In the eight years since my graphic novel on death published, I’ve learned readers of all ages want to talk about loss and preserve their family’s stories

Becoming an author in my late 50s was unexpected, the result of my daughter Hallie’s own existential anxiety in her early 20s.

Fearing my untimely demise, she begged me to write down advice that would cover all of life’s bases going forward. I agreed, but put the project off for years; it wasn’t until she cornered me with a laptop on vacation that I gave in. She asked countless questions, and I found, to my surprise, that I had plenty to say. Hallie helped shape the manuscript, and then spent a year painting its warmly emotional gouache illustrations.

I lost a parent (or other loved one, including spouse or beloved pet) and your book helped me through.

I gave the book to my kids and wrote my own notes in the margins.

I can’t bear the thought of my mom or dad dying, but they don’t want to talk about it. I’m hoping that sharing the book with them will start some conversations.

Top tips on how to stay dry and stylish from those who know how. Plus this autumn’s best rain gear, from practical jackets to puddle-proof boots

Associate fashion editor for the Guardian

In the placid LA suburb of Burbank, residents spend months – and thousands of dollars – turning their homes into Disney-style attractions. Why does it go so hard for Halloween – and is it becoming too popular for its own good?

Every night, starting in mid-September, Diego Linares puts on a serial killer costume and stands in his front yard for three hours. The 40-year-old alternates outfits: some nights he’s Michael Myers, the masked murderer from the Halloween films. Other nights he’s Jason Voorhees, from the Friday the 13th franchise.

His family’s modest suburban yard in Burbank, California, has been transformed into a slasher movie set. Fake mist leaks out of the door of a cabin labeled “Crystal Lake”. Jack-o-lanterns, monsters, corpses and illuminated gravestones jostle for space across the ground. From the roof above the front door, a giant skeleton blinks its digital eyes.

In the placid LA suburb of Burbank, residents spend months – and thousands of dollars – turning their homes into Disney-style attractions. Why does it go so hard for Halloween – and is it becoming too popular for its own good?

Every night, starting in mid-September, Diego Linares puts on a serial killer costume and stands in his front yard for three hours. The 40-year-old alternates outfits: some nights he’s Michael Myers, the masked murderer from the Halloween films. Other nights he’s Jason Voorhees, from the Friday the 13th franchise.

His family’s modest suburban yard in Burbank, California, has been transformed into a slasher movie set. Fake mist leaks out of the door of a cabin labeled “Crystal Lake”. Jack-o-lanterns, monsters, corpses and illuminated gravestones jostle for space across the ground. From the roof above the front door, a giant skeleton blinks its digital eyes.

Copies of popular cosmetics and skincare products more likely to contain toxic substances, Trading Standards warns

Mercury, lead and methanol have been found in counterfeit beauty products seized across the UK, Trading Standards has said.

There is a rising problem with fake beauty products, with scammers selling copies of popular and expensive brands. Cosmetics, skincare and perfumes are now among the watchdog’s most commonly investigated fakes.

Copies of popular cosmetics and skincare products more likely to contain toxic substances, Trading Standards warns

Mercury, lead and methanol have been found in counterfeit beauty products seized across the UK, Trading Standards has said.

There is a rising problem with fake beauty products, with scammers selling copies of popular and expensive brands. Cosmetics, skincare and perfumes are now among the watchdog’s most commonly investigated fakes.

Why is he not made of willow? Why is he plaited and not woven? World’s basket makers have plenty of questions

Hollywood heart-throbs are known for their good looks and charisma. But in a classic plot twist, the latest big-screen dreamboat causing viewers to get hot and bothered isn’t even human.

Alexander Skarsgård’s Wicker Husband character in the romcom Wicker has sent the internet into a frenzy.

