
30 OCTOBER 2023
An article with quite a catchy headline to get people to read the article!
Listen to the interview here: uk.news.yahoo.com/live-britians-most-haunted-place-122726194.html
ARTICLE ON AUSTRALIAN YAHOO SPORT
30 OCTOBER 2023
Interview with Nina Dodd published on Australia's Y!SPORT: au.sports.yahoo.com
ARTICLE ON BULLETIN OBSERVER
30 OCTOBER 2023
An article about Dunster's ghostly tales and 'Witches, Giants and a Ghost Cat' book on an online news site, Bulletin Observer: bulletinobserver
ARTICLE ON MIRROR
30 OCTOBER 2023
An article about Dunster's ghostly happenings and 'Witches, Giants and a Ghost Cat' book:
www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/gallery/locals-living-britains-most-haunted-31315363
ARTICLE ON DAILY EXPRESS
30 OCTOBER 2023
An article about Dunster's ghost stories and 'Witches, Giants and a Ghost Cat' book (with an unfortunate spelling mistake in this article as well: the author is 56 years old, not 66).
ARTICLE ON JAUN NEWS
30 OCTOBER 2023
An article about Dunster and 'Witches, Giants and a Ghost cat' book, which appeared on an online Jauns News site: jaunnews
BOOK READING ON 27 OCTOBER AT STAGS HEAD INN
28 OCTOBER 2023
What a wonderful Halloween party Janie and Nigel Deeming put on at their 15th century Stags Head Inn last night! Great music, great company, beautiful surroundings!
Besides general merriment, author Nina Dodd, and Tim Wetherell read some of the over 60 ghost stories Nina had gathered for the book, to a great many "ooohs" from the audience.
After the reading, the owner of the inn, Janie Deeming, took the stage and added to the mix her own experiences from the Stags Head - some of which the author admitted having not heard before. This resulted in some members of the audience asking if a sequel to the book might be in order.
"Not perhaps quite yet," Nina said, "but gathering stories from Exmoor is actually an on-going project for me and I encourage everyone to come and share their stories so they can be recorded for the benefit of future generations and researchers."
Pictured from left: artist Tim Wetherell, illustrator Asia Wetherell, author Nina Dodd, Stags Head Inn's owner Janie Deeming and Amelie, the Little Ghost Girl.
ARTICLE ON EXMOOR MAGAZINE: "West Somerset's Spookiest Travel Guide?"
27 OCTOBER 2023
"September saw the launch of a travel guide with a difference at Dunster's Luttrell Arms. Witches, Giants and a Ghost Cat - a travel guide to the mystery tales of Dunster is a collaboration between author Nina Dodd and digital illustrator Asia Wetherell.
This is a wondrous collection of English superstitions, local ghost stories and history, which also doubles up as a travel guide to the beautiful village of Dunster.
Nina says, "Writing this book has taken a full year of research and countless hours spent creating the images, but the biggest thank you goes to all the present-day and former villagers who came forward with their captivating stories. Without their kind contributions this book would never have been written.
Indeed, not all of the stories are ancient: surveys show that nearly half of the British population believe in ghosts, so it is no wonder that stories of new otherwordly encounters pop up frequently.
Witches, Giants and a Ghost Cat is divided into sections that relate to the different parts of the village where the mysterious encounters have been recorded and can therefore be used as a thrilling walking companion by visitors of all ages." Exmoor Magazine, Issue 105 Winter 2023.
BOOK READING AT THE STAGS HEAD INN'S HALLOWEEN PARTY
27 OCTOBER 2023
Come and join us for a night of fascinating tales, fancy dress and music at Dunster's cosy Stags Head Inn, 10 West St, TA24 6SN.
ARTICLE ON WEST SOMERSET FREE PRESS
20 OCTOBER 2023
Article in West Somerset Free Press newspaper on the 'Witches, Giants and a Ghost Cat' book reading and Halloween party on 27 October 2023 held at Dunster's 15th century Stags Head In.
"Nearly every building in Dunster is believed to have a ghost or two, and Nina has done a great job recording the stories."
INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR NINA DODD
4 OCTOBER 2023
If you missed the program on BBC Radio Somerset this morning, you can listen to it here for the next 30 days (you need to jump 20.40 minutes in to hear the interview): https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0gdhn96
BOOK LAUNCH AT LUTTRELL ARMS HOTEL
30 SEPTEMBER 2023
What a great night we had at the book launch of 'Witches, Giants and a Ghost Cat' at Dunster's beautiful Luttrell Arms Hotel! It was great to see so many people come and join us in celebrating the final product.
