For several years now, I have published books of spooky stories, which you can find on Amazon as the Dangerous Corner series. So when I heard about the Normanby Hall Pumpkin Festival taking place in my hometown of Scunthorpe, I was inspired to write some custom stories for children to hear at the event.
I grew up in Scunthorpe and visited Normanby Hall Country Park regularly - I still do, any time I go home to visit my parents. The Hall itself is a Regency mansion built in 1825, and it's set in 300 acres of land that includes woodland, gardens, duck ponds and a deer park.
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| Normanby Hall Christmas 2024 © Bobble Bardsley |
This all provided the perfect backdrop for three bespoke short stories for children attending the Normanby Hall Pumpkin Festival in 2026, which I wrote and sent over to the organisers, 2B Events. I was delighted when they replied and said they would be using my stories in their witch's storytelling corner.
Engaging Custom Stories for Kids
I wanted to write three custom stories for kids aged 10 and under, since that's the main audience at a typical pumpkin patch event. To keep the kids engaged, I added plenty of interest and interactivity to each story:
- Venue-specific details to make the story unique
- Sound effects for the reader to perform
- Age-appropriate atmosphere without peril
- End with an activity: find, explore or observe
Each story is about 500 words long, which means one story can be performed in 2-3 minutes, and all three can be completed in about 10 minutes at a steady pace. Again, this is ideal for the attention span of the audience, who might be excited to go and pick their pumpkins.
About the Stories
You can read the full stories in the linked downloadable PDFs but to summarise, here are 'The Hauntings of Normanby Hall'...
The Broken Broomstick
A witch-themed story perfect for an in-character witch to read aloud, and popular with the audiences during the first weekend of the 2026 Pumpkin Festival. An original character, a witch named Ashlar, flies between the chimneys of Normanby Hall but crashes and breaks her broom.
She turned to pick up her broomstick. But when she saw where it had landed, she found it had snapped in two pieces! There it was on the rooftop, broken in half, surrounded by splinters of wood and fallen bristles.
Ashlar grumbled. She would need a new broomstick. But the bristles were already blowing away into the night. What was she going to do?
Children are encouraged to find a new broomstick for Ashlar while walking in the woods (still a safe and secure part of Normanby Hall Country Park!). Just 3 hours after the event started on the first day, children had already started leaving potential broomsticks leaning up against trees in the park.
Download The Broken Broomstick by Bobble Bardsley (Printable PDF on Google Drive)
The Midnight March
Can the ghosts of dead animals be cosy characters for a child-friendly spooky story? I think so! Normanby Hall has a pet cemetery that visitors can go and see, so I based a story around that as a unique local landmark.
Out from the shadows between the trees stepped Joey, the elegant stag, his antlers twinkling with the last of the starlight. He strode right past the little mouse, pausing to give her a friendly boop with his gentle snout. Like the others, Joey looked like a silver mist, but his nose felt soft and warm in the cold night.
The story sees the spirits of past pets parade from the cemetery to the open grass in front of Normanby Hall, where they play in the moonlight until morning. Kids are encouraged to look out for the pet cemetery when walking through the grounds, as it is a signposted point of interest.
Download The Midnight March by Bobble Bardsley (Printable PDF on Google Drive)
The Rusty Red Railroad
Normanby Park once had its own railway station, which was used to transport freight from the nearby steelworks. The steelworks are a significant presence in Scunthorpe and provide a useful connection to the town's past.
I watched it race towards me, and at the controls I saw a man with rosy red cheeks, hair that burned red like fire, and a bright red peaked cap balanced right on the top of his head.
He waved and pulled the whistle cord as the ghostly freight train thundered past and disappeared into the night, leaving only an orange-red glow on the horizon and a distant, fading shrieeeek of the whistle...
In The Rusty Red Railroad, there's plenty of atmospheric build-up, before the appearance of a glowing red ghost train driven by an original character, Rusty Red. The story ends by linking the train with the red glow that appears over Scunthorpe steelworks, giving children something to look out for in future.
Download The Rusty Red Railroad by Bobble Bardsley (Printable PDF on Google Drive)
The Results: Engaged and Entertained Kids
Feedback from the event for my bespoke children's stories has been good, with kids engaged throughout each storytelling session. I was very happy to hear that the 'witch' performing the stories had ad libbed in places, as all three stories were written to allow for that.
The most rewarding sight for me were the 'replacement broomsticks' left leaning against trees around the park by helpful children. It's clear that younger listeners were paying attention and felt invested enough in the Ashlar character that they wanted to help her replace her broken broomstick!
Download Free Printables of the Spooky Stories
I wanted to make the stories available to anyone who attended the event or who has an interest in Normanby Hall, Scunthorpe, or just a love of child-friendly spooky stories!
You can download free printables of the spooky stories as PDFs from my Google Drive here:
- The Broken Broomstick PDF Download
- The Midnight March PDF Download
- The Rusty Red Railroad PDF Download
Each story is designed to be printed on two A4 sheets (or one double-sided) with child-friendly text size. They're great to read aloud to kids, and should be suitable for most primary-aged children to read alone, with very little actual peril and no difficult words.
Need Bespoke Children's Stories for an Event?
I'd love to provide similar venue-specific children's stories for an event in the future, whether that's another pumpkin patch, or a Christmas festival, or any other celebration. They're an affordable way to give your event a truly personal touch for audiences of any age.
Contact me if you'd like to discuss your upcoming event, venue or general location, and the potential to use some of that local knowledge to create bespoke stories for children attending your event. I'll always try to come up with an option that suits the size and budget of your event, however big or small.
Frequently Asked Questions
If your question isn't answered here, please email me and I'll be happy to help.
What types of events do you write stories for?
Pretty much anything - the joy of writing custom stories for events is that they can be tailored to the type of event you are organising. If that's a very young audience, the stories can be low-stakes and use very simple words. If your event is for adults, we can raise the peril and be more descriptive.
How far in advance do I need to book custom event story writing?
Again it depends on the event, and if I will need to research the location to give you authentic bespoke stories. In general, for child-friendly stories of about 500 words each (like the examples above) I really don't need long to produce a first draft. Let me know your deadlines and I'll make sure you have your stories in time.
Do you come and read the stories yourself?
Not usually - I write the stories and send them to you as printable PDFs (or another preferred format) and you give them to your own entertainers to read. This allows them to be performed in-character and keeps the cost as low as possible for you. If you really WANT me to attend in-person to read the stories, let me know, as I may be available for an appropriate fee.
Get in Touch to Hire an Event Storywriter
Contact me to ask about location-based custom children's stories for your upcoming event (or adults' stories, if appropriate!) and we can get the ball rolling. If you're working to a deadline to organise your event, or you know the date on which it will begin, please let me know upfront and I can schedule the work to make sure your stories are completed in time.
