Lesley Bannatyne
American author, Halloween authority, journalist
Lesley Pratt Bannatyne is an American author who writes extensively on Halloween, especially its history, literature, and contemporary celebration. She is also a writer of fiction; her debut collection of short stories, Unaccustomed to Grace, was published by Kallisto Gaia Press in 2022, and she received the 2024 Grace Paley Prize for Lake Song, published by Mad Creek Books/OSU Press in 2025. She contributed the World Book Encyclopedia entry for Halloween and appears as a commentator on the annual October screening of “Haunted History of Halloween” on the History Channel. Bannatyne is also a freelance journalist who's covered stories ranging from druids in Somerville, Massachusetts to relief workers in Bolivia. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Wheaton College in Massachusetts with a degree in English. Her Master's is in Creative Writing and Literature from Harvard University Extension Studies.
Bannatyne's Halloween. An American Holiday, An American History was published in 1990 and, "ushered in a new era of scholarly interest in Halloween." Quoted as "A foremost authority on Halloween" by Charles F. Rosenay in his review of her latest book "Halloween Nation", Lesley has written five books on Halloween ranging from a children's book, Witches Night Before Halloween, to her latest Halloween Nation which shows the holiday through the eyes of its celebrants. The book was nominated for a 2011 Bram Stoker Award.
Published works
Lake Song.
“Lesley Bannatyne” enters the record as american author, Halloween authority, journalist. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Lesley, Bannatyne and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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