Christmas Eve with a Ghost – or Murdered Thirty Years Ago… Here’s a strange Christmas ghost story that was supposed to have occurred in Halifax in 1875. Unfortunately, it’s not at all clear which Halifax is meant. It was reported in the notorious true crime tabloid the Illustrated Police News on 1 January 1876. OnContinue reading “A Halifax Christmas Ghost Mystery”
Category Archives: Mysteries
The Rosa Day Mystery
On Sunday 29 January 1899, Rosa Day, an athletic nineteen year old woman from Cheshire, decided to go ice-skating instead of joining the rest of her family at church. She didn’t come home. Search parties retraced her route and explored the fields, lanes and ponds for her without success. It was feared she had fallenContinue reading “The Rosa Day Mystery”
Kidnapped! The Amazing Adventure of Emily Raynor
In September 1897, the strange story of Emily Raynor mesmerised the British public. It was a tale of sinister men in black, hypnotism, abduction and an innocent girl who narrowly avoided a life of slavery in an Ottoman bordello… The Lady Vanishes Emily Raynor (19) was the daughter of a doctor and a nurse fromContinue reading “Kidnapped! The Amazing Adventure of Emily Raynor”
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 Demon-Haunted Castaway
In January 1726 the British ships the Compton and the James and Mary anchored off a desolate uninhabited island in the South Atlantic for repairs. Men were sent ashore to find provisions, but instead came across a tent with a man’s skeleton lying near it. Next to the skeleton was a manuscript – a diaryContinue reading “The Demon-Haunted Castaway”
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”
Virgin Mary Photographed in France!
January 1922, Noveant, north west France. As the sun sets behind the village church, a large crowd from the surrounding villages gather to witness a miracle. Then she appears – the Virgin Mary in robes of light floating in the trees and looking kindly down on the faithful. This vision had appeared at sunset dailyContinue reading “Virgin Mary Photographed in France!”
Close Encounters of the Third World War Kind
Suddenly everyone’s talking about UFOs again. After President Biden ordered the military to shoot down a supposed Chinese spy balloon, several more unidentified flying objects were also tracked and destroyed over North America, with senior military officer General Glen VanHerck saying they were not ruling out the possibility of extra-terrestrial involvement.[i] Of course, it’s highlyContinue reading “Close Encounters of the Third World War Kind”
The Dublin Blackberry Poisoner
In the autumn of 1989 it was feared that a maniac poisoner was at large in Dublin, coating blackberries with the deadly herbicide Paraquat. Anyone, especially children, could be in danger from this lethal toxin as they went blackberrying. The press called him the ‘Paraquat Lunatic’ or the ‘Poison Maniac’ and it led to understandableContinue reading “The Dublin Blackberry Poisoner”
Music for Plants Weird Musical History #8
I recently came across an odd vinyl album on Hebden Bridge flea market called Music for Plants by the Baroque Bouquet (pictured above). The record’s back sleeve claims that playing it to your plants will keep your plants happy and healthy. What kind of music do plants like? Well, that was worth coughing up myContinue reading “Music for Plants Weird Musical History #8”
Paul Weatherhead 