Notorious medium Helen Duncan, known as ‘Hellish Nell’ in her Scottish hometown, has gone down in history for being imprisoned after she was charged under the 1735 Witchcraft Act in 1944. Duncan, described as a large coarse woman even by her admirers, was a controversial ‘materialising medium’, meaning sitters at her seances would see ghostlyContinue reading “Hellish Nell in Todmorden”
Category Archives: Ghosts and spooky legends
Yorkshire Zombies: The Medieval Dead
Yorkshire in the 1300s was a strange and frightening place. The living dead crawled from their graves, wandered round the lanes and accosted the villagers, at least according to accounts written by an anonymous monk. But these zombies were very different from the gut munchers of modern popular culture, and it wasn’t your brain theyContinue reading “Yorkshire Zombies: The Medieval Dead”
The Gorefield Ghost
In early 1923 a Fenland farm was visited by strange destructive phenomena – household objects mysteriously flying across the room and smashing. Some said the house was haunted by a poltergeist, others blamed witchcraft or even demons. The haunted house became a national sensation, leading to psychic investigators, spiritualists, an exorcist, a witch and ArthurContinue reading “The Gorefield Ghost”
Doris Stokes – Welcome to my World
Weird Musical History #11 Doris Stokes was Britain’s foremost medium in the eighties. She was a regular on television, had a series of autobiographical books and toured the world selling out theatres with her displays of mediumship. She was spiritual advisor to the stars – John Inman, Freddie Starr and members of the cast ofContinue reading “Doris Stokes – Welcome to my World”
Ghost Streakers!
In the dim moonlight of a nineteenth century lane, if you came across a pale spectral figure as naked as the day he was born, you might take it for a restless spirit. However, perhaps you had encountered a naked ghost – people who wandered the streets at night frightening any unlucky victim they happenedContinue reading “Ghost Streakers!”
Some Headless Xmas Ghosts
Hannah Grundy – the Headless Ghost of Staithes If you take a night walk on the beach near the North Yorkshire fishing village of Staithes at Christmas, you might see an eerie transparent figure floating down from the towering coastal cliffs. As the shape comes closer, it crosses a bridge and comes onto the beachContinue reading “Some Headless Xmas Ghosts”
The Blue Hand ~ a Hebden Ghost
A grave danger faced the terrified pupils of Central Street Infants School in Hebden Bridge in the early 1970s: The Blue Hand. This ghostly hand scuttled around the school’s corridors and was apt to pounce on unsuspecting children, especially if they were alone in the toilet. The spectral hand would gouge out the little one’sContinue reading “The Blue Hand ~ a Hebden Ghost”
Weird Musical History #3 ~ The Elvis Presley Séance (1979)
Two years after Elvis Presley died, a seance was arranged in a North London Spiritualist Church. The aim was to contact the King of Rock and Roll from beyond the grave. The event was recorded and released as a vinyl LP by Shadow Records in 1979. The event is narrated by the softly spoken RadioContinue reading “Weird Musical History #3 ~ The Elvis Presley Séance (1979)”
On Ghosts, Demons, Aliens and a Haunted Light Switch
Part One ~ I am plagued by ghosts and a demon I’m often asked if I’ve ever had any supernatural experiences myself. Well, sort of…. In fact, I’ve done battle with ghosts and a demon in the wild Balkan Mountains of Northern Greece. But of course, there’s a twist. I lived in a town calledContinue reading “On Ghosts, Demons, Aliens and a Haunted Light Switch”
The Broad Bottom Ghost
The story of the Broad Bottom Ghost was told by Hebden Bridge born political activist and suffragette Lavena Saltonstall to the Todmorden and District News in the early twentieth century.[i] It concerns the area between Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd with the unflattering name of Broad Bottom, consisting of some woods, fields and a few houses.Continue reading “The Broad Bottom Ghost”
