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EDITORIAL
The Pockets of the Paranormal
The beauty of the paranormal is that you
can pick-pocket various parts of spooky
history and rifle through the paranormal
handbag for something of interest and
worth. You don’t have to look too hard for
a story as the stories are already there, they
just need to be shared and heard.
For every haunted story we know of, I reckon
that there’s probably another unknown
haunted story hidden, hiding, just waiting
to be discovered. For every haunted house,
there’s one yet to be mentioned and for
every poltergeist we love to read and hear
about there’s probably another noisy ghost
that we are yet to hear about. I always say
we are just scratching the surface of the
iceberg with the paranormal stories, legends,
and cases.
A location creates “new” fragments of his-
tory every time it is investigated, the irony is
that there is more of the paranormal past to
be found in our paranormal future. The more
we dig and research the more we find. There
is no Groundhog Day in the paranormal.
Everyone at #teamHaunted brings their own
paranormal ideas & writings to Haunted
Magazine, it is a real pleasure to be part
of people’s supernatural journey. Andy & I
love putting the magazine together, yes it
involves lots of late nights, but it is always
a real pleasure to bring to you Haunted
Magazine. It is something we love
doing.
As editor of Haunted Magazine and a
ghost hunter, you’d have thought that I
would be used to late nights. To be honest,
I am normally, but for the last few nights I
have woke up, looked at the clock, and it is
the same time, 2:22am. I even tried some-
thing different yesterday when I woke up,
I stopped myself from looking at the clock
straight away, I must have faced the other
way for at least four-five minutes (it’s hard to
tell when you don’t look at a clock), anyway
I turned around after some time and there
it was in bright red digital numbering 2:22
AGAIN.
I must have something on my mind, can’t
think what….#PARANORMAL!!
Paul
CONTENTS
04 CHILL OUT: What are ‘Cold Spots’?
Sarah Streamer puts her thermals
on and investigates why certain places in a
21 IT’S ABOUT THYME: Kate Ray offers
sage advice and countdowns her top
20 herbs in the garden of the paranormal;
location could be colder thistle go down well
07 SUPERNATURAL SHOPPING: Did the
foundations of a new retail outlet
disturb a poltergeist?
26 THE DAMNED DEMAND FOR ON-
DEMAND: Danny Robins dissects,
debates, dismembers and discusses if we
09 CASHING IN ON THE PARANORMAL:
Can haunted buildings and
paranormal investigators work together for the
are living in the golden age of entertaining
Paranormal Drama
greater good?
29 THE STEP BY E-STEP GUIDE: Richard
Estep investigates the historic Beattie
10 NOBODY LYING AROUND: Were the
Death Masks of the Old Melbourne Gaol Mansion in Missouri known by many as the
used for science or scaremongering? House on the Hill
13 33
“TAKING THE MICKEY, NICKY”: Nicky THE “ALEXANDRA” HOLZER FILES:
Alan writes about the time an angry Alexandra investigates three marine
entity gate-crashed a private event, but who themed mysteries; a ghost ship, a haunted
was at fault? ship & a harbour, maybe harbouring Canada’s
14 THE CHURCH OF THE POISONED MIND: very own Roswell
Has the paranormal past blemished
the search for truth or fuelled the flames for
wanting and needing to know more?
36 THE TALE OF JANE & A GHOST (OR
TWO): A holiday adventure turns into
a haunting one when medium Jane Rowley
16
A QUANTUM OF SPOOKYNESS: Morgan
visits the old home of Beatrix Potter
Knudsen takes a quantum leap of
39
faith and delves into the science behind THE DIARIES OF A GHOST WRITER:
precognition, psychokinesis and ESP Danny Robins, writer of 2:22, reflects
19 BRASSED OFF: Kate Cherrell and her on his haunted journey, from belief to doubt
blow-by-blow account of the spirit and back again, from Battersea to the West
trumpet, was this Early Voice Phenomena? End and many more stops in between
THE PARAPOD: A VERY BRITISH GHOST HUNT An exclusive interview with the
stars & the producer of the new ghost movie including an in-depth review
Extra content from 2:22 featuring Ciaran O’Keeffe’s spoiler free review and an
EXCLUSIVE interview with Jake Wood.
Extra content from Help! My House is Haunted featuring Barri Ghai & Jayne
Harris giving their advice on gadgets, gizmos and top research tips for budding
paranormal historians
43 HELP! THESE INTERVIEWS ARE
HAUNTED: Exclusive interviews with
the cast and producer of the UK paranormal TV
66 NOT SO ‘ORRIBLE ‘ISTORIES: Historian
Penny Griffiths-Morgan was itching to
go back to school, so much so she wrote a book
show, Help! My House is Haunted about a very British school goes back to school
51 JAILHOUSE SHOCK: Do the spirits of
dead prisoners’ still haunt Derby Gaol?
69 SUPERNATURAL SHROPSHIRE: Amy
Boucher takes us on a terrifying tour of
spooky Salop that you won’t get to read about in
Lorien Jones takes a look
the “normal” guidebooks
55 HOORAY FOR HOLYROOD: Evelyn Hollow
recounts the tale of 17 miniature coffins
found near an extinct volcano, a prehistoric fort
72 ALL ABOUT MONSTERS: Curiosity may
have killed the cat, but it has brought the
monsters back to life in Usborne’s World of the
and a site that, some say, is the true location of Unknown trilogy; mega fan Robin Ince tells us all
Camelot about it
58 THINGS THAT GO TRUMP IN THE NIGHT:
Imagine if 2:22 was a card game with
a spooky twist, you get dealt one card only, but
75 THE QUEST FOR KNOWLEDGE: We ask a
paranormal related question; you tell us
your answers. Are we prepared for your no holds
who gets to call out first? barred uncensored comments?
59 DEAD FUNNY: BBC’s Ghosts is back;
we take a look at the myriad of ghosts
76 HUBBLE, COVELL, TOIL & TROUBLE:
Yorkshire historian Mike Covell steps out
of his countywide comfort zone to investigate
and find out what’s going down at Button Hall
some strangeness in deepest, darkest
63 THE WASHINGTON STATE Lincolnshire.
80
POLTERGEIST: Keith Linder tells us why THE PARANORMAL WANDERER:
this poltergeist case has been acknowledged as The wanderings, wonderings and
one of America’s most controversial paranormal ponderings of our very own paranormal rambler,
cases H A U N T E D M A G A Z I N E Hubert Hobux. 3
 BABY, IT'S
COLD INSIDE !
An Essay on Cold Spots by Sarah Streamer

he world of the paranormal is career as a paranormal investigator. I

T strange. The very word means

beyond or apart from normal. As
a paranormal investigator and
researcher, I have spent many hours in
dark hallways by myself contemplating
the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ of different
phenomena. This curiosity has driven
me to research the science behind why
these phenomena happen. In some
cases, the science doesn’t do a very good
job of explaining why things happen, but
it helps to have a basic understanding of
what is happening during these events to
become a better investigator.
was investigating in a location that I have
lovingly come to call ‘home.’ Malvern
Manor, located in Iowa, began its life in the
late 1800s as a hotel for the small railroad
town of Malvern. Over the years, the
building transitioned into a nursing home
and finally, into a group home. The Manor
housed residents that were afflicted with
range of conditions, from alcoholism to
severe dissociative identity disorder (DID)
or multiple personalities. The residents of
Malvern Manor even included a convicted
murderer. This location, it seems, has
become the place that many of the former

“I have encountered Cold spots are something almost every

investigator has experienced. They
residents still roam.

I was investigating Malvern Manor with a

cold spots show up unexpectedly and sometimes
are unexplainable. I have encountered
small group of friends on a very cold night
in March. With temperatures dropping
frequently over cold spots frequently over my time
as an investigator, but only a couple
into the low thirties and the Manor having
heat to only part of the building, we were

my time as an of experiences were completely

unexplainable. If you talk to investigators
all bundled up for the investigation. We
had decided to investigate the nursing
from around the globe, they hypothesize home wing of the Manor and I had
investigator, but that cold spots are an unexplained,
localized drop in temperature. The
volunteered to be bait for the infamous
Shadow Man that was known to chase
only a couple thought is that spirits are able to use the
energy from the heat in the surrounding
people down the hallway. I sat on the
floor outside of Door 2 as five other
of experiences atmosphere to potentially communicate
with us or manifest themselves, creating
investigators stood about 50 feet away,
at the end of the hallway and watched me.

were completely a cold spot. The session started out very quiet, but
as we sat in the dark and listened to the
The most profound cold spot I have building, we began to hear knocks and
unexplainable.” experienced happened fairly early in my noises.

4 HAUNTED MAGAZINE
After what seemed like ages, and
many noises from other rooms, I heard
something move from the other side of
door 2. At first, it sounded like some of
the contents of the room may have been
settling. That particular room is locked to
investigators as it has been rented out as
storage… for the local funeral home. Then,
another sound. A footstep? Then a loud
knock on the door that was just inches
from where I was sitting. Suddenly, I felt
my stomach drop to the floor and could
feel a cold mass at my back, which is
interesting as the air temperature was
in the 30’s. How cold did the mass have
to be for me to feel colder than I already
was? It felt as if someone was standing
directly behind me, waiting for me to run.
I knew my fellow investigators had a FLIR
thermal camera with them, so I had one
of them come down to capture what I was
feeling. It turns out, there were footprints Heat, or the lack thereof (cold), is created
on the floor directly behind me that were by movement. The kinetic energy of atoms transformed from one type to another,
picked up on the FLIR thermal camera vibrating and rubbing up against each other but it can’t be created or destroyed. All
is what creates heat. It’s like that time you the energy we encounter, heat, electricity,
forgot your gloves when you had to clean light, has come from somewhere else. All
“Something had the snow off your car. After scraping ice and
flinging a large chunk down your shirt, you
that energy can become another type of
energy, but it can never be totally destroyed.

been standing there sit in the driver’s seat shivering and rubbing
your hands together like mad to prevent
The second and third law have to do with
entropy, which is the degree of chaos in a
your fingers from falling off due to frostbite. system. They basically say that a system
and I could feel Eventually, the friction from rubbing your
hands will begin to warm your hands up.
wants to normalize and reach a constant
state. With heat, this means that if you have
the cold, relative Because of the excessive movement and
friction of atoms, heat is very difficult
a hot and cold area, they will eventually
become warm as things normalize. So, you
to my own ambient to control or direct. It is also very easily
dispersed. In fact, heat is the least efficient
can’t create energy from nothing, it won’t
disappear and hot and cold want to become
form of energy that is available for use. a weird warm mass.
temperature.” Logically, if I were a spirit, I would go after a
more reliable form of energy, like a battery, With the understanding of how energy is
This experience has stayed with me and because heat is sketchy as an energy source transformed and behaves, it’s time to dig
has made me question why cold spots at best. into the different causes of an explainable,
happen. The best part of being science natural cold spot. Air movement is the main
Another thing to consider are the Laws culprit, and this can happen in many ways.
minded is coming up with questions
of Thermodynamics. The first, and most The most obvious way is a draft coming from
about something. Are spirits able to
famous fundamental law states that the an external source.
use heat energy to communicate? Do
total energy of a system must remain
they just exist at a certain temperature,
constant. This means that energy can be
and we identify it as cold relative to our
surroundings? If this is the case, is there
a certain temperature at which best
to detect them? Are they composed of
something that absorbs heat without their
effort, effectively making them a walking
(or floating) cold spot? While science as
we know it will not answer the questions I
have, it can tell us about the laws of heat,
how it is transformed and explainable,
natural ways that a cold spot could
form. These explainable phenomena
surrounding heat energy do not discount
the idea that unexplainable paranormal
cold spots happen, but they can help us
understand the nature of heat energy,
giving us a tool to help debunk a cold
spot if it is naturally occurring and not
paranormal in nature.

HAUNTED MAGAZINE 5
It is easy to overlook a crack in a window or
air moving under a door when you’re in the
throes of a paranormal investigation, but it is
worth the time to identify drafts. Air move-
ment from convection and humidity differ-
ences can also happen. Warm air rises will
cool and fall back down. A simple temperature
difference of a few degrees in a room can
cause enough air movement for you to feel a
cool area. Humidity differences can cause
the same effect with humid air being lighter
(less dense) than dry air, rising and falling to
create air movement that can be felt. Any sort
of air movement can be easily detected with
the finger test. If you lick your finger (with
clean hands, of course), you can easily feel if
the air is moving in a directional flow.
Other causes of detecting a cold spot have
to do with your relative heat as a human. We
are all giving off heat and our bodies have a
way to cope with overheating and heat loss.
One of those biological functions is sweating.
Even the slightest bit of moisture on your skin
can evaporate, causing you to feel a relative
cold area. Unlike drafts, convection, and
humidity, these are the types of cold spots
that bear no evidence on the thermometer.
They are simply relative to your body heat.
Similar to this, you can experience radiative
heat loss. This has to do with the Second
and Third Law of Thermodynamics that we
discussed above. Systems want to become
a constant temperature so if you are close to
a cold surface, your body heat wants to nor-
malize with the cold surface making you feel a
cold area. The next time it’s cold out, put your
hand close to a window. You can feel the cold
because it wants to suck your body heat away
from you to perform a fundamental Law of
Thermodynamics. The world around us is so
cool! Literally.
The last, and I think the most often over-
looked cause for a cold spot, is psychological
suggestion. As soon as you tell someone you
feel a cold spot, they tend to feel it as well.
In the world of the paranormal, this is not
specific to cold spots. When you see or hear
something, the people around you will begin
too as well. When you hear a specific word in
an EVP and announce it or label it, it is hard
for others to hear anything different. Operate
carefully in this regard if you are trying to
collect valid evidence. It’s always a good idea
to not announce what you’re feeling, seeing,
or hearing in order to validate your experience
with others. I tend to ask other investigators
to stand next to me and tell me what they are
experiencing in that area, so I don’t give them
any hint of my own observations. I don’t say
things like ‘What do you feel?’ or ‘Can you
hear that?’ Just the use of these sense verbs
when investigating can trigger another per-
son to unconsciously feel or hear something.
While the science surrounding cold spots
doesn’t give us a good idea of why they
happen, it helps us understand our world
to become better investigators. Having a
healthy sense of scepticism as an investi-
gator is a good thing. Learning to debunk
and not assume everything that happens is
paranormal is an important part of conduct-
ing sound, scientific research. I am always of
the mindset that science is ever evolving and
just around the corner could be the next big
discovery to help us explain the unexplain-
able. While we’re waiting for that to happen,
don’t forget to wear your gloves to clean the
snow off your car so you don’t have to rely on
friction to prevent frostbitten phalanges. Oh,
and keep researching and investigating the
unexplained, the world needs more weirdos
committed to advancing the field of the para-
normal.
Sarah x
Sarah Streamer has been active in the
paranormal community since 2016. She has
been researching and photographing haunted
locations to help bring awareness to the
paranormal and the historical preservation
of the locations. She is co-founder of the
paranormal investigative team, Paranormania.
Her passion is to be able to conduct valid
research and data analysis in the paranormal
field to help advance the science surrounding
the currently unexplainable phenomena that we
encounter.
 FLYING OFF
THE SHELVES
THE EAGLE CENTRE POLTERGEIST BY ELI LYCETT
no less than seven
clergymen were called
in to exercise this “spirit
of the Moors.”
t’s early December 1983 and in the
I basement of a building in Derby city
centre, an extraordinary meeting is
taking place. Huddled together in the
dimly lit room around stacked boxes of stock,
packing materials and cleaning equipment,
stand a group of local business owners,
council representatives and a collection of
Church clergymen that include the Bishop
of Derby himself. None of them can quite
believe it has come to this, gathered as they
are beneath the city’s new shopping centre,
debating a resolution to a problem that is
proving so increasingly disturbing that any
sense of ridicule or fantasy has long since
left the conversation. They need a solution;
a solution to the Eagle Centre poltergeist.
Amongst the complex range of shapes
and sizes that spectral hauntings can
take, the poltergeist is the one form of
paranormal phenomena that has the power
to unite viewpoints and beliefs no matter
how diverse. The noisy ghost is present in
virtually every culture the world over, and
whilst attributable names and theories may
differ, the unique nature of the poltergeist
at large means that it’s power of persuasion
is constant. No matter what a person may
believe, it’s hard to ignore the one form of
haunting that can be objectively viewed
and measured.
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
There are
stories found of such phenomena through-
out history, the most curious to me being
those cases which took place in an environ-
ment where the notion of a-typical polter-
geist activity was an unknown quantity to
those witnessing the events; and local folk-
lore and legend is a great place to spot them.
One such case comes records of a haunting
which took place in the Staffordshire
Moorlands during the late 1800’s. Published
in October 1880 by local newspaper The
Sentinel as part of an article entitled  Up
and Down the County,  William Hambleton,
stated to be a member of Butterton Village
Parish Council, recounts an event at a farm
on Douse Lane in the nearby village of
Onecote.
For several weeks, strange knockings and
noises had been heard in the farmhouse,
before events seemed to reach a peak with
the farmers cart seen to be veering around
the farmyard, night after night, by means
of “unseen propulsion.” In the end, a local
Reverend and no less than seven clergymen
were called in to exercise this “spirit of the
Moors.”
It would seem the situation in Derby’s Eagle
Centre around 100 years later evolved along
eerily similar lines.
7
 “Builders were said
to have heard all
manner of noises
and screams on the
site when they were
alone and often found
tools going missing
before reappearing in
impossible locations.”
t started during the shopping mall’s
I construction in 1975, when the east-
end slums of the city centre had been
cleared to make space for the new
building. Builders were said to have heard
all manner of noises and screams on the
site when they were alone and often found
tools going missing before reappearing in
impossible locations. Once completed, the
activity would only increase, with dozens
of business owners reporting strange
occurrences during their first few months
of trade. For the local papers, the spooky
stories coming out of the new shopping
centre were a goldmine, and such was the
concern of the Eagle Centre’s management
that a court injunction was taken out to stop
the press from printing the tales they were
told for fear of the poltergeist seriously
impacting trade.
Besides the usual bangs, crashes, and
object teleportations, there were other, far
more visual phenomena on display across
the site. Shadowy figures were spotted
in storerooms by at least 6 separate shop
managers, and shawled, crouched spectres
walking through walls is said to have been
a regular occurrence. In one particularly
illuminating encounter, site security guards
spent over an hour searching the premises
after one of their number had spotted a
young girl, long after closing, wandering
through a clothes store clutching a cuddly
toy. They had feared the child had somehow
become locked in. Alas, upon investigation,
no child was to be found.
8 HAUNTED MAGAZINE
Now, it is easy to imagine how such stories
build locally, taking on a life of their own and
giving us cause to question their provenance.
At the Eagle Centre however, far from
becoming a hub of outlandish claims and
fantasy, things took a decidedly practical
turn following a spate of flying shoes in a
branch of Freeman, Hardy and Willis that had
been witnessed by half a dozen people at the
same time including a local council leader.
Guarding against the rumours that many
businesses in the new £7 Million shopping
centre were considering leaving, they took
the extraordinary step of issuing an advice
pamphlet concerning the phenomena. It was
entitled (I jest not) Your Poltergeist and How
to Deal with It.
In the document, a brief history of
the phenomena was shared in a bid to
show how “natural” it was, alongside
advice on how to placate it; once the
pressures that produce the poltergeist
are understood, it stated, the activity
will begin to fade. It would appear
however that the activity continued
for at least 8 years; and come that
night in the basement, the Bishop and
his helpers took a drastic decision.
They would perform an exorcism.
It didn’t work at first, and reports of activity
continued before a second session took
place in early 1984. This time, it seemed to do
the trick, and reports became rarer and rarer
until the shopping centre eventually closed
in 1990.
The Eagle Centre may no longer be with us,
but the Eagle Market is still very much alive
and well on its former site, now part of Intu
Shopping Derby, where market traders do
business with shoppers every day of the
week.
As to what may have caused the activity at
the Eagle Centre during the late 70’s and
early 80’s, there are a couple of competing
theories. One, and perhaps the most plausible
as such theories go, is that the poltergeist
activity itself came as part and parcel of a
much wider explosion of hauntings which
emerged following the clearance of the old
neighbourhood before the centre was built.
Another suggestion lies in the fact that the
building was erected in an area of the city
said to have born witness to a violent battle
way back in the year 917 between the forces
of Anglo-Saxon warrior queen Aethelflead
and the Vikings of the Dane Law; the idea
being that the slaughter had somehow had
a metaphysical impact on the land that was
later released into the atmosphere when the
ground was broken to lay foundations.
Whatever the origin of the phenomena, it’s
clear that the area of the city in which the
Eagle Centre was erected had played host
to a long history of human occupation. That
the memories of the land may have somehow
become switched on and replayed during
the building work would dovetail neatly with
many popular theories regarding hauntings
but the origin of the poltergeist itself is
even more complex; it’s range of activity
suggests an intelligent control, inherent in
the location.

As with many such cases,
investigation leads to more
questions than answers, but
nonetheless, whatever
happening back then in Derby city
centre was very real to those who
witnessed it. Yet it is precisely
this lack of definitive answers
that means such stories pass
from person to person in a form
that is open to interpretation,
embellishment, and subtle change.
This is no bad thing. Rather, it is the
evolutionary mechanism by which
events such as the Eagle Centre
poltergeist pass into folklore,
enabling them to survive across
the years, changing shape into
legend along the way and ensuring
that such incredible examples of
the supernatural, so unlikely to be
committed to official records, are
not lost to us. Their unfathomable
truths persevered in oral tradition,
just like the legends of old, courtesy
of the stories they inspire.
El i Ly c e t t
CHECK OUT
ELI’S “LOCAL
MYTHSTORIAN”
PAGE: https://
thelocalmythstorian.
com/
SCARE IN THE COMMUNITY
P
aranormal events companies are often
criticised for bulk booking haunted
venues at inflated prices, which prices-out
smaller independent teams who would
was
like the chance to investigate the property. While
this might be true in some cases, especially at
some of the more opportunistic properties, there
is another side to this debate.
Michael Packer is the chair of a voluntary
association which looks after a 250-year-old former
brass works on the outskirts of Bristol. He says that
the income from hosting paranormal events has
become vital to their funding raising efforts, which
support local community projects and the upkeep
and restoration of the building.
Warmley Clocktower was built in 1743 and despite
its name is as much an old factory building as an
actual clocktower. Michael says, “the brass industry
was a big business in the early stage of the Industrial
Revolution.” The three-storey clocktower building
was once part of a much larger early industrial
estate built by William Champion, but after a
long and successful period of operation, the site
eventually closed down, and the building was put
to a new use.
“The Clocktower Association was
formed in 1968, and ever since we have
been providing services specifically
for the tenants of the council estate,
the young people in particular.”
Over the years the association adapted to reflect
changes in society. Michael explained, “we’ve
always reacted to what the current issues were and
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
provided the services. And in that type of work, you
have to survive off a grant income from a national
charity, which supports the type of work you’re
doing. Later, we were getting contracts from the
council to deliver services for young people from
the building.”
In 2013, the council chose not to renew their
contract, opting to fund another organisation
that was better placed to provide services for the
community, but again the Clocktower adapted.
Michael says, “consequently, we effectively
became a space basically, for community use. And
we offer the building up on the ethos of making it
an affordable rate that voluntary groups and others
can afford.”
Realising that in order to serve the community,
they needed to bring in some additional income,
the historic venue offered itself up to paranormal
teams for the first time. It is the perfect solution as
paranormal events take place at times of the day
when the building is not earning in other ways.
As Michael explains, this is often a weekend, “they
come along at something like nine o’clock and
they’re there until three in the morning. And that’s
their evening, basically.”
9
He adds, “they come from miles away these event
organisers, they pick up local people too, people from
South Wales and roundabout Bristol.”
“There are a number of different locations
across the UK that rely heavily on income
generated from hosting paranormal
events. Some of these places are run by
charities or trusts and benefit from group
bookings to firstly raise their profile, but
to bring in much needed funding that in
many cases is vital to enable them to grow,
develop and in some cases remain open. I’m
all for supporting these locations which
provide us with local history and offer a
community spirit” Barri Ghai
The events have been more successful than the
Clocktower Association could have ever imagined.
Michael explained, “when we got to the end of the
last financial year, the year before we were put into
lockdown, what we found was that the amount of
money the paranormal contributed towards the
overhead costs was something like 42%.” Then the
pandemic hit and although much of 2020 and 2021
so far has been a write-off for ghost hunting events, the
Clocktower found that paranormal events provided a
vital lifeline.
“When they relaxed the rules, the paranormal came
back in again and quite honestly, that income was
quite a major contribution, because we were down.”
One argument against venues hiring themselves out
to paranormal events companies is that charging a
premium to use the location means that smaller teams
and independent researchers don’t have a chance to
investigate the location, especially when companies
book nights in bulk. This shouldn’t be seen as a negative
against the paranormal events company, as this really
comes down to how greedy a location is.
Michael has a less exclusive approach, “there are
people out there, smaller groups, that I would welcome
down in Warmley. And if they say, ‘well, we can’t
10
afford it, we’re only a group of four’, well, why not?
The priority isn’t to make as much money as possible.
All we want to do is to make money to secure the
building and to generate extra income, which we will
be investing in the community.”
But what’s it like having paranormal teams investigating
your property after dark?
Although the building is used as an events space and
has resident organisations based there, the events
haven’t interfered with the day-to-day running of the
building. Michael even went as far as to say, “the teams
that come along are very responsible people, but we
had to be very mindful that people that use the space
and we think they’ve all cooperated so far.”
With all the Clocktower Association working on a
voluntary basis, funds are tight and very much needed.
The association have used their money from ghost
hunts to improve the building and ensure its continued
availability for the community. “Obviously over the
years, we have saved the building, we’ve protected
the building,” says Michael, “we also have done some
fundraising where we’ve done a certain amount of
work on the building.”
But he says the work never ends, “we do have a
planning application we put in too to present the site
with landscaping and all the other things that go with
it. What we need to do is to get the investment now to
do the building up and to look at the landscaping, to
make sure the building is here for the future and we’re
safeguarding the community use of the building.”
While some venues and haunted locations might
seem greedy, others like the Clocktower are doing
their best to make their spaces available for all and
opening their building to further a non-profit initiative
that will benefit the wider community. So rather than
complaining that a haunted venue is cashing in, maybe
next time be more selective about the type of locations
you book and ensure the money you spend is going to
a good cause rather than just lining someone’s pocket.
Higgypop
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
By Our Wizardess of Oz - Sarah Chumacero
Death Masks of the
Old Melbourne Gaol
hen roaming the halls of what was once
W
a gaol, it is not uncommon for there to
be displays and stories of former in-
mates. What is particularly unnerving,
is when they have on display a death mask.
The Old Melbourne Gaol in Melbourne Vic-
toria is full of them. Built in the mid 1800’s
133 hangings took place within its walls. The
most infamous hanging was that of famous
bush-ranger Ned Kelly. The gaol closed in in
1924 and was decommissioned in 1929. It
sits today as a museum displaying one of the
largest collections of death masks in all of
Australia. So, what is a death mask and why
would you cast a mask of someone who was
executed?
In some ancient cultures, they used what were
called funeral masks as a part of the rituals
they would perform when burying a body. In
Ancient Egypt, they would mummify the body
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
and put it into a sarcophagus decorated with
various jewels. The finishing touch was to
put a sculpted mask on the face of the de-
ceased. This was was considered to be a very
important sacred element to the ritual. It was
believed that the mask would strengthen the
spirit of the mummy and guard it against evil
on its way to the after world.
In the late 1880s, the process of casting death
masks was used as a way to help identify the
body of a missing person. If an unidentified
body presented, a mask was cast so that fam-
ily members looking for missing loved ones
could identify the body. Remember this is long
before the technology we have today. There
is, in particular, one mask which is known as
L’Inconnue de la Seine. It was the face of an
unidentified young woman who was found
drowned at the Seine River in Paris sometime
in the 1880s. She was believed to be around
16 years old. The morgue worker who cast the
mask was bewitched by her beauty. The mask
became quite popular and considered almost
of a work of art. If the face looks familiar, that
is because the world’s first CPR mannequin
was modelled after this very mask.
11
 In the 19th Century and early 20th Century, the
process of death masks was used widely on
inmates in prisons after they were executed.
After they were hung, their head was shaved,
and a cast would be taken. The intention of this
was not solely to display the masks in a museum
(even though that is what they are doing today).
They were to be unknowing participants in a
study called Phrenology.
Phrenology
Emma Williams Death Mask
hrenology is considered to be a pseudo-
P
medicine that is no longer practiced as it
has since been scientifically discredited. It
was developed in 1796 by German physician
Franz Joseph  Gall. In 1820, the Edinburgh
Phrenological Society was established. The
process behind Phrenology involves feeling
and observing the measurements of a human
skull. The belief was that certain behaviours
and traits were confined to different sections
of the brain. It was believed there were
around 27 different sections to the brain. A
Fatta Chand Death Mask phrenologist would run their fingertips and
palms over a person’s skull to see if they could
feel any enlargements or indentations or in
simple terms - feel the bumps. They would
also measure the head. From these findings,
a Phrenologist would assess the character
and the temperament of the patient. There
were considered to be 5 fundamental points to
phrenology:
1. The brain is the organ of the mind.
2. The mind is composed of multiple,
distinct, innate faculties.
George Melville Death Mask 3. Because they are distinct, each faculty
must have a separate seat or “organ” in
the brain.
4. The size of an organ, other things being
equal, is a measure of its power.
5. The shape of the brain is determined by
the development of the various organs.
6. As the skull takes its shape from the
brain, the surface of the skull can be read
as an accurate index of psychological
aptitudes and tendencies.
Even though in 1840s, Phrenology had been
discredited as Scientific Theory based on a
large amount of evidence against it, the concept
became popular again in the early 20th century.
Ned Kelly Death Mask
It was during this resurgence that it was
thought criminals could be rehabilitated. The
thinking was that a diagnosis could be made,
and a plan put in place to help to rehabilitate the
criminal. For example, a criminal with homicidal
tendencies would be rehabilitated to work
as a butcher in order to control his impulses.
Somewhere along the way in this study, prisons
would start to cast death masks of inmates who
had been executed. They were not only used
for the study of phrenology but also appeared
in museums and material for prison authorities
12 HAUNTED MAGAZINE
to use at lectures and even displayed as a
deterrent for people – if you do the crime, this
is what could happen to you.
Old Melbourne
Gaol’s Death Masks
amous Australian Bushranger Ned Kelly’s
F death mask is one of the most famous
masks on display here, at the very place he
was executed. In November of 1880, Kelly
was hung for 3 counts of wilful murder and is
said to have spoken his final famous words
“Such is life” moments before his death. His
is not however the original death mask, it is
a copy. It was not uncommon for copies to be
made as they are quite fragile. In addition to
Kelly, there is an extensive collection of original
death masks on display of executed inmates
throughout the gaol.
Bushranger George ‘Frenchy’ Melville was
executed in 1853 for the McIvor Gold Robbery.
Fatta Chand was also hung at the gaol in 1891
for the murder of his Hindoo partner Juggo
Mull, even though he claimed his innocence.
Emma Williams was the only woman in Victoria
who was executed for the murder of her own
child in 1895. All others convicted of the same
crime were charged but not executed.
What is eerie about these masks is the
expression on the faces of the subjects.
Some seem at peace. Others have a look
of distress. One even seems to have a
smirking smile. In some cases, you can
actually see the contortion in the neck from
where they were hung. Strands of facial
hair are even sticking out from the plaster
on others. I have to wonder if the energy
of the person and the trauma associated
with their death are embedded within the
masks? While they are displayed behind
solid Perspex, the energy of the deceased
remains in the very place they met their
demise. Is this why so many people feel ill
and uneasy in their presence?
This is just another example of how our strange
past and intrigue with the macabre fascinates
us still to this day. I know I can’t be around a
death mask for long. Whether I am feeling the
energy of the mask or if maybe I am
just a little bit creeped out, either
way it doesn’t sit well with me.
Sarah
Photo credits:
L’Inconnue de la Seine: Public Domain
Making Death Mask Circa 1908: Public Domain
Photos by Sarah LLIFS, George Melville, Fatta
Chand, Emma Williams, Ned Kelly Phrenology
Display
A NASTY
PIECE OF
WORK...
When the wine and
nibbles become
malign and niggles
By Nicky Alan

t was 2007 and I had decided to do I could see through the vast kitchen win- Fred came straight in. Now he is like my

I a mini tour of East Anglia. I was go-

ing to various halls and theatres
demonstrating mediumship and go-
ing to private events where I would give
readings to people in a group set-
dows on arrival that many people were min-
gling, holding glasses of wine and munch-
ing through the morsels on offer. I knocked
on the kitchen door and as I opened the
door I had an instant wave of nau-
doorman, if there is anything off, negative
or dodgy he is in there like a shot to help
me out.

ting. They were lovely eve- sea hit me. Rather than give a “They have used a Ouija
nings and exceptionally lively and polite hello, I un-
popular, where most der racing breath asked board Nick and they took the
people had wine and where the toilet was. In
nibbles as I brought the toilet I promptly mickey, no one kept it safe.”
them messages puked up and won-
from the Spir- dered why this lux- ‘F**k me,’ I thought, this is all I need, some
it World and my urious house stank drunken get together, Ouija board in tow.
friend Vicky of old drains. I was Don’t get me wrong I find communication
thinking perhaps boards an excellent tool IN THE RIGHT
would do one to
I was going down HANDS but played with during a p**s up is
one readings in
with something as really not a good idea.
another room.
I joined the expect-
To be honest I should ant group shaking I think however, ‘It might not be that bad,
inside and feeling that just carry on.’ But as soon as I open up my
have realised as we
anything remotely dodgy energy, the stench of the drains got so bad
were driving to this one
would send me running to that the lump on my throat threatened
house that there was going
the toilet again. I asked Vicky is
to be a disastrous evening that further puking sessions!
she could smell the drains to which she
would unfold. I was getting really snappy
looked at me as if I was mad. I was forced to say,
with my friend and feeling quite angry
for no reason whatsoever. The closer I gulped down loads of water and directed “Have you got a problem with your drains?”
we got to the house the more I became the crowd in to one of the drawing rooms I think the owner was a little confused as
agitated. where I would do my demonstration of to whether this was a psychic or normal
mediumship. As the group of about thirty observation!
We were in the middle of nowhere deep people all seated themselves a hum of
in the Norfolk countryside looking for a excitement reverberated across the room. “No not at all”, he replied perplexed, turns
farmhouse. We eventually found it. I had I normally pick up on this vibe which helps out no one can smell what I am smelling.
the right hump when we pulled on the drive me get the spirit people in but all this
and again should have looked at myself energy did was make me shake even more. I then blurt out, “You have used a Ouija
to see why I felt so miserable, angry and I started to do an introduction to who I was board here haven’t you, and you were all
volatile. and how it all worked when my granddad drunk?”

