GHOSTS, poets, puppets and historians will be competing for attention during the Fringe events of the Appledore Book Festival.

David Carter will be leading two-hour history walks through Appledore during which he will relate fascinating historical details about houses in the village.

On a spookier level, visitors will be thrilled by Terry Bailey's after-dark wanderings through the village, in which he reveals the disturbing details of hauntings, unexplained happenings and lost souls.

Mr Carter will conduct two history walks, on Saturday, September 25, and Monday, September 27, both starting from Docton Court.

Terry Bailey is booked to lead two ghost walks on Tuesday, September 28, and Wednesday, September 29.

For those who want to write about their local area, novelist Julie McGowan will talk about Writing the Regional Novel — From Plotting to Publication when she appears at St Mary's Hall on Monday, September 27.

And children's writer David Lawrence-Jones will talk on the same day and at the same venue about the adventures of his character Bradley Baker who discovers a world below the plughole in the magic land of Pathylon.

Children can also hear the creative stories of Scottish author Julie Hegarty.

Through her lively visual show, using puppets, props and plenty of interaction with the audience, she will transport them into her imaginary worlds at St Mary's Hall on September 28.

The world of poetry has not been neglected in the Festival Fringe either.

Appledore resident and poet Jeremy Bell will join well-known musician Glyn Davies in an event titled Poetic Fire And Satiric Song at St Mary's Hall on Thursday, September 30, while at the same venue on Friday, October 1, the ever-popular evening of music and poetry, featuring local artistes, will be introduced by Colin Shaddick, the Third Most Eccentric Man in Britain.

The dream of escaping the humdrum was translated into reality by Damian and Siobhan Horner when they embarked on a canal journey through France to the Mediterranean with their children and the details of their exciting adventure can be heard at St Mary's Hall on Thursday, September 30.

At the same venue on October 1, novelists Candy Neubert and Jane Spiro will relate the fictional travels of two young women through unfamiliar territory — one through middle Europe and the other through the islands of the Far East.

For history enthusiasts the Fringe offers a fascinating talk by Peter Villiers about the origins of the First World War, based on the life of Gavrilo Princip, the man who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

Local history buffs can enjoy Pat Slade riffling through the local archives, Liz Shakespeare relating the life of a young Clovelly mother who was confined in the Bideford Workhouse, and Peter Christie, who will give two talks, the first when he will show a fascinating selection of local photographs from 1850 to 1950.

He will also relate The True Story Of The North Devon Savages, a family which both shocked and titillated Victorian England.

As if all this isn't enough, around just the periphery of the Festival, there will be the opportunity to learn how to make beautiful books at Megan Stallworthy's Book Making Workshop on Saturday, October 2 ,and to buy books from the stocks of West Country booksellers at the annual Appledore Book Fair on October 3. Both events will be in Appledore Hall.

The Book Festival will run from September 25 to October 3 and is sponsored by North Devon Journal.

Tickets can be obtained online on www.appledorebookfestival.co.uk or from The ABF Box Office, Docton Court Gallery, 2 Myrtle Street, Appledore, Bideford EX39 1PH, telephone 01237 424949 (except Mondays).