In the late 2010s, a movement argued that no one body type is superior than another. Now in the GLP-1 age, people are still pursuing thinness - and just not talking about it

Vogue World Milano was held beneath the vaulted glass domes of Italy’s oldest shopping arcade, featuring Gigi Hadid in archival Valentino couture and robots dancing on the catwalk while Miuccia Prada scowled at them. A splashy event staged in the midst of a month of fashion shows in New York, London, Milan and Paris, in which 97.5% of models were a US size four or under, what ticked people off most was the presence of trillion-dollar pharma company Eli Lilly on the list of sponsors.

Eating disorder advocates spoke out against the association between an aspirational fashion show and the manufacturer of the weight-loss drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro.

You might think ponds are complicated things with liners, but you can make one from a washing-up bowl

Do you remember the 90s, when everyone was obsessed with “water features”, mostly thanks to Charlie Dimmock? A simpler time. Perhaps I’m hanging out with the wrong garden designers, but I rarely hear much talk of water features now. For years, Chelsea flower show gardens have featured subtle Cor-Ten steel-clad trickles or elegant mirrored ponds. There have been a fair few naturalistic streams (such as A Rewilding Britain Landscape by Lulu Urquhart and Adam Hunt, with beaver-gnawed twigs, which controversially won best in show in 2022), but scant fountains or burbling rocks. Water features are out, I guess. Ponds are in.

My mum built one the other day. Hers is smaller than a piece of A3, lined with rocks and terracotta seedling pots, with two metal ducks stuck around the edge in a boggy bit of her compact urban garden. You might hear “pond” and think complicated things involving liner and algae, but you could make one from a washing-up bowl – and there are plenty of benefits to doing so.

From a ghostly hill fort on the South Downs to a haunted farmhouse in remote Northern Ireland, you guide us to some frightfully scary places

• Tell us about an escape in the wilds of Scotland – the best tip wins a £200 holiday voucher

Dunnottar Castle, perched on cliffs above the crashing North Sea, is one of Scotland’s eeriest places. The most haunting part is the Whigs Vault, where more than 160 prisoners were confined in dreadful conditions in 1685. Standing in that dark chamber, it’s impossible not to imagine their fear and suffering. With my Fraser ancestry, the castle’s history feels especially poignant. The names of multiple Frasers are recorded, their details written on the wall. The wind whistles through the stonework, the waves thunder below, and there’s a sense that the past hasn’t quite left. It’s beautiful, tragic and wonderfully spooky, especially beneath Aberdeenshire’s brooding grey skies.
Rosie

High fashion looks without a big budget? Follow our frugal guide to pinch the biggest autumn/winter ‘26 catwalk trends for free

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Dark mornings, darker evenings and the end of Celebrity Traitors. It’s easy to feel a bit meh at this time of year. However, without sounding too TikTok life coach, just as you are encouraged to winter-proof your morning routine (light a breakfast candle, make your favourite cup of tea) to start your day on a brighter note, the same approach could be applied to your wardrobe. An outfit you look forward to wearing to the office or an accessory update that can make a long-term favourite piece feel new again, can help put some much-needed pep in your step. That’s even when the forecast reads five days of rain in a row.

The autumn/winter 2026 collections shown on the catwalks way back in February (yes time works funny in fashion) have finally hit shop floors, and high-street brands have been quick to pay homage. But there are plenty of styling tips and tricks you can borrow for free. Here are nine to get you started …

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You’ll be safe from trick-or-treaters in a grand home at the end of a long driveway or a Grade II-listed farmhouse tucked away in a hamlet

For even more impact, contrast an OTT coat with casual basics or classic tailoring

Scientists call for incentives to preserve vegetation as study highlights benefits of plentiful planting in London

Your front garden could be a first line of defence against air pollution, according to a year-long field study in two London neighbourhoods.

The UK’s 26m gardens cover nearly 5% of the country’s land area, but they account for a much larger share in urban areas. In Greater London, domestic gardens cover 41% of the city, compared with 27% of Cardiff and 23% of Edinburgh.