HAUNTED MAGAZINE 13
 Initially the owner and some of friends
denied it. Eventually they admitted after
my granddad insisted he was right, that
yes they had quite a few times after a
good old drink at the local country pub
had a play on the Ouija board. They had
started playing on it a few months ago.
I had the feeling that they had opened
up some sort of doorway that had
inadvertently let someone not too
pleasant in.
I asked to speak to the owners on their
own. They said yes to all the following
standard questions:
Have you had random bad smells?
Have you had more arguments than
usual?
Have there been more electric/
physical accidents more than usual?
Was there anyone suffering with
depression?
Were they or the kids having
restless/interrupted sleep every
night or having nightmares?
Were there unexplained noises/
bangs in the house?
Did the house feel dreary?
Did they feel exhausted more than
usual?
Had they felt unwelcome in their
own house?
Had they seen things that were
unexplainable?
The questions go on, but you get the
picture, signs of a negative entity in the
house.
I really didn’t need this at all. I had
driven miles from our hotel to get here
and now I had to find out who was in the
bloody house as all my spirit messages
were being blocked. As soon as I tried to
link up I felt sick and smelled the most
disgusting smell. Put it this way when
I was a copper I smelled many dead
bodies. This was that smell with a bit of
ammonia chucked in for good measure.
I told the owners to go and serve some
more drinks as I had to locate this
spirit and do a clearing. I warned that
if I couldn’t clear the place, the evening
couldn’t go ahead.
I sat in one of the bedrooms where they
said the children refused to sleep in. It
took a while but then I could feel and
smell a rancid breath on my face. I could
make out the face of a very slim older
man with a grey short beard and fine
grey hair. My God was he angry. Crashes
14
and bangs started up in the room. My
granddad came to my side and my main
guide Julianus. After what seemed like
an eternity I could see him in my mind’s
eye standing there holding a shotgun. I
ascertained after a while that he was a
farmer that lived in a neighbouring farm
house. During his life he had had a huge
breakdown resulting in him shooting
his wife, kids then himself at their
farmhouse.
Bloody brilliant! This is all I needed
an angry spirit full of guilt roaming
around this house when I was
supposed to be bringing nice cuddly
nanas and aunties through!
He had been attracted to their energy,
the Ouija board gang, and had attached
himself to the house as it apparently
beat roaming around grounded at his
place due to what he had done to his
family. His guilt had stopped him going
over. It took an hour all in all to ask him to
leave the place. As the fragrant rush of
fresh flowers hit my nostrils I knew that
I had cleared the energy from the house.
I explained to the owners what I had
experienced. As they sat mouths wide
open, they confirmed that they knew
of the story of the neighbouring farm
massacre from many years ago. I stated
quite clearly that if they wanted him
back all they had to do was get drunk
and play with the Ouija board, yes, I was
being exceptionally sarcastic! It is one
of my pet hates, people messing around
with something they have no idea how to
control or respect.
The evening from then on went
swimmingly. The long awaited cuddly
nans, aunts and all manner of happy
spirit people came in with their
messages of comfort and support. This
is what should happen when I connect
to the Spirit World, not having to evict
haunted souls that can’t get over
murdering their family!
Word to the wise, if you don’t know
enough about it, don’t play with it!
Nicky x
Psychic Medium, Tutor & Magazine
Columnist
Author of M.E Myself & I: Diary of a
Psychic
Twitter @NickyAlan07
Instagram @nickyalan333
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
FRIEND
OR FAUX
Lying for the Good of
the Paranormal?
By A m a n d a R . Wo o m e r (S p o o k- E at s)
T
he history of the paranormal
has been an arduous (ongoing)
journey. The “olden days” were
filled with superstitions, lore,
and a deep connection to the spirit world
that was nearly wiped out as the world
became “enlightened.” Science explained
mysteries like thunder and eclipses, and
the invention of the lightbulb chased
away the monsters of the night. There
was no room for ghosts and goblins in
the modern world, no reason to believe
in childish stories of fairies and ghouls…
and yet, we have never stopped wanting
to believe.
Some are lucky enough to bridge the gap
between the modern and the ancient,
what is known and what is unknown, and
they come back touched by what they
cannot understand, let alone explain.
Maybe you felt an unseen hand tug on your
shirt. You know you were alone, but when
you tell someone else, they laugh it off and
say you imagined it.
“Perhaps you heard
the voice of your
grandmother calling
out your name in the
night, even though
she has been dead for
years.”
Or maybe you caught a glimpse of your
mother, clear as day, standing in the kitchen
smiling at you even though she just passed
away a few months ago. You open yourself
up to the possibility that you somehow
connected to the “other side,” but when
you nervously share your encounter with
your siblings, they just say, “Pics or it didn’t
happen.”
Could these experiences with the
paranormal that leave us feeling isolated
(and sometimes questioning our sanity)
lead to a habit of embellishing the truth and
possibly even fabricating experiences just
in the hope of making someone believe us?
A glance at the paranormal history over the
last 200 years would suggest a resounding
yes.
Take a look at the most polarizing ladies in
the paranormal: the Fox Sisters. Some see
them as gifted mediums who founded the
modern-day Church of Spiritualism. Others
see them as nothing more than charlatans,
making money off grieving families
desperate to find ways to communicate
with the other side.
But is there more than meets the eye when
it comes to Kate, Maggie, and Leah Fox?
Maybe they really were sensitive to the
spirits living in their childhood home (after
all, it was known throughout town to be
haunted). It could be possible that they were
gifted mediums, but, like so many things in
the paranormal, unexplained phenomena
did not just happen on command. And so,
they were forced to come up with a way
to embellish on the reports that they could
communicate with spirits. It was revealed
by family members (and even one of the
Fox Sisters) that the girls had faked the
“rappings” they used to communicate with
the spirits. But was it 100% fake?
It’s doubtful that there wouldn’t be some
shred of truth—especially now that
the Church of Spiritualism has not only
survived over 100 years, but it is still
thriving today. Perhaps Kate and Maggie
were gifted psychic mediums, but to
perform on command as their sister, Leah,
demanded, they needed to get… creative.
Fabricating evidence to prove something
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
exists doesn’t end there. Just look at spirit
photography from the late 19th and early
20th Centuries!
The very first spirit photo was snapped by
W. Campbell [pictured centre left] who
was trying to take a picture of a chair in
his studio and ended up capturing the
ghostly image of a boy. He was never able
to recreate this phenomenon, so many
believe the photo is authentic.
And then there’s William Mumler [pictured
bottom left]. Possibly the most (in)famous
spirit photographer, Mumler made a career
taking photos of ghosts and was eventually
charged with fraud.
But was there any truth to what he did?
Take Mumler’s most famous client, Mrs.
Tyndall.
Mrs. Tyndall showed up at Mumler’s studio
unannounced, dressed in mourning attire,
complete with a veil covering her face.
Mumler took the photo and, after the plate
developed, realized that the subject of
his shot was none other than Mary Todd
Lincoln. In the photo, the spirit of her
husband, Abraham Lincoln, is hovering
behind her with his hands on her shoulders.
By today’s standards, this photo looks
fake. In fact, most of them do. It’s hard
to imagine anyone ever being fooled by
Mumler’s work. But would Mumler track
down pictures of his client’s dead relatives
to sneak their images onto a bit of glass
to imprint on the image? And what about
Mary Todd Lincoln? Supposedly she
showed up without an appointment, so
Mumler wouldn’t have had time to prepare
the image.
There may have been photographers who
did manage to capture spirits in photos…
15
 and there were definitely some who did not (and some that
didn’t even try to do a halfway decent job at making them
look legit).
Even though we laugh at these photos now, aren’t we still
doing the same thing? Aren’t we trying to catch that perfect
ghost photo to prove once and for all that the paranormal
is real? Some photos are less than impressive, like orbs (I
assure you: 99.99% of the time, its dust, moisture, or a bug),
while others, like the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall, are a
bit more thought-provoking. We have not stopped trying
to photograph ghosts even 150 years since the first spirit
photo was snapped.
And it’s not just ghosts people try to photograph to prove
existence: Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monsters, and (my
personal favourite) the Cottingley Fairies.
The photos snapped by Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths
are yet another perfect example of someone fabricating
something to try to shed some light on the truth.
Elsie and Frances would play in the Wright family’s garden.
When they told their parents that they were playing with
the fairies that lived along the stream, the adults laughed
at them and didn’t believe the girls—no doubt it was their
overactive imaginations. To prove that they were telling
the truth, the girls snapped a photo of Frances with four
fairies, and it took the world by storm.
It didn’t matter how blatantly staged that first photo
was—photographic evidence of fairies was all that Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle needed to hear. When four more
photos came about, he was swept away in fairy mania,
even while expert photographers and companies such as
Kodak questioned the authenticity.
Not surprisingly, it was revealed that the two girls had
faked the images (though they only admitted it in the
1980s). But Elsie and Frances stuck to their story: there
really were fairies by the stream, and they faked the
photos to prove that they weren’t lying.
While forgery has become a major problem in the
paranormal world with photoshop and special effects,
it certainly isn’t new. It is something that researchers,
investigators, and sceptics have had to sift through over
the centuries. As we move forward (hopefully focusing on
facts rather than hoaxes), let us not hold a grudge against
our predecessors:
Many were desperate to find a way to connect with friends
and family that had passed on—proof that a piece of their
love survived somewhere. Surely grief transcends time,
and the thought of a loved one still being nearby (albeit
unseen) is just as comforting in 2021 as it was in 1861.
Read more about the paranormal and its
History of Hoaxes in The Feminine Macabre
Vol. II
A manda
X originally designed to refute the idea of quantum physics (now known
16
DO YOU BELIEVE IN
PSYCHOKINESIS?
RAISE OUR HANDS IF YOU DO!!
Precognition: A Quantum Breakthrough in Understanding the Paranormal
By Morgan Knudsen, Entityseeker Research & Teachings
Psychokinesis. Precognition. ESP.
hat do these three things have in common, if anything?
W
Why should we, as paranormal researchers, even begin to
care? Because the explanation for all of them has not only
likely been discovered, but it also has one common and
important thread: Quantum particle physics and neuroscience.
Now most people hear those words and immediately shut down. Rocket
science stuff, right? Well, sometimes. But I want to introduce you to
the man who figured this all out: Dr. William Roll (1926-2012). We, as
students of the paranormal, must take a huge pause in what we’re doing
in order to understand what he has published. And I mean a huge pause:
Drop everything you thought you knew, turn off the TV shows, and start
listening. Right now.
In the final years of his life, William G Roll spent most of the last years of
his life making sense of psi phenomena, narrowing it down to two areas
of interconnectedness which he felt was particularly relevant: Quantum
physics and neuroscience. Roll’s thinking had much to do with the late
Michael Persinger who passed in 2018, so anyone familiar with his work
will recognize it. But I hope that within the next few paragraphs, I can
explain this in a way that will change how you look at psi forever. And
yes, I am quite serious, and no, that is not an exaggeration.
Let’s start here: In parapsychology there are two basic types of psi.
The first is Receptive Psi, better known as Extrasensory Perception or
ESP. It comes in several forms: telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance,
psychometry, etc. The second is Expressive Psi, also known as PK or
psychokinesis, and can be described in terms of macroscopic and
microscopic PK (affecting the world we see, and the world we see under
a microscope).
Now Erwin Schrodinger (1887-1961)
proposed in 1935 that, according
to quantum theory, if a subatomic
particle is split in half, the two
resulting particles will be forever
connected or entangled. So, no
matter where one goes, no matter
the distance, those two halves will
always be responsive to the other.
Think of it like identical twins:
One always is tied to the other,
no matter where they are in the
world. He proposed this theory in
response to an article written by
the great Albert Einstein, Boris
Podolsky, and Nathan Rosen which described a thought experiment,
as the EPR Experiment).
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
The basic idea behind EPR was this: Those
twins we just discussed aren’t dependent
on what the other twin is doing. Instead, the
actions of the second twin are dependent
upon what your observation expects.
Confused yet? Don’t worry, I’ll explain.
Think of each twin, each half of the particle,
as spinning coins. You have already observed
the first one, which has landed on heads. You
can only observe one at a time, so the other
coin is still spinning. Only your focus will
make it stop. This spinning is called being in
superposition: It is neither on heads nor tails.
The coin will spin until your attention to it
causes it to stop. Which SIDE it will land on
depends on something very specific: Your
observation, not random chance.
The realization that mere observation can bring
about the collapse of a superposed system
seems pretty weird. How can observation do
that? The observer’s gaze shouldn’t affect the
object, right?
Well, in EPR, it’s
the other way
around and it
absolutely can.
The physicist
Pascual Jordan
(1902-1980)
described
it as such:
“Observations
not only disturb
what has to be
measured, they
produce it...
We compel the photon to assume a definite
position... We, ourselves, produce the result of
the measurement.”
This is also known as the Observer Effect,
and it is a persistent issue in these
experiments. Oh, and one more thing about
the EPR experiment before we go further:
It is a conscious human being that makes
this work; a machine can’t do the EPR job
by itself. Now, hackles tend to get raised
when we bring up the word consciousness,
but a straightforward explanation of all this
is that it requires conscious observation in
order for this to work. Jordan later added
the following statement:
“I close these expositions... concerning
the interpretation of quantum theory
with the reproduction of a brief
conversation I had with an important
theoretical physicist. He: ‘I am inclined
to believe in telepathy.’ I: ‘This has
probably more to do with physics than
with psychology.’”
It seems Einstein kept an open mind after all.
So what does this mean for the
paranormal? Well, everything.
hink of a hotel. See it in your head? Good.
T You walk into the lobby, and you can
only pick one room, right? Now, imagine
every single hotel room is a different
probability... and there are infinite numbers
of them. It’s a big hotel. They are all versions
of the thing you are focusing on. They
have different layouts, different furniture,
different pictures on the walls... but they are
all versions of the room you want. The more
you focus on one room (or one probability/
decision/prediction, etc), the other rooms
begin to collapse. Those other rooms
disappear until you are left standing in ONE
room. Your observation of that room makes
it real. Until you decide on it or observe it,
it remains like all the others: Spinning in
superposition, waiting for observation.
So, what does this have to do
with psychokinesis and ESP?
o understand that we must take this
T
one step further into something called
Josephson’s version of quantum theory,
named from a concept developed by
Josephson and Pallikari-Viras (1991), where
they proposed that life itself has its own
way of acting and observing, known as ESP
and psychokinesis. Can nature decide? The
parallels between quantum and biosystems
are there and understanding how this can
occur in nature comes down to understanding
the Observer.
You, as the observer, can choose whether
you want to put your attention on one hotel
room or another. You are free to enter one and
leave another. When you choose one course
of action over another, you thereby collapse
the wave function of the physical things in
the environment (it’s spinning again). Except
that in the case of physical objects, what is
collapsed is “matter waves”. It is the same
with PK, the psi equivalent of action.
So, let’s jump back to EPR for a second
and rope in precognition here. In EPR, the
observer looks at the other half of the particle
(the other twin) and thereby stops it spinning
in superposition. To put this in context with
precognition, any event can be composed of
these same two halves: The physical event,
and the perception of the event. These two
halves make up what we know as present time.
The event in the ‘future’ is, of course, still
spinning in superposition until it is decided
on or ‘recognized’ by the observer (you).
In other words, the percipient would not inspect
a pre-existing physical event, as it appears
psychics are doing. Instead, they would
observe one of the ‘hotel room probabilities’
that are spinning in superposition. That
recognition and observation, makes it real.
It stops the spinning and actualizes that
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
probability, making it a reality. Which event
and probability you get depends on a few
things, but it all comes back to the observer.
So, your biases, expectations, wants, dislikes,
likes, everything... it will all fill in the gaps
to create your probability and therefore
your upcoming reality. As soon as you or
the psychic “sees” that reality, guess what?
Unless you shift your attention and create
something new by focusing on something
else, you might just get what’s predicted.
If this brings about the collapse of a wave
function and the object of attention becomes
a part of present reality as we’re suggesting,
precognition brings about the collapse of
a potential event in the future, which will
turn a future event into an event in the
present. In other words, it is the precognitive
experience that makes the event occur at all.
To say that precognition makes something in
the future happen, doesn’t necessarily mean
anything in the future can happen. Nancy
Sondow (1988) introduced a brilliant analogy
after having a series of precognitive dreams
herself, and it went like this:
The trunk of the tree represents the
present and all the branches represent
possible futures. When the tree bifurcates
into a bunch of branches, one branch
represents the possible future, the others
a probability. Assuming the branches are
evenly divided, at each division there is a
50/50 split as to which one might occur. The
farther up the tree the vision, the less likely
it is to happen. However, on a rare occasion
that one of those distant and tall branches
is indeed reached, the vision would or can
be as detailed at the branch right next to
you and close to the trunk.
This breakthrough in the understanding of
precognition and ESP is absolutely huge. It
also translates into the realm of paranormal
investigation, as current notions of prediction
and experimentation are now called into
question. We must begin to re-examine how
we are progressing as researchers and begin
to shed many old notions about how we view
paranormal activity. We are inexplicably
connected to all we are experiencing, and we
cannot remove ourselves from that equation.
As long as you are an observer, which you will
always be, you will influence your reality and
results. So, the next time you step out into
a haunted place or sit down with a psychic,
keep in mind: You get what you ask for, even
when it’s unconscious.
Morgan X
References:
Roll, Alexander, Williams,
Persinger, (2021)
“Parapsychology, Quantum
Theory, and Neuroscience”,
Advances in Parapsychological
Research 10
17
 EVP – Early Voice Phenomena
hen considering séance methods,
W the images conjured up from
years of Spiritualist development,
horror films and high-budget
shows like Penny Dreadful are of crystal
balls, ectoplasm, and ghostly apparitions
from the ether. However, the realities of
Victorian séance were very different. While
planchettes, talking boards and good old-
fashioned tambourines were hurled across
darkened rooms at the hands of spirits, or
opportunistic fraudulent mediums, several
other popular tools have faded into obscurity.
One such long-forgotten method of spirit
contact, and a mediumistic tool, was that of
the spirit trumpet.
Despite what the name might suggest,
this was no ghostly ‘Brassed Off’ with
a spectral colliery band smashing its
way through the séance room. Instead,
trumpets were primarily tapered metal
tubes, made from lightweight aluminium,
and assembled from removable or
collapsible segments. These trumpets,
despite the musical connotations, were
akin to old listening horns, the type of
which you often see in old films as elderly
men strain to hear news of their wayward
daughter’s activities.
Spirit trumpets were one of the most widely
used apparatuses in late modern spiritualism,
but are rarely discussed or represented,
primarily owing to their less-than-spooky
appearance. The basic method of employing
a trumpet isn’t an especially logical one.
Instead of playing, or even shouting into Harrison. These Middlesbrough seances
a trumpet, the object is either placed on
a surface or held by the medium. In some
instances, such as dark seances, the trumpet
is placed on a table, the lights extinguished,
then – aided by luminous
occurred weekly from 1946 to the mid-
1950s and focused heavily around trumpet
phenomena, particularly accompanied by
the presence of ectoplasm. Explained by her
son, a fellow spiritualist (who passed
paint, or glowing away in 2010), the Middlesbrough
attachments – the circle experienced rather more
trumpet rises into dramatic demonstrations,
the air and aided by their ‘spirit guide’.
spectral voices
emanate from ‘During the trumpet
the end. In phenomena, an
other seances, ectoplasmic rod is
one end of connected from the
the trumpet is medium to the smaller
placed to the end of the trumpet.
medium’s ear, This enables the
and the other Spirit helpers to move
end close to the the trumpet around the
sitters. Through room as well as being the
the medium’s ‘telephone line’ along which
spiritual powers, voices the Spirit voices are transmitted
once again emanate from inside the trumpet for everyone in the room to hear. In
and can answer questions or impart effect the trumpet is an amplifying
information from the great beyond. megaphone.’
In more extravagant seances, ectoplasm Following further development of the circle,
could emanate from the end of the trumpet, their active spirits played a far greater part
spiralling its spectral fabric and gloop above in using the trumpet as a method of basic,
the séance table. Trumpets enjoyed great physical communication.
popularity at the turn of the century and
were produced and employed in spiritualist ‘By our tenth sitting we had developed
groups well into the 20th century. The book sufficiently for our Spirit helpers to tell
‘Visits by Our Friends from The Other us we could have luminous spots on
Side’ (1989) collects stories of seances the bell-end so that we were then able
from the home circle of medium Minnie to clearly see its movement around the
HAUNTED MAGAZINE 19
 room. (…) When the trumpet phenomena
began…Spirit friends would indicate their
presence with different movements of the
trumpet. Then Sunrise [their spirit guide]
would indicate his presence and control by
rapidly moving the bell-end in circles.’
And I make no apologies for the liberal and
sincere use of the phrase ‘bell end.’ Many of us
reached emotional maturity aged 12.
In 1908, writer and magician David Abbott
studied several mediums who used trumpets in
their seances and collected the experiences in
a slim volume called ‘The History of a Strange
Case.’ He recounts an experience with an elderly
female medium in Ohio, explaining the exact
nature of these strange trumpets:
‘She uses two tin horns or trumpets, each
fourteen inches long, and two one-half
inches in diameter at the large ends,
tapering to one each at the smaller ends.
The large end or bell of one horn is made as
to slip tightly into the large end of the other.
On the smaller or outer ends of this double
trumpet are soldered saucer-shaped pieces
large enough to cover a person’s ear.’
Later, he explains the basic method of the
trumpet’s use:
‘The sitter takes one end of this trumpet and
places it to his ear, while the lady does the
same with the other end, placing it to her ear.
20
At once the sitter plainly hears whispers in Kate Cherrell is a writer,
the trumpet. These purport to be the voices public speaker, and creator of
of the spirits of his dead friends and relatives. BurialsAndBeyond.com, a site
They reply to any questions which he speaks exploring the stranger side of life,
out loud.’
death, and the weird bits in between.
An enthusiast of cemeteries, death
Despite the visual absurdity of spirit trumpets,
history and ‘miserable Victorians’,
they enjoyed far greater longevity at the séance
she is also a specialist in 19th century
table than most of the spirit apparatus of the
Spiritualism. Her Patreon features new
19 th century heyday of Spiritualism. While they
appear to have finally fallen out of favour by light-hearted videos, podcasts, and
the mid-1950s, they languish in obscurity today, articles every week, all relating to the
with modern spirit circles eschewing them and paranormal, dodgy
contemporary media preferring the easy shorthand mediums, death history
of a Ouija board or dramatic regurgitating of and the occasional
ectoplasm. I for one, would love to see a return spectral mongoose.
of a trumpet or two in modern spirituality, even if
www.burialsandbeyond.com
it’s just a matter of hurling a tin tube through the
darkness. Check out Kate’s
fantastic Patreon page
Works Referenced
for more amazing
‘Visits By Our Friends From the “Other Side”’: articles:
From the weekly diaries and recorded notes
www.patreon.com/
of her son Tom Harrison. Saturday Night Press burialsandbeyond
Publications. 2011 (1989)
‘The History of a Strange
Case’, David P. Abbott.
1908. Orig. The Open
Court Publishing Company.
Amazon reprint on
demand.
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
 DO YOU BAY-LEAF In
the Paranormal?
Kate Ray offers some sage advice & wisdom on the connection between
herbs and hauntings, we hope you can spare the thyme to read it.
ur relationship with herbs for
O culinary, medicinal, and magical
uses predate written history. Many
of their uses were passed down
through the generation through oral
traditions. With the opening of global
trades here in the UK we have access to
herbs from around the world.
The uses of such herbs far exceed the
kitchen, many herbs in the UK are known
and scientifically documented for the
medicinal properties and have been
develop by the pharmaceutical industries
to aid modern medicines. With the boom
of modern science many of the everyday
healing properties of native and global
herbs have been lost in the mists of time.
Where once we would forage for wild
lettuce for headaches we now reach for a
paracetamol.
Beyond the obvious uses, herbs
have been used in spiritual,
religious, and magical practices,
some for the altering effects on
the human body and others for
their apparent use in changing
the environment to the benefit of
the user.
As a child, a now “snow
white-esque” memory I
hold is a gypsy encounter,
and this will demonstrate the
power of herbs on our psyche.
Back in the 1980s it wasn’t uncommon
to get a knock on the door from a cold
caller, usually a pushy vacuum salesman,
but on one summer evening a knock
on the door revealed a wizened gypsy
lady. I watch from the hem of my mum’s
skirt as this old woman began sweet
enough with foretelling of some glorious
fortune to come, and after presenting
her real purpose she became agitated
and aggressive, she was selling sprigs of
heather. At first my mum politely refused
but as the women became more animated
and it became a battle of wills, my mum vs
the decrepit crone. I cannot clearly recall
if my mum bought the heather spring or
not, but I remember the general gist of
the gypsy’s words. She said that great evil
would come to the family if her palm were
not crossed with silver and the heather
was the only thing that would save us
from that fate. It terrified me! I overheard
my mum talking to a neighbour about
the encounter a day or two later and the
notions of belief in the power of the old
women and her heather were obvious.
This is the power of herbs.
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
How is it then
that a common
plant such as a
sprig of heather
could keep evil from
entering the home? On a
psychological level, the power of the herb
partly lays in the lap of the believer. If
there is a strong enough acceptance in
something, it empowers that thing to do
the job, whether it is to attract love, ward
evil or bring money it, that thing becomes
a focus. There is the sceptical point of
view that if someone is cursed then they
will surely enough look at all the negative
things in their life as part of that curse.
But there is much, much, more to the
potency of the magical side of herbs, and
this lays in the plant itself.
There are numerous great books and
internet access to the complexities of the
magical properties of herbs, many cover
things such as the planetary attachments
to the structure of the plant as well as the
chemical components and it is well worth
familiarising yourself with these. Dates,
days of the week, even the hours of the
day can all influence the optimal picking
time for herbs, its not just a case of see
the plant and harvest it.
21
 Here, I want to give you a simple insight into
herbs that can be used in haunting situations,
an overview of identification and how they
can be used, with two caveats. The first is
extremely important, when identifying herbs,
you must be 100% sure that it is the herbs you
think it is, this can take years of study and even
then, mistakes are made. There are thousands
of plants that can look remarkably similar, but
their properties are wildly different and miss
identification can and does lead to problems.
Even when picking herbs for magical uses, and
not for ingestion, you can run into problems.
Different plants hold different properties and
if you pick the wrong plant, it won’t have the
same magical vibration as the correct one.
Many plants have a toxic value and even picking
them can cause physical issues, skin rashes
and burns are common.
The second aspect to consider is having a
healthy respect for the plant. Understanding
the legalities of picking wild is a must, you do
not want to get a police record and a fine for
digging up a dandelion root (and yes this can
happen!) Picking and harvesting responsibly
means that the plant is sustainable, and you
will be able to go back to it time and time again,
if you rip up a plant from the ground whole
it potentially won’t grow there again. A nice
practice and one in which I often engage in is
the collection and distribution of seeds (and
fungi spores) If I take from a plant I will help to
spread or grow myself. I know through doing
this that I will have more than enough for
myself as well as leaving enough for the bees
to enjoy. It is also said that if you ask a plant
permission to take apart from it, it makes it
more potent in its use.
If you don’t wish to pick or grow your own,
then the is a world of choices to buy them
from humble supermarket and garden centre
“live plants” to dried and prepared plants be
bought inexpensively. It is as I have said worth
understanding that picking and processing of
herbs really does add to their potency though.
I have been working with herbs on a medicinal
and magical level for many years, and I am
constantly learning about historic purposing
and modern insights.
In choosing herbs to make it into my top 20
I have taken into consideration personal
experience of use, historical research as well as
ease of access and sustainability of the plant.
It has been hard to narrow down as every time
I think of a prospective herb, I exclaim that
it is one of my favourites. The list of herbs is
intended to be a starting point, and I am sure
some will disagree with my choices, as we all
have our ways of working which makes for a
rich melting pot of knowledge.
Here are my top twenty herbs that may help
in keeping at bay evil spirits, curses, and
malevolent energies, particularly focusing
on haunted homes.
22
20 Garlic
19 Vervain
Yes, we all know this culinary
bulb as a ward against vampires, This versatile herb has
but equally this supermarket made it in at number 19 as
availed plant is used in the gen- it is one of the herbs used in
eral protection of the home. It the rights of exorcism. Used
can be strung either in singles or in dried form and sprinkled
as a garland above doors to pre- around the home or outside
vent evil of both living and spirit of the property is creates a
energy entering your home. protective barrier against
evil spirits. It has other
It makes the top twenty due to helpful properties when it
its easy identification and ease comes to haunting as it pro-
of access to all. Please note that motes peace and tranquil-
there is wild garlic available in lity within the home. It is a
spring in most woodlands it is common plant that grows
against the law to pick the bulbs. on wasteland and verges. It
However, the leaves and capers is recognised by its broad
are not only delicious they can leaves and spikes of pinkish
be picked and used in the same flowers. It is best picked on
way as a bulb of garlic. midsummer when it is in full
flower.
17 Plantain
These common weeds will spring up in
18 Sandalwood most places and has a way of camouflag-
ing its growth until it shows the world its
Oh, the beautiful aroma of
lovely chunky flowering heads. It is a herb
sandalwood is enough to
that you may have passed by on many oc-
bring this herb into the top
casions and is so much a part of boarders,
20 of protectives. It has a
hedgerows, and wastelands you proba-
great way of impregnating
bly wouldn’t have given it much thought.
its surroundings with its
I now transplant them into special areas
aromatic woody comfort-
as they have great medicinal properties
ing blanket of smoke.
as well as being magic. For the fact that
plantain is so easy to collect, forage for
It is however in its unburnt
and use it has made the list.
form that it is used as it
bests, it can be sprinkled
It can be worn on the body, in the pockets
around a home to cleanse
of clothes to protect the wearer, it doesn’t
it of negative energies.
mind being transported around as its
protective property is quite moveable, it
doesn’t lose any charge.
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
16 Eucalyptus
A word of warning, if you want
to grow your own eucalyptus
tree they grow at an alarming
rate, you blink, and they are as
tall as a house. There is noth-
ing like fresh leaves from this
tree, they have an already dry,
but packed with oils, quality
to the leaves and can easily
be dried naturally within a
couple of weeks.
This isn’t the easiest herb
to forage for, but if you find
someone who has a tree, they
are happy for you to help in
pruning it and a branch har-
bours a pile of leaves to use.
A branch in the bathroom
will help cleanse the bather
and warding off illness. The
leaves can be added to sa-
chets to increase the shield-
ing properties.
12 Frankincense
Frankincense has been used
for thousands of years in reli-
gious practices and is favoured
by the catholic church to raise
the chemical levels of the brain
into a state of happiness and
euphoria. That state is part of
the reason that the resin from
the tree works so well in haunt-
ed properties. When the occu-
pants are in a strong and posi-
tive state of mind it is difficult
for negative energies to exist in
that vibration. Again, this is an-
other herb that is used in exor-
cise and denotes its power. The
resin is burnt on charcoal disks
to create a heavy smoke this
drives the spirits away.
15 Bay
Bay leaves have many
magical properties and
uses and are available in
the supermarkets in the
dried herb section. Good
quality, unbroken leaves
are best to be used and
this is a herb used in ex-
orcism. It is hung around
the home, worn on the
body, burnt as a cleansing
smoke. Bay leaf infused
oils and waters can be
used to mark places that
need extra protection. It
is favoured by many over
white sage in dealing with
troublesome ghosts, but
for me it works the best
when combined with oth-
er herbs, so stays a little
lower down my list.
11 Hazel
Hazel trees are fairly
easy to identify as they
are often coppiced and
have many shoots off the
main trunking body, they
also give us the hazel nut.
I have a string of hazel
nuts in the home for luck
and protection. I also use
hazel rods to hang herbs
from to dry in the belief
that this protects them in
the process.
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
14 Palo Santo
I hesitate to add Palo Santo to
the list at all simply because of
the call to stop the use of it as
the trees in which it is harvested
are in massive depletion. It has
become such a popular wood
used in the smoke cleansing of
the home in recent years that
has put a huge strain on the sus-
tainability of its future. Please
use this sparingly or find a suit-
able alternative. I have an ex-
ceedingly small stock that I only
fire up in extreme cases and be-
cause of its reputation as a great
ward against evil energies I felt I
had to include it.
It is traditional burnt as a
“smudging stick”, but I would
suggest using a small number
of shavings from the wood in
protective pouches with other
herbs
10 Heather
Again, this is another abun-
dant herb, when the environ-
ment is right there is no stop-
ping this squat shrub from
becoming a sea of colour.
Often found with white or pur-
ple, pink flowers it has long
been associated with break-
ing curses. Beware though,
used in the wrong way, it is
said that heather can attract
spirits. It is a herb that is
complex in its ritual use and
research is defiantly need-
ed to avoid conjuring. I would
recommend further research
before using in any spiritual
practice.
13 White Sage
As with Palo Santo Californian
White Sage is becoming
increasingly depleted. It is
difficult to germinate and
grown in the UK (I know I
am nurturing two plants
to maturity which can take
3-4 years before they are
harvestable) and use of it
should be kept to extreme
circumstances. I know it is a
favourite go to plant, and its
properties are some of the
best known for cleansing and it
is a shame that the long-term
sustainability of such plants
isn’t better managed, but there
are many native, abundantly
growing alternatives that we
should give the white sage a
little rest for a while
As well as its use as a smoke
cleanser, it can be used in
pouches, and hung around the
home.
9 Mallow
Mallow is a beautiful blousy
cottage garden flower that is
happy to make its home just
about anywhere and unfortu-
nately because of its growing
success it has been labelled a
weed. This spiring plant shows
off its pink trumpet flower in
the summer months. An oint-
ment can be made from the
leaves of mallow and applied
to the body and is said to drive
out the devil himself. The dried
leaves can be added to herb-
al pouches and carried on the
person or hidden in the home.
23
 7 Rosemary

