5 days to the end of our summer competition...

Here's the final reminder for our summer 'ghost story' competition, which ends on the last day of August.

We haven't found any ghosts yet, but you probably have. So jot down your true life experience (doesn't have to be more than a paragraph or two) and include it in a comment at the end of this post, or email it to twomenandaghost@hotmail.com.

Entries received so far include a ghost in First World War uniform, piercing screams from an upstairs floor, and a paranormal encounter in a bathtub. All good stuff, but we want to read more!

Best submission gets turned into a newspaper-style comic strip like the one above, drawn by our very own Mychailo Kaybrid who is currently illustrating the hugely popular Wallace & Gromit strip in The Sun.

The strip will be published on this blog, and the winner will be sent the highly collectable original artwork, signed by our very selves. I am sure you will agree that this is a prize to treasure for ever. So get scribbling and send us your tales!

On a side note, the strip above refers to our expedition to Beauchief Abbey last summer. You can read about it here.

Eager to relive that momentous evening (when, significantly, we spectacularly failed to find anything), we are about to set forth again to the haunted abbey to recreate our non-experiences in video form.

Soon to be uploaded to YouTube and embedded in this blog, it promises to be a visual feast, an aural treat and an anti-climactic extravaganza.

So watch this space ... but not for too long or your eyes will go funny.

Competition extended!

From Mike Kazybrid’s recent interview with Rony Robinson on BBC Radio Sheffield:

Rony: Have you seen any good ghosts lately?

Mike: No.

Rony: Have you ever seen a ghost?

Mike: Erm … no.

Rony: Isn’t it a bit odd to be a hunter of ghosts if you’ve never seen one?

Mike: (mumbles a half-hearted embarrassed defence)

As you can see, Rony rumbled us immediately, live on air, and Mike’s insightful, eloquent and well-thought-out responses did little to convince him. So, if we haven’t found any ghosts yet, we need you to tell us about your ghost encounters. Doesn’t have to be long – just a sentence or two. Either comment at the bottom of this blog, or bung us an email at twomenandaghost@hotmail.com.

Out of all the stories received, we’ll turn our favourite into a comic strip, like the one above which relates to our adventure in Bunting Nook (you can read about it here and here). For more examples of Mike’s excellent artwork, see his latest graphic novel about the legendary Humph the Cat, completely free to download here.

Just imagine, your story can be illustrated by a top UK artist (Mike is currently drawing the Wallace & Gromit strip for The Sun), and you will also receive his original artwork through the post, signed personally to you.

Our original deadline for this competition was the end of June, but we so love reading your stories (they turn us green with envy) that we’ve extended the deadline to the end of the summer hols (last day of August). Many thanks for Martin Dawes of The Star for promoting our competition here.

Please get scribbling and scare us with your true-life tales!

And the winner is...

Mike and I (and the ghost) have been dead chuffed at the huge response to our Halloween competition. We also sheepishly noticed that not one single entrant got the answer wrong - maybe we should make the question harder next time!

To remind you, the question was: A mask based on a famous sci-fi actor was turned inside out in order to become the villain of the movie, Halloween - who was that famous sci-fi actor?

And the answer (of course) was: William Shatner, famously absent from this year's blockbusting Star Trek reboot.

So, onto the winner...

Mike scientifically stuffed all the entrants (not literally, just their names) into his ghostbusting fedora, and his partner Sarah dipped her trusty hands in and pulled out ... ta-da! ... Shaun Lawrence. Congratulations! A fabulous piece of original A3 artwork, signed by Mike and myself, will soon be winging its way to you in an airtight cardboard tube.

And because we were so pleased at how many people responded, we've decided ('cos we're like that) to award two runner-up prizes as well. Smaller (but just as collectable) bits of artwork will be on their way to Allan Colthart and the person whose email address starts with 'mellisonlawv'. We'll be emailing you all shortly for your snail mail addresses.

There may be another competition at Christmas. Watch this space!

