Much as one expects at this time of horrors and nasty beasties. My first thought was that clashes and thematic treatments would make for a really tough puzzle. This was not the case, as all the clues worked well. Not easy by any means.
(I started another thread later - search did not show this one)
A medium-difficulty puzzle which used a variety of conceits to good effect and was well clued. I particularly liked 25 down. The theme emerged quickly for me too and I greeted it with a groan. I could have done with a distraction from, rather than a reminder of, this particular time of year, which is indeed scary and stressful. I realise that probably makes me look like a humourless snowflake!
I wonder how long it will be before we revisit this theme!
It took me a while to see what the final grid was trying to represent. I now see the meaning of analogous, but not sure hidden is really appropriate. And for that matter, is the left side somewhat presumptuous?
Do you think if we send off our entries to St Albans at some stage in early Q1 2020 and without putting our names on, that will be OK? A fun puzzle to solve though the spelt definition made be cringe, having not heard it for a few months. Agreed on the 'hidden' comments, assuming it isn't actually some other as yet unfound solution hidden in there