A herb that can be bought already dried

from the supermarket, or if you have
herb loving green fingered friends it is
pretty much guaranteed that they have
a rosemary bush that you could obtain
a sprig or two.
8 Nettle
Rosemary is highly aromatic and can
Nettle makes it high in the list because be burnt, hung, or carried as a ward
this prolific plant grows anywhere, ev- against dark forces.
erywhere and is so easily identifiable,
just stick your hand out and you will
soon be able to recognise it. Nettle has
so many uses and is often overlooked
for its cuisine qualities, as a fibre for
clothing and for its diverse magical
assets. I have in recent years earned a
new love with this extraordinary ordi-
nary plant and I am continually finding
new uses for it.

As a protective herb hung or sprinkled

around the house will not only keep
spooks at bay but will also send exist-
ing ones packing their spotty hankies.
It can be used dried in protective sa-
chets and worn or sewn into clothing.

6 Mullein

Another overlooked weed, mullein is an

impressive plant, often growing half a
metre or so at its base spring up to a me-
tre and a half tipped with delicate yellow
trumpets. Its soft and fuzzy leaves are
its signature, and these have been used
as toilet paper in the past.

It is said that the leaves can be used

5. Sage (garden) fresh or dried to banish demons, and so
mullein makes it in at number 6.
Let us give the California white sage
a break and start using the magical
properties of easily grown sage.

Garden sages, in the UK, are so easy to 4 Mandrake

grow, they are admirably adapted to a
range of weather, and will happily grow Every witches favourite iconic can really add to
and spread without any problems. A little herb. The original the power of any herb and
dried preparation can be found in the European voodoo doll just one look at the man-
supermarket and on occasion I have (poppet) the root of this drake root can transport
seen living plants there too. It’s a herb squat broad leaf plant you into believing in its
that many people have in their garden has been used to repre- energy.
so I would suggest asking around to sent the human body.
From Cunningham’s “En-
see if you could harvest some from a Ok, I admit, its neither cyclopaedia of Magical
friend if you don’t grow your own easy to grow or obtain Herbs” (A highly recom-
mandrake, but I have mended read)
I use sage to make cleansing sticks snook it in partly to see if
as well as using the dried herb in teas “Where there is man-
you are still awake read-
and pouches. All round I have found it drake, demons cannot
ing this, but mostly be-
an adequate substitute to white sage, reside, and so the root is
cause I love it. It is iconic
not as potent, but good enough. By us- used in exorcism”
as a magical herb, and
ing sage to bulk out other protective one that really captures The whole root can be
plants to increase their assets, and as the imagination. Being used or as a powder.
a great herb in its own right, its higher
on the list than expected.

24 HAUNTED MAGAZINE
 3 Lavender

Now we are getting to my old fa-
vourites! Lavenders smell alone
is so distinct that it is hard to
mistake this herb for any other.
It is a squat shrub with staves
of often purple but sometimes
blues, whites, and pinkish tiny
flowers.
Lavender has a spectrum of
uses, it can be cooked with,
bathed in, smoked, burnt, made
into teas, tinctures, creams, and
tonic for a wide variety of uses.
In terms of its shielding aspects,
it can be hung in sprigs around
the home, doing this alongside
rosemary increases the positive
vibration in the home and wards
of evil. It has a long and varied
history, and I would encourage
further reading on lavender as it
could not only conjure up spirits
but to also invite the fae into the
home.

2 Mugwort

Magical master mugwort you introduce yourself to this

grows wherever it pleases and
grow it does. It seems that
one day its not there and the
next day, hey presto, it has
appeared overnight. Mugwort
is a tall leafy plant, and one
identifying factor is that the
underside of each leaf has a
silver tinge. Its mature stalks
have a reddish stripe that
makes it distinguished.
Easily harvested, even the
most heavy-handed forager
cannot stop this beast from
springing back to life after
the hardest prune. It is easily
accessible, believe me once
plant, by midsummer you will
be seeing it everywhere. It
likes to grow in troops of mul-
tiple plants and can cover a lot
of ground.
In amongst its wide ranging
uses it is most notable for
psychic development. How-
ever, garlands of mugwort can
be placed around the house
to confuse and rid it of evil
spirits. It protects against the
“evil eye” so a great herb when
going out spook hunting and a
small amount in your pocket it
powerful.

The list for proactive herbs is vast and its worth

mentioning others such as hazel nuts, rowan
berries, pine needles, oak, ash, birch, acorns,
parsley, bergamot, cinnamon, St. john’s wort,
rose, onions, chilli peppers, holly, and thistle.

I understand I have been biased in my opinions

of these herbs, and unashamedly so! I have a
passion for the power of these giving plants
and as such I do have favourites that probably
1 Salt would not have made it so far up a top 20 list if
Not a herb, I know, By adding herbs to it had been written by anyone else.
but as a protective salt you can increase
ingredient, the ease its effects. You can sit (If you pardon the pun) take these
of identification and garlic in a jar of salt recommendations with a pinch of salt and
accessibility there is to really pack a punch have some fun immersing yourselves in the
nothing that beats this and use this around wonderful world of herbs and their magical
the home. properties. It is well worth looking into this
mineral. It for me can
and does replace white world, whether you believe in the power of
It is traditionally used herbs or not, it does no harm to have some to
sage and salo panto as sprinkled over door-
a remedy against dark hand if you work in the other realms.
ways and windowsills,

Kate Ray x
spirits and that allows or even circles around
it to take the number a bed to create and
one spot amongst the energic barrier to stop
herbs. foul spirits in their
track.

HAUNTED MAGAZINE 25
 IS THIS THE
GOLDEN AGE OF
PARANORMAL
DRAMA? As his play 2:22 – A Ghost Story hits
London’s West End, Danny Robins
asks if we are living through a new
golden age for paranormal drama.

started writing 2:22 – A Ghost Story

I
several years ago, but now, as it hits the
West End stage in 2021, it feels part
of a new wave of ghost-themed horror
that is captivating audiences across TV,
film, and audio.
A brief scan of Netflix will show you the
resurgent popularity of the genre – shows
like The Haunting of Hill House and its
sequel, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and
the recent trilogy of Fear Street films. In
late July, there was the news that Hollywood
producers Blumhouse had agreed an eye-
watering $400 million deal with Universal
for a new series of films based on The
Exorcist. Blumhouse are also the people
who bought the TV rights for my BBC Radio
4/BBC Sounds docu-drama podcast The
Battersea Poltergeist, which has been
one of a new crop of audio series both in
Britain and the US that have embraced
horror. Other notable examples are writer
Julian Simpson’s thrilling The Lovecraft
Investigations, based on the stories
of HP Lovecraft, also on BBC Sounds;
Storyglass’s The Harrowing; and Archive
81, which is being turned into a Netflix
series, starring Julia Chan, one of our 2:22
cast.
It feels like an exciting time to be writing
within this genre. There’s a definite
appetite from programme commissioners
and audiences, and it seems our ghostly
fascination spreads into real-life too –
apparently there’s a boom in exorcisms in
both the Christian and Islamic communities.
Clearly, a belief in, and perhaps fear of, the
paranormal is on the rise too. Those new
Exorcist movies are going to feel especially
timely…
What’s driving this buoyant demand for
spooks and scares? Well, looking back
through history, it seems artists and
audiences turn to horror and the paranormal
for inspiration at times of upheaval,
uncertainty, and conflict. One of the
bloodiest, most ghost-filled eras of theatre
was Jacobean times, when, after the relative
calm of the Elizabethan age, King James I’s
reign began with The Gunpowder Plot, witch
trials, plague, and an intensified religious
persecution, giving rise to dramas like
The Duchess of Malfi, The Revenger’s
Tragedy and, of course, Shakespeare’s
Macbeth, with one of the most memorable
theatrical ghosts. These were the horror
movies of their day.

26 HAUNTED MAGAZINE
 oth World War I and World War II

B understandably sparked huge booms

in supernatural belief as people tried to
process the chaos and mass death, and
writers and directors reacted to this.
The Cabinet of Dr Caligari,
Caligari, described by
film critic Roger Ebert as arguably “the first
true horror film”, was released in 1920, two
years after the end of the first world war,
written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer, two
German pacifists scarred by their experiences
of the war. The 1920s was also the era of
horror great Lon Chaney, known as “the
“The
“The conflict
conflict in
in society,
society, played
played out
out
man with a thousand faces” for his range of
on TV
on TV news
news and
and the
the battleground
battleground of of
scary portrayals in silent horror movies that social media,
social media, finds
finds its
its scarier,
scarier, spookier
spookier
made audiences scream. The 1930s, and reflection in
reflection in the
the horror
horror that
that is
is being
being
the continued global uncertainty and threat produced for
produced for TV,
TV, film,
film, and
and audio.
audio.
of another world war, proved equally fertile
ground for horror. That decade saw the rise In
In short,
short, in
in troubled
troubled times,
times, we
we reach
reach
of Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, two titans of for ghosts.”
for ghosts.”
black and white horror.

More recently, the 1960s and early 70s also
sparked a boom of interest in the paranormal,
particularly in the occult. It became cool
to dabble with black magic as The Rolling
Stones recorded Sympathy for the Devil and
Anton La Vey set up his Church of Satan that
attracted trendy Californians and celebrities to
worship the devil with an emphasis on free love.
The films of the period reflect this fascination
with the demonic – 1968’s Rosemary’s Baby,
1973s The Exorcist and 1976’s The Omen.
This was also the era of Hammer Horror films,
with Christopher Lee and Vincent Price taking
up the mantle of Lugosi and Karloff.
It’s worth noting that not only was the
1960s a time of great turmoil and unrest as
the accepted repressive social order was
challenged through civil rights marches and
student protests, but it was also a time of armed
conflict again as Americans faced the lengthy
Vietnam War and the seemingly pointless loss
of life. It was also an age where the concept
of the serial killer was first acknowledged,
with the most high-profile example being the
notorious Son of Sam killings in New York, the
subject of the new Netflix series Sons of Sam.
The horror of life and art intertwined horribly, as
Rosemary’s Baby director Roman Polanski’s
wife, actress Sharon Tate was murdered by the
notorious Manson Family cult, just a year after
the film’s release.
Whilst the 60s and 70s felt full of contemporary
real-life horror to inspire artists, it’s also probably
relevant that many of the filmmakers and writers
would have witnessed, either first-hand or
through their parents, the trauma of the Second
World War. It certainly wasn’t too far a leap to find
stories of ghosts or evil forces.
But what about our current times?
Thankfully, we aren’t living through a world war,
but it’s easy to see parallels between now and the
periods I’ve mentioned. For the last few years,
the whole world has been swept by political
upheaval, an increasing polarisation between
Right and Left, the rise of dictators, the ticking
timebomb of climate change and, most recently,
the new challenge of the pandemic, which
suddenly makes us have to confront mortality
in a way we hadn’t expected. I think a lot more
people are searching for existential answers in
a way they weren’t in more comfortable, settled
times. The conflict in society, played out on TV
news and the battleground of social media, finds
its scarier, spookier reflection in the horror that is
being produced for TV, film, and audio. In short,
in troubled times, we reach for ghosts. Perhaps
that’s because, for all the fear factor of horror,
the paranormal also gives us some degree of
security – the idea that there could be life beyond
death; that this random, chaotic universe might
actually be capable of delivering us answers to
the greatest mysteries of existence.
Oddly, despite the recent scary renaissance
on screen and in audio, there hasn’t been that
much horror on stage. Ok, there hasn’t actually
been anything on stage for the best part of two
years, but even before then, paranormal stories
were few and far between. You could argue they
were actively avoided, being seen as risky or
even cheesy, not ‘proper drama’. The Woman
in Black, based on Susan Hill’s novel, has been
a reliable West End stalwart since 1989, one
of the longest running shows in London, and
it returns to the stage later this year. In the late
90s, there was Conor McPherson’s excellently
creepy, award-winning play The Weir, set over
one night in a rural pub in Ireland – well worth
reading if you didn’t get to see it. Ghost Stories
by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman proved a big
hit, but that is over ten years ago now, though
it’s returned for subsequent revivals and tours
and, of course a film adaptation. Recently, Adam
Z Robinson has been doing good work touring
his collection of theatrical ghost stories, The
Book of Darkness and Light, but that’s still less
than a handful of great ghost plays over the last
thirty years. Why is this? Is it because it feels
harder to ‘lose ourselves’ at the theatre, we are
more aware of our surroundings and our fellow
audience members? It’s harder for us to suspend
our disbelief and be truly scared? Maybe... but,
there’s no doubt that theatre at its best can be
truly magical and immersive. Anyone who’s sat
through The Woman in Black will know there’s a
special thrill to jumping out of your seat.
ith all that in mind, it feels perhaps both

W brave and timely to be staging 2:22

right now. It’s undoubtedly the product
of my own obsession with the horror
genre and ghost stories over many years since
childhood.
Lots of the films, plays and series I have
mentioned above have fed in as both conscious
and unconscious inspirations. I really hope that
people will feel the play is a fitting addition
to the genre and, if you can get to London
to watch it, I hope it will leave you suitable
spooked!!!

HAUNTED MAGAZINE 27

THE STEP BY ESTEP GUIDE TO THE PARANORMAL
WRITTEN BY RICHARD ESTEP
rmstrong Beattie was
A one of St. Joseph’s
most prominent and
successful citizens, not
to mention serving as its mayor
on no less than five occasions. He
made his money in the banking
profession and used some of
the fortune he accrued to build a
grand home for himself and his
wife, Eliza, in 1854, at 1120 Main
Street. Mr. Beattie would die some
24 years later, in 1878, leaving the
mansion to her, but Eliza joined
him in death in 1880. (At least one
contemporary newspaper account
described Armstrong’s ghost
being seen walking the streets of
the city, and some believed this
was due to the poor state in which
his grave was maintained).
The Beatties had died childless,
and so their former home passed
to a succession of private owners
over the following decades. It
researcher pays careful attention to its history.
In the case of the Beattie Mansion, the jewel in
the haunted crown of St. Joseph, Missouri, that
history clearly shows why spirits might still walk
was a homeless shelter at one
point, and also a home for unwed
mothers and their children. As time
went on, the sprawling mansion
would become a rehabilitation
facility for those suffering drug
and alcohol addiction; a home for
the mentally disadvantaged; and
a retirement facility for the aged.
Both happy and sad energies
would have been created within its
walls, and if some accounts are to
be believed, echoes of those days
gone by manifest today in the form
of ghostly activity.
“The mansion’s owner kindly invited
me to stay there for several nights,
along with two fellow investigators,
in order to carry out some research.
I had heard some interesting stories
about the alleged haunting, but I
have to admit that my expectations
weren’t all that high (they usually
aren’t). Fortunately, they were
exceeded and then some.”
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
“When a place is said to be haunted, the wise
its abandoned halls and rooms.”
The so-called “House on the Hill”
certainly deserves its nickname. It
sits at the top of a tall hill, with the
front yard sloping at a steep angle
toward the street below. Beyond
the fringes of the neighborhood
is the Missouri River. Beattie
Mansion occupies a commanding
view of the area, which was almost
certainly the intent when it was
first built, reflecting the high
social standing of Mr. Beattie.
Walking the halls with my
colleagues, Rob, and Sarah, it was
easy to picture the grandeur and
opulence of a bygone age. The
bones of it are still there, evident
in the tall double doors which open
onto some of the rooms, and the
elegance of the decor. Yet this is
also a house that has plainly seen
better days, although it has been
kept clean and as well-maintained
as the owner can manage.
29
 “When it
comes to
working
with psychic
mediums, I’ve
always held
the view that
their ability
to pick up on
things varies.”

30 HAUNTED MAGAZINE

s we go from room to room, evidence
A of the former occupants can be
found everywhere — photographs of
family members, shoes that haven’t been
worn in years, and closets full of clothing
whose owners are long since gone.
Some rooms look as if the residents have
simply popped out for a while. After dark,
the place begins to seem a little more like
Disney’s Haunted Mansion.
When it comes to working with psychic
mediums, I’ve always held the view that
their ability to pick up on things varies.
Many deliver only vague impressions,
sometimes through no fault of their own
(it’s not as if the ability can be switched
on and off at will) and sometimes
because they’re well-meaning but not
as gifted as they like to think they are.
Some, however, manage to pick up on
things that simply make the jaw drop.
Recently I’ve taken to working with
MJ Dickson. Perhaps best known for
her work in front of and behind the TV
camera, MJ is also a talented medium, as
she has proven to great effect on several
of my investigations.
Still, I’m always concerned about
whether any information presented
is genuinely paranormal in origin, or
could have been gleaned by other, more
mundane means. That’s why I made a
point of not posting my location on social
media, or letting MJ know where I was
going to be that week. If she was working
on pure guesswork, then statistically,
I could have been *anywhere* in the
United States on the day she Skyped
in via my iPad from her home in the
United Kingdom. As things stood, she
was completely in the dark as to my
whereabouts — and that’s exactly the
way we both wanted it. This was going to
be a valid test of her remote mediumship
capabilities, and I was intrigued to see
how it would turn out.
Our standard operating procedure when
working together like this is for me to
keep the camera switched off and the
microphone live, so that MJ can hear
me talking but has no visual cues that
might clue her in to the identity of the
location. I walked from room to room
with Rob and Sarah in tow, noting down
and recording her impressions. She
picked up on a woman who was grieving
the death of a child, which fit with the
mansion’s history as an orphanage and
home for unwed mothers and said that
one female spirit was desperate to talk
with us. We were to try and make contact
later that evening. There was also, she
said, “something that looks like a little
girl, but really isn’t,” and a “tall, Abraham
Lincoln-like man, who’s taking a lot of
interest in what you’re doing.” Perhaps
this could have been Mr. Beattie?
So far, so good, but nothing specific
enough to really impress us. There’s a
male spirit down in the basement that
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
likes to make his presence known by
tapping people on the shoulder, MJ
went on, and most precise of all, she
was picking up on the image of a red
ball sitting on a hardwood floor. *That*
made my eyes widen. We ended our
walkthrough where we had begun, in the
front parlor, which was home to a piano,
a very comfortable sofa which would end
up being my bed…and a red ball, sitting
right there on the hardwood floor.
“I tried my best to FIgure out how she
could have known this. The nature of the
object, the color, and the wooden FLoor
were all very speciFIc hits. The likelihood
of her simply having guessed all three
things correctly seemed astronomical to
me, and when I enabled the camera and
pointed it at the ball, MJ was just as
shocked as I was. This was a direct hit,
and after I thanked her for her time and
signed off, I was still turning it over
and over in my mind, trying to figure out
a non-paranormal explanation.”
Settling in for an overnight investigation,
things were hindered by the fact that
several of our brand-new batteries
turned out to be dead. As every
paranormal enthusiast knows, this is
usually a reliable sign that strange things
are afoot. More equipment failures
happened that night than on any other
investigation I can remember. This
included a cellular uplink transmitter,
three (count them, three!) Tascam
microphones, and even Rob’s camera
drone. All of them flatly refused to work.
We set up a Rem-Pod in the doorway to
the dining area, and as darkness fell,
it began to go berserk, squealing and
flashing. Devices such as portable radios
can trigger Rem-Pods, and we made sure
that nothing of ours was transmitting.
There’s also no wi-fi network to set it off.
Every time the three of us walked away
from the Rem-Pod, heading toward a
different part of the mansion to explore
it, the device went off.
31

I know that this statement is biased, but it
really did seem as if an invisible somebody
didn’t want us to go, and was trying to
attract our attention, wanting to keep us in
that part of the building.
It seemed like a good idea to run an
Estes Method spirit box session in that
same doorway, to see if any voices
would communicate with us. The
voices came through thick and fast,
including that of what sounded like a
young girl (thanks for the warning, MJ!)
and several adult males who seemed
determined to intimidate, using words
such as devil, death, dying, die, dead,
and various other permutations. There
seemed to be little that was warm and
friendly coming through.
Afterward, we made our way down to
the basement, in order to set up some
camera equipment. Rob was given
quite the start when an unseen hand
suddenly tapped him on the shoulder.
Sarah pointed out MJ’s comment
about a male entity down here who
liked to get people’s attention by
doing exactly that — tapping them
on the shoulder. Score another very
specific hit for our remote medium
from across the pond!
It had been a long day and we decided
to call it a night before sunrise. Rob was
rudely awakened by an invisible something
sitting down on the bed next to him. He
was getting all the attention, it seemed,
which suited me just fine. It gave me the
chance to step back and record everything
that was going on, of which there was
plenty. Late the following morning, I ran a
Zoom hangout for my Patreon supporters,
giving them a guided tour of the mansion,
ably assisted by Rob and Sarah. One of
them reported seeing a tall, skinny man
standing just behind Rob. Yet again, my jaw
dropped. Home run number three for MJ,
who had described just such an Abraham
Lincoln-esque male following us around
the mansion the night before.
Our investigation was eventful and
fascinating by equal measure. Rob,
Sarah, and I plan to return and continue
our research. Missouri has more than
its fair share of haunted locations, and I
have no hesitation in recommending the
Beattie Mansion as being well worth a
visit to experience it for yourself. So many
questions remain to be answered that I
cannot wait to go back. Perhaps I’ll see you
there…
Richard
Check out Richard’s
Patreon page here
 Mysterious files, documents, and reports of all things spooky, alien, and supernatural, from the daughter of the renowned Hans Holzer
SHIPS THAT PASS IN THE NIGHT,
THE LIGHT & THE FRIGHT…

Warship s, they have been around for centurie s, crossing oceans all over the world,
causing destruct ion and mayhem to other vessels, other machine s and people,
the clue really is in the name, (WAR), often resulting in horrible situation s, often
resulting in violent deaths for the crew.

There’s rumour of an ancient story of a schooner, the privateer In August 1942, a craft appeared on Navy radar. Two ships were
Dash, which was lost in a gale in 1815 off the coast of Maine. Since sent into the fog to investigate what they thought could be a
her disappearance, she has been sighted multiple times — plain German U-boat. Other witnesses on Pumpkin Knob saw the Navy
as day with her name visible on the hull. A 17-crew fishing vessel ships pass, pursuing a wooden schooner whose nameplate read
reported seeing her and the most recent sighting was during World DASH and it was seen again one August morning in the early
War II. We all know that ghosts aren’t on the “clock” restricted to 1970s by a woman on Bailey Island, but disappeared in the short
haunting the midnight shift, ghost warships are the same, sailing time it took the woman to call for her husband to come see.
freely in death as in life, with all those aboard still part of her.
A recurring element in stories of the Dash is that she is never able
Dash, a topsail schooner built in Freeport by the Porter family. to complete her journey, always disappearing or even sailing back
The Dash was one of the most successful privateers that out to sea before she can reach Freeport. She usually seems to be
operated out of Casco Bay during the War of 1812, capturing spotted on foggy summer days, usually in August.
15 British vessels and their cargoes while prowling the Atlantic.
The Dash is just
Ghost stories of the one of many
Dash started with the famous ghost
captain’s (John Porter)
ships and spooky
own wife, Lois, they
stories and I
were newlyweds,
would like to
married only for a
mention one
few months when he
that my father,
embarked on Dash in
Dr. Hans Holzer,
January of 1815. On
investigated long
the night of the gale
after Porter embarked before the paranormal investigators of today, The Queen Mary.
Lois heard a crashing He said that there were “psychic imprints from the past,” which
sound from the parlour. A porcelain mantelpiece tile, decorated were not personalities but had unfinished business on their
with scripture, had somehow fell and shattered on the floor. Lois,
‘minds.’ Two cases of authentic ghosts have never been laid to
seeing the broken pieces, exclaimed “The Dash is gone”.
rest. In 1966, a young crewman named, John Pedder, was
The first sighting of a ghost ship believed to be the Dash occurred accidentally crushed to death in doorway #13 during
several months after its disappearance in 1815. Simon Bibber was a routine watertight door drill. His ghost has
fishing off Pumpkin Knob when he saw a sailed ship approach, frequently been observed and described in
despite windless conditions. It came within 30ft, and he was able detail by security guards and visitors.
to read the ship’s nameplate: “Dash—Freeport”. He hurried to The sightings of the late Mr. Pedder
Freeport, but she was not there when he arrived. Another chap, are consistent with one another;
Roscoe Moulton said he saw the same thing off Crab Island, appearances are usually preceded
again the ship coming close enough for the nameplate could be by a loud sound, described by
read. The ship continued to be sighted throughout Casco Bay. It one night watchman as “metal
was sighted by the crew of seventeen aboard the schooner Betty rolling quickly toward me.”
Macomber and again in the 1880s by a guest at the Harpswell Inn.
Another ghost appears in
It was seen again at the end of August 1915 by Miriam Fenney Fox,
blue-grey overalls in Shaft
her brother Dudley, and their friends.
Alley, the hallway leading
Over the years, seeing the Dash became associated with to the propeller shafts of
impending death as sightings occurred just before the witness the great ship. He has been
received news of the passing of a loved one. Captain John sighted many times; always
Toothaker’s wife Polly saw the ship before her husband’s death; in overalls and sporting a
it is also said that Easter Toothaker saw the ghost ship before he long black beard.
jumped overboard to his death.
HAUNTED MAGAZINE 33
 The swimming pool has also been the subject of mysterious
accounts where many believe it is the ship’s most haunted area.
The sound of swimmers playing and splashing around has been
heard on many occasions when the pool was empty. Sometimes
wet footprints appear on the deck, where no-one has walked. The
most interesting phenomenon is in the dressing “boxes” adjacent
to the pool. One dressing room has been identified as a portal for
psychic phenomena.

