As Halloween approaches, our thoughts often turn to ghostly matters. I’ve long been fascinated by the forgotten phenomenon of ‘playing the ghost’ – dressing as a ghost and hanging out in spooky locations to scare the wits out of passersby. Sometimes the pranksters wore just a white sheet over their heads, though some would useContinue reading “Stoned Spooks and Other Ghosts That Time Forgot…”
Tag Archives: playing the ghost
Hooded Giant Terrorises Yorkshire City! The Bradford Ghost
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”
When Ghost Hoaxes Go Bad…
Playing the ghost – dressing in a white sheet, devil mask or animal skin and then jumping out on innocent victims to scare the wits out of them in dark and lonely locations – was a popular but much frowned upon pastime in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It was assumed that delicate ladiesContinue reading “When Ghost Hoaxes Go Bad…”
Scared… to Death!
A bizarre pastime emerged in the nineteenth and early twentieth century: ‘playing the ghost’. This usually involved a prankster donning a white sheet, perhaps with a scary mask and some devil horns and then cavorting in a spook like manner at a creepy location such as a dark lonely road or grave yard at midnightContinue reading “Scared… to Death!”
Paul Weatherhead 