RDS Halloween

12345678910111213141516171819
Across
  1. 5. - This former province of France found itself terrorised by grisly attacks in the mid-1700s. Whether the Beast was wolf or man or something else entirely, none have been able to say for certain. (8)
  2. 6. - This 17th century lady poisoner became famous for selling 'perfume' to her Italian clientele - whose abusive husbands would then just so happen to die of mysterious ailments. (6,6)
  3. 8. - Self-admitted purveyor of the worst pies in London. With the price of meat what it is... (6)
  4. 9. - Not eye of newt nor toe of frog, nor wool of bat nor tongue of dog. This precedes them in the pot in Shakespeare's tale of murth'rous Scots. (5,5)
  5. 11. - This malevolent clown preys upon the children of the fictional town of Derry, Maine, every 27 years. (9)
  6. 12. - Another 15th century all-star, this Countess was rumored to have claimed the lives of hundreds of women and girls in her search for eternal youth and beauty. (9,7)
  7. 14. - Ancient Assyrian demon with a modern claim to fame: possessing the young Regan MacNeil in 'The Exorcist'. (6)
  8. 17. - Treatise on witchcraft written in the 15th century, and a how-to on detecting witches and extracting confessions. Also a clue as to the methodology; the title is commonly translated as 'The Hammer of Witches'. (7,11)
  9. 18. - The legend of this weeping woman is told throughout Latin America, warning wayward children not to wander after dark, or play near dangerous water. (2,7)
  10. 19. - The Ginger Rogers of vampires, doing everything that Dracula did, but in heels. She also predated him by 26 years, so the analogy isn't perfect. (8)
Down
  1. 1. - This Celtic harvest festival marks the end of summer and the beginning of the dark of winter - and is popularly counted as one of the pagan progenitors of modern Halloween. (7)
  2. 2. - Mary and Percy Shelley visited this friend during the Year Without a Summer, when gloomy weather and fireside ghost stories resulted in the first draft of Frankenstein. (4,5)
  3. 3. - This abandoned brigantine was found under partial sail in 1872. The last entry in her log was dated ten days earlier - and her cargo, provisions, and crew's belongings were entirely undisturbed. (4,7)
  4. 4. - A fictional university in a fictional New England city, this eerie institution features in many of H.P. Lovecraft's tales. (10)
  5. 7. - The villa rented by CLUENUMBER during the summer-that-wasn't of 1816. (5,7)
  6. 10. - 'That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die.' (12)
  7. 13. - A 15th century prince of this region served as inspiration for one of horror's most enduring - and thirstiest - icons. (9)
  8. 15. - All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy in this mindbending hotel. (8)
  9. 16. - The headless horseman of Irish myth, who carries his head beneath his arm - mouth stretched in a hideous grin, and flesh the colour of mouldy cheese. (8)