Today, many investigators for the Paranormal hear many

disembodied voices in the pool, one of a little girl reminding us
how precious life is. Helm your ship and hope to have smooth
sailing into the afterlife.

So, remember, if you are ever on board a ship, or investigating a

ship or even watching a ship sail by – there’s more to them than
meets the eye, that’s for sure.

SHAG HARBOUR: CANADA’S ROSWELL?

“To this day, I do not know what we saw, but it is clear that it was under intelligent control and coincided, as to time and place, with
what was seen by 70 people on the ground, and neither of us knew that the other had seen this stuff for 50 odd years” says retired Pan
American World Airways Pilot, Captain Ralph Loewinger.

were on deck watching what became known as and referred to

as ‘The Lights’. Both pilots went onto the control yokes to avoid
collision. The lights hung at a 45-degree angle downslope left
to right.

The pilots did not file a UFO report when asked if they had
wanted to when talking with the Boston air traffic control
centre. Even-though it was confirmed by the control centre
that there was no traffic near the plane — the pilots decided
to let this go to avoid filling out paperwork.

Ralph says that they should have “been closing in on this

strange target if it was standing still, and Mike remembers the
lights getting closer.” He also recalls bringing the Navigator and
I interviewed Ralph a few years back and when I asked him
Third Pilot up from
if he believed in different levels and forms of the paranormal
the gallery to point
and the unknown he responded, “I am not sure at this point
in my life. I will NOT discount it however.” On October 3rd, this out. Over the
1967, Ralph was the co-pilot of PAA Flight 160, a Boeing past forty plus years,
707 cargo ship out of New York headed to London. details become
grained and blurred
This is a first-hand, eyewitness account from the pilot himself but one thing remains
who today feels that “no other pilots care, many strange a constant which
things have been reported across the bar”. is that night over
Nova Scotia, many
They were approaching Yarmouth, Nova Scotia at
people in flight and
approximately 33,000 feet when the strange occurrence had
on ground witnessed
hit. The night was described by Ralph as “clear, moonless
‘The Lights.’
and the lights of the south coast were plainly in view.” He
was the first to observe a formation of lights that sat at the Days later upon returning from his flight, Ralph was listening to
eleven o’clock position and a bit high. a Canadian radio station while driving and the news announcer
stated that “the RCMP had discontinued search operations
“It appeared to be another large transport, showing all lights,
for ‘strange light formations reported falling into the sea near
heading straight for us in a left bank which would take it
Yarmouth”. What was certain was that this crew saw the light
across our bow. I announced to Captain Curt Olsen and
formation similarly reported at the same time on the ground at
flight engineer Mike Littlepage to ‘watch this guy!’”. All eyes
Shag Harbour.
34 HAUNTED MAGAZINE
I asked Ralph what he was doing these days and he told me, “I am
retired living in the world’s largest fly-in community near Dayto-
na. I have a small airplane and ponder the heavens often — and
yes, I still wonder about what I saw”.
Incidentally, the History Channel did a one hour show on this
back in 2006, it might be available somewhere in the deep bow-
els of the internet, it was called Deep Sea UFOs’ & it aired on
January 23rd.
Did ‘The Lights’ aka the UFO dive into the Harbour disappearing
on that cold, confusing night back in October of 1967? Dives also
have occurred to check the ocean floor bedding to see if anything
was out of sorts. Unusual ‘Depressions on the Seabed, as if some-
one came in and swept up the floor neatly and smoothly at
the Shag Harbour UFO Site, was revealed.
This leaves us with somewhat of our own
‘impressions’ that either we can believe,
sit on that fence, or completely disbelieve.
One thing, born from the incident was the
creation of The Shag Harbour Museum or
to give it its full title ‘Shag Harbour Inci-
dent Society UFO Interpretative Centre’.
It is a proudly independent organization
embodied of individuals who believe that
the local history, chiefly the 1967 UFO
sighting, should be cherished and made
available to the general public. It is sup-
ported by a group of dedicated volunteer
workers and besides promoting the Shag Harbour Incident, the
Society aims to increase tourism in the area to help ally the prob-
lems with a declining fishery.
You can check out the museum & more about the ‘incident’ at
https://shagharbourincident.wordpress.com/museum/
So, remember, if you are ever on board an aero-
plane, even piloting one, or witness strange lights in
the sky before they drop into the sea – there’s more
to them than meets the eye, that’s for sure.
Alexandra XX

Jane Rowley “potters” around a
house, with a story or two (or 23)
I
n early April, whilst out
walking with my 4-year
Grandson, we saw a squirrel
on a tree and that started a
huge conversation all about grey
squirrels and red squirrels, their
history, their habits and what
they do. Following his new love
for this little creature he had just
been introduced to, his fascination
was inspiring and he talked about
nothing but squirrels the entire
duration of his visit. After he had
gone home, I remembered the
story book I used to have as a child
called Squirrel Nutkin, written by
Beatrix Potter. I took to the internet
to see if I could find it and maybe
purchase a copy of it for him, ready
for his next visit. I was in luck!! I
36
The Tale
of Jane
& Beatrix
managed to find a set of 4 second
hand books for £5 one of which
was Squirrel Nutkin!
On his next visit, he was so excited
about the book and we read it,
over and over again and it has
become his firm favourite. My
other Grandson (aged 6) took a
shine to the Tale of Peter Rabbit,
and along with the 2 other stories
(The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse
and the Tale of Miss Moppet), they
have become very attached to the
little books. How was I to know
this was going to be the start of a
very special spiritual experience
for myself……
After a long period of isolation
and lockdown I was very excited
when my daughter and her partner, n May 17th (2021) we set of
Sara invited me on a break to the
Lake District. It was going to be
O to the Lake District for a very
much anticipated 5-day break. She
a ‘Birthday Get-a-way’ and as it had booked us a lodge on the edge
was my daughters 30th she wanted of a small lake and the scenery was
to do something different. My amazing. She had insisted on doing
daughter’s birthday the is the day all the planning and arrangements
after mine. When going into labour and it was great to just be surprised
30 years ago, I really thought that everyday with the places and events
she would be sharing my birthday she had planned. The first couple of
with me, but I think she had other days, the sun was shining and being
ideas and wanting a day she could out on these adventures after such a
call her own, so she decided to long time in isolation truly lifted the
arrive a day later! spirits.
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
O n the Thursday I was very
excited to learn that our trip out
was to visit Hill Top Farm, which was
where Beatrix Potter wrote many of
her famous children’s stories. As a
child, I loved the Beatrix Potter books,
collecting quite a few and reading
them over and over again. Having
younger siblings, the books became
damaged and lost over the years but
the stories still remain part of my
childhood.

The weather was not kind to us on

this last full day of our break. It was
driving rain and we checked we had
everything we needed for the day –
pack-up, waterproofs and bottles of
water etc, but these seemed trivial
things to me as I was running on
excitement and enthusiasm and was
keen to get to the destination.
We arrived at the designated Car Park
and went and purchased our tickets.
From the Ticket Office it was a short
walk up the road to the gate of the
house and we were already quite wet.
It wasn’t cold, but the torrential rain
made it more difficult than it would
normally be. Walking up the path
towards the house I could see people
standing outside waiting to go it. Due
to the covid restrictions there were
only allowed so many people in and
of course, masks had to be worn. We
had to wait several minutes to get to
the door, then had to go through he
covid related processes before
being let in. By this time,
we were extremely
wet but none of
that mattered as
I walked in the
door……
As a Medium,
I had ensured
I was fully
switched on
and ready to
work. As soon
as I walked
in through the
front door, I felt
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
her energy. Warm and welcoming.
There were two National Trust Guides
in that room and several other people
walking about. I stood in the middle
of the room and just closed my eyes,
stopped all thoughts coming in and
out and just breathed it all in. I turned
round and I could see Beatrix sitting
in one of the chairs. I said nothing at
this point but started to look around
the house taking photos. I was totally
amazed by the environment I was in.
Nothing had been changed since the
time she had lived there. I walked up
the staircase to the upper floor.
Walking around upstairs, I went in
all the rooms and sat in her writing
room in the window looking out. I
spoke out gently, “Will spirit talk to
me and show me some things about
this house?” After a little while, Spirit
responded. I was walking back out of
the writing room and back along the
corridor to the landing when Spirit
began to talk. “There is a little girl on
the back stairs” I answered back “On
the back stairs?” (I am then talking to
myself…) Where are the back stairs??
Being on the landing I can only see
the main stairs I came up. I cannot see
any other stairs going down. This was
very curious, and I did another round
of visiting every bedroom to see if I
had missed something, but I could not
see another set of stairs.
37
 I went back down the main stairs
and stood looking in the main
kitchen area again. I looked over
to the window seat which was
vacant. Perfect. I went and sat in
the window seat and again closed
my eyes. At this point I was totally
oblivious to everyone around me
and was not even sure about how
long I had been in there, but it
didn’t matter, back to work…... I
needed to find some answers!
I felt the connection and opened
my eyes and could clearly see
Beatrix again sitting in the wooden
rocking chair in front of me.I smiled
at her and said ‘Hello’. She looked
at me and smiled. She said “You
can see me, can’t you?” I smiled
and nodded. I said “Can I talk to
you?” She looked at me for a few
moments. I felt she was scanning me
to see if my intentions were good
and if I deserved the interaction.
She then replied” Of course dear” I
said “You look very comfortable in
that chair; do you stay here most of
the time?” She replied “I adore this
chair and I like to watch the people
as they come into the house”
I broke off from our conversation
and got up and approached the
National Trust Guide. I had to ask
about her chair. I asked the guide,
“Is this rocking chair original to the
house? Has it always been here?”
The Guide replied “Yes, it was her
favourite chair. It was a present
from America and she very much
cherished it” “Oh thank you” I
replied. I went and sat back down
in the window seat to continue
my conversation. I said to Beatrix
“My two little Grandsons have just
started reading your books. They
love them. Your books have made so
many children happy over the years,
including myself” She replied with
a warm, contented smile and said,
“I am so pleased”. I then said to
her, “When I was upstairs, a voice
told me there was a little girl on the
38
back stairs. Do you know the little
girl?” She replied “The little girl
has been here a long time; she was
here before me. I found it difficult to
sleep here as she makes noises on
the stairs” “Ah, ok”, I replied.
Again, I had to ask the Guide about
the back stairs. “Excuse me” I said,
“Are there a second set of stairs
in the cottage? Some back stairs?”
She said “Yes, there is, but you
cannot see them. They are in this
cupboard. They are the old original
wooden, narrow spiral stairs that
were original to the cottage in the
16th Century. When the cottage
was renovated in the 17th Century,
they put the main stair case in that
you see now. She opened the far
cupboard door and I could see the
underneath of the wooden stairs.
“Oh Wow” I said. A man who was
observing this then asked me how
I knew the stairs were there? I said
I didn’t! He looked a me rather
strangely but I didn’t want to start
open conversation with him and I
was in the middle of something…
I returned to the window seat and
as I sat down, I looked out of the
window and could see Rosie and
Sara waiting for me outside in the
pouring rain. I looked at Beatrix and
smiled. I thanked her very much
for talking with me and shared the
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
gratitude in my energy. I got up and
went outside. I met up with the girls
and we walked down the grass to
a tent serving refreshments. We all
had a big hot chocolate with marsh
mallows to warm up. I was truly
blown away by what just happened
and I spent the next couple of days
just trying to process my experience.
n my return home I bought the
O full collection of Beatrix Potter
Books including the Fairy Caravan
which now have pride of place in
my book shelf. They have such a
sentimental value which not only
comes from my experience at Hill
Top but from the lovely memories
made when reading them to my
Grandsons.
Beatrix Potter bought Hill Top farm
in 1905 with royalties from her first
children’s book – The Tale of Peter
Rabbit. It was written at her parent’s
home in London and inspired by
her visits to the Lake District. Her
books are illustrated with pictures
based on the stone cottage and
garden. When she died in 1943,
Beatrix Potter left her property to
the National Trust. This included
over four thousand acres of land,
cottages, and fifteen farms.
Jane x
 The Secret Diary of Danny Robins, Aged 44 and 3/4
2:22 - A Ghost Story Production Diary by the play’s writer
Danny Robins, creator of The Battersea Poltergeist
(and yes of course these were written at 2:22am or 2:22pm (or maybe somewhere in-between))

THURSDAY 1ST APRIL 2021

It’s before noon on April Fool’s Day and I’m being shown
around a West End theatre that my play is going to be
staged at. Perhaps understandably, I’m wondering if
this is all a big practical joke… It certainly feels pretty
surreal. For the last year, as the Covid-19 pandemic has
raged, theatre has felt like a memory – an old-fashioned
pursuit like hugging or seeing the lower half of people’s
faces… and I’ve been keeping busy making my BBC
podcast The Battersea Poltergeist, most of which has
been recorded in the shed at the bottom of my garden in
Walthamstow, on the outskirts of London, a world away
from the bright lights of the West End. Yet here I am at
the Noel Coward Theatre, an exquisitely beautiful Vic-
torian auditorium in the heart of Theatreland, talking
about putting on MY PLAY… and, here’s where it gets
interesting for you, Haunted readers, it’s a play about
GHOSTS.
FEBRUARY 2017
Yes, you heard it right, London’s theatre district is go-
ing PARANORMAL!!! If you’re reading this and you’ve To help with my research for the play, I start to ask on
heard The Battersea Poltergeist or my other podcast social media if anybody I know has seen a ghost. I’m
series Haunted (no relation to this magazine!), you’re not sure if I’ll get any responses, but the stories soon
probably imagining I was inspired to write a play about start to come in and, as word spreads in the way it does
ghosts as a result of making those, but actually it’s the on Twitter and Facebook, accounts of hauntings come
other way round... 2:22 inspired them! One day, a few not just from friends, but friends of friends and then,
years ago, a close friend of mine told me she’d seen a random strangers… I find myself collecting an amaz-
ghost… Her story was compelling, credible and sent ing dossier of real-life ghost stories, many of them from
a shiver down my spine, but the rational part of my people who’ve never told them before, because, like the
brain also told me it was seemingly impossible. I was character in my play, they’re worried about how they
intrigued by the possibilities that her story opened up, will be judged… I soon realise that whilst the stories
but I also knew that there’d be people in our social cir- are useful for my research, they’re also
cle who wouldn’t be as sympathetic – sceptics who’d be too good to be confined to the hard drive
angered by the very idea ghosts existed, or who’d laugh of my computer, so, I have the idea of
at her or even tell her she was attention-seeking or de- making a podcast, interviewing some of
luded. I imagined what it would be like if you had that the people who’ve sent me their stories,
situation within a couple – if one person believed they and that’s how Haunted comes about!
had seen a ghost and the person they loved did not be- You can hear Haunted here:
lieve them – what effect would that have on their rela-
tionship? The idea for the play was born… https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/haunted

HAUNTED MAGAZINE 39
 Janua ry 2021
Haunted indirectly leads to The Battersea Poltergeist,
as one of the experts I’d met, veteran ghost expert and
leading SPR member Alan Murdie, tells me about a case
he knows of that took place in Battersea in 1956, fea-
turing a woman named Shirley Hitchings and the rest,
as they say, is history!!

You can hear The Battersea Poltergeist here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0940193

As I unleash The Battersea Poltergeist on the world, I

have no idea just what a global phenomenon it’s going
to become. It blows me away when millions of people get
obsessed with the case and become armchair supernat-
ural sleuths, but it also occurs to me that I actually have
2:22 to thank for all this. I’ve been continuing to work
on the play script over the last few years alongside my
podcasts, and now it’s at a stage where I feel ready to
share it with the world. Somebody once told me it takes
on average three years from having an idea for a play
to seeing it on stage. Add in a global pandemic and it
takes even longer, so it’s more than five years from that
first inspiration of my friend’s ghost story to standing
in the theatre with the producers Runaway Entertain-
ment, director Matthew Dunster and set designer Anna
Fleischle, and deciding, yep, we are going to make this
happen!!

Monday 28th June 2021

Friday 14th May 2021
The producers are taking a major risk
leading the charge back into theatres – no
one quite knows what the post-Covid West
End will be like, so I’m hugely grateful to
them for believing in the play! One thing
is sure though, you can’t mount a West
End production without a star, so casting
is all important, and around the start of
May, I get a very exciting phone call from
producer Isobel David. Lily Allen has read
the script and loves it and is interested in
playing the character of Jenny, the wom-
an who believes she has seen a ghost.
My instincts are simultaneously, “wow,
that’s exciting, I think Lily Allen’s great”
and “hold on, she’s a pop star” but over
the next two weeks there are a lot of con-
versations and we learn Lily is really keen
to open up a new aspect of her career and
make her stage debut and she wants my
play to be the one. It’s thrilling and, having
chatted with her, I’m convinced she can be
great. Not only is she a natural performer,
but the role of Jenny suits Lily perfectly
– she’s defiant, no pushover, someone who
will fight for what they believe in and tell
the truth even if it makes others uncom-
fortable. When Jenny’s husband refuses
to believe she is being haunted, audiences
will be rooting for her all the way! Now, fi-
nally, today, we have signed the contract,
Lily is on board, Thunderbirds are go!
We’re in a trendy studio in Hoxton, East London, sur-
rounded by expensive hair salons and coffee shops
that offer 15 different types of milk. It’s our first day
of rehearsals and the first time we have our whole cast
together in one place. There’s a lovely group photo of
them adorning all the publicity materials for the show,
but it was actually taken with them in three different
countries and then photoshopped together.
Playing Lily’s character Jenny’s husband Sam –, a
scientist and arch-sceptic – we have Hadley Fraser,
one of the big stars of West End musicals, but also a
damn fine dramatic actor who starred opposite Tom
Hiddleston in Coriolanus. Playing their friend Lau-
ren – a psychotherapist and sceptic who nevertheless
has her own ghostly secrets – we have the brilliant Ju-
lia Chan who has flown in from New York, hot off the
heels of filming Archive 81, a new series for Netflix
based on a popular horror podcast (sound familiar at
all?). Playing Lauren’s boyfriend Ben, a builder who’s
a definite paranormal believer with a ghost-hunting
past, we have Jake Wood, a legend in his own right af-
ter 15 years of playing bad boy Max Branning on BBC
TV soap opera EastEnders and competing in Strict-
ly Come Dancing. Not many people know that Jake
was also a very accomplished stage actor before that!
And, of course, we have Lily, who has also flown over
from New York, something that’s required no little
Lily Allen looking upheaval to her life. I am honoured and flattered to
pensive during
have this talented team on board and it’s time to read
rehearsals
the script together for the first time! Eek!!! Will it still
Photo credit: seem spooky in this brightly-lit room with its trendy
Helen Murray white-washed walls?

40 HAUNTED MAGAZINE
Friday 2nd July
arsing and,
The end of our first week rehe
feel s spoo ky. Lily is doing
phew, it still
natu ral – and
great – as I thought, she’s a
chin g each acto r beco me
it’s exciting wat
ract er. We hav e four wee ks left
their cha
hankfully,
before our first performance…T
Awa rd-n omi nate d director
we have Olivier
thew Dun ster in cha rge – one of the best
Mat
the busi ness – and we
West End directors in
t crea tive team arou nd him, in-
have a grea
d desi gne r Ian
cluding award-winning soun
is goin g to be cruc ial to
Dickinson. Sound
, as it has been to all my spooky
this play
Battersea
work such as Haunted and The
thin k that ’s true of all horror
Poltergeist. I
e scar y mov-
really – think of your favourit
out mus ic and sound
ie and imagine it with
with icul ar, sound
effects! But 2:22 in part
er on stag e…
is almost like another charact
ing to life,
It’s exciting to see the play com Left to Right Director Matthew Dunster, Danny Robins and Hadley Fraser (Sam)
it in my hea d so long , but we all
having had Photo credit: Helen Murray
Swo rd of Damocles
know there’s a major
hea ds – if any of the cast
hanging over our Wednesday 7th July
posi tive for Cov id that coul d shut the
test of wild
whole production down due to
the current The following week, I’m in the middle of nowhere – the wildest
e are other series, the sequel to The
governm ent regu latio ns – ther countryside – recording for my new BBC podcast
e been cancelled when Matthe w our directo r calls me. “Bad news”
West End shows that hav Battersea Poltergeist,
use of that , so, we adhere he says, “it’s not going to be able to rain.”
or postponed beca
pulo us regi me of late ral flow tests,
to a scru not pouring
bub ble and keep ing This is bad news? I look up at the sky, I’m kind of glad it’s
working and living in a is effectively squattin g on
cros sed (and hea vily coat ed in down. But Matthe w means rain on stage. 2:22
our fingers – our designe r Anna
the set design for the musical Dear Evan Hansen
antibacterial gel!) they aren’t
Fleischle is very cleverly building our set on top of theirs, as
restart their run, which was curtaile d by Covid, until late Octo-
due to
in 2:22 has been given
ber. But now, our plan to have it rain onstage
Evan Hansen ’s stage manage r. Boo!!! Any horror
the thumbs down by
r to set the
fan worth their salt will know that a bit of inclement weathe
to change take and investig ate fog!
spooky scene is a must, so we decide
You’ve got to love a bit of creepy fog…

Friday 30th July

Fast forward a few weeks and I am back
at the Noel Coward Theatre. It’s our first
technical rehearsal – that’s the point
where you’ve rehearsed all the acting
bits and then you chuck lights and sounds
and props and costumes at it and doors
that actually open and real wine glasses
and (in our case) some rather exciting
special effects, and you hope for the best
– by which I mean some very talented and
clever people like Lighting Designer Lucy
Carter programme things into comput-
ers to make sure everything happens at
the right time whilst the actors say the
same line again and again until everyone
is sure that the fog machine is coming in
on cue! (Yes, we sorted the fog, and it is
creepy!)

HAUNTED MAGAZINE 41
 Tuesday 3rd August
This is it… our first preview performance. It’s been an
incredible journey. I loved theatre as a kid, spending
every spare hour of my teen years at my local amateur
theatre group in Newcastle upon Tyne, acting, direct-
ing, painting sets, stage managing, you name it… If
you’d told me back then I’d have a play by me appear-
ing in the West End, I’m not sure I’d have believed you.
In fact, if you’d told me that just a year ago when we
were in the grip of lockdown, I wouldn’t have believed
you. So, as I look up at the whopping great glittering
sign advertising the show outside the theatre, I feel a
little emotional. Now it’s time to throw open the doors
and let the first punters in!

After all the hard work that’s been done, this is crunch
time. The test of any play is the audience reaction,
and when you’ve set out to make a show in the horror
genre, you’re even more aware of that, because people
have certain expectations. I want this play to make you
jump, but I also want it to make you think – it’s a play
about the very nature of ghosts, what they might be,
why we see them, why we believe in them and whether
or not they really exist. It’s therefore about the biggest
things imaginable, life and death, and it’s told through
the story of a very ordinary couple – people like you Photo credits: Helen Murray
and me. I hope that you’ll watch it and be gripped and
then after the show you’ll go and have your own de-
bates over a drink or two in a nearby pub… If you do, I’d
Tickets for 2:22 – A Ghost Story are available to buy
love to know what you think.
from www.222aghoststory.com. The show runs until
October 16th.
Do you believe?
The script of 2:22 – A Ghost Story is also available to
Email me on danny@dannyrobins.com buy. You can order it online:
www.nickhernbooks.co.uk/222-a-ghost-story

42 HAUNTED MAGAZINE
THE PARAPOD: A VERY BRITISH
GHOST HUNT
ith armies of devoted lis-
W teners and over 3.5 mil-
lion downloads, the wildly
successful paranormal
comedy podcast has taken the leap into
the world of feature films. After years in
the making, The ParaPod is primed to
ride again in the form of a side-splitting,
spooky theatrical release, The ParaPod –
A Very British Ghost Hunt. But what was
it like when two comedians, one a sceptic
(Ian), the other a believer (Barry), travelled
the UK in a souped-up hearse, looking for
proof of the paranormal and the great be-
yond?
What ensues is a laugh-out-loud
and genuinely gripping journey of
personal discovery and challenging
beliefs. Haunted Magazine sat down
with stars Ian Boldsworth and Barry
Dodds to chat about terrifying vi-
sions, ghostly wish-lists, existential
dread and… bribing fishermen?
2 HAUNTED: THE DARK ARTS
INTERVIEW
HM: From podcast to full feature film seems like an enor-
mous leap. How did The ParaPod: A Very British Ghost
Hunt come about?
BARRY: We’d recorded the third series of the podcast
and we were making a speculative pilot at East Drive. We
had a small crew, and we were just going to make a half
hour pilot and basically do the ParaPod on screen. About
halfway through it, Ian said, “this should be a movie” and
he was right. If this would be a TV show, you’d have 6 epi-
sodes of me finding nothing. I’d hope that would never be
the case, but you’d never want to rely on the paranormal.
IAN: Barry initially laughed about making a film, and I
said “Why can’t we? People make movies on iPhones
and stuff, so why can’t we make our own?” I got kinda
pregnant with the idea at that point; I just couldn’t stop
thinking about it and I was determined. So, I think we an-
nounced it on the podcast the following week. We start-
ed immediately, and I didn’t know the journey I’d started
on, but I didn’t stop at any point.
HM: Ian, you were one of the UK’s first podcast creators
and have had great success with several different audio
projects. How was it working so closely on one project
for years, instead of the familiar self-contained podcast
format?
IAN: Well, I would have knocked this on the head by now under
normal circumstances! (laughs). It’s been okay. It does make me
slightly frustrated as my natural M.O. is to move onto the next thing
as soon as I feel any sense of not enjoying something. So, it’s not a
case of I wasn’t enjoying the ParaPod, but I think I was very ready to
go “right, what am I doing next?” And I haven’t been able to do that
as I’ve been held hostage by a movie, or the undertaking of it.
The more this has gone on, the more it feels like a completely sepa-
rate project to the podcast itself. It’s certainly been a long-haul flight
and has felt draining from time to time, but I think the conclusion of
it all has come into view.
HM: While you approach the ParaPod from different viewpoints,
you both know your spooky stuff! Where did this interest in ghosts
and the paranormal originate from?
BARRY: When I was young, I used to go and stay at my Nanna’s
house in Amble in Northumberland. My cousin Sarah used to tell me
ghost stories and they really used to scare the life out of me. There
was something about that fear and adrenaline rush that’s quite ad-
dictive. That’s why people go on rollercoasters and things like that,
and I used to get a rush from these ghost stories. Most people grow
out of it…I didn’t.
IAN: I was all in on this as a kid and believed it. But as I got older, and
got to an age of cognitive maturity, I started to look at it differently
and be open-minded to the idea that things might not be as clear-
cut as they were being portrayed to me. I’ve not just settled on one
belief; I’ve been in both camps at different stages of my life, and my
overview of it has been one of rejecting the paranormal as an actual IAN: We had full access to East Drive as the producer owns it, so that was
thing,, but the interest has remained. I find it really fascinating when
thing ticked off, and that was a big one. The Ancient Ram were exceptionally help-
you come across someone who didn’t believe in it and then does. If ful. Pluckley, we didn’t pay…well, there’s no one to pay. Haunted Happenings
they grab that as an adult, I find it utterly fascinating as to how that were tremendously accommodating. When locations wanted to charge stu-
comes about. So really, my role in the movie is as much about what’s pid money, there was no haggle there at all, it was just “ok fine, bye.” I think
going on with Barry as it is about what’s going on in the afterlife or they expected a counteroffer, and I wasn’t having that. After all, you’re not
spirit world. going to run out of haunted places in the UK, are you?
HM: Paranormal road trip isn’t really an established genre, so what
films or media did you look to for inspiration, or did you approach the
film with a clean slate?
IAN: Exactly. Trailblazer. (laughs) From a director’s point of view, I
just shot and trusted. So, I had a faith in myself that if we just point
the camera and just do it, we’ll find a narrative. I knew it was going to
be difficult, but we did find a story. There’s at least another 2 movies
worth of footage that’s not been used as we just filmed everything.
In terms of inspiration, I got quite involved in making the open-
ing titles like the Hammer films. So, the font is Hammer style with
MCMX etc. at the bottom. The film doesn’t bear any resemblance
to a Hammer film. So that was put in there because I thought “Ah,
I’m making a film…I can do titles like those films I liked in the 70s!”
But I didn’t need to do certain shots or pull focus, it’s a documen-
tary and I needed to put the story on the screen in as clear a way
as possible. But there’s things like the Raiders of the Lost Ark-style
maps, so when we’re travelling, there’s the map in the background
and the dotted line of where we’re going. There’s drone footage too
– it breathes. It’s sometimes a very claustrophobic film, so it was “When locations wanted to charge stupid
important to let the film breathe and open it up before we went back
to these caverns, cellars, and houses. money, there was no haggle there at all, it
HM: With so many places advertising themselves as haunted, how was just “ok fine, bye.” I think they ex-
pected a counteroffer, and I wasn’t having
did you land on your final list for the film?

that. After all, you’re not going to run out

BARRY: It was mainly left up to me to pick the places. Obviously,
there were restrictions, and some places just came back and said

of haunted places in the UK, are you?”

“yeah, that’s great, that’ll be £10,000!” (laughs) and we thought
“we really can’t afford that.” Other places were really welcoming,
very supportive and we’re still in touch, and have formed great rela-
tionships through them. So, it was a combination of who would have
us, luck, and my wish-list.

