A perfume can set a scene before a single word is spoken. It can suggest a damp cellar, a candlelit room, the warmth of someone standing nearby, or the chilling sense that someone isn't alone. Having previously won two Fragrance Foundation Jasmine Awards for these Scented Stories, this year's spooky tale was perhaps the most thrilling yet…
In this episode, Suzy and Nicola took listeners behind the scenes of their Halloween Scented Story for 2026 [which you can watch in full by clicking on the link above, or by going to their Instagram page and clicking on the Halloween highlights circle beneath their bio].
Now, you can learn the deeper meanings for their scented choices, revealing why they chose the fragrances they did, and how those scents helped drive the narrative. Keep in mind, neither knew what the other would write next, so each instalment meant following a trail of scented clues, and occasionally leading the other somewhere decidedly sinister...
But stay listening, as there was news of an exciting new fragrance house who wouldn't exist if the founder hadn't been a fellow listener of On The Scent Podcast, and thrillingly there are FREE samples of both scents for the first twenty listeners who say the secret password when visiting the Pop Up Perfumery.
First: for Suzy and Nicola, as storytellers, scent is an incredible device for imagination. Adding sensory descriptions doesn't just decorate a story, the fragrances help draw us further inside it.
Characters become more understandable, the spaces they inhabit become easier to picture, and details emerge about the time of day and even the temperature of the air. A room becomes much more vivid through the imagined smell of its damp stone walls, its fading flowers or the books slowly decaying on its shelves.
And this isn't only a way of telling stories. It's a brilliant way for fragrance lovers to explore their own collections and appreciate familiar perfumes anew.
Allowing the imagination to run wild while smelling, rather than searching only for individual notes, can conjure a landscape, a person or a moment that hasn't happened yet. Giving the imagination permission to follow wherever a fragrance leads can reveal so much more, creating a truly fascinating, emotionally resonant connection with a scent.
So, settle down with a warming cup of something comforting and listen as Suzy and Nicola revisited the perfumes that brought their story to life - and a few characters who refused to stay silent...
Halloween Scented Story 2026:
Dare you join us for this year's Halloween Special?
Will you experience a scented story of horror so treacherous that it will chill your bones and linger in your memory for years to come?
If so, continue at your peril...
1: Nicola
Her childhood was full of abandon. She lived in nature. She played with the animals. Green ran through her veins.
Juicy, vibrant, head-soaring green.
She was free.
Olfactive O New Earth
Until she wasn't...
It all started when she heard the lizard whispering to her. Telling her that her father was there. Telling her that he wanted trouble
Her father
So famous
So revered
So violent
So evil
He had not died peacefully
Serge Lutens De Profundis
She was being taken back there
Back to him
Back to where it all started
She could feel it
And there was nothing she could do to stop it this time.
2: Suzy
The tick of the clock, dusty wood, a sputtering candle, ominous shadows
Born to Standout Saint Petal
The scent of dark leaves, bruised petals falling
Creeping down the staircase that night was embedded in her memories forever...
To reach her father's secret lair, one must access the damp, vaulted cellars, so cold each exhaled breath lived on as a spectre.
Wet stone, damp moss, clusters of mushrooms clinging to the wall. whole worlds, entire ecosystems exist alongside us,
if only you dare notice
Nasomatto Micodelirio
3: Nicola
His office lay hidden in the basement. It had once been a grand ballroom but now provided a backdrop where his darkest obsessions could play out.
Robert Piguet Fracas
Powdery Tuberose. The smell surrounded her. Hugged her. It was her mother. Her spirit was there. Comforting her.
Telling her to turn back. Begging her not to let him take her once more.
She tried too hard to run but she kept being dragged back. Round and round she went.
The peeling walls. The self aggrandising red carpet. The only way she could go was forward. To him.
Zoologist Moth
4: Suzy
Some grandeur still remained: lavish ceilings, arcane symbols inscribed in gold, evil eyes to protect... from what he attempted to conjure & control?
She must find his secret, and face him at last...
She could hear him working in an adjacent room & knew she had to work fast. But what was he hiding amidst the treasures on his desk?