In the meantime, you could do worse than listen to our second appearance on the Paul and Spike show, about 17 minutes in. But please don't tell the authorities what we got up to that night in the woods...

The Paul And Spike And Two Men And A Ghost Show: Friday October 30th, 2009.


Click here to download the show mp3.

And click here to subscribe to the Paul And Spike Show, using iTunes or any feedreader.

One day left for Halloween competition!

For details of this simple-to-enter competition, read here.

Great Halloween competition - one week left!

That's right - only one week left to enter our great Halloween competition. Here's your chance to win a collectible, original piece of artwork from a top UK comics artist.

In fact, there's the prize in front of you now. Imagine holding in your sweaty hands the original, intricate A3 drawing of the above illustration, signed personally to you by the two men themselves (but not a ghost).

All you have to do is answer one simple question. More details here.

And while you're thinking of the answer, have a listen to Mike Kazybrid's lengthy interview this week with Rony Robinson on Radio Sheffield. Mike can be heard here, about 2 hours, 20 minutes in, and the file is available to listen again till 28th October.

(This competition is not open to friends, employees or relatives of the ghost.)

Huge Halloween competition - win a unique cartoon, personally signed to you!

Okay. We promised it, and now here it is. Yes, it's ... definite proof of ghosts!

Well, not quite. We're almost there, but in the meantime, to reward all good readers of our blog, here's a Halloween competition with a very special prize indeed.

1. The question - A mask based on a famous sci-fi actor was turned inside out in order to become the villain of the movie, Halloween - who was that famous sci-fi actor?

2. The email address - Send your answer to our brand new email address: twomenandaghost@hotmail.com

The deadline is the night of 1st November, the day after Halloween. On 2nd November we will print out all the correct emails, try to cram them all into Mike's special ghost hunting hat, then pick out just one to win our unique, collectable prize, which is...

3. The prize - an original pen and ink cartoon of those fearless seekers of the para-abnormal, 'Two Men and a Ghost' (aka 2MG). This will be produced on art paper, size A3, and will be mailed to the winner's address. It will be personally signed (with your name on it) by 2MG creators Mike Kazybrid and Andrew Wooding.

Just to give you an idea of how prestigious this original cartoon will be:

Artist Mychailo 'Mike' Kazybrid has worked in the cartoon and comic book industry since 1975. His portfolio includes artwork for countless licensed characters ranging from Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, The Tick, Count Duckula and DangerMouse to name but a small few. He has been a featured guest at a number of Transformers conventions, and UK comics luminary Dez Skinn (former editorial director of Marvel UK and editor of Comics International) says of him in the book Comic Art Now: '...his detailed pensmanship on his backgrounds is little short of 19th century engravings, and in stark contrast with the foreground hero...'

This is a one-of-its kind prize and sure to be sought after. It'll look great on your mantelpiece!

Go on. Name that mask and win that prize. Email your answer now to: twomenandaghost@hotmail.com

And while you're at it, tell us what you think of us.

On second thoughts, maybe not...

Competition coming soon...

For those of you who listen to the excellent The Paul and Spike Show - broadcast weekly over the airwaves by radio six international then made available as an extended podcast on iTunes - you'll be expecting a very special Halloween competition right here on this very blog.

Rest assured, it is coming soon. It'll be here sometime this weekend, just as soon as we've polished to perfection the unique, special prize, fine-tuned the wording of the challenging competition question, and ... er ... been to the toilet a few times, picked our noses and watched a few movies.

In the meantime, you could do worse than read our third mention (no less) by Martin Dawes in The Star newspaper in Sheffield - check it out here. Thanks, Martin!

You can also listen to us on the latest edition of The Paul and Spike Show. We're 22 minutes in (ish) ... but the rest of the show's quite good as well! Also, big thanks to the good folks at radio six international who will be running promos for our competition all the way through October.

The Paul And Spike Show: Friday October 9th, 2009.


Click here to download the show mp3.

And click here to subscribe to the Paul And Spike Show, using iTunes or any feedreader.