HAUNTED: THE DARK ARTS 3

 HM: Barry mentioned his paranormal wish-
list. What would have been a dream location
that simply couldn’t make it into the movie?
BARRY: Poveglia island. That’s – without
a doubt – my number one place to go and
probably Bobby Mackey’s. It would involve
flights to Italy and America and also, you’re
not allowed on the island, you’ve got to
bribe fishermen to get there. I think it’d be
too much of a gamble for us to go there and
film. I think I’ll go and do it myself.
IAN: I think he’s misunderstood the British
bit… My dream location is my bedroom with
the front door locked and a sign saying, ‘I’m
not in, Barry.’
HM: With so many places to visit, did every-
thing go to plan with your schedule, or were
there hiccups?
IAN: I’m reluctant to express anything about
feeling, as I don’t want to spoil anything.
But what I can say is that no location
disappointed me in how accommodating
they were. We were at The Ancient Ram Inn
the day that John Humphries (the owner)
died; he died that morning. We spoke to
his daughter saying, “of course we’re not
going to come” and she said “No, you
must come. John would want you to have
a great night there.” So, by my standards,
that night was quite tame as I didn’t feel
like I could be running about, being stupid
or a loudmouth. As the night went on, I did
get more mischievous, but it was difficult
that evening. But every last one went out of
their way and were super welcoming to us.
I don’t consider these people as enemies!
Talking to Haunted Magazine isn’t me
behind enemy lines! I’m a pretty accepting
lad really.
4 HAUNTED: THE DARK ARTS
BARRY: The Ancient Ram Inn was the
strangest thing; it was the time when
the crew were all really scared and
me and Ian weren’t; we didn’t get the
fear factor at all! It was bizarre thing
where the Inn wasn’t underwhelm-
ing because it wasn’t haunted, it was
just underwhelming as we didn’t feel
it like everybody else did, and I think
there’s a reason for that, because we
were aware of what’d happened that
morning.
IAN: He says that, but he was too scared to
go the toilet on his own there…
BARRY: Which was right, because he
jumped out at me when I came out.
HM: With so many locations and so many
stages of production, what aspects of film-
ing did you enjoy the most?
IAN: I liked filming the most when it was tru-
ly in freefall. Ditto recording in a podcast. I
like it when it goes somewhere you weren’t
anticipating and you just keep going and
shooting, you don’t shy away from that.
There’s a scene in the church that wasn’t
even booked as a location. We got snowed
off from another location which we didn’t go
to; a pub in Wales. So, I found a church and
knocked on the door of the vicarage, saying
to the lady there “I’m meant to be filming,
and I haven’t got a location. The church
is beautiful, would we be able to shoot in
there?” She was really accommodating,
and the scene turned out brilliantly, which
was just a discussion between me and Bar-
ry, like on the podcast. We just spoke and
had a bit of a row, a bit of backward and
forward about the nature of faith and it felt
great. It was funny, interesting, it was going
somewhere different. I gave some guid-
ance to Barry as it was a conversation we’d
already been having in real life, and I said
“You want to talk to me about faith? Let’s
have that discussion on film.” So, it was
semi-guided, but the conversation itself
just happened.
BARRY: I loved the chance to go into places
I’d always wanted to visit. When you go on
organised ghost hunts, you’ve always got
somebody watching over you. Not having
that was brilliant in places such as the Edin-
burgh vaults. Normally, you only get to go in
for an hour or so and you walk around with a
tour guide, but this was a case of them giv-
ing us the keys and us realising “oh wow, we
can actually do what we want”, all without
supervision. Not that we were doing any-
thing bad! But to have access to places that
I wouldn’t normally have? That was proba-
bly the thing I enjoyed the most.
HM: Ian, being on the sceptical side of
things, but also a star of the film and the
director, how hard was it to maintain that
impartiality when filming?
IAN: It wasn’t hard at all. First and foremost,
regardless of my personal beliefs, I’m look-
ing to create the right finished product. The
right finished product wouldn’t be The Ian
Boldsworth Show. It’s the ParaPod, so it has
to balance – therefore we brought in peo-
ple from outside, because if it was just left
to Dodds, I’ve got no choice in the matter!
(laughs). This is the issue I have with some
paranormal tv shows, I know they’re essen-
tially entertainment programmes, and they
might allude to scepticism from time to time
but it’s actual M.O. is to present ghosts
as real, which is fine, that’s what the pro-
gramme is. But there’s no actual balance
there, not in reality. The producer, to his
credit, said that at no point did he want me
to fake anything. I had considered that at
some point; something unexplained that
had just been set up, but he said that he
didn’t want me to do that, that everything
had to be true. He said, if we get nothing,
we get nothing, but we’re presenting this
honestly. So, I was appreciative of that.
Considering that this film has been made
in such a divisive time, I have such over-
arching pride. You only have to look at so-
cial media and see how people are at each
other’s throats for their beliefs. I think this
film shows that you can have two people
with completely conflicting opinions, who
will row about it, sometimes nearly come
to blows about it, but ultimately there’s a
friendship there and an underlying relation-
ship that shows how you can coexist with
people who have opposing views to you –
when you’re not being violent with them.
Which neither of us are…yet.
HM: Are there any moments in particular
that you were saddened to cut down in the
final edit?
IAN: There’s a moment in the movie where
Barry addresses a sceptics convention and
its obviously chopped down, but one day
I’ll release the full 20 minutes that he was
on stage. You’ve never heard more garbled,
nonsensical idiocy in your entire life. From
beginning to end, nothing made sense. The
editor once said to me “I don’t know how
to edit this as I don’t know what he’s on
about!” So, if he ever wants to say that he
can make decent points, I’ll happily counter
with that footage! If anything, this film has
been edited to make him look smarter, be-
cause I don’t think people would believe it!
HM: After finishing the film, did you find
yourself with a renewed interest in the
paranormal?
IAN: I think my interest will remain, the only
thing that might waiver from time to time
is my engagement and my engagement
within discussions. I do feel slightly ghost-
ed out at the moment. But on a base level,
you can’t really alter something that you’ve
found intriguing or worthy of scrutiny, ei-
ther as a believer or a sceptic. But I think it’s
important to come with an element of scru-
tiny. And as I’ve told him many times, that is
really missing in Barry. He doesn’t have any
interest in scrutinising what he’s told. As
a mate, I flag it up to him as he’s got to be
careful. He’s so vulnerable. Can you imag-
ine Barry late at night on his computer and
someone from ISIS starts talking to him?
He’d be on a plane in the morning (laughs).
HM: After the movie and all those intense
experiences, are you still a believer in the
paranormal?
BARRY: Certainly, I’m still a believer, but
I’m struggling on different levels in terms of
faith and I’m aware that a lot of my beliefs
contradict themselves now, so I’m having
an internal battle with that. I’d like to make
peace spiritually, because some things that
happened in the film have certainly made
my beliefs more complicated.
There was one instance in the film that
wasn’t pleasant. At all. I haven’t taken it
HAUNTED: THE DARK ARTS
away as being a good experience and it felt
like “if you play with fires, you get burned.”
I got burned to the point of thinking “should
you even be doing this?” It’s really made
me scared and wary. Even when you’re on
a ghost hunt, you’re aware of certain things
that make you scared, like the dark, the lo-
cation, the history and all the stuff that gets
into your subconscious. But you still always
have a doubt, like “well, it might all be rub-
bish, coincidence, money making things.”
But when something happens and you can’t
explain it, it asks more questions than it an-
swers.
HM: So, come on Ian, are you any closer to
being a believer now?
IAN: (laughs) No, no I’m not, I’m afraid. But
I’m not trying to be a believer. I had a psychic
medium tell me in the film “If you don’t be-
lieve in any of this, why are you here now?”
And I said to her as I pointed to Barry, “Be-
cause I find him hilarious.” I’m not searching
at all, I’m just along for the ride. I’m watching
this daft lad go along to places where he
thinks there are ghosts and am being royally
entertained, shaking my head 5 foot behind
him. I’m not trying to get proof; he’s trying
to prove it to me. What I’ve learned from the
ParaPod is that you can present any coun-
terargument in the world, and it won’t make
a blind bit of difference to someone who just
has faith.
The ParaPod – A Very British
Ghost Hunt is coming to cinemas
this September and on VOD 27th
September
Interview by Kate Cherrell
5
 A VERY BRITISH
FILM REVIEW ttttt
By Kate Cherrell - Burials and Beyond
The ParaPod – The ParaPod podcast has enjoyed over 3.5
million downloads and many sold-out live shows
A Very British Ghost over the years, so no-one would have batted
an eye if they had produced a short film as a
Hunt is in cinemas half-hearted cash-in or piece of fan service;
September and VOD something thrown onto video sharing websites
to promote a larger brand. Instead, in a fiercely
September 27, 2021 ambitious decision, they spent years making
The ParaPod – A Very British Ghost Hunt,
Director: Ian Boldsworth
filming hours of footage while travelling the
Cast: Ian Boldsworth, Barry Dodds 
length and breadth of the UK. It’s no over-
Producer: Bil Bungay  statement to say that this dedication shows itself
Run Time: 108 mins in every frame of this feature-length release.
Rating: 15 What greets cinema-goers is a slick, heart-
warming, frightening and hilarious release that
will have sceptics and ghost-hunters alike rolling
in the aisles from start to finish.
Documentary-filmed over a three-year period,
the release sees comedians Ian Boldsworth
and Barry Dodds visit a series of supposedly
haunted locations across the UK (in a souped-
up hearse, no less), as Barry attempts to argue
the existence of ghosts to his increasingly
exasperated friend. Paranormally-minded
viewers will see a host of familiar locations,
such as Pluckley – reportedly the world’s most
haunted village, The Ancient Ram Inn and 30
East Drive, home of the infamous poltergeist, the
Black Monk of Pontefract.
Even the most seasoned ghost hunter would
see these places and the nature of paranormal
investigation in a new way as Barry tries – and
fails – to not only explain his own beliefs, but the
6 HAUNTED: THE DARK ARTS
basics of his ghost-hunting kit. While the Ovilus
V is presented as a piece of detecting equipment
by which spirits may communicate, through
Barry’s boyish naivety, it swiftly becomes a
means of having your password reset by a ghost.
Similarly, for all of Barry’s attempts to ‘seriously’
investigate a location, Ian’s razor-sharp wit and
mischievousness is not far behind; we only
need tease readers with the appearance of the
notorious ‘Arse Grabber’ of the Niddry Vaults.
Ian is no overbearing sceptic but gives Barry just
enough comedic rope to hang himself. Prefacing
Barry’s speech at a sceptics’ conference in
which he is visibly terrified, Ian’s introduction of
‘Barry Dodds who believes everything without
question’ affords the scene the perfect diving
board for cringeworthy, unbridled laughter, the
likes of which scripted comedies could only
dream. This familiarity of unshakable, blind
belief should be no surprise to those within the
paranormal community, as we so often need
reminding of the flaws and hilarity that lie within
such a mindset. Ian’s scepticism is never in
the form of a vicious attack, but a reasoned
and friendly jab in the ribs of left-field beliefs.
Combined with his occasional exasperated Eric
Morecambe-style glances to camera, we find
ourselves cheering on Barry’s conviction, but
sitting back and laughing at Ian’s frustration,
wholly invested in their journey and relationship.
For all of the insults levelled at the ‘gullible
buffoon’, the dynamic between Boldsworth and
Dodds is side-splittingly funny throughout.
 "It's a rare thing to identify a cult classic as it
emerges from the gates, but The ParaPod - A Very
British Ghost Hunt is just that. From the first few
minutes of the movie, it's clear that this release is
something very special indeed"

At its heart, The ParaPod – A Very British
Ghost Hunt is a story of friendship, the pliability
of belief and the unreliability of one’s own
perception. The ParaPod podcast was never as
simple as two contrasting viewpoints, and the
film is no different, digging deeper into notions
of faith, friendship, and fear.
We may find ourselves wanting to be more
rationally minded like Ian, but all too often
relate to Barry who wears his paranormal
giddiness on his sleeve. Watching The
ParaPod – A Very British Ghost Hunt isn’t
as simple as following a contrived narrative,
but watching a genuine journey of self-
development, personal change, and fierce
friendship. When Ian sighs as Barry struggles
to explain the necessity of a teddy bear in
the woods, we laugh along with them, and
when Barry’s experiences turn a little more
towards the ghostly, we’re on the edge of our
seats. The pair’s interactions, particularly
during Barry’s attempts at guiding Ian, will
have you screaming laughing at the frustrated
banter between them. Shot with a warts-
and all approach, seeing Ian and Barry’s
exhausted rows and their genuine moments
of vulnerability afford The ParaPod – A Very
British Ghost Hunt an ingrained authenticity
and honesty that you can’t help but take to the
heart.
Determined not to make a run-of-the-mill
documentary or road trip film, Boldsworth’s
directorial debut sees the pair’s physical
and narrative journey disrupted by views
from experts and moody shots of the pair
debriefing in their studio. For a film so
deliberately claustrophobic in its dealings
with the paranormal, it knows exactly when to
open up and let the tension within the hearse
dissipate. The production of the film was a
journey of discovery and firsts for so many;
not simply for Boldsworth and Dodds in their
first film appearances, but as a directorial
first for Boldsworth and a first for film scorer
Thomas van der Ree, but to name a few. It
is testament to all involved that the finished
product stands head and shoulders above
most theatrical releases, being so much larger
than its component parts. For the first podcast
to be made into a feature film, I wouldn’t envy
the next one that comes along, as these are
enormous shoes to fill.
It is no overstatement to say that this will be the
best thing you’ll see all year. The ParaPod – A
Very British Ghost Hunt is a film we all need
to see, to remind us of what really matters –
taking risks, reassessing our beliefs, grabbing
life by the horns, and laughing with your mates
till you cry. If there was ever a greater argument
to support independent cinema, this is it.

HAUNTED: THE DARK ARTS 7

INTERVIEW with
BIL BUNGAY
While The Parapod – A Very British Ghost
Hunt prepares itself for launch, we grabbed
five minutes with producer Bil Bungay. Not
only is he the producer of the funniest film of
the year, but the owner of 30 East Drive, one
of the UK’s most popular haunted locations.
Whilst Pontefract’s poltergeist house excites
and terrifies the steady stream of visiting
paranormal enthusiasts, each expectantly
awaiting an appearance from the Black Monk,
it also features in The Parapod, with hilarious
and terrifying results. So, what is it like being
the custodian of such a famous location,
and just how did Bil find himself involved
with two comedians, a funky hearse, and the
dimension-jumping ghosts?
HM: So how did you get involved with Ian and
Barry of The ParaPod?
BIL: Well, Barry Dodds has been obsessively
visiting haunted locations for decades. Needless
to say, 30 East Drive came up on his radar.
He took a few of his mates there, had some
interesting things happen, and I think it was him
who coincidentally mentioned that he had this
thing called The Parapod. Around the same time,
another person said to me, “have you heard
the ParaPod? It’s absolutely hilarious!” So, I put
two and two together and started listening, and
I would like to think I am their biggest fan. I’m
a mega fan. If you haven’t listened to it, treat
yourself. The movie is a reflection of all that – it is
pant-wettingly funny.
HM: Did you have a pre-existing interest in the
paranormal before your involvement with 30 East
Drive and The ParaPod?
BIL: Not really, I was most definitely a sceptic.
Maybe not quite as rabid a sceptic as Ian is, but I
was a sceptic. I ended up being introduced to 30
East Drive by Pat Holden (director of When the
Lights Went Out). His mother was connected
to the Pritchard family who owned 30 East
Drive; she used to regularly support Jean and
witnessed lots of incredible things. I thought,
“what a brilliant storyline – a poltergeist moves
into a council house! Not a castle or mansion like
you’d expect. We should turn that into a movie
one day.” It was twenty years before I got it done
and it was off the back of that that I came into
contact with the actual house. I was working
in Pontefract, so I thought, ‘I’ll go and visit this
house I’m making a film about,’ and when I got
there, it was for sale. We had the premiere there,
but then we were stuck with it. However, soon
people started saying “can I come and visit your
8 HAUNTED: THE DARK ARTS
house?” So, they did, and people started sending
in their videos, photos, and reports. I opened
the house up so people could visit more often,
then I started to experience things. Completely
inexplicably. But there is absolutely no doubt that
something is in that house. So, I am now definitely
not a sceptic but a full on, passionate and vocal
believer in these things. You can’t not be once
you’ve experienced these things. Your entire
world view shifts. It flips on its head.
HM: Have you ever spent the night at
East Drive?
BIL: (laughs) No, I’m absolutely terrified
of what is in that house. I used to have
a recurring nightmare for years that
the same thing was in my house, and
it terrified the bejeesus out of me. I
think people who go and spend the
night there are completely bonkers;
we actively say that we don’t think
you should visit. It’s probably the only
attraction in the world where the owners
actively discourage people from visiting!
I am profoundly serious with that house
about the respect it should govern, and
I don’t think anyone should treat it in a
light-hearted way.
HM: Considering the film features two
comedians setting up vigil in East Drive, how
does this idea of seriousness at all times within
the house play out?
BIL: It is the perfect relationship between my
comparatively recent interest in the paranormal
and my role as a filmmaker. East Drive is the one
place that I know is active in a really interesting
way. So, you have to throw open the doors and
invite people in that will challenge you and
broadcast the debate. In my experience, there
can be no better voice for the debate than a
movie. Particularly because of the documentary
style and the way Ian and Barry work, it is a
debate as much as it is pure entertainment. Call
me a sucker for punishment though, because
Ian’s brutal in his opinion of what is occurring!
But the counterpoint of Barry’s utter conviction in
these things really helps to extend the debate.
HM: Do you feel that it’s a great responsibility to
be the custodian of East Drive and its history, and
what are your plans for the house in the future?
With talk of scientific tests, can you see East
Drive having its own paranormal laboratory!?
BIL: You’ve nailed it on the head. I don’t see
East Drive as just a haunted house, but a
place with the potential for us to reassess our
whole existence; a study of it could rewrite our
understanding of spirits and ghosts and so much
more. I believe that religious groups should be all
over the house; if they could prove the existence
of an afterlife using 30 East Drive as a study,
that would be massive. My suspicion is that
whatever is in that house will lend itself to proving
many mind-boggling theories within quantum
physics too. It could be that 30 East Drive offers
a shortcut in supporting ideas and theories of
paranormal forces and alternate dimensions!
One thought is that whatever is at East Drive
exists in a fourth dimension that occasionally
slips into our own. So, a poltergeist that moves
an object could be said to be removing it from
our three-dimensional state temporarily, via its
fourth dimension, then returning it elsewhere.
So, I am not sure whatever is at 30 East Drive is
something dead but could be very much alive.
HM: We at Haunted Magazine adore the film.
How does it feel to finally see the project come
to fruition?
BIL: First and foremost, I think it’s the best
thing I’ve ever done. What Ian has done
especially, is amazing. The brief itself was quite
straightforward, which was “I don’t want a script.
You’re going to go on the road and do your own
thing.” But what you also appreciate is that for a
movie to work, you need a narrative, and to see
that drop in as they travelled, especially with
Barry’s soul searching, was very special. I want to
stress that nothing in the film was engineered, so
everything you see is very visceral and very real.
There really is nothing like it.
The ParaPod – A Very
British Ghost Hunt is
coming to cinemas this
September and on VOD
September 27, 2021.
Bil was chatting with Kate
Cherrell
 “THERE’S SOMETHING IN OUR HOUSE.
I HEAR IT EVERY NIGHT, AT THE SAME TIME.”

A Ghost Story and a Spoiler-Free Review!

Parapsychologist and academic Dr Ciaran O’Keeffe is well known to

Haunted Magazine readers, but it’s less well-known that he is also one
of the behind-the-scenes inspirations for 2:22 – A Ghost Story. Danny
Robins consulted Ciaran during his research for the play and learnt that
certain details of arch-sceptic Ciaran’s relationship with his own believer
wife Anna chimed with the characters in Danny’s play. What would Ciaran,
who also appeared as one of the team of experts on Danny’s The Battersea
Poltergeist, make of seeing something so close-to home acted out on
stage?

We sent him to watch the opening night at the Noel Coward Theatre. Here’s
his spoiler-free review!

J
enny (Lily Allen) believes her new
home is haunted, but her husband
Sam (Hadley Fraser) isn’t having any
of it. They argue with their first dinner
guests, old friend Lauren (Julia Chan) and
new partner Ben (Jake Wood). Can the dead
really walk again? Belief and scepticism clash,
but something feels strange and frightening,
and that something is getting closer, so
they’re going to stay up… until 2:22… and then
they’ll know.
Readers of Haunted Magazine will be
very familiar with the writer of this West End
play. Danny Robins enthralled us all with
his retelling and re-investigation of The
Battersea Poltergeist for BBC Radio 4
and perfectly captured people’s ghostly
encounters in the Haunted podcast. In
2:22 A Ghost Story we see all of these
elements, and more, as he brings together
all his experiences and research with the
paranormal and delightfully exposes them on
stage in this supernatural thriller. It centres
around four main characters brought together
for a dinner party in which Jenny’s repeated
haunting experiences quickly becomes
the conversation focus for the evening and
then the mission for the group waiting up ‘til
2:22am in the hope of witnessing the “ghost”
or something natural which would explain
it all. The acting is marvellous and Matthew
Dunster’s direction has lifted the script and
made it come alive on stage. It is a ghost story
in which Jenny (played by Lily Allen) recounts
her experiences with confidence and then
ever-increasing tension and frustration at the
largely dismissive responses.
I sat in the Noel Coward Theatre for the official
opening night. The audience responded
to the scares, the tension between all the
characters and the comedic moments
delivered by Jake Wood’s character. They
were as enthralled as I was throughout
and there were frequent moments where
you could sense the collective holding of
breath in expectation of another scare. The
strength in the play, however, was not in
scaring the audience, but in drawing them
into the arguments, the building tension as
each character reveals their true belief and
perspective on the paranormal. The spectrum
of belief is represented by Jenny at one end
and Sam (her husband) on the other. The two
dinner guests neatly fill the gap between the
two earlier in the play but then Ben makes
some startling confessions and takes over the
believer end of the spectrum. Ghosthunters
and paranormal enthusiasts (in fact all readers
of Haunted Magazine) will take great delight
in the frequent references to ghost hunting
and sceptical arguments. The first time the
word “vigil” is heard, I found it comfortably
warming and delighted in the laughter around
me. There are references to ghost hunting in
stately homes, to spiritualism approaches,
to staying up all night. You’ll hear sceptical
points made, and the counter arguments and
I felt we were hearing Danny’s voice from
the characters as the arguments raged. The
on-stage battles reflect his life journey and
research attempting to understand what
ghosts are.

HAUNTED: THE DARK ARTS 9

 Danny Robins has stated in interviews that he
has been fascinated by “the idea there might
be some other layer of existence – life after
death.” This play is more than a simple ghost
story. It provides the layers inherent in ghost
stories we have all come to take for granted.
Jenny even references “layers” at a number
of key moments. With each telling of a ghostly
encounter there is psychology, persuasion,
conviction, belief, fear, disbelief, amazement.
We see these factors played out from each
character on stage. But there are more layers.
The set design, wonderfully created by Anna
Fleischle and her team, haunts with its layers
that take the audience from the wallpaper
and décor of the 1950s on stage right to the
contemporary renovated kitchen and skylight
on stage left. There are pivotal moments when
characters stand on particular sides and either
the scepticism or belief become the focus.
A particularly enthralling sequence has Sam
delivering a series of sceptical questions (e.g.,
Why aren’t ghosts naked?) as he stands in
the modern kitchen and the rebuttals come
from Jenny sitting on the opposite side of the
stage where the damaged wallpaper provides
a wonderful backdrop to spiritual-type points.
I even saw elements of 63 Wycliffe Road
shining through the set design. There were
even moments where I wondered if Cindy Lin
(the Costume Designer) had been working
with subtle layers to reveal something deeper
about the characters. Certainly, Chris Fisher
provides the most hidden layer with his behind
the scenes work on creating fantastic illusions.
10
The layers also are exploited by the sound (Ian
Dickinson) and lighting team (Lucy Carter)
– we have overt shrill noises from wild foxes
that stimulate the screams from the audience
to the subtle underlying, almost infrasonic-
hinting, undertones. The lighting is also used
to wonderful effect as the layers between light
and dark play throughout and provide deep
and hidden clues to what people are saying.
The layers are also revealed in the central
focus for the whole play – 2:22. This might
seem like a random time, but it may also be
playing with layers. Accuse me of being guilty
of delving into numerology lore, but during the
show I remember the words from the Bible,
Daniel 2:22 – “He reveals the deep and hidden
things”. With 2:22 and the play as a whole,
Danny reveals the deep and hidden things of
all the characters. He also reveals the multi-
layered deep arguments that often pepper the
recounting of personal ghost stories.
Bear with me, then, for now entertaining
the reader as I reveal a territory of layers of
meaning in 2:22. In numerology, the number 2
is a number of yin and yang and balance. Given
yin yang highlights the balance between two
opposites it couldn’t be more appropriate to
have 2:22 as the focus. In yin yang there are
also opposite elements in each section and as
the story develops, we see that in each of the
characters, though Jenny remains steadfast
pretty much most of the time. Ironically,
however, 222 in numerology is frequently a
reference to cooperation and being in harmony
HAUNTED: THE DARK ARTS
with yourself and others around you. Whilst
there is little harmony on stage, there is an
overriding cooperation as the four characters
agree to stay up ‘til 2:22.
There is also the fantastic meaning to be
found in Thomas Huxley’s book The Doors of
Perception where he coined the term ‘Twin
flame.’ A term that refers to the meeting of two
souls in love, “the transcendental other.” The
Twin Flame is a mythical phenomenon where
two people that are meant to be with one
another, find each other. Throughout the play,
we witness Jenny and Sam argue. At times
it reaches shrill shouting levels and initially
we are fighting for a particular side, secretly
hoping all will be revealed at 2:22 and one
will be proven wrong. As the play progresses,
however, I couldn’t help yearning for them to
resolve their differences and find solace in
each other’s arms, ultimately find each other.
If anything, my numerology delving above
highlights the strength of the play. It keeps you
thinking for days afterwards. It sticks with you
and that is a wonderful testament to Danny
and the rest of the team involved in producing
this fabulous play. In Daniel 2:22, I stated the
words – “He reveals the deep and hidden
things.” The next line is “He knows what lies in
darkness.” Danny Robins knows and reveals it
layer upon scary layer…
Ciaran O’Keeffe
August 2021, 2:22am (of course)…