Intricately gilded Murano glass glistened, the scent of precious spices subtly simmering, orange blossom & incense drifting, a drowsy, luxurious warmth washing over her...
The Merchant of Venice Renaissance
Shaking her head to keep alert, she tiptoed to the pride of her father's arcane collection: an ancient sarcophagus.
Empty, he'd said.
But something seemed to stir within.
Once, crowds had gathered to peer into the sarcophagus & shiver delightedly.
Now, cold air seemed to emanate, filling the room with the scent of rain-soaked lilacs (another of her mother's favourite flowers) - the electrical sizzle of lightning & thunder's smoky rumble
Heretic Parfum NOSFERATU
Was it... was that where he'd kept her?
5: Nicola
The face of her step mother appeared
before her. She knew now what had happened. It was all becoming clear.
She shivered. White, frost kissed petals started to tumble around her. Her blood was cold, her mind clear. Was this the beginning of the end or the end of her beginning?
Grove England Snowdrop
But wait....what was this?
She felt a tender, warmth surrounding her soul. It was suffocating the fear... dispelling the evil of her father and step mother. Her mother was here and she was never going to leave her again.
Iris powdered the snow with comfort. Her mother's childhood home provided a sense of safety.
Tobba Parfums Tendresse D'Automne
6: Suzy
Hiding behind a statue, in the side room her stepmother's rasping voice whispered: "well she never suspected the perfume. Give your daughter a bottle. Then her inheritance will be ours..."
Now she understood.
The fortune had been her mother's. With her daughter gone, nobody would stand between them and the money.
She remembered the beautiful bottle. Her mother touching its stopper to her throat.
The sudden pallor. The dropped glass.
Behind her, stone scraped against stone.
A hand emerged from the sarcophagus.
Green olive gleamed against luminous lilies, freesia and voluptuous tuberose. Bog cedar and papyrus whispered beneath: half swamp, half flower, darkness reborn in radiant bloom.
D.S. & Durga Resurrected Corpse Flower
Her stepmother fled into the caves leading from the cellar.
He ran, terrified, upstairs. Managed to scramble onto the roof.
Above him, a pink cloud gathering strength: her mother's life-force. Crackling with power reborn.
He raised his hands.
The lightning struck.
Only his shadow remained, evaporating into burnt black dust.
The inheritance was hers, now, but she left the mansion untouched. Nobody dared enter to retrieve its treasures.
Outside, autumn blazed in impossible colours. Quince & cedar tangled, branches scratched windows, a faint honeyed woodiness haunting moss-softened shadows.
His books slowly decaying. Bottles gathering dust.
Imaginary Authors The Abandoned Mansion
Far away now, she dressed her new bedroom in her (& her mother's) favourite colours.
But the scent surrounding her was her own choice.
Lavender hushed the night. Golden myrrh unfurled beneath a hug of almond and vanilla. She wore it as her own protective cloud.
Jo Malone London Myrrh & Tonka
She'd painted pink clouds drifting across the wooden walls.
And sometimes, just sometimes she could swear she smelled puffs of powder, tuberose, and rain-soaked lilacs,
lulling her to sleep...
They never found her stepmother.
Local superstition says her furious screams still echo through the miles of cellars & caves beneath the mansion.
If you hear them, don't stop to listen.
The moment you hold your breath
something in the dark holds hers.
And she's been waiting...so long...
so long...
THE END
GIVEAWAY NEWS:
The first twenty listeners to visit The Pop Up Perfumery this year and say the password ON THE SCENT PODCAST to Pia or Nick (who will be manning their own Olfiction stand) will receive free samples of the newly launched Namilia fragrances (two fragrances: one sample of both!) When they're gone, they're gone, so don't delay in making yourselves known!
Details of The Pop Up Perfumery:
10 - 14 November
A collaborative project between independent fragrance brands and retailers. A space for scent lovers to shop and meet perfumers and founders.
Opening hours:
Tue-Fri: 12pm - 6.30pm
Sat: 12pm - 7pm
Location:
41 Store Street
London WCIE 7DB
Want to get in touch with feedback or prescription questions for Suzy & Nicola? Message via a DM @onthescentpodcast and they’ll try to get back to you or answer on the show!
