In September 1926, fear, panic and hysteria haunted the West Yorkshire city of Bradford. A giant ghostly figure in a hooded white cloak stalked the night streets terrorising the locals and then vanishing into the labyrinthine ginnels or over the rooftops. Armed mobs of vigilantes roamed the streets hunting for the Bradford Ghost, who wasContinue reading “Hooded Giant Terrorises Yorkshire City! The Bradford Ghost”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
The Deadly Embrace of the Devil Fish!
Devils of the Sea Pity the poor octopus. They only live for a year, but they have a weird alien like intelligence that’s diffused through their arms – a different way of being clever. Their weird appearance, though, engendered fear and loathing and monster octopus like creatures – Sea Devils – featured in a numberContinue reading “The Deadly Embrace of the Devil Fish!”
Who Killed Navalny?
The death of Alexey Navalny in a Siberian prison on 16 February 2024 has been met with ghoulish glee by western news outlets. It’s an unmissable opportunity for an orgy of hypocrisy, sanctimony and demonisation of the Big Bad Bear. Navalny was just the kind of Russian politician that the West loved. He had allContinue reading “Who Killed Navalny?”
Terror in Todmorden: Who was the Tod Shaker?
Over Christmas 1903 Todmorden was under a reign of terror, according to local and national press. For over two weeks at the end of December, a series of bizarre attacks by a strange new ‘bogey man’ created a sense of panic and alarm on the Yorkshire-Lancashire border. Just who was this bogey man, asked theContinue reading “Terror in Todmorden: Who was the Tod Shaker?”
Buried Alive!
Imagine being woken by the soft thud of loose soil falling on wood. Lying in the darkness you wonder where you are or how you got there, but as you try to move you realise you’re confined in a narrow box. Then the full horror of the situation hits you, but your screams are muffledContinue reading “Buried Alive!”
Hellish Nell in Todmorden
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”
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”
The Brighouse Bigamist Quack
Here’s a sad and curious tale from a Weird Calderdale chapter on local quacks that was left out due to space constraints… John Holmes was a ‘dispenser of herbs, barks, draughts’ and other unconventional treatments, though his critics, and there were many, would call him a quack.[i] Details are sketchy, but he came to theContinue reading “The Brighouse Bigamist Quack”
Top Three Extraordinary Popular Delusions of the Modern Day
In 1841, journalist Charles Mackay wrote a remarkable book titled Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, one of my favourite books. In it he examined what happens when nations and even continents go mad so that ‘millions of people become simultaneously impressed with one delusion, and run after it, till their attention isContinue reading “Top Three Extraordinary Popular Delusions of the Modern Day”
Sects, Cults and Rock ‘n’ Roll
Weird Musical History # 13: Krishna Rock The Hare Krishnas were a common sight in cities around the world. You might have seen them in your high street with their hair shaven but for a pigtail and their flowing robes, clinking finger cymbals and chanting their mantras. In the 70s and 80s, they might evenContinue reading “Sects, Cults and Rock ‘n’ Roll”
Paul Weatherhead 