"Philatelic Gore" on Halloween

An abomination
The dreaded pen cancel. How many of you have received an envelope with an ugly mark scribbled across the stamp instead of a classic cancellation ... like the "Thinking of You" one pictured above?

If you're not familiar with pen cancels, I've recreated the look below. Don't worry, I didn't use a real marker, it's computer generated.

Graham Beck of Exploring Stamps has a name for it, and it's perfect for sharing on Halloween:

PG | Philatelic Gore
October is Stamp Collecting Month and before it ends, a good time to share Graham's Exploring Stamps website and YouTube channel ... where you'll find his video on pen cancellations (go to the 2:14 minute mark to see PG | Philatelic Gore, it's funny).

Graham is a stamp collector who (in pre-pandemic times) will pull a stamp from his collection and travel to the country of origin to get the story behind the stamp. It's a great way to learn more about the world ... and a great example of how finding inspiration in one thing can lead to so much more.

I hope you'll watch the video to get the full story of what he does.