Go on a storytelling journey with Galway’s Rab Fulton this Halloween

Rab Fulton is a Galway-based author and storyteller who is holding a variety of Halloween-based storytelling events in the lead up to the holiday.

At his event in the Galway City Museum on Saturday (26 October), Rab told children of a “funny, slightly gory, slightly scary” urban legend in Galway.

He will also be hosting a “twisted and scary” version of his ‘Celtic Tales Show’ on Halloween for adults in the Crane Bar over the coming days.

About the author

Rab is originally from Scotland and has many years of experience in writing, storytelling and the production and hosting of podcasts. 

He is a published author, with some of his books including ‘West of Ireland Folk Tales for Children’ and ‘Galway Bay Folk Tales – a magical history of Galway Bay’.

He is also the Storytelling and Narrative Co-Ordinator for the BA Connect Children’s Creativity Programme at the University of Galway. 

Rab runs a weekly storytelling show for adults titled the ’Celtic Tales Story-Telling Show’. This event will run every Thursday at 7:30pm in the Crane Bar up until the end of December.

He told Galway Pulse that during the performance, he “retells Irish and Scottish myths, folktales and urban legends as well as stories from my own family. There is a lot of humour in these shows.”

Halloween events

Rab will be running a Children’s Halloween storytelling event at Bridgit’s Garden today (27 October) and tomorrow (28 October). On these days, this event will have sessions running at 1:15pm, 2:00pm and 2:45pm.

The ‘Celtic Tales’ Halloween special on 31 October in the Crane Bar is strictly for adults. This is due to the really “twisted nature of the stories.” He added that “even then it would not be suitable for all adults.”

The event will be held in the upstairs section of the bar and starts at 7:30pm. There will be prizes on the night for the best Halloween costumes.

Storytelling advice

Rab described his storytelling as providing the audience with “a sense of being on a journey with twists and turns.”

When discussing choosing what stories to tell he stated that “it depends on my audience.” “In regard to my ‘Celtic Tales Show’, I usually know what story I want to tell; in the second half of the show, it’s based on the feel I get from the audience, and I take it from there.

“The advice I’d give to people who are interested in storytelling is not to worry about forgetting the story, try to relax, the story has an end, and you’ll get to the end.”

He also added to not be nervous about “making mistakes, the audience have come to see you perform the story, that means you have half the job done already.

“They are there to enjoy themselves and they want you to do well, that’s a good thing to remember.”

Rab’s shows will run every Thursday until the end of December. Details of times and dates can be found on Eventbrite as well as a five-minute video giving you a taste of what the show is like.

The regular ticket price is €15, whilst students can get tickets at a discounted price of €12. People can pay at the door, but pre-booking is advised. Students can book in advance by emailing celtictales@gmail.com.

The Galway-based storyteller told Galway Pulse that the main thing about the shows is that they are “a lot of fun, the stories can be creepy, adventurous, scary or very funny.”

To find out more about Rab, visit his website www.celtictalesgalway.com or his social media pages.