All too often letters and other mail items cannot be delivered; the address is indecipherable, does not exist or just plain wrong. These items are passed over to the Dead Letter Office where the staff try to find out the intended destination, or return it to the sender. The All Hallows Post Office has a really DEAD Letter Office.

These stamps were issued to coincide with Halloween (or All Hallows Eve to be correct) 2008, to decorate the letters and packets in that ghostly department. Single stamps came in a presentation mount decorated by all the stamps used to differentiate the different types of Dead Letter, or as a single stamp mini-sheet.  This came in its own envelope signed by artist Alan Batley and designer Colin Edwards. An attractive cover accompanied the stamps, and also the first Artwork Proof sheet from Colin. This was printed on A4 stiff card, and showed the development of the stamp from the original sketches, though the minor details that were adjusted, to the final design choices.

This stamp had revamp in 2019 in a new colour and smaller size, and with a variant stamp on the sheets. Collectors could opt for an unperforated test sheet with four different colour-ways, and some of these perforated in mixed packets of Halloween themed stamps.

What to look for with this issue

• The miniature sheet
• The artwork design sheet
• Colour tests
• The variant
• The stamps because they are terrific!

Another revamp in 2023 gave collectors a further three stamps in the same design and new size. New spooky colours too! Each sheet has its own hard-to-spot variant.