Thank you all: Anne Way for the use of Luttrell's Stable Bar, Tim Wetherell for doing the reading (dressed as one of the monks haunting Dunster village), Amelie for playing the part of Luttrell's Little Ghost Girl and to all the guests - you really made the night!
ARTICLE ON YAHOO!FINANCE
10 SEPTEMBER 2023
"What started a year ago as a project about local ghost stories ended up becoming a fascinating collection of centuries-old Somerset superstitions, beliefs, folk tales and stories of how people tried to protect their homes, families and livelihoods from evil spirits they believed to be lurking everywhere, writes Sara Badran." uk.finance.yahoo.com
ARTICLE ON WEST SOMERSET FREE PRESS
22 SEPTEMBER 2023
Lovely article in West Somerset Free Press about 'Witches, Giants and a Ghost Cat' and the upcoming book launch:
Ghostly goings on in Dunster
Witches, Giants and a Ghost Cat - a travel guide to the mystery tales of Dunster - will be published on 30 September and a launch party will be held at Dunster's iconic Luttrell Arms Hotel's Stable bar from 7pm. The party is open to everyone.
The idea for writing a book on Dunster came to author Nina Dodd from the realisation that there were surprisingly few books published about Dunster - even thugh the village is a popular spot for visitors, and is described as one of the best preserved Medieval villages in the UK.
"There was quite a gap in the market for a new travel guide, but I knew right from the start that I wanted to do something a bit more exciting than just a traditional tourist guide," Nina says.
The Finnish-born journalist and photographer, who moved to the Exmoor area 12 years ago with her British carpenter husband Andrew and their two sons, decided to approach the topic from the point of view of local ghost stories.
"I have always been fascinated by the amount of ghost stories there are on the British Isles," Nina says.
Nina, who holds a Master's degree in English and minor honours in Comparative Religions and Cutural History, started her research in September 2022 by interviewing people who live and work in Dunster village, or have done so in the past.
"Even though surveys show that nearly half of British people believe in ghosts, there was a slight degree of hesitation at first to speak publicly about indiviuals' otherwordly encounters. Once the word got around the area, though, and people realised that I was collecting the stories so that they would not be lost, I was very pleased by the amount of people who came forward to share their personal experiences and the stories they had heard," Nina says.
"What started purely as a ghost book, quickly developed into a much broader collection of folktales, local history, superstitions and beliefs," Nina says.
"Most of the ghost stories I collected through interviews, books and online sources are not scary, but convey the amazement of the people who experienced the odd encounters. Threfore I did not want the visual side of the book to be overly gory or contain stereotypical, Halloween type of illustrations."
The illustrations are done by a friend of Nina's, local digital artist Asia Wetherell.
"Asia has an excellent eye for building a visual coherence for the book, and a keen interest in otherwordly phenomena, but she also has quite a dark sense of humour which suits the topic," Nina says.
The book launch will be held on Saturday 30 September at 7pm at Luttrell Arms Hotel's Stable Bar where both Nina and Asia will be present to talk about their experiences creating this fascinating book.
ARTICLE ON SOMERSET COUNTY GAZETTE
10 SEPTEMBER 2023
"What started a year ago as a project about local ghost stories ended up becoming a fascinating collection of centuries-old Somerset superstitions, beliefs, folk tales and stories of how people tried to protect their homes, families and livelihoods from evil spirits they believed to be lurking everywhere, writes Sara Badran.
With constant curiosity surrounding ghost stories and their history, new book ‘Witches, Giants and a Ghost Cat – a travel guide to the mystery tales of Dunster’ is quite the read.
The book launch is at Dunster’s Luttrell Arms from 7pm on Saturday, September 30.
The book and a large selection of illustrations will be available to buy at the launch, when the author, Nina Dodd, and illustrator, Asia Wetherell, will be present.
Nina said: "There was quite a gap in the market for a new travel guide, but I knew right from the start that I wanted to do something a bit more exciting than just a traditional tourist guide.
“I have always been fascinated by the amount of ghost stories there are on the British Isles.
"Even though surveys show that nearly half of the British people believe in ghosts, there was a slight degree of hesitation at first to speak publicly about individuals’ otherworldly encounters.
"Once the word got around the area, though, and people realised that I was collecting the stories so that they would not be lost, I was very pleased by the amount of people who came forward to share their personal experiences and the stories they had heard.”
The book is divided into local history, superstitions and a walking guide to Dunster."
ARTICLE ON YAHOO MOVIES
10 SEPTEMBER 2023
"Witches, giants and a ghost cat - surprise revelations of a Somerset village." Article: uk.movies.yahoo.com/witches-giants-ghost-cat-surprise