I was a fan of the film, so when it came on the market, I snapped it up. Now I allow other fans to come and stay in this piece of Hollywood history

I first saw Poltergeist at the movie theatre with my mom and sisters, back when it came out in 1982. I remember being scared, especially during the part when the toy clown drags little Robbie Freeling under the bed. At that age, the idea of a family experiencing something terrifying in the kind of everyday suburban house I was familiar with made a big impression. Later, it became a ritual of mine to put the movie on every Halloween.

I grew up in the Chicago area, but moved to California in the early 90s to go to art college. My sister moved there, too – to Simi Valley, not far from the house used as the Freeling family’s home in the movie. I’d drive past it when I visited her. A couple of years ago, I had a gut instinct that it would soon go up for sale. Sure enough, just weeks later I was sitting with my sister in her back yard when she looked up from her phone and said, “Hey! The Poltergeist house went on the market!”

One of the UK budget’s big surprises? A discount on gherkins. And while they’ll always be good on a burger, there are many more unusual ways to indulge, from fried cheese treats to savoury ice-cream

In John Healey’s first budget as chancellor this week, he announced that he will remove import tariffs on more than 100 products – including, crucially, gherkins. Baked beans and boiled sweets, too, but gherkins stole the limelight, perhaps due to gen Z’s long-held obsession with all things pickled, including cucumbers.

But for those who think of a gherkin as either something to be chomped straight from the jar or swiftly removed from a Big Mac, do not worry: there are, in fact, plenty of ways to get more bang for your newly discounted gherkin buck.

My mother was a keen swimmer, and she lived with depression. I wonder if she found the same respite in the water that has helped heal me since she passed away

It was early morning in late September, off the coast of Kaş in Turkey. Watching the slightly choppy sea from a boat, the last thing I felt like doing was embarking on another 5km (3-mile) swim. Mind fog had sapped my energy, and my mood was decidedly Eeyore-like. But as I pulled on my cap and flippers, adjusted my goggles and took the plunge, something shifted.

Head in the water, the knotted feeling in my throat began to loosen. Breathing came properly. There was respite.

Clogs, chore jackets, straw hats and woven baskets are the look of the season. But are the brands and people embracing this aesthetic really doing any gardening?

Lately, it feels like you can’t move for clogs. Everywhere you look, it’s straw hats, dungarees, floaty dresses, chore jackets and basket bags – and that’s in city centres, not garden centres. This is the rise of “allotmentcore” – somewhere between the linen-clad luxury of the “coastal grandmother” and the whimsical outdoorsiness of “cottagecore” – and it’s coming for all of our autumns.

“I’d describe it as Little House on the Prairie meets Felicity Kendal in The Good Life, meets Bill and Ben,” says Mal James, professor of fashion design at the University of Edinburgh. “With the overall style of an imaginary love child of Monty Don and Pamela Anderson, the reinvented queen of garden chic.” It’s true that Anderson – once most famous for sporting a high-leg red swimsuit – has more recently become a pioneer of the allotmentcore style, living “romantically” in midi dresses and bandanas, frequently clutching floral bouquets. Popular brands include the family-run Carrier Company from Norfolk, Danish designers Skall Studio and Welsh-founded lifestyle label Toast. As online fashion publication Who What Wear put it: “If it looks like you’re ready to sport a pair of pruning shears at any moment, you’ve got the look right.”

‘Ugly’ shoes, once the preserve of the catwalk, have gone mainstream. Why are so many people taking a walk on the wild side?

Until recently, a busy commuter train would be packed with people wearing low-key, unobtrusive shoes. An elegant and inoffensive pump, a sporty trainer or a polite and basic ballet flat, they were the type of shoes that said background extra rather than main character energy.

But now change is afoot. Deliberately strange designs are reaching new heights of desirability. Polarising rather than pretty, these shoes tend to be flat, a little bit orthopaedic and, according to the internet, “ugly”.