Photo credit: Simon Turtle
We had the pleasure of speaking to
Jake Wood from 2:22 A Ghost Story,
days before the play opened. Zoom
has become the norm for interviews
these days, we recorded it too, but the
internet signal kept zoning out (that’s
ghosts for you), so we decided to
transcript the interview for your reading
pleasure.
HM: So, how did 2:22 come about?
JW: I got a phone call from Matthew
Dunster, the director. I got sent the script
and got asked if I wanted to do it. I think
Matthew had seen some of my theatre
work in the past, when I was younger
and remembered me from there. I think
it also helped that Matthew had acted in
Coronation Street I in the past. There is
sometimes a stigma when you’ve come out
a TV show after a long time, that people are
reluctant to give you opportunities in other
areas but luckily Matthew had seen me in
theatre previously, thought I’d be perfect
for it and once I read the show it was a no
brainer. I only said I would do it in theatre if
it was a new play, if it was in the West End
and if I loved the play and it ticked all those
boxes.
Also, the casting was particularly important.
Lily Allen is making her professional acting
debut, never acted before which, for me,
JAKE WOOD
TAKES GHOST
HUNTING TO
THE MAX
Photo credits: Helen Murray
I found extremely exciting. Also, Hadley
Fraser, a West End superstar performer and
Julia Chan, a Netflix star. The casting feels
very fresh
HM: Had you known Lily, Hadley & Julia
before? Was the chemistry between the
four of you there from the start?
JW: No, I had never met them and yes
pretty much re: the chemistry. I mean it’s
not a pre-requisite in any environment, but
everyone has been so lovely, and I think,
again, it feels like we are all very privileged
to be part of that first wave of actors and
plays to be back in the theatre. We are also
aware that this is Lily’s first time that she
has ever acted so there’s lots of experience
in the cast and I think it has been cast very
cleverly, in that respect. Lily has got lots
of support there, to offer advice and help,
if needed. It has been a very productive
rehearsal period and Matthew just sets a
lovely tone in the rehearsal space. It has
been a real breath of fresh air.
HM: And what is the premise behind
2:22?
JW: Essentially, it’s a ghost story. It’s a
couple, played by Lily Allen and Hadley
Fraser who have moved into a suburban
house in London. They are in the process of
doing it up, they have a new baby, Hadley
has been away and had just returned
HAUNTED: THE DARK ARTS
Photo credits: Helen Murray
that evening which coincided with his old
university friend, played by Julia Chan and
her new boyfriend, played by me, being
invited to dinner for the night. Later in the
evening, Lily Allen’s character reveals that
whilst her husband has been away, she has
been hearing footsteps on the baby monitor
walking around the baby’s cot at the same
time each evening, 2:22am and then she
persuades her guests and her husband who
doesn’t believe her to all stay up till 2:22am
because she wants them all to hear it. So
that’s the sort of premise.
The characters all have different
belief systems and different individual
experiences. The character I play has
had some experiences, which people will
find out exactly what, once the play is up
and running. But all may not be as it first
appears. Danny (Robins) has done brilliantly
in the writing as the story sits, beautifully
in that sort of area between things being
easily explained or us there some sort of
supernatural element to it. It’s like a lot of
the paranormal and the supernatural, it
depends on where you are coming from,
what your beliefs and experiences are.
Through these characters, it is an
exploration of belief and dependent on
that belief you may interpret what you see
completely different to the person sat in
front of you.
11
 I hope that it gets people talking, I hope that
people may change their minds before, during
and after what they see. It will definitely open
up conversations and I hope it’s a play that
people want to come and see again, and it is
talked about all the way home discussing the
play and obviously their own ghost stories.
If you haven’t got a ghost story yourself, you
know someone who has.
HM: I think you’re right. In the audience on
any given night there will be people from
all different backgrounds, all different
mindsets, and all different beliefs.
JW: I don’t want to give too much away but we
have had illusionists working with us and when
I read the play a second time, there was a lot
that I had missed and you can see that Danny
has done a wonderful job on structuring the
play, it has been a long time in the making and
it is really very, very clever.
HM: You mentioned Danny, were
you aware of Danny’s The Battersea
Poltergeist that was aired on BBC Radio
earlier in the year?
JW: Yeah, I think I had heard of it and once I
got offered the play, I did some research and
found out what Danny had done before, so I
listened to the podcast. Yes, it’s wonderful,
isn’t it? It is really well produced and in it
there is some crossovers and it made me
understand the play a little bit more. Danny
wrote the play before the podcast and now
the play is being performed for the first time.
I think for Danny it has been an interesting
journey, especially with the play being
written before the podcast I could hear lots of
similarities and themes running throughout.
He is a great writer.
HM: Have you done much theatre before?
JW: I last did theatre about 18 years ago. Most
people will know that I played Max Branning
in EastEnders for 15 years, so it is great to
be back on stage. I did a lot of theatre before
that and I’d actually forgot how enjoyable an
actor’s job is, you know, the discovery and the
forensic studying of a script, talking it through.
So, it’s great to be back and I had genuinely
forgot how delightful that process is. I have
loved it.
HM: Is there a difference between
rehearsing for TV as opposed to
rehearsing for a stage play?
JW: Obviously on EastEnders, you don’t
get any rehearsal. You get to set and then
you do a line run, due to the volume of work.
They do about 30-35 pages of script a day.
There is literally no time to stand around and
discuss anything. It’s literally “you stand
there, you stand there, let’s shoot it.” It’s very
exciting working that way, it’s very visceral
and in some ways quite theatrical because
in a way it’s quite old fashioned as they’ve
got four cameras, not many dramas are shot
12
that way now. If you had a 15-page scene
you would shoot it in one go which is exciting
but completely different from doing a play,
discovering those characters, and putting it on
its feet in rehearsals.
HM: It has been an awful time for the arts
in the last 18 months or so, it must be good
to know you’ll be on stage and there’s an
audience in the seats watching you?
JW: Yes, it has been a really tough time in
the theatre industry. Even filming too, it has
been a kind of stop, start, stop, start scenario
because of Covid and stuff. It is nice to be part
of the first wave of plays opening in theatres
and actors going back to the West End. I think
it will be a shared experience with the actors
on the stage and the people in the audience
coming to see the show. I am aware that
some of the audience will be people who’ve
probably not seen a show for the best part
of two years, and I feel privileged to be in a
position to share it with them.
HM: Our spook friends tell us that you
went on a ghost hunt (it was Danny
actually). Tell us all about it please?
JW: It’s one of those things that as an actor
you like to research things. I am playing
a character that has had supernatural
experiences so I wanted to see if I could find a
ghost basically. I have never had experiences
personally; I am sceptical but open minded.
So, I found a company on the internet that do
ghost hunts, they’re quite a serious outfit, no
jump scares, just a serious investigation. So, I
found myself in Charlton House, in Greenwich,
which apparently is the most haunted house
in the area. We were there from 10pm till 2am
and they gave us a talk before hand, about
what to expect, they showed us all the various
ghost hunting gadgetry they’ve got, stuff I
had never seen before with flashing lights. We
talked out to the spirits, called out to the spirts,
asked them to join us. We went up to the loft
which is the most haunted area in the building.
A lot of people who worked in the house
wouldn’t go up there. It definitely had a feel
to it, but you don’t know if that was because
all the lights were out. You can’t deny that the
location had a strange vibe to it. We didn’t see
anything although some of the gadgets did
light up but what that meant, I am not sure.
We went to the basement, where the
mummified body of a baby was discovered
and is believed to have been the child of a
servant. Again, there was a definite vibe to it.
Nothing concrete happened but I am still open
minded.
HM: Our spook friends (yes, it was Danny
again) have asked us to ask you about the
old house you live in.
JW: Ha-ha, Danny doesn’t miss a trick, does
he? The house we live in is the old village
school dated from 1850. When we moved
in, we were given photos of the house going
HAUNTED: THE DARK ARTS
back to Victorian times, showing the children
of the time that used to school there. I always
joke that apart from hearing the screams of
children at night, the house isn’t haunted! But
in truth I’ve never experienced anything at
home, LONG MAY THAT CONTINUE!!
HM: I wanted to step away from 2:22 and
talk about the Boxing podcast that you do,
how did that come about?
JW: I am just a massive boxing fan and I used
to box when I was younger, but the acting
took off. Before that I had boxed at primary
school and had boxed at Kings Cross and St.
Pancras gym. A few years ago, I did a white-
collar event, as I wanted to put myself through
the rigours and processes that a boxer goes
through and that was absolutely terrifying.
It was one of the hardest things I have ever
done.
So, I teamed up with my mate Spencer
Oliver, an ex-European Super Bantamweight
Champion who during a fight got felled
by a right hook and was counted out. He
subsequently fell into a coma and woke up
three weeks later and that was the end of his
boxing career. Spencer now works at Sky TV
as a pundit and we used to chat about boxing
a lot, so we decided to do our own boxing
podcast called Pound for Pound and using
our contacts we got some amazing guests
to come on, Gary Lineker, Ray Winstone,
Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury to name but
four. It started out as a passion project, we
love doing it and it has gone down
really well.
Check out the POUND FOR
https://podcasts.apple.com/
POUND podcast, (the one where
gb/podcast/182-leigh-wood/
Jake is in his dressing room at
the Noel Coward id1331551486?i=1000530945396
theatre, during
rehearsals)
HM: During our research we googled Jake
Wood and the “I’m a celebrity” jungle
drums took up most of the first page. You
can say no comment if you like but can you
say anything about the rumours?
JW: I have made no secret of the fact that
I love the show, my family love the show. I
have had talks with them, I have put my hat in
the ring and now it’s very much up to them,
but I’ve made no secret of the fact that it is
a show I would love to do. So, maybe it is an
opportunity that will come round one day. It
will be a great challenge and I love a challenge.
It was an absolute pleasure to speak to Jake,
a genuinely nice guy. If the ‘I am a celebrity
rumours’ are true, we reckon that having
played Ben in 2:22 A Ghost Story, a man who
has had supernatural experiences, he would
be perfect for a stint at “haunted” Gwyrch
Castle and maybe he can channel his “inner
Ben” now and then.
Jake was talking to Paul Stevenson
 Barri Ghai, Jayne Harris and
Ian Lawman tackle 12 new
haunted locations in the third
series of ‘Help! My House Is
Haunted’, which sees them
experience everything from a
house haunted by as many as
50 spirits, to a hotel where
the ghost of a little girl name
Gertie roams, plus plenty of
phantom monks in between.
Episode 1: ‘A Sinister Attachment’
Joined by new investigator Ian, the team have
been called to the historic town of Gorleston-
on-Sea in Norfolk to investigate the mysterious
goings on at Pier House, a 19th century
property with links to the sea. A frosty welcome
from the homeowners convinces Ian that the
team are dealing with a persistent and negative
attachment.
Episode 2: ‘The Grey Lady of Sinai’
A 14th century hunting lodge in Staffordshire
contains the team’s next mystery plus the
ghosts of monks and murdered maids. Soon
after arriving at Sinai Park House in Burton
Upon Trent, which is reported to be home
to 50 different spooks, Jayne uncovers a
mind-blowing theory that potentially links the
property to a legendary lost treasure.
Episode 3: ‘The Ghost of Gertie’
The team check into the Bull Hotel in Ludlow
where they hope to uncover evidence of a child
spirit named Gertie. With lights turning on and
off around them, unexplained cries coming
through their walkie talkies and a terrifying
experience for Barri who braved a night in
the hotel alone, this is one of the most active
investigations in the new series.
Episode 4: ‘Possessive Petts Lane’
The team discover that not every haunting is
what it initially seems to be when they head to
rural Lincolnshire to help Krissie, the owner of a
19th century farmhouse. Ian’s psychic abilities
are put to the test as the team investigate the
claim that a possessive spirit is responsible for
the break-up of two of Krissie’s relationships.
Episode 5: ‘Murder at The Museum’
Jayne’s research provides vital insights into the
terrifying hauntings at the True’s Yard Fisherfolk
Museum in King’s Lynn. As the team lockdown
for the night inside the historic Norfolk
attraction, Ian uses his abilities to verify Jayne’s
findings, while Barri becomes the victim of a
mischievous spirit.
Episode 6: ‘Theatre of Slums’
Intelligent and responsive knocking sounds
started the team’s investigation at the
Groundlings Theatre in Portsmouth. Volunteers
working at the 18th century building believe
that multiple spirits are trapped there. With
shadows moving across the stage caught
on camera, a disembodied voice in an audio
recording, and a strange series of photographs
captured by the investigators, the theatre
proved to be an active location.
Episode 7: ‘Taking the Biscuit’
Barri wasn’t prepared for what was lurking at
Ryedale House, a vast 20-room property built
by the sea in Hartlepool. The house was once
home to a wealthy biscuit manufacturer, leading
Jayne to investigate a possible link between the
spooky goings on at the house and some of the
former residents, members of the Foxton family.
Episode 8: ‘Looking for Lisa’
The team tackle strange noises and frightening
shadows at a former doctor’s surgery in
Rotherham that’s home to two paramedics. The
team captured some strong and convincing
audio responses using various methods
throughout the episode, many of which
contributed to uncovering the forgotten story of
the house and the mystery of Lisa.
HAUNTED: THE DARK ARTS
Episode 9: ‘Ashes to Ashes’
The team head to Little Dean, a small village in
Gloucestershire that’s famous for its historic
jail. In a nearby cottage located on the edge of
the Forest of Dean, Barri, Jayne and Ian follow
a series of supernatural clues that help them
identify the entities that are causing a young
girl living there to experience disturbed night’s
sleep.
Episode 10: ‘Playing with The Devil’
Barri feels the full force of a demonic infestation
while investigating a 17th century pub in
Lincolnshire. With a history of black magic
and necromancy, the team have their work cut
out for them at the Black Dog in Grantham,
especially on the abandoned upper floor, which
no one has braved to live in for years because of
its sinister and oppressive atmosphere.
Episode 11: ‘Never Dead & Buried’
After a ghostly apparition was photographed in
the auditorium, the team head to the Trinity Arts
Centre in Gainsborough, a location that makes
for a challenging penultimate investigation of
the series. Staff working at the former church
in Lincolnshire refuse to go into certain rooms
alone and the resident spooks have been
blamed for turning on and off lights and other
electrical equipment.
Episode 12: ‘Bargain to Burden’
In a former Welsh mining village in Pontypridd,
the team try to identify and settle a menacing
spirit that haunts a seemingly ordinary terraced
house. The terrifying untapped location is
a fitting end to the series, with the haunting
backed up with news reports in the local press
going back as far as the 1890s.
Help! My House Is Haunted series three
is available to stream now exclusively on
discovery+
13
 "There are so many different gadgets and gizmos
used in paranormal investigation. As a team we try
and experiment with as much as we can to help us
obtain better and clearer evidence. However, I do
have a regular kit and use some paranormal gadgets
more than others" - BARRI GHAI
Barri Ghai's Guide to
Gadgets & Gizmos
My digital voice recorder is my go-to
paranormal device! I use the Olympus VP10
and VP20 digital voice recorders to capture
EVP’s or (Electronic Voice Phenomena).
EVPs are anomalous sounds and/or voices
recorded that are often not heard at the
time of the recording. They are in principle
examples of disembodied voices and can
prove vital in any investigation to understand
what, who and why a spirit may be haunting
a location. Some of my best and most
compelling evidence has been through EVPs
captured using this recorder.
Another gadget I commonly use during an
investigation is the REM-Pod or similar device.
These amazing instruments produce their own
Electromagnetic Field which if disturbed by
an object, energy or presence will cause the
device to light up and sound off. The REM-Pod
is visually an excellent tool during investigation
and helps to establish contact and corroborate
results in real time.
EMF detectors come is all shapes and sizes.
EMF stands for Electromagnetic Field and
these EMF devices measure changes in
the AC/DC field. They are used to identify a
possible spiritual presence when there are
notable spikes or changes in the baseline
EMF of an area. I mainly use three different
models of the of the MEL Meter which were all
designed and built by electrical engineer and
inventor Gary Galka.
I use all three differently depending on the
situation and purpose. For example, the
14
standard model MEL-8704R simply measures
the ambient air temperature and EMF range,
but another model does this and has a REM
function which replaces the need for the
REM-Pod. The MEL-8704R-REM-ATDD also
includes an Ambient Temperature Detection
module which will alert the user to any sudden
changes in air temperature that may be caused
by a spirit. I also use the MEL-8704-TIR which
uses a Thermal Infrared Recognition Sensor to
detect EMF, Temperature and subtle Thermal
Infrared variations within the environment
using a special Infrared matrix sensor. Thermal
anomaly position, location & gestures can also
be monitored.
In addition to using the MEL Meters, I also
like to use a Tri-Field Meter. The model I have
is the TF2 which is the new digital version
of the original 100Xe Trifield model. The Tf2
encompasses an AC Magnetic EMF meter,
AC Electric EFM meter, Radio Power Density
meter into one unit. The TF2 sounds an alert
and shows movement on the digital scale
when EMFs are present in the environment,
indicating a possible spirit presence.  It also
has an adjustable backlight so that the unit can
be seen in dark environments.
The XCAM SLS Camera is an amazing device.
Essentially this Structured Light Sensor
Camera uses a variety of sensors to provide
visual detection of a possible spirit. The
SLS camera works by emitting an Infrared
matrix grid of dots that are invisible to the
naked eye. This grid maps the environment,
and the sophisticated software translates
HAUNTED: THE DARK ARTS
this accordingly. It uses ultrasonic distance
detection, thermal temperature sensing, audio
ranges and light frequency levels to identify the
differences or changes in the room. It will then
display any unidentified anomalies as stick
figures on the screen.
Another commonly used device is the Full
Spectrum Camera. This digital camera is
modified to allow infrared and ultraviolet
light into the processor. It can see in total
darkness using IR light which is invisible to
us. My camera has a built in Infrared flash
and I use it to see within the spectrum of light
that we cannot. It is another fantastic gadget
used by many paranormal investigators and
can potentially provide some amazing visual
results.
The P-SB7 Spirit Box is one of the most
amazing paranormal detection tools ever built.
Gary Galka and Chris Fleming are credited with
its design and application. There are several
versions of the P-SB7 Spirit Box, but I use the
PSB7T which is the newest model. The device
is an instrument of Trans Communication
and is used to listen and converse with
spirits through radio waves, part of the
electromagnetic spectrum. Unlike the EVP
digital voice recorder where you have to ask
questions and play it back. The P-SB7T scans
through radio stations at high speed which
allows spirits use the device to speak back in
real time. 

Jayne Harris’s
Handy Hints for
Haunted Historians
• Prepare to be patient. It can take a lot of
time to uncover the relevant information
relating to a specific location, so don’t be
disheartened if at first you feel like you’re
getting nowhere.
• Learn about the various official records
available - most people have heard of
archives, but that’s a very general term.
In reality there are many different types
of records, and all can potentially offer
something. Land Registry for example can
give you maps and detailed information
about former buildings on a site and land
ownership. The census can offer full names,
ages and occupations of residents and
obviously ‘Births, Deaths and Marriages’ can
give you exactly that! Newspaper archives
can be really useful if you’re looking into an
alleged crime or well-known location. Then
there’s the often-overlooked local parish
records. These can be incredible! If you’re
looking to research a particular person, head
for the local church or historical society and
ask to see the parish records. You. might
just find something that unlocks your entire
investigation.
• Learn some social history! The UK is an
incredible place when it comes to folklore
and traditions. Getting a feel for a particular
area and their customs, beliefs and practises
can really help give you some insight into
why certain events may have taken place.
• Talk to local people. This is really
important. The internet and record offices
can offer a lot, but they can’t add the meat
to the bones like local knowledge can. Some
of my best leads have come from passers-by,
curious about what we’re doing. You never
know what’s been passed down through oral
history from generation to generation so asks
question and listen well.
Barri Ghai’s Ghostly Glossary
Afterlife: Life after death. Manifestation: The tactile, auditory, olfactory, and 
Anomaly: Something that cannot be scientifically  visual signs of a haunting.
explained. Medium: Someone who communicates with spirits
Apparition: Any ghost that seems to have a physical  and the other side using their senses.
substance, whether visual, auditory, tactile, or  Orbs: Spheres of translucent light (often whitish or 
olfactory. pastel coloured), usually appearing in photographs. 
Aura: A field of energy believed by some to surround  Many investigators believe they represent spirits or 
living creatures. Certain clairvoyants claim to be able  ghost, but in most cases these orbs are caused by 
to see the aura (generally as a luminous, coloured  dust or other small airborne particles. 
halo) Paranormal: Anything outside the realm and 
Baseline readings: The initial measurements  experiences we call normal. Often used to describe 
of energy taken at a haunted location, used for  ghosts, UFO’s and other phenomena that defy 
establishing an investigation’s direction. traditional scientific explanations.
Clearing: Getting rid of ghostly activity in a specific  PK (Psychokinesis): Also known as Telekinesis 
location. which is the ability to move objects or physical matter 
with just the power of the mind.
Cold Spots: Areas of cooler air often found in 
haunted locations. Poltergeist:  Considered by some to be a noisy 
DVP: Direct Voice Phenomena - Hearing a
spirit or entity responsible for manipulating inanimate 
objects or able to move, throw, or destroy items or 
disembodied voice or sound during an EVP 
experiment that emanates from the ether. This may 
furniture etc. Poltergeists are however often more 
commonly thought to actually centre around specific 
be captured on a recording device and assumed an 
living individuals (such as teenagers) in the form of 
EVP.
latent telekinetic ability rather than being caused by a 
Ectoplasm: A viscous substance thought to be  spiritual entity.
emitted by spirits and from mediums communicating 
Portal: A doorway through which spirits or other 
with the spirit world.
interdimensional beings enter and exit a location.
EMF (Electromagnetic Field or Electromagnetic
Possession: When a person, or even inanimate 
Frequency):  A combination of electrical and 
object, is taken over by a spirit.
magnetic fields. EMF fields are commonly measured 
as part of the ghost hunting process to detect spirits. Psi: Another term for “psychic phenomena.”
Psychic: Can relate to the spirit or mind, depending 
Empath: Someone who shows considerable empathy 
and a psychic sensitivity. They are able to feel and  upon the context. Psychics are people who can see 
things outside physical laws and human perception.
share the feelings or emotions of another.
Residual Energy or Haunting: When emotionally 
Entity: Any being, including people and ghosts.
charged events leave an imprint or energy residue 
Epicentre: Person or persons that a poltergeist or  on nearby objects and locations. Residual energy or 
haunting tends to focus on. Paranormal phenomena 
hauntings will often repeat a specific event from the 
usually increases when the epicentre is present. past over and over again, as if on a loop, such as 
EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena): The act of the same footsteps walking down a hallway or sound 
capturing and recording disembodied voices and  heard in a room.
sounds. Séance: A gathering of individuals to attempt to 
Exorcism: Ridding a person or a location of evil  contact spirits (usually consisting of a medium and 
spirits or demonic entities by using religious rites. participants). Many séances were exposed as hoaxes 
Ghost: A sentient entity or spirit that visits or lingers  in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries 
in our world after death. during the spiritual movement.
Ghost Hunters: People who investigate alleged  Spirit: From Latin meaning “that which breathes,” it 
hauntings to find explanations for possible  describes the consciousness or soul of an individual. 
paranormal phenomena involved. In the ghost hunting context, this refers to the soul of 
Ghost Lights: Mysterious lights, seen at a distance,  an individual who has passed on and continues to be 
usually appearing as blue or yellow spheres, which  observed in an area.
can appear to blink. Spiritualism: A belief in the spirit world and/or the 
Haunting/Haunted: Describes a location where there  ability to communicate with spirits of the dead.
appears to be significant paranormal activity. Often  Telekinesis: The ability to control one’s physical 
includes a combination of cold spots, apparitions,  environment without using physical manipulation or 
missing objects, and other repeated phenomenon force (also known as psychokinesis, TK, or PK).
witnessed by several people which leads to the  Telepathy: The process by which a mind can 
location getting a reputation for this activity. communicate directly with another without using 
ITC Instrumental Transcommunication: Use of normal, physical interaction or ordinary sensory 
electronic recording equipment to produce evidence  perception.
interpreted as communication from spirits or other Vortex: A centre of focused or concentrated spiritual 
entities. energy.
HAUNTED: THE DARK ARTS 15
This FREE Dark Arts pull-out is a very wide range
of paranormal creativity, spooky expression,
and ghostly storytelling. It is diverse as it is dark
containing features from the world of film, theatre,
and television.
Call it paranormal entertainment, if you need to,
but this platform can sometimes be a vehicle where
we can identify with what we are seeing, they can
transmit values, impressions, judgements, ideas,
visions, spiritual meanings, and life experiences.
Some say that the paranormal needs educators,
not entertainers. We firmly believe, at Haunted
Magazine, that educators can entertain, and
entertainers can educate.
This pull-out features the new paranormal movie,
The Parapod – A Very British Ghost hunt and extra
content from the spooky stage play 2:22 and the
paranormal TV series, Help! My House is Haunted.
We hope you are as entertained as you are educated.

Edited & designed by

Paul Stevenson & Andy Soar, Haunted Magazine
Thanks to
Barry Dodds, Ian Boldsworth, Bil Bungay, Kate
Cherrell, Ciaran O’Keeffe, Jake Wood, Higgypop,
Steve Higgins, Barri Ghai, Jayne Harris, Strike Media,
Danny Robins & back2back productions Ltd

