From Squid Game dance disaster to gruesome cake career

A local woman who was left bed-bound after a Squid Game-themed dance went disastrously wrong has transformed the accident into an unlikely new career creating gruesome cakes and treats.

Self-taught baker Natalie Hoole tore two of the three muscles in her left calf while dancing with a cosplayer at HorrorCon UK.  

Unable to walk properly for two and a half months, she used her recovery to build the foundations of The Northern Tart, her Failsworth-based horror and pop culture cake business. 

In a remarkable full-circle moment, Natalie returned to HorrorCon the following year as a trader - and ended up running one of the busiest stalls in the room. 

Natalie said: “I definitely wouldn’t recommend tearing two calf muscles as a business start-up strategy, but being forced to stop gave me the time to work out what I actually wanted.” 

Natalie had been helping her best friend at HorrorCon when a cosplayer invited her to recreate a dance from the hit Netflix series.  As she turned, she was pulled by the arm and slammed her foot down to stop herself from falling. She felt an “almighty snap” shoot through her leg and was taken to A&E, where the extent of the injury was revealed. 

Natalie had already been considering starting a business but had repeatedly convinced herself she was too busy. While confined to bed, she began researching websites, pricing, packaging, photography, food regulations, and the realities of running a baking company. 

She said: “At some point during my recovery, I told myself that as soon as I could walk again, I was going to take myself seriously and find out what I was capable of. I started the business from bed.” 

The former customer service and technical support worker initially developed The Northern Tart alongside her full-time job, working during the day and making cakes at night.  She eventually left a secure career and colleagues she genuinely liked to pursue the business full-time. 

“For somebody who had spent most of her life doubting herself, it was probably the biggest bet I had ever placed on me,” she said. 

Natalie first tried baking during the Covid pandemic, when money was tight, and she decided to make a Motörhead-themed birthday cake rather than buy one.  

The experience of creating something completely personal sparked an interest that would eventually become her career. 

Having grown up feeling like an outsider and using film, television and music as a form of escapism, Natalie wanted to create cakes for people whose interests were rarely reflected by traditional bakeries. 

Her creations now range from vintage-style heart cakes to sculpted characters, horror-themed treats and a Godzilla cake designed to appear as though it was breathing atomic fire. 

One of her earliest products, an “Art Crispie” inspired by the Art the Clown cereal box seen in Terrifier 2, went viral before she had even finished building a website.  

The treat released red caramel when broken open, prompting a rush of enquiries from horror fans. 

Natalie has also developed a habit of taking cakes to celebrities she admires. A vegan Jay and Silent Bob cake made for Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes at Liverpool Comic Con was shared by Smith with millions of followers and later featured by Plant Based News. She has also created cakes for Devon Sawa and Kit Grier Mulvenna and Rory Powers of This Paranormal Life. 

She joked: “I basically stalk my favourite celebrities at conventions with cake. I should clarify that my celebrity stalking is strictly cake-based. Mostly.”