Lesley Pratt Bannatyne is an American author who writes extensively on Halloween, especially its history, literature, and contemporary celebration. She is also a writer of fiction; her debut collection of short stories, Unaccustomed to Grace, was published by Kallisto Gaia Press in 2022, and she received the 2024 Grace Paley Prize for Lake Song, published by Mad Creek Books/OSU Press in 2025. She contributed the World Book Encyclopedia entry for Halloween and appears as a commentator on the annual October screening of “Haunted History of Halloween” on the History Channel. Bannatyne is also a freelance journalist who's covered stories ranging from druids in Somerville, Massachusetts to relief workers in Bolivia. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Wheaton College in Massachusetts with a degree in English. Her Master's is in Creative Writing and Literature from Harvard University Extension Studies.