Haunted: The Dark Art is a Haunted Magazine Publication

 *(Help! My Haunted Magazine is hijacked – by – Help! My House is Haunted)
Some call it series 3, others call it season 3, whichever
way you call it no one can deny that Help! My House
is Haunted is back for a third slice of paranormal
pie. Debuting on Discovery+ in the Summer of 2021,
it continues to be streamed and watched by many
paranormal fans, eager to see the latest series (or
season), eager to see how the dynamics have changed
with a new medium in situ and eager to see if they can
really help people’s house that for some reason or
another have stopped feeling like a home to them.
We caught up with our good friends, Barri Ghai (BG),
Jayne Harris (JH) and Ian Lawman (IL) and asked the
questions that matter (and some that didn’t matter, but
we asked them anyway.)
“The pandemic caused problems
for everyone, and TV production
was badly hit across the world.
However, we have been fortunate
that this show was still able to go
ahead during a national lockdown,
but it wasn’t easy.”
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
HM: What’s it like to be back for a third series of HMHIH? And
even weirder to be back with a new medium on board and during
a pandemic, not many Paranormal TV series can say that?
BG: It’s simply amazing to be back for season 3 of Help! My House is
BG:
Haunted. The show is now firmly embedded in British Paranormal TV
culture, and I’m thrilled to have been part of the journey since series 1.
The pandemic caused problems for everyone, and TV production was
badly hit across the world. However, we have been fortunate that this
show was still able to go ahead during a national lockdown, but it wasn’t
easy. So many changes had to be made and we had strict rules to follow
on and off camera.
Although many would consider it to be a risk working in these condi-
tions, Back2Back productions and Discovery were brilliant at protect-
ing us all. We had PPE, rapid COVID tests and daily temperature checks.
The whole crew were responsible and mindful of the
risks, so together we worked sensibly to make anoth-
er cracking series.
JH: It’s great to be back! We knew filming during the
JH:
pandemic would bring new challenges but Back-
2Back Productions and discovery+ were amazing!
They literally covered every tiny detail to make sure
we were all safe. We all love making this series and
knew there were more people out there in need of
help, so everyone pulled out all the stops to make it
happen.
HM: When it became clear that Chris couldn’t do
the third series, was there panic, was postpone-
ment a consideration, was there a selection pro-
cess or was it simple as “we’ll get Ian Lawman,
he’s perfect for it?”
JH: When we knew Chris couldn’t travel, we were all
so disappointed and it was difficult to imagine how
the show could work without him. We had several
discussions and Barri and I were asked for our rec-
ommendations and a few names came up. It soon
became clear however there was only 1 person who
could take on the responsibility and that was Ian. Ob-
viously change always comes with the question “are
we doing the right thing?” but it didn’t take long to
see that Ian was a perfect fit for the show. His intuition and approach
add a different feel which works really well now we have the post wa-
tershed timeslot…we knew this series could go a little darker! I’m a
great believer in everything happening for a reason and Chris has been
incredibly busy in the U.S, but not too busy to keep in touch with us to
offer support, especially to Ian…he even got in touch a few times while
we were filming to give us some of his insight remotely! He’s a great
Psychic Medium and friend. I know it’s natural for viewers to compare
Psychics to each other, but Chris and Ian are both so unique, we knew
it would work. 
43
BG: Chris and I spoke at length about the issues, and
it soon became apparent that the pandemic and re-
strictions on travel would be a massive barrier to him
returning to be part of season 3. I don’t think we pan-
icked but we were sad and very frustrated by it all.
So many considerations were thought about and
Chris was determined to make it work. However, as
rules tightened and time was running out, the ex-
ecutive decision was made to progress without him
and look for a psychic medium based in the UK who
would be up for the huge challenge. Chris and I are
great friends and talk regularly about everything. I
was quite upset and confused by the decision, but
they were out my hands, and we had to move for-
ward with production and potentially another new
cast member.
Our series Producer Ben Cole was a real help and
consulted with Jayne and I about who would be a
suitable replacement for Chris. After much discus-
sion and deliberation, eventually a pool of candidates
was whittled down to around 3 hopefuls and the final
selection process began. I personally put forward
two individuals who I thought would be a brilliant re-
placement and Ian was one of them. It wasn’t long
before our series producer Ben also felt that he was
the right man for the job and the rest is history.
“Ian is not Chris, and both have their
unique abilities and many talents. Ian
is a dark arts specialist and as an
ordained minister is able to carry out
minor rites of exorcism and prayers of
deliverance. I think he is a perfect fit
and we all clicked instantly on camera.
It helped that I have known Ian for
many years already, so it was just like
working with a good friend.”
HM: How has filming been during all these new
rules and regulation, has it felt different to last
series? Has the show had to be adapted to ac-
commodate the changes? Are there certain
rules and guidelines that have to be observed?
BG: Filming was very different and yes there were so
many challenges that we all faced. Just before film-
ing started, I was actually recovering from COVID,
and it was touch and go whether I would be deemed
low enough risk and well enough to start filming.
So many changes were implemented to ensure our
safety and that of the crew and homeowners. We
were all tested before filming, cleaning teams were
contracted to enter properties before each lockdown
and afterwards. We all had to wear face masks, clean
our hands, sanitise continuously, and remained in
our hotel rooms when not on location. All production
meetings had to be carried out over Zoom and the
whole crew were put into mini production bubbles.
On screen we (Jayne, Ian, and I) could remove
our face coverings as we were considered in a
bubble together, but social distance measures
still had to be carefully maintained on and off
screen. The three of us always remained at
least 2 meters apart from each other even
though on camera it looks like a lot less.
That’s because our brilliant Director of Pho-
tography Adrian Musto shot scenes in such
a way, he was able to minimise the illusion of
distance. Great camerawork, communication
and co-ordination were therefore used to pro-
vide the audience with the same great level of en-
tertainment and keep us all safe and healthy.
JH: LOADS! We were placed into bubbles so as
the ‘Presenter Bubble’ we couldn’t socialise with
crew bubbles (so no meals/drinks all together this
time!). Once we’d finished a shoot, we all had to it was vital to keep
head straight back to our hotel rooms. It was all room everything safe and moving forward.
service as no hotel restaurants were open…all very
HM: Apart from hats and tattoos what
anti-social lol! We had to carry out rapid flow tests
does Ian Lawman bring to HMHIH, was
every 3 days and send photos of our results to the
it easy to recreate the chemistry and
Production Manager; we all had our own individual
hire cars so that we weren’t travelling together…there
the dynamics you had with Chris?
was a lot of additional expense for Back2Back, but BG: Ian is so cool. He has a very distinct
look and although he may look like a hard
man with all his tattoos, he’s actually a big
softy lol. We had chemistry from the start.
I was lucky enough to have already forged
a friendship with Ian before we went into
production. Ian and I had been in contact
for years before Help! even started.
Chris and Ian are two very different people
with different abilities and skills. Ian may
have had BIG boots to fill stepping into
Chris’s iconic role, but he did it and did it
so well. There were never any concerns
about chemistry. We all got on from day
one and our friendship developed as the
weeks went on.
Ian is funny, insightful, caring, and pro-
fessional. Honestly, he would send videos
and funny memes to Jayne and me each
day, and one occasion I laughed so hard I
actually fell off my bed.
I think Ian brings a very grounded and subdued
approach to his psychic work. He doesn’t always
show his emotions as much as Chris, keeps things
balanced and is very methodical. He is truly gift-
ed though and able to tackle the darker side of
investigation. His passion and experience shines
through and Ian looked after us all.
JH: To be honest I don’t think we even thought
about it! As soon as the 3 of us were together we
just got on with it like we’d worked together for
years. We all have a similar sense of humour which
always helps, but we’re also all equally passionate
about the help we offer. It has to be real, and we
do whatever it takes to restore peace to people’s
homes.  EVP’s which blew us all away. However, the most
HM: For those of us that have been fortunate
to binge watch it on Discovery+ what can you
tell us about this series and the cases, has
anything you’ve seen or heard had an impact
on you at all? What can they expect in terms
of activity?
JH: This series is a little darker that series 1 and 2
as we were able to gain the post watershed time
slot. Previously the show had to be easily viewable
at any time of day meaning some of the scarier ex-
periences (and resulting swearing!) had to be held
back. This time it’s no hole barred! Viewers get
to see what we go through unfiltered. In addition
to that we’ve had some of our most challenging,
heart wrenching and memorable cases to date so
for me, and I know many viewers agree, this is the
best series yet.
BG: The 12 locations in this new series of Help!
My House is Haunted are all incredible. We ex-
perienced everything from demonic oppression
to genuine poltergeist activity. In a few of the epi-
sodes we caught things moving or being interact-
ed on their own, including a lamp turning on and
off on command, doors opening and more.
Jayne and I again recorded some brilliant grade A
surprising thing for me was the evidence we cap-
tured using certain digital applications. Some of
this evidence was absolutely astonishing, and I’m
now a convert!
“Spirits were intelligently commu-
nicating with us and at this one
location, the entity was able to
say all our names, tell us what
they wanted and scared me half to
death!”
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
The level of paranormal activity obviously varies
case by case, but what we experienced and cap-
tured will potentially send ripples across the para-
normal pond. I experienced being pushed over,
saw an apparition with my own eyes which was
caught on film, and even photographed a ghost
using my full spectrum digital camera.
One of the most interesting things we all experi-
enced was the level of disturbance and interac-
tion via our radios. In several of the episodes we
seemed to all at sperate times experience voic-
es and static coming through radios, speakers,
walky-talkies, and other audio devices. It’s al-
most like the spirits were really trying hard to use
the electronic devices as a form of Instrumental
Trans-Communication (ITC). One of the episodes
was so dramatic it has left a lasting memory for us
all.
HM: Which location was a) the most demand-
ing b) the weirdest c) the scariest?
BG: All locations were very different and had their
many challenges. The most demanding may
have been The Black Dog in Grantham for several
reasons. The weirdest was definitely the one we
filmed in a property located in the Forest of Dean
and the scariest was possibly the Bull Hotel in
Ludlow where I spent the night alone in one of the
haunted bedrooms.
45
11
 JH: a) I think the case of Captain Sutton
was the most demanding, especially for
Ian as it called upon his experience in
Exorcism. We didn’t realise we would be
dealing with such a powerful attachment
alongside the residual energy of the
captain so that was gruelling.
b) The Bull Hotel in Ludlow 100%! - the
sound of the little girl crying coming
through the walkie talkie will stay with me
forever. At the time I literally didn’t know
what to do at that point. It took a while for
us to refocus and move forward with the
investigation.
c) The Black Dog in Grantham - that
upstairs flat had a bizarre energy all
of its own. Not somewhere I felt at all
comfortable.
HM: Are there any new gadgets and
gizmos on the show this series?
BG: There aren’t that many new gadgets
used in this series, but you will see that
we used some applications for the first
time with astonishing results. Andy at
Infraready was also kind enough to provide
me with some new bits of kit including
the 360 REM Pod and X-Pod devices.
Both of these provided some excellent
collaborative results. As usual I relied on
my trusty voice recorders to record the
voices of the dead. This time I used my
Olympus VP10 and VP20 models. Both
were instrumental in gathering first class
paranormal evidence.
JH: Ask Barri lol! This series I bought along
my SLS camera as we’d had issues with
2 previous models. I also bought my old
valve radio to introduce a more traditional
method of ITC and a couple of new REM
devices including a motion activated toy
train which child spirits really seem to love.  research. Teams who have continued
HM: One word to describe Ian?
JH: Focused
BG: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious(!)
HM: In this series, there seems to be a
lot more emotion involved in the cases,
a lot of personal issues are solved, and
problems resolved, did you fell that
too?
JH: Absolutely! that’s why these cases
are chosen - they are real people needing
real help. It does have a profound effect on
people when we’re able to hand them back
their homes, safe in the knowledge that no
harm will come to them. Sometimes of
course homeowners are happy to co-exist
with the spirits, and that’s great! It’s all
about providing answers and clarity. If we
can’t do that then we haven’t done our job.
46
HM: Barri, how does it feel to be the
only surviving ‘veteran’ from season
1? Jayne replaced Sandy in series 2,
Ian has replaced Chris in series 3. Are
you worried about Series 4? (Laughs)
BG: When you say veteran it makes me
sound like the old guy LOL. I am truly
privileged and honoured to be the only
one of the team to be part of all 3 seasons
of Help! My house is Haunted. It’s a great
achievement these days in the world of
television to make a third season and I do
believe that the popularity of the show will
allow for us to make more Help! My House
is Haunted very soon.
I don’t worry too much about being
replaced, but these things do happen for
so many reasons. However, I don’t think
Help! My House is Haunted would ever be There is a huge team effort at HMHIH, we had the
the same without my technical expertise, privilege of going on location to see this in action
for ourselves. There’s a lot of dedicated crew,
not to mention the jumping, screaming
both on set crew and behind the scenes at back-
and occasionally running away from spirits
2back productions Ltd.
lol.
We caught up with David Notman-Watt, Executive
Seriously though, the team need my Producer of the series and Founder/MD of back-
knowledge, experience, enthusiasm, and 2back productions Ltd.
gadgetry to continue helping people and
HM: Very well done on a fantastic series 3 of the
the spirits so I’m quietly confident that
show (on discovery+ UK at time of writing), we are
I won’t be shown the red card just yet.
very much hoping for a series 4 – hopefully free
(Unsure face emoji)
from filming restrictions. How has it been film-
HM: Jayne, does the paranormal in ing during this crazy period we have been living
through? What changes, from a production point
any way shape or form feel different
of view have you had to implement through film-
to you since the pandemic started?
ing on location?
If the situation surrounding your visit
remains unsolved, how do you leave it? DN: At the end of every series the back2back team
have all discussed at length ways in which we can im-
JH: I think the pandemic has highlighted prove the series, what tech can be better utilised, how
those teams within the paranormal field can the filming team support the presenters more ef-
who are not truly working in the name of ficiently…it’s a never-ending quest for perfection. The
big question for series 3, however, was how to make
to investigate haunted locations during this happen during a pandemic. As you can imagine it
wasn’t easy. We had hugely complex Covid protocols
lockdown for example, simply to satisfy
their social media followers is, to my the entire team had to follow, from filming in bubbles
mind, unacceptable. We all had a duty to to self-isolation to the 2-metre rule… you name it, the
team came up against it. But we were determined to
do the right thing and I think those who
get the third series on air and with a huge team effort
did abide by the rules have felt a sense
we made it happen. Would I want to make a series
of unity with those who did the same. I based in family homes during a pandemic again? Ide-
don’t like the term para-unity, but I’d say ally not…
that finding ourselves forced into isolation
has definitely bought out the best in some HM: What’s the process for deciding on which
people in terms of their passion for the locations to use? How much research goes into
unexplained. each location before choosing the locations to
visit? After three series are surprised at how many
So far, we have never walked away from a locations need help?
case leaving it unsolved. There is always a
DN: The team sift through a considerable number of
resolution. However long it takes! potential houses as part of the pre-production for the
Help! My House Is Haunted series series. As well as understanding the paranormal activi-
ty present in any potential house, there are also several
three is available to stream now
considerations to be taken on board, from its location,
exclusively on discovery+
building size, access…standard production work that is
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
INTERVIEW with DAVID NOTMAN-WATT
HELP! MY HOUSE IS HAUNTED EXECUTIVE PRODUCER AND FOUNDER/MD of BACK2BACK PRODUCTIONS LTD
essential when trying to piece together a jigsaw
puzzle for making twelve strong episodes that all
fit together in a series within a limited timeframe.
The team interview the owners of each home at
length, and over a few weeks we start to build up
a shortlist of homes and their owners that work
both editorially and practically. As for being sur-
prised at how many locations need help in the
UK? Er, yes! I honestly had no idea when we start-
ed producing ‘Help! My House is Haunted’ that
this would be the case. Amazing.
HM: How is the footage used from each in-
vestigated decided upon and how much in-
volvement do the team have in the final edit?
DN: We have a team of Edit Producers who look
after the editing of episodes with Series Producer
Ben Cole overseeing all of them. I sign off rough
cuts which are then sent to Discovery for their
input. Ben also oversees the location filming, so
he knows exactly what footage is available from
each home. As you can imagine there is a huge
amount of material to work through and I have
nothing but admiration for the editing team who
are able to bring this footage to life in the way that
they do.
HM: Will Chris Fleming be returning in the
future or is Ian a permanent fixture now?
DN: Never say never! Obviously Covid had
a huge impact on Series 3 and Chris was
unable to travel. Ian lawman came on board
with Chris’s full support and respect. Ian did
an exceptional job in the series and the team
are all delighted with what he brought to it, as
are Discovery. When I am approached by Dis-
covery about a possible next series (watch
this space, there is something exciting com-
ing your way….) then we will discuss how they
want to develop it, but I can confidently say
that Ian is most definitely now an established
part of the family. All I know at present is that
Series 3 has been a great success on d+ with
impressive numbers of viewers and extreme-
ly positive reviews all round – that’s as good
as it gets as far as I am concerned!
HM: If any of our UK readers are experiencing
a haunting that the team could assist with,
who should they get in touch with?
DN: We are always on the lookout for potential
hauntings so please do email production@
back2back.tv in the first instance and a member
of the team will get back in touch. All I ask is that
you make it clear on the subject line that the email
refers to ‘Help! My House is Haunted’ – thank
you.
HM: What makes HMHIH different from other
paranormal TV shows?
DN: I think there have been lots of great paranor-
mal shows over the years and the team all made
sure we watched as many of them as we could in
the early days of our series. For me the most im-
portant thing as a producer, no matter what type
of series back2back is making, is story telling. Our
three presenters, with their different specialisms,
have a clear mission statement which is to get
to the bottom of the paranormal activity that is
happening in every house we go to. That might
sound simple, but it’s not. The team are adamant
at every location that we will not only understand
the history of the paranormal activity that is hap-
pening but that we will also work out how to find
a resolution for the owners of each home. In the
early days we might not have pulled it off every
time, but with the team and crew we have on the
show now I think we have found a way to make
this work consistently. And it goes without say-
ing that Jayne, Ian and Barri are exceptional at
what they do, and we are just trying to find ways
of capturing it on film in such a way that viewers
feel part of it.
HM: Ian, Jayne and Barri are embedded in the
paranormal, it’s what they do, it’s their lives.
From a production company (and a person-
al) point of view what are your views on the
paranormal, have they changed over the
years?
DN: Without a doubt. I have seen and heard
things in the raw footage from each location that I
simply cannot explain rationally. To be honest I’m
still trying to work out where I stand on all of this.
In series 3 there are moments that blow me away
– the sound of the crying child, the Lord’s prayer,
the head looking around the door...for once I am
speechless. Trust me, that doesn’t happen often.
HM: Not many UK paranormal shows get
to a third series, that must be testament
to the success of the show, because
when it comes down to it, as popular as it
is in the paranormal world, how much do
viewing figures impact on future series?
DN: This series has found its home on D+
and they are incredibly supportive of what
we are doing. In the harsh, modern world of
television D+, like all commercial channels, is
driven by numbers. I would love to say that
I know when back2back has produced a hit
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
TV show, but I’d be lying if I said that. Until
something that you have produced goes
on air you have no idea how it’s going to
be received. I’m just so happy for everyone
involved in this series - at both back2back
and Discovery - that ‘Help! My House is
Haunted’ has been, and continues to be, so
well received. The comments we are sent
on social media are still so encouraging and
supportive… its incredible really.
HM: In this series, there seems to be a lot
more emotion involved in the cases, a lot of
personal issues are solved, and problems re-
solved, did you feel that, whilst filming, too?
DN: Definitely. I think as a team we are learning
not to hold back as much. I suppose it comes
with all of us having growing confidence in each
other and in what we are doing. Like everything
in life, the more you do it the better you get at it,
and there is no doubt that is the case here. This
is work in progress. Most of the crew have been
involved from the start so it’s very much a case of
us all learning and working hard together to make
the best series that we possibly can. We owe that
commitment to the investigators, and we owe it to
the loyal viewers as well.
HM: From the very beginning of HMHIH, it
seems that the on-location crew, seemed to
get affected at times, is it encouraged that
the crew speak up and say if they see or hear
something?
DN: To be honest we don’t set out to involve the
crew. They obviously appear in much of the foot-
age during the overnight investigations because
of the nature of what is being filmed and how
we film it. When crew members are affected, we
just go with it. As your readers will undoubtedly
know it’s not something you can really prepare
for. As the crew become more confident and
open to what is happening on location, I would
like to think that we will continue to see more of
their involvement if they see or hear anything that
they feel could be important to the investigation
in any way. None of us have come to this series as
paranormal fans or believers, we have come to it
as television producers. What’s interesting is that
the things that we have seen and filmed over the
past few years in making this series have turned
us from television producers into paranormal be-
lievers.
Help! My House Is Haunted series three
is available to stream now exclusively on
discovery+
47
13
 THE RETURN OF THE LAWMAN
Haunted Magazine last (officially) interviewed Ian Lawman back in 2011, we have spoken
many times since & always wanted him back in the magazine, but the chance never arose.
Fast forward 10 years and it is our absolute pleasure to be speaking to Ian again.
HM: How time flies, can you first briefly describe
what you have been up to in the last 10 years?
IL: Since my last interview with Haunted Magazine, I
have been busy, I was buried alive in 2011, I then went
to Australia to film an amazing show called Haunting
Australia with some incredibly talented Cast members
not forgetting the late Rev Gaurav Tiwari, after that I was
asked to Be part of another amazing series Called Ghost
Chasers. I’ve since met my new partner; make-up artist
Nicola Kirk and I live on a houseboat.
HM: The new boy, how does that feel?
IL: It’s always daunting coming into an established show
and not knowing the crew and never have worked with
the other cast members before, and the unknown of how
they feel about me coming on board.
HM: Can you tell us what happened when you got
the call?
IL: I received a call from Ben, the Series Producer, ex-
plaining that Back2Back Productions were looking for a
new cast member to replace the amazing Chris Fleming,
48 HAUNTED MAGAZINE
who was unable to fly over to the UK due to COVID-19
restrictions. So, over the next few weeks we went back
and forth with calls until I got the call saying that I was
onboard for Series 3.
HM: Had you known Jayne and Barri before?
IL: I have known Barri for many years before the show
and spoke many times but never met. I didn’t know
Jayne, we’d never met, but I’d seen her work.
HM: Do you know Chris?
IL: I knew Chris from TV, and when he knew I was going
to be his replacement, we have chatted a bit, he has
wished me well and he has been incredibly supportive.
HM: You’re a veteran of Paranormal TV shows, hav-
ing been on so many, what is different about HMHIH
to all the other shows?
IL: Firstly, thanks for making me feel old! (Laughs) I think
all my other shows have been very different apart from
Living with The Dead, which fans loved, and it was
also known for helping people in their homes. HMHIH
is very fresh and delves deeper with Jayne looking at
the History of the local area and the
property that we are at, while Barri
gains first-hand information of the
hauntings from the family involved,
which makes this show vastly different.
HM: What can we look forward to in
this series of HMHIH?
IL: The hauntings are a lot darker,
and some family members have
attachments, which make this series
stand out.
HM: You don’t give many
interviews, unless contractually
obliged or it is something you want
to do, why is that?
IL: I now try and keep my personal and
family life very private and away from
the press, I am always happy to do
interviews to help a show rather than
just talk about myself.
HM: How do you think the
paranormal has been affected by
the pandemic?
IL: The last 18 months or so have
been pretty weird for all of us, being
locked down, losing friends and family
and unable to spend time with them
has been truly awful. Regarding the
paranormal I really do feel it has done
the industry good; I feel some locations
have become over investigated and
become flat, so the break has made
them become more active.
HM: It may be a silly question (to
some), but we have to ask: are
spirits and the spooks aware of
what has been happening re: the
pandemic?
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
IL: Yes 100%, I feel loved ones we talk
to definitely know what is going on, as
for spirits years older, I am not so sure.
HM: You aren’t given any
information on the location but do
have an uncanny knack of ‘seeing’
what’s to come. How do these
thoughts manifest themselves
and does it ever distract you from
driving?
IL: Sceptics will always say I have
information, but I can honestly say I
don’t, even my call sheet is hugely
different from everyone else’s. All I
have is call times and hotel information.
I have visions as well as hearing voices
when I am driving, sometimes like a
photo or video and other times like a
voice just explaining. It is very strange
when I come to a tight spot or junction
or circle, they seem to stop.
HM: When did you first realise your
mediumship ability?
IL: I was around three to four years old
when I started talking to people.
HM: It was a sad day when Derek
Acorah passed away in early
2020. We have always thought
of Derek and yourselves as
honest, genuine people with
a great gift. What are your
memories of Derek?
IL: Derek Acorah was such a talent
and friend, 2020 was a massive
loss to the Spiritualist World, but let
us look at the positives he paved
the way for many psychics like
myself. From time to time, he would
call & tell me I was going to do well.
We met many, many years ago on a
show called Psychic Live time and
years later our paths crossed again
on Most Haunted. He was a true
gent and very funny. When we were
filming Psychic Live, he always said
“keep true and you can never go
wrong.” I still to this day ask if he’s
doing ok, apparently him and Colin
Fry are having a ball.
HM: How different is your investi-
gation style to Chris’?
IL: I am very laid back and calm, but I
am also an Exorcist as well.
HM: Which location was a) the
most demanding b) the weirdest
c) the scariest?
IL: all the locations are demanding;
they all take energy. Wales for me
was weird in the way that all the
miners came back home shining
lanterns which made me very
emotional & will touch me for the
rest of my life. The scariest, for me,
was the Trinity Arts Centre for me,
100%, hearing the Lord’s Prayer
and names being called out
HM: One word to describe: a) Jayne
b) Barri?
IL: Jayne: “caring”, Barri: “funny”
Ian, it has been great chatting with
you again, let’s not make it another
10 years before we get you in the
magazine again.
Help! My House Is Haunted series
three is available to stream now
exclusively on discovery+
49
 BY LORIEN JONES

n the heart of England lies the

I
in
ancient city of Derby, steeped
lled only by a few .A
a history riva
ly
wise man once told me that near e need to head out of the city busily behind,
every other building dese rves a blue
histo-
W centre, just short of a mile, along the you walk through
plaque. Yet, sadly, much of the impressive grandeur of Friar Gate. Despite the car park to read the
king
ry is falling by the wayside. Wal there being no significant gates in sight, you white lettering painted on a small, black gate;
re, you will noti ce
around the city cent will find the term used much throughout ‘Derby Gaol’. “Doesn’t look much like a
mix of mod ern vulg arity and
a jarring Derby. After the Vikings invaded in 917AD, gaol”, you think. Without knowing any better,
s
ornate craftmanship lost to time they re-named the city and many of its it would easily pass as one of the surrounding
the anci ent wall s
gone by. Whilst streets. Gate comes from the Danish word townhouses. But this, in fact, was Derby County
ious , the man y stor ies that lie
are obv ‘gata’ which simply translates to ‘street’. Gaol from 1756 to 1828. Beyond this point,
And this is
within them are not so. Friar Gate is lined with elegant Georgian it continued as the town gaol until the 1840s,
to a
where I can help. Let me take you and Victorian buildings. In the early whilst the new county gaol was erected on
ding burs ting with stor ies of the
buil 1800s, Friar Gate became an affluent area Vernon Street. But back to Agard Street, many
tings to
most gruesome kind , and haun of Derby and many of the gentry had their criminals were housed here, from petty thieves
chill you r bloo d.
town houses built here. Nestled amongst to cold-blooded murderers. To truly discover the
these buildings is the place we have come depths of the horrors this building has seen, we
to see today. The unassuming façade gives need to travel back to the 18th Century.
little away, you could pass by 50-51 Friar
Gate with no idea of the lives taken right It’s a balmy August evening in 1780 and the
here on the doorstep. Let’s venture around scene before you looks a lot different now. The
to the back of the building, to the smaller surrounding buildings are all gone, yet to be
and less impressive Agard Street. built, and you’re now looking at the twenty-
five-year-old Nun’s Green Gaol. This is the
Standing on the pavement, a wasteland second county gaol to occupy Derby. The first,
car park stretches out in front of you, Cornmarket Gaol, was built in 1652 in the heart
the grass grows tall and unkempt, and of the city centre. Conditions in the gaol were
beyond this is the tall rear-side of our grim, cells were built below the water level of
building. As the afternoon traffic passes the adjacent Derwent River.

HAUNTED MAGAZINE 51
 D uring times of heavy rain when water levels rose, it was documented
that prisoners were drowned in their cells before their time of
execution. And it wouldn’t have been clean water either. When that first
gaol was deemed unfit for purpose, it was demolished and the stones
were used to build this new gaol out of town, on land owned by the
nunnery of St Mary De Pratis.

The sky is laced with wispy, pink clouds and the air is filled
with the pungent mix of animal dung, human excrement and
something revolting on the boil. You hear the approaching
rumble of a wooden cart and hooves on the hard, dry ground.
It comes to a stop next to you and a bound man is roughly
manhandled down. This is the 26-year-old wanted highwayman
William Buxton. Two separate highway robberies have landed
him a cell here in the gaol until his time of execution. He
struggles against the men and is dragged in through the rear
of the building, resisting all the while. His worn leather boots
kicking up a cloud of dust in his wake. The wooden door slams
shut behind the men, and all is quiet again. This is the
last time Buxton will see the sky again until his day of
execution, in just a few days’ time.

When Nun’s Green was first built, it had the capacity to

hold twenty-nine prisoners. Around sixty condemned were
executed from substantial trees on the green, and then
from man-made gallows. By 1812, the area was much more
developed, and the gaol was extended and incorporated to
fit into the surrounding Friar Gate, becoming known then
as Friar Gate Gaol. A further eighteen prisoners, men, and
women, were hanged on the front steps of the gaol. But these
were not the only deaths to occur on the property. Conditions
were poor and general health was bad, illness took the lives
of many. Typhus, known as gaol fever, was rife and spread
rapidly through the cells.

And then there were those who escaped the hangman’s

noose by creating their own. In 1784, brothers John and
Benjamin Jones were apprehended for burglary, known then
as ‘house-breaking’. This was enough for them to be handed
the death penalty, but these brothers decided to take their
fate into their own hands. They were found hanging, face
to face, in their cell having used the shirts off their backs as
make-shift nooses.

52 HAUNTED MAGAZINE
P unishments were more severe two hundred
and fifty years ago. The Bloody Code of
1770 – 1830 meant that many minor crimes
were punishable by death. Theft as petty as
pickpocketing was enough to see John Parson
hanged in 1787. Forgery led to the hanging of
Joseph West in 1807 and burning stacks of corn
saw Brown, Booth, Jackson, and King all hanged
in 1817. Theft was often a result of starving
families and less-so the actions of hardened
criminals. We have a more humane approach
to lesser crimes these days, and whilst it’s easy
to view the past through rose-tinted glasses, we
must remember that there were still vile people
committing heinous crimes. And such people
were held in these very same cells.

One such man, and the last person to be

hanged at Friar Gate, was thirty-five-
year-old George Batty, sentenced for the
rape of 16-year-old Martha Hawksley
in April 1825. In Martha’s account, she
explains that she was walking with her
younger sister when she was attacked.
Her sister managed to flee, whilst Martha
was thrown into nearby bushes by Batty.

You remain outside the gaol, and we fast-

forward 36 years in time. It’s now 1816 and the
familiar sound of an approaching cart grows
louder. Removed from the cart is 27-year-old
Joseph Wheeldon. He was arrested for the
murder of his young niece and nephew, Mary
Ann, and Isaac Wheeldon. Joseph had been
living with his brother John, his wife, and their
young family at the time of the incident. Left
alone with the children, something happened
that led to him killing 9-year-old Isaac and
4-year-old Mary Ann, sparing the lives of a
13-month-old infant and 6-year-old John, who
had managed to flee and find and alert his
mother to the horrors that lay await at home.
Joseph had attacked the children with a gorse
hook nearly beheading the pair and badly
mutilating Isaac, who presumably put up a fight.
As the men lead Wheeldon into the gaol, you
follow along the dirt path and in through a small,
arched doorway. The sudden gloom mixed
with an increase in the foul odour creates an
unpleasant welcome. It’s August again and you
appreciate the cool air of the gaol, but little
else. Wheeldon is stripped and washed before
re-dressing in his own clothes. His hair is cut,
and he is bundled into a cell, a brick-built room
with an arched ceiling and no windows. There
are five other men in this small room, making
for an uncomfortable existence, with nothing
but straw on the floor and a horribly full bucket
in the corner. The air is damp and putrid, and
makes you feel instantly sick. A small candle
flickers dimly from a ledge providing very little
light, wax slowing trickly down the wall. A little
while later, he is brought some grey-looking slop
in a bowl and a drink of water. This is life for
Wheeldon until the following Thursday evening,
the night before his execution.
He is transferred to the Condemned Cell,
nearest to the point of execution which at this
point in history, would have been the front door
of the gaol. His morning begins with a simple
meal of bread and water. Nothing compared to
the devilled kidneys and bacon being fried for
the hangman’s breakfast in the gaol kitchen. The
torment of which serving as one last punishment
for the condemned. The executioner and any
other dignitaries who had come to witness the
execution would enjoy their breakfast in the
Association Room, the place in the gaol that
prisoners said their last goodbyes to family. If
they had anyone who cared enough to want to
say goodbye.
You hear a commotion from the front of the
gaol on Friar Gate. It doesn’t take you long to
realise that these are the sounds of the scaffold
being built, something that was repeated on
the morning of every execution. It makes you
wonder why there was no permanent structure.
It also makes you wonder how Wheeldon must
been feeling right now. Glancing into the cell,
you see him sitting on the floor, a distant stare
transfixed and beads of perspiration dotting
his brow. As you watch, you wonder what
could have possessed a man to commit such
horrendous acts of violence on such innocent
little lives. You shudder from your musings as
a priest bustles past you and into the cell. He
spends time with Joseph, reading from the bible,
all the while the banging continues outside.
As 1pm approaches, Joseph is led from his
cell into the Association Room. His chains are
removed, and his hands are bound. Many men
have lost their composure at this point, but
Joseph remains collected.

HAUNTED MAGAZINE 53
 He is then taken from the gaol through the
front door, and you follow, watching as he
climbs up onto the platform. An unusually
large crowd has gathered to watch the
execution, no doubt eager to see the end of
such a monstrous man. You see sheets of
paper littering the floor and being passed
among the crowd. The Penny Dreadful, a
printed article educating those gathered
on the horrific details of the crime and the
criminal of the day. The priest issues some
more words of comfort to Joseph, who listens
on his knees.

He then stands and the noose is placed

around his neck, the knot placed behind
his left ear. He looks around at the many
jeering faces, fists punching the air in
encouragement, mouths shouting obscenities
drowned out by the blood pounding in his
ears. It wouldn’t be unusual to see weeping
family members in the crowd. Today, there
are none. He closes his eyes, and for a split
second you feel a pang of sympathy, but this
is short lived. A dark hood is placed over his
head, the drop opens and Wheeldon’s body
succumbs to the work of the rope. There
is little agitation and all signs of life slowly
diminish. The crowd cheers and Joseph’s
limp body is left to hang there for about half
an hour.

At this point, the body would be given back

to the family of the deceased for burial. But
the Murder Act of 1752 saw the punishments
of convicted murderers continue beyond
execution. They were either gibbetted, which
was to be suspended in a cage and left there
for years, even decades, or publicly dissected.
The latter was the case for Wheeldon. This
public dissection was the reason only bread
and water were served on the execution
morning, minimising unnecessary mess.
They were often carried out in a public
building such as an inn. The body was then
taken and fully anatomized by surgeons. No
religious ceremony or burial was permitted,
completing total punishment for the ultimate
crime.
You try to shake the experience but are
fully aware that this will stay with you
forever. Those spectators, they will
continue to go about their business
without much further thought for
Wheeldon or any who have gone before
him. It is a different time with different
ways. You’re ready to leave the 19th
Century behind but are curious as to
odours of traffic fumes and food outlets are
a welcome relief. One of the most haunted
sites in the county of Derbyshire now stands
before you. The years of history have taken
their toll on the building. You look down at
your feet. Many who visit this building, now
a museum paying homage to its grizzly past,
are unaware of the souls buried beneath the
ground they walk on. For a while this was
a county gaol, and offenders from other
counties were sent back for execution, many
travellers and vagrants were free from, or
hiding, an identity. What to do with their
bodies after execution? They were buried in
unmarked graves in the ground at the back of
the building. It is still unknown just how many
bodies are out here.
Tonight, you are spending the night in the
gaol, attempting to discover more about
those who remain here, long after their date
with the executioner’s rope. You’ve heard
crimes, they choose eternal incarceration.
The evil looking apparition of a thick-set, bald
headed man in a leather waistcoat scared one
woman so much that she refused to return
to the building, even detouring on a journey
so as not to drive past the gaol! It makes me
think he was maybe an executioner, but who
knows? And who is the man in the red coat
who sits in the corner of the old Association
Room, reported by many visitors both day
and night?
If you’re visiting Derby, you should definitely
look up the gaol for a visit. It is unimposing,
scarcely promoted and yet packs a powerful
punch. And if you think you’d like to spend
a spooky night behind bars, you can book
yourself an evening in Derby Gaol! Just be
careful what you wish for…. There are many
more haunting tales from the gaol, but I
wouldn’t want to spoil the fun!

the effects these events will have on
our modern world.
Without warning, you’re standing outside
the back of the gaol again, in your own time
now. It is night-time, the dark sky lightened by
the orange, artificial glow of the surrounding
streetlamps. The modern, more familiar
L orien X
the tales of full-bodied apparitions and
poltergeist activity. The gaoler Blyth Simpson
still wanders, keys clinking on his hip. It is
said he believes he is still in charge of the
gaol and will make himself known to anyone For more information
who challenges his authority. Tortured souls about Derby Gaol check
linger, afraid of what awaits them in the out https://richardfelix.
afterlife. Rather than face retribution for their co.uk/derby-gaol/

54 HAUNTED MAGAZINE
17 Lilliputian
Coffins I
By Evelyn Hollow
n the summer of 1836, a group of young lads out hunting rabbits
on Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh made a discovery that continues
to baffle paranormal experts and anthropologists to this day.
Arthur’s Seat is an extinct volcano at the centre of a collection of hill
peaks that make up the majority of Holyrood Park, which lies at the heart
of Scotland’s capital city. As well as being the home of the Votadini Tribe
in 400AD it has its own distinct mythology, including being vaunted as
the true site of Camelot and other ties to King Arthur – hence the name.
On the north-east side of Arthur’s Seat, in a small cave of which the
entrance was hidden by slabs of slate, these young lads found seventeen
miniature coffins.

The coffins were arranged in three tiers – eight on the bottom, another
eight above, and finally one single coffin at the top. Measuring just
9.5cm in length these coffins were intricately carved from wood and
contained a paired wooden figure that had been expertly dressed in tiny
clothing. When the media found out there was uproar, cries of witchcraft
and demonology and hexes. Once this original hullabaloo had dampened
the coffins were sold off to private collectors (because rich people had/
have a monopoly on everything, even heritage) and did not reappear to
the public until 1901.

Of the initial seventeen only eight survived. These were first donated
to the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland before being
passed along to the NMS (National Museum of Scotland).

What did these coffins represent?

Who put them there?
And what happened to the other nine coffins?

The Scotsman newspaper implicated witchcraft, stating at the time:

“Our own opinion would be – had we not some years ago abjured
witchcraft and demonology – that there are still some of the weird
sisters hovering about Mushat’s Cairn or the Windy Gowl, who retain
their ancient power to work the spells of death by entombing the
likenesses of those they wish to destroy.”
Picture credits: National Museum of Scotland
HAUNTED MAGAZINE 55
 Other papers implied that they were burial effigies, made by someone
to represent loved ones lost at sea. The Director of The Museum of
Hamburg History suggested later that they may have been lucky
charms that were hidden in the hillside to be sold later, but although
the use of charms was still prevalent in Scotland well into the 19th
century these particular coffins line up with the German tradition
but do not fit with any other charms used here before.

There was a bizarre story published in the paper five years after
the initial discovery in which a woman reported that her father
was visited several times by an erratic deaf and mute man who had
drawn three coffins on a piece of paper and dated them 1837, 1838,
and 1840. In 1837 a close relative of her father’s died, then in 1838
a cousin of his died, and then finally in 1840 his own brother died.
The strange man had appeared after the funeral and then was never finally able to be professionally examined all we can determine is
seen again. The paper wonders if it is a string of bizarre and tragic that all dolls were made by one person, they could have been in the
coincidences or if this man was somehow tied to the Arthur’s Seat trade of shoe-making due to the techniques used, and that the eyes
Coffins. on each were originally designed opened. It is impossible to tell if
these were burial effigies, or used as representations in witchcraft,
or if they were sacrificial rites for demonology.

Another theory: https://www.scotsman.com/arts-

and-culture/author-claims-have-solved-edinburgh-
coffin-doll-mystery-1430490

The papers at the time stated that several of the

Some believe that the 17 coffins represent 17 victims.
Just a few years before their discovery the paper headlines were
filled with the infamous crimes of Burke and Hare; the two ‘body
snatchers’ who had murdered seventeen people in order to sell the
corpses to Dr. Knox. Knox was a respected anatomist, and he required
the corpses for teaching at the college of surgeons as Edinburgh was
leading the world in medical research, they were paid handsomely
too as murdered bodies were a lot fresher than the ones dug up from
graves by resurrectionists. Did someone create the coffins to honour
those 17 victims? Did they know something about the murders that
we do not?
coffins were destroyed by the boys, and the rest
that were sold off to private collectors have never
resurfaced. Which leaves us without knowing what the rest look like
or may contain. It also leaves the uncomfortable notion that there
may be a few of these grim relics lying around Edinburgh waiting to
be rediscovered – or have they travelled elsewhere, and if so, what
have they done to their keepers?
Finally, in 2014 a chilling little package was delivered anonymously
to the museum. Inside it contained a well-made replica of one of the
Lilliputian coffins and was cryptically titled ‘XVIII?’, attached to it
was a label that had a handwritten quote on it; the climax of Robert
Louis Stevenson’s story ‘The Body Snatcher’. And so, the mystery
goes on.
National Museum of Scotland: https://www.nms.
ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/scottish-
history-and-archaeology/mystery-of-the-miniature-
coffins/

Evelyn x
Several people believed them to be cursed. Some would say that these
coffins were totems meant to trap the souls of victims and do them
harm, or that they were made as a sacrifice to summon something
from the depths of the dark. Although many decades later they were

“Several people believed them to be cursed. Some

would say that these coffins were totems meant to
trap the souls of victims and do them harm, or that
they were made as a sacrifice to summon something
from the depths of the dark...”
56 HAUNTED MAGAZINE
 JENNY SAM

Scare Factor: Scare Factor:

She’s terrified of You can’t be

whatever is in her scared of what you
house… don’t believe in...
right?
Sceptic Factor:
Sceptic Factor:
She didn’t believe
in ghosts… until He’s so rational,
now! you’ll never
convince him
Stamina: ghosts exist!

She’s staying up Stamina:

until 2:22 to prove
she’s telling the Ready for an
truth! all-nighter, just
to prove Jenny
wrong!

LAUREN BEN

Scare Factor: Scare Factor:

She can see He’s a pretty tough

how scared guy who has been
Jenny is, and it’s on plenty of ghost
contagious! hunts!

Sceptic Factor: Sceptic Factor:

She’s not a He’s a 100% true

believer, but she believer who is
has seen some convinced he’s
things she doesn’t psychic!
understand...
Stamina:
Stamina:
Can he bear a
Lauren’s knocking whole evening
back the wine - with Sam without
will she make it hitting him?
through the night?

222aghoststory.com
BONES, DRONES AND
A VERY HAPPY FANNY?
The Residents of Button Hall return for a brand new series of GHOSTS and it’s a corker!

A SERIOUSLY SPOOKY SPOILER-FREE SERIES THREE REVIEW FROM ME!

BBC One’s hugely
hree of my favourite things are the paranormal, history
successful sitcom
GHOSTS returned
to our screens in
T & comedy. I have long hoped & wished that ghosts
from all eras of history could mingle together, walk &
talk amongst us & decide to make their presence known
August 2021 for when THEY choose & not when asked by us.
a third six-part I binge watched all 6 episodes of Ghosts Series 3 last night
series. / early this morning and I need to apologise to my family
& next-door neighbours if they heard me laugh loudly at
I will be honest, I
certain times because that’s what I did several times pre
binge watched it, and post-midnight.
all SIX episodes, Ghosts mixes paranormal with punchlines, and you will
back-to-back, one laugh, smirk and smile at it but, if you’re like me, you will
after the other, bellow out laughter that you just can’t keep in cos some of
the lines are genuine comedy gold. Each episode has lines
pausing only for a
refreshment break, that you will remember over and over.
a toilet break, One particular line from scoutmaster Patrick keeps
and a wipe up the replaying over and over in my head and I am sure people
seeing me are thinking “what’s that chap over there
drink I spilled from
constantly smiling about” cos even thinking about Ghosts in
laughing too much my head, makes me feel good, makes me giggle and smirk
break. (yes, still)
Each Ghosts character, including the “living ones” Alison
& Mike, has grown in stature since the first series as
individuals, but also together, as a team & that’s what makes
it work. The back stories, the plotlines of the characters are
genius, the writing is just superb
I have been busy trying to find a hat to wear just so that I
can take it off & say well done to all cast, crew & anyone
connected with Ghosts and of course a special mention
to the cast: Katy Wix, Lolly Adefope, Jim Howick, Martha
Howe-Douglas, Charlotte Ritchie, Mathew Baynton,
Laurence Rickard, Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Ben Willbond and
Simon Farnaby
(Putting the hat on again, before taking it off) also a special
nod & mention to Tom Kingsley who passed the directorial
baton over to Nicholas Collett for this series of Ghosts.
Without series 1 & 2 there’d be no series 3. The foundations
were set in ghostly stone, and it was a seamless transition
Whether you are a paranormal fan or not, and just a lover of
comedy at its funniest this is the best series of Ghosts by far
(I hasten to add ‘so far’). There’s so much to enjoy, including
the beautiful location.
It is a romantic nod to the paranormal, spirits living side by
side with humans; chatting, interacting & helping them that
can see them (Alison) & others that can’t (Mike). Slapstick
humour, one-liners, heartfelt moments, comedy gold
moments and dance moves, it has the lot
I promised you no spoilers & I will stick to that but if you get
to chance to watch all 6 in one go, my advice; GO FOR IT!
Paul, Haunted Magazine

HAUNTED MAGAZINE 59
 EERIE EPISODES
THE GHOULISH GUIDE TO GHOSTS
SERIES 3 (Spoiler Free)
Q&A
CHARLOTTE RITCHIE
EPISODE 1 – THE BONE PLOT
When a historical documentary team comes to film at Button House,
Alison and the ghosts are shocked to discover that the assassination
plot they’re exploring involves one of their own. Meanwhile, Mike –
always on the lookout for free publicity – begs Alison to accept the offer
of a television interview about the old house. The only hitch is Alison is
terrified of speaking on camera. Luckily, Thomas is there to coach her in
the art of speech-giving. What could possibly go wrong?

EPISODE 2 – A LOT TO TAKE IN

A mysterious visitor arrives at Button House with a revelation that leaves
Alison reeling. Thomas is equally confused by his feelings for this Q: The team know each other inside out, don’t they?
strange visitor, while Lady Button and Julian warn of sinister motives,
A: Yes, they have a shorthand with each other. They’ve got a groove
and Kitty is as territorial as ever over her surrogate sister, Alison. Mike
together and really like hanging out with each other. When it’s such a
has an epiphany on his first day at a new job, which triggers Julian to big cast, it helps that there is that collaborative element. As a result, you
remember his first day as a ghost. But will their insights be enough to get such a variety of different types of humour. What’s fun is that if you
help Alison make sense of the overwhelming news she’s received? don’t find someone falling over funny, you might find more alternative or
obscure joke amuse you. There is something for everyone.
EPISODE 3 – THE WOODWORM MEN
While Button House is being fumigated for woodworm, Alison and Mike
KIELL SMITH-BYNOE
decide to save some money and camp in the grounds overnight while
the treatment takes effect. Pat and the Captain love the chance to be
in the great outdoors again, while Alison and Mike get competitive over
who’s the better camper. Meanwhile, Mary, terrified by the notion of the
“Woodworm Men” tries to eliminate them from the house, and a night
off from scolding the ghosts isn’t quite what Lady Button bargained for

EPISODE 4 – I LOVE LUCY

Alison has invited Lucy to come to Button House for a sleepover, but
after a worrying meeting with the solicitor, Alison must work out if Lucy
is really who she says she is. The Captain insists on using his skills in
surveillance to help Alison find out the truth, but is he up to the job? After
an emailing prank from Julian gets out of hand, Mike has some awkward
explaining to do to his boss. Meanwhile Lady Button is acting out of
character, and the other ghosts are determined to find out why.
EPISODE 5 – SOMETHING TO SHARE?
Q: Why do the relationships between the ghosts work so well?
A: Viewers relate to at least half of the characters. There’s something
there for everyone. There is a real family dynamic between the ghosts.
The other thing that adds to the comedy is the fact that these people are
trapped together. They have no choice but to get on. They can’t leave or
change their circumstances. That’s part of the fun of it.

Alison takes it upon herself to ask Kitty about her relationship with MARTHA HOWE-DOUGLAS
her sister, a topic the other ghosts fear will open an emotional can of
Q: Why do you think Ghosts has chimed with audiences?
worms. But in trying to sabotage the makeshift therapy session Alison
is conducting for Kitty, the ghosts end up discovering more about
themselves, and facing their own demons. Meanwhile Mike feels left out
of the “gang” Alison has with the ghosts, so sets out to discover how to
gain “the sight” for himself, which yields surprising results.

EPISODE 6 – PART OF THE FAMILY

As Alison spends more and more time with Lucy, she has to have a frank
talk with Kitty about her feelings of jealousy. The Captain offers Kitty a
shoulder to cry on, but in doing so unearths an inconsistency that needs
explaining. Meanwhile Pat leads Mary and Robin in an improvisation
class, and Thomas is determined to show off his football skills to Alison,
but Humphrey’s Head is not pleased that he’ll have to “play ball” –
literally.

60 HAUNTED MAGAZINE
A: It’s been hit because it’s got something for everyone. Each ghost
brings something different to the table. Those sorts of relationships are
always fascinating – who gets on and who clashes with who. We’ve cre-
ated characters that people have grown to love. Viewers have taken them
to their hearts. Also, the BBC seem very happy with what we’re doing.
MATHEW BAYNTON
Q: What are the principal themes of the third season?
A: Family is a big theme in this series. We wanted to address something
that had been on our minds a while – in order to have inherited the house,
Alison’s parents can’t be in the picture anymore. What does that mean?
She didn’t have a family, and now she has a house full of ghosts, some of
whom are literally her family and some of whom are her family by proxy.
That’s a theme we explore in depth this year.
SIMON FARNABY
Q: How would you define Julian?
A: I describe him as an old school politician. He is from an era that was
more outwardly sleazy – they’re just better at hiding it now! Julian is more
open about it. It’s nice to play a politician who can admit to failing. When
you’re a politician, you can’t admit all the things you’ve done wrong. But
Julian can now because he’s dead. That’s quite freeing.
LAURENCE RICKARD
Q: Why is a comedy about the unlikely subject of a bunch of ghosts
so effective?
A: It’s the classic sitcom idea of trapping a group of very dissimilar
characters in the same space. They can’t leave the grounds of the house.
They are stuck together for all eternity. They have to share this place, and
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
that’s what makes it funny. They are from entirely different periods of history.
There is no sense that in any other circumstance, they would have naturally
formed friendships, but they have to rub along together here because
they can’t escape. They can’t go, “I’m just popping out to the shops for 10
minutes.” It’s never plain sailing, but that’s where the comedy lies.
BEN WILLBOND
Q: Why has Ghosts resonated with such a broad spectrum of people?
A: We just strive to make a fun show – we don’t get too tangled up in who it’s
for. By default, we’ve landed up with this family show, and that pleases us
greatly. We all grew up watching and absorbing all the comedy we could find
rather than the most targeted programming. We have tried to emulate shows
like Blackadder and Fawlty Towers and not to target anyone in particular. I’m
just glad that Ghosts appeals to all age groups.
LOLLY ADEFOPE & JIM HOWICK
Q: Why does Ghosts chime with viewers?
LA: The gang are so charismatic and watchable. The themes of death and
mourning are universal as well. The premise is very relatable, too. Everyone
can identify with the idea of being stuck in a house with a group of misfits.
Q: The show is notable for that clever mingling of tones, isn’t it?
JH: I hope so. In the scene where Robin discussed how everyone eventually
leaves and the only thing remaining is the stars in the sky, the crew suddenly
went very quiet and respectful. We didn’t realise the effect it would have. The
show is a gentle warning about mortality. We have embraced darkness, but at
the same time tried to make something full of heart and love.
KATY WIX
Q: Can you run through Mary’s characteristics?
A: There are many aspects to her. She is quite eccentric and quite complex.
But she can also be playful and crackers. She can be forthright and author-
itative, and then her PTSD from being burnt at the stake kicks in, and she’s
frightened and timid. Is she ready to tell the story of her death? Not quite.
Maybe if there is a series four, we will finally find out what happened to her.
GHOSTS Series 3 is available on BBCiplayer and
BBCAmerica. A US version airs on CBS this fall.
61
www.hauntedmagazineprintshop.com
THE WASHINGTON
STATE POLTERGEIST
AMERICA’S MOST CONTROVERSIAL PARANORMAL CASE
?
cases: the Enfield Poltergeist,
“This case is right up there with the most frightening of poltergeist
the Bridgep ort Connec ticut case, and the Matthew Manning case,”
the South Shields Poltergeist,
h. Dr. Richard Sugg, author
says Robb Tilley of the Australian Institute of Parapsychology Researc
for Psychic al Researc h aka SPR, one of the oldest
and studier of history affiliated with the Society
world to polterge ist phenom ena, calls Keith’s Linder’s first book The Bothell
organizations in the
nonficti on books of the century.”  
Hell House – Poltergeist of Washington State “One of the
Keith Linder’s story. It might
To comprehend both men’s sentiments, you have to be familiar with
sound cliche but here goes.

n 2012, Keith Linder successfully obtaining a management Poltergeist cases reported throughout time are inherently

I position at a prestigious healthcare company decides the time

is right for him and his girlfriend Tina Davis to move in together.
Bothell, Washington, a suburban home located outside Seattle,
Washington.  “Neither me nor my girlfriend at the time, Tina, had
ever gone through anything remotely similar.” What they saw and
controversial. The favorite quote from skeptics has been
“extraordinary claims, require extraordinary evidence.” Something
Keith Linder finds non-productive.   

experienced within weeks of moving in would send shock waves

through the paranormal community. The knee-jerk reaction from
both parapsychology and paranormal communities was, ‘there is
no way a house could be this active.’ When you ask Keith Linder
what some of the weird things he and his girlfriend witness were. 
Keith’s response is blunt and unwavering.  Lamps, pottery, ironing
boards, irons, beer bottles, chef knives, candles, candle rods, bar
stools, large furniture, and books - these are just a few of the items
Keith and Tina saw fly inside the house.  When asked about the
flying chef knife, Keith remembers that account vividly.    

“I was in my office, which is typical for me on a weekend

afternoon. I was on my computer surfing on the computer
when I heard a loud crash.  I got up from my chair and headed
towards where I thought the noise came from.  There, on the
carpet in my office doorway, was this huge knife.  It took me a “When Tina and I say three
few seconds to recognize it, but I did. This was one of Tina’s bibles caught fire in our
kitchen knives.  I picked up the knife, walked it downstairs to the homes, we mean that three
kitchen, and placed it back in its sheath.  Minutes later – I am bibles caught fire – two
back in my office again.  I hear a similar crash, and sure enough, more bibles went missing. 
there in the doorway resting on the floor is the chef knife.   It’s They are still missing. Black
a little bit more beat up than before due to the fact that it left a oil-like tar substance began
sizable nick in the wooden door frame.”   appearing on the office wall
summer and fall of 2014
(see pictures). Upside down
crosses, Native American symbols, 666, and my initials Die KL.  I
have a hard time understanding why our claims would become
controversial.  When you look at other poltergeist cases, I am talking
about the activity being reported by other house occupants. the
similarities are too uncanny to ignore.”

Would you agree that some of the controversy surrounding this

case was your and Tina’s appearance on the Travel Channel show
Ghost Adventures episode titled Demons in Seattle? Keith replies.

“I agree. Tina and I received a lot of personal attacks after that

episode aired.  The attacks we received were not for appearing
on the show. The attacks on social media had to do with Ghost
Adventures not finding anything.  Can you believe that?

HAUNTED MAGAZINE 63
 The paranormal team finds nothing, and we get attacked.  As
if we did not have enough to deal with already? One hate
email I received from a fan of the show was ‘we wasted Ghost
Adventures time.’   People do not understand, and how could
they? The Demons in Seattle episode never disclosed how
long Ghost Adventures were in the house - which was only five
hours.   I later learned from talking to other paranormal teams the
world over, mind you, that five hours investigating a possible
poltergeist infestation is not enough time to get to the bottom of
things.  Poltergeist do not respond on que. Oh, and I forgot you
must live in the house.”   or evidence, period, you have to live in the house.” So, paranormal
Another piece of advice Keith offers is, “it would help if you interviewed
witnesses.   Many people do not know this, but Tina and I were not the
only people who experienced activity in that house. Get this. A family
experienced similar activity in 2008:2009.  The wife may she rest in
peace spoke of how her youngest son saw shadowy figures ‘out the
corner of his eyes.’ The live-in nanny gave an account of how she
woke up one morning and found ‘all the kitchen cabinets doors open.’
Imagine walking into your kitchen one morning or afternoon and seeing
all your kitchen cabinet doors open.   But it gets worse.   You close them
all not before making a mental note in your head about how weird
this is. Then, seconds later (not minutes later), you return, and they are
all open again.  You were just in the next room. That happened to us.”
Dr. Richard Sugg is correct when he says, “We should study
poltergeists because they are extraordinary. They can make someone’s
life hell. What if the worst thing that ever happens to you is something
nobody will believe?”  The Bothell Hell House, written by Keith Linder,
is a unique book in that it is a self-published book from the house
occupant himself.  Most nonfiction books about poltergeists are written
by ghost hunters, paranormal investigators, etc., who visited the
supposed haunted house. Other books are written by a ghostwriter (no
pun intended) hired by the publishing company.  These actual events
are usually shortened, embellished, or altered for publishing reasons.  Nicole Novelle, a respective voice in the paranormal field in the United
Not The Bothell Hell House.  Four hundred and thirty-four pages –
unheard for a paranormal nonfiction book.
“Several publishing companies
wanted the rights to me and
Tina’s story. I turned them down.
I refuse to let my and Tina’s
story be altered or condensed
for the sake of expediency. The
Bothell Hell House book is a no
holds account of everything that
happened in our house.”
64 HAUNTED MAGAZINE
As Keith said earlier, “I do not believe me, and Tina’s claims should be
considered extraordinary. When you consider the thousands of other
poltergeist cases society has already encountered, we fit right in.   But
the evidence captured from researchers in the United States and the
United Kingdom is extraordinary.  Phantom loud bangs captured on
audio, pitter-pat footsteps, children screaming, a woman screaming,
lights going off and on, and the infamous video (that went viral) of Bible
pages turning by themselves, all these things and more were captured
while the house was empty by paranormal teams who made it a point
to live in the house.   I’m sorry, but if you want to catch good evidence
teams did live in the house? “Yes, both paranormal investigator Nicole
Novelle’s and Parapsychologists Steve Mera’s team understood that
concept right away.  It was never an issue for either of them about living
in the house.  I am not talking about a day or two. I am talking about
weeks—a month which is what Nicole’s team did.   Four-hundred
Class A, Class B EVPs are what Steve Mera and his chief researcher
Don Philips captured when they lived in the house the first time.   The
second time they arrived in April 2016, they bought with them then
President of the SSPR (Scotland Society for Psychical Research) Nick
Kyle, who monitored both men closely, leading to the capture of nearly
two hundred EVPs. 
Parapsychologist Steve Mera sums it up well when he says, “With
poltergeist infestations, we’re normally dealing with children,
adolescents in the environment. Usually affects families or individuals
having some type of
problem or trauma
in the family, be it
financial difficulty,
family issues,
living conditions,
environmental
problems those
types of issues.  To
be honest with you,
we have not found
any of those things
here, which makes
this a really unusual case. Some of the
phenomena taking place are certainly demonstrative of poltergeist
infestation.”
Investigator Tony Hayes of the group Paranormal Investigations UK
goes on the record by saying The Bothell Hell House, aka Poltergeist
of Washington State, is the new “baseline for other works.” Other
poltergeist cases: past and present.  
One of Keith Linder’s claims about the house is the phantom
heartbeats he heard and felt from deep within his mattress. Nicole
Novelle and her team were present when one of these events occurred.
States, said, “Sounds like the house has a heartbeat. It’s so weird. It’s
weird - the vibrations. Sitting on the bed, have your feet planted on
the floor; all of a sudden, you start feeling just the mattress vibrating or
pulsating like a pulse. How do you document that in order for anyone
to understand what that feels like? What that like. I can’t do that. I don’t
have a tool that’ll allow me to convey that to someone.” It pleased Keith
to hear Nicole (Nikki) say that. “That’s been the number one frustration
Tina, and I faced while living in the house. How do we capture the
phenomena on an electrical device so people can take our claims
seriously? It’s extremely difficult.” According to Keith Linder, what
is more difficult than that is this notion that most poltergeist activity
stems from women. “There’s this notion. This belief in the paranormal
community parapsychology, especially that poltergeist manifestations
result from ‘a troubled individual inside the home, usually a female
adolescent or woman.’ The evidence obtained from inside the Bothell
house puts that theory to bed.”

“That upsets me a great a deal,” Keith says. The stigma that
we have put on women. That women like Tina Resch, Doris
Bither, Maria José Ferreira, and my girlfriend Tina are the
root cause of the phenomena, which is what the ‘Demons
in Seattle’ episode sort of ensued. Nothing could be further
from the truth.  So, I dare any true believer, cynic, skeptic,
undecided individual to study the evidence.  Study ALL
the evidence obtained in the Bothell house. Read my three
books. Interview the paranormal teams who lived in the
house. Things are not what they seem.”   Over eight books have been written about the Bothell house, all
The perfect example of that would be the black oil-like tar substance
that appeared out of nowhere on Keith Linder’s office wall.  Looking at
it from afar or closely, it looks like black paint, or some cynics claim to
be Krylon webbing spray.  Which to them suggest we faked everything. 
“Keith and Tina are hoaxers.”   Keith says, ‘no one ever asked him if
they could have the black oil tested.’ “I had the black oil-like substance
tested, and the results came back Bone Black.”  What’s Bone Black?
Wikipedia - Bone Black, aka Bone char (Latin: carbo animalis),
is a porous, black, granular material produced by charring
animal bones.  It consists mainly of tricalcium phosphate (or
hydroxyapatite) 57–80%, calcium carbonate 6–10%, and carbon
7–10%. Bone char is primarily made from buffalo bones; the
bones are heated in a sealed vessel at up to 700 °C (1,292 °F).
Most of the organic material in the bones is driven off by heat and
was historically collected as Dippel’s oil. “Dippel’s oil (a yellow
oily like substance) was found throughout the house.  Every wall
in the Bothell home has this yellow (olive oil) color-like substance
weeping from the walls.  Study Dippel Oil up close, and you will
reach the same conclusion I did. Named after its inventor, Johann
Konrad Dippel. Johann Konrad Dippel believed he needed a
concoction to conduct exorcisms thus invented Dippel’s oil after
the gross experimentation of animals.  This is what happens when
you carry out a thorough investigation.   You get inexplicable
answers that align well with the inexplicable events happening in
the house.”
When asked why he and Tina stayed in the house, so long Keith
Linder’s answer is interesting.  “It’s my house, therefore why should I
just up and leave?  I said earlier that we discovered that a family before
us had similar activity.  They did not tell anybody – they just up and
moved out, which is what most people do.  I get that. But that is not
me. That’s not Tina. Tina and I made a conscious decision after the
poster caught fire in my office not to leave unless it was on our terms.  I
do not consider myself brave, but I said to Tina, to family and friends,
and to the spirits attacking us, I would not leave until the house was
made livable or someone else got to the bottom of the things.   We
accomplished the latter.  Keith Linder
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
For extra evidence scan the QR code here:
Several paranormal teams responded to my 9-1-1 distress call and,
upon doing so, substantiated our claims.   Interview the paranormal
teams who lived in the house, and they will tell you their cups runneth
over. That is how much evidence each team gathered.”   Which, as a
reporter, forces me to think there must be some validity to what Keith is
saying?
favorably.  The evidence is in those books. “A lot of people like to say
the case they were associated with directly or indirectly is the most
documented poltergeist ever.  They cannot back their claim up, though. 
I can.  The Bothell hell House – Poltergeist of Washington State is the
most documented poltergeist case in history.  The evidence is not
sitting in some vault somewhere (only to be released periodically).
No, the evidence is on YouTube. The evidence is in my three books.
It is on Facebook. It is on Twitter. It is in Steve Mera’s official report.
It is in Nicole Novelle and the paranormal teams who lived in the
house interviews.  It is in Don Philips, one hour and eighteen-minute
documentary which is free by the way. Everything I have just said
except for my three books can be easily obtained with the click of a
mouse.  As we say in the information technology world, it’s ‘in the
cloud.’ It is on the internet.  The free internet.” 
Keith Linder now lives in a condominium on his own. That’s right
on his own. His relationship with Tina ended a few days after the
Demons in Seattle aired. The vicious attacks from social media
and the “geist” term oil inside the home were just too much to
bear.
“I can’t blame Tina for moving out of the
house – for breaking up with me. I love her.
Regardless of who we end up with romantically,
Tina and I will always have a bond that very
few people share. The paranormal activity
I experience in my new home, albeit nerve-
racking and intrusive, pales compared to the
events we experienced in the Bothell home.”
So, what type of support have you got? “The support from
sectors of the paranormal community has been positive and
encouraging. We know why the house was haunted. We know
what the black oil-like substance was made out of. Where it
came from. The only thing I can do now is tell my story, point
anyone who asks to where the evidence resides, and live my life.”
65
 Not so ‘orrible ‘istories
“SISTERS ARE SCHOOLING
IT FOR THEMSELVES”
For some people, the time spent
at school really were some
I
of the best days of their lives
and yet for others, not so
much. I will not bore you with
my life story, but let us just
say, that when I agreed to go
to an investigation at an old
school, it was with a sense of
trepidation…
66
PENNY GRIFFITHS-MORGAN INVESTIGATES A VERY BRITISH SCHOOL
n the September of 2019, I had been invited
to attend an investigation at a place called the
British Schools Museum in Hitchin, with the
lasses from the Paranormal Sisters (not being
sexist, they are all female, although they do have
the odd honorary boy join in on occasion). I think
it can be hard for many of us to picture a time in
Great Britain when education was not accessible
to all, and one of the first things you realise when
visiting the museum is how hard it was to change
the richer members of society’s views towards
schooling for the poor, in a nutshell they felt
threatened that if the working classes were able
to read and write, then they would challenge
their position in society and would not be so
willing to do the more menial tasks which they
were expected to both undertake and be grateful
for.
The site was first utilised as a place for learning
in 1810 when a former Maltings was donated
by local businessman William Wilshire, he had
been impressed after listening to a pedagogist
named Joseph Lancaster who was developing
a method of teaching those children who came
from families with limited income. The famous
monitorial schoolroom was opened in 1837
and designed to accommodate three hundred
children…with only one schoolmaster, a fact
that when I tell teacher friends of mine leaves
them looking incredibly pale. In February 1845
the school suffered from a fire that spread along
Dead Street, but still it did not stop teaching
those wanting to learn to read and write. The
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
main building you see now as you walk onto the
premises was constructed in 1857, but there are
still remnants of the original Maltings if you look
closely.
So here we have a place where
thousands of children have passed
through its doors, some of the staff
perished in the World Wars and
where deaths (albeit not suspicious)
have occurred, was it going to live
up to expectation?
The area of Hitchin has quite a lot of “ghost”
stories associated with it, but as a historian, I try
not to think of these or let them influence my
opinion of a location. This may sound difficult,
but those who research history are quite often
called heartless when we do not take sides with
things that are somewhat abhorrent to modern
mentalities, it is not as easy as it sounds but you
learn how to do it. I went into the school with the
same level of excitement I do any investigation,
and with a few bits of research under my belt.
But not enough as I was soon to find out.
I will give you a bit of a plot spoiler here, I
have written a book about the school called
“Paranormal Playtimes – The school that never
sleeps” so I am not going to divulge everything
that has happened to me on my visits there, but I
will give you one to whet your appetite.

Walking into the
car park, I did
not know where
everyone was and try
as I might, I could not
hear any voices to give me
a clue, but to my right was a house
and in the very large window was a woman bent over,
seemingly looking at something on a table. I could
only see her from the neck up and her hair style was
quite old fashioned, that sort of Edwardian pompadour
hairstyle with the bun on top of her head. Thinking
that maybe she would know where everyone was, I
knocked a few times at the door but got no answer, so
then I tried the handle and the big front door opened
easily. There were a set of stairs in front of me, and a
door to both my right and left, I tried the former first
and it was locked, so I tried the latter and it opened
into someone’s office. Realising that maybe I should
not be here, I shut the doors and made my way into
the large school building (where you may be relieved
to know I found my fellow investigators). I thought
I had better tell someone that this lovely house was
open to anyone walking in from the road, and around
thirty minutes after my trespassing adventure, the then
Museum Manager and I wandered over there as he was
adamant that he had locked the doors before he left (it
was indeed the offices for the museum).
Everything was locked up tight…everything, even
when he opened the main entrance, the door to the
office that I had walked into was locked, it had one
of those automatic keypad locks that shut it without a
key, and I know I did not have the code to get in. It was
what he told me after however that sent shivers down
my spine, part of the contract of a Master and a Mistress
to the school was accommodation, and this was where
the Mistress herself (and sometimes her assistant) had
lived for many years. Interestingly, the house next door
was only ever occupied by one Master, Joseph Fitch,
and I am strongly of the belief that he is still there as it
definitely has a vibe that you are intruding whenever
Scan here to visit The British Schools Museum
https://britishschoolsmuseum.org.uk/
you step onto the threshold. One of the many
stories I was told was that Joseph does not like
the main doors being left open and tends to shut
them if you are not quick enough, I guess in those
days you needed to keep the heat in…
Had I seen one of the previous female members of
staff? Why had the doors opened for me? There were
only two museum staff on duty that night and neither
of them had been in there, and they both certainly did
not wear their hair in the way I had described. Whilst
the rest of my visits to the school have not produced
something quite as amazing as that, it has certainly not
disappointed - getting to handle two-hundred-year-old
minute books and having something interacting with
you on an Ovilus whilst you’re taking notes is pretty
mind blowing to me.
Talking to the volunteers at the school subsequently,
they all have their own stories to tell, doors shutting
by themselves, children’s voices heard when there
are none on site, unexplainable cold spots and
shadows moving in and out of doorways. The main
feeling however is that there is nothing malevolent
there, and this was something that I would definitely
concur with, whilst certain areas seem more
welcoming than others, this could be as simple as
they were off limits to members of the public when
it was in operation.
It was the initial experience seeing the woman with
her hair in the bun that started me contemplating that
maybe a book was the order of the day, I would like
to think that I was being guided by a former teacher
to do that, to bring a little more awareness to their
establishment and what it achieved.
Go and visit, sit in the classrooms, absorb the energy
that is there, and listen for the stories that the school
has to tell you.
le,
y not so 'orrib
*when we sa be 'o rr ib le ,
ally
it might actu e.
it's just a tag
lin
Penny x
HAUNTED MAGAZINE 67
THE WHISTLE AND WE WILL COME TO YOU TOUR GUIDE
PARANORMAL
SHROPSHIRE
S
hropshire is by all accounts, a
liminal place. It sits on the margin
between two countries- England
and Wales, and though it feels
both their influences, it often seems like a
separate entity. Shropshire’s got a unique
feel to it, it is almost hard to put your finger
on, as if the landscape is alive with the hum
of the past. Perhaps therefore there is such
a wealth of folklore within the area. Though
the county is often overlooked, it has played
a fundamentally important role in history,
and has been the stage for several bloody
battles and monumental shifts in science,
industry, religion, politics and kingship.
With this in mind, it is no wonder that a few
ghosts got left behind along the way. Few is
perhaps an understatement, with over 500
places pertaining to be haunted. I want to
explore this further and discuss some of the
best paranormal stories from this region.
here are 16 castles in Shropshire, and many
T of these, claim to be inhabited by spectres.
Perhaps the most disturbing is ‘Bloudie
Jack’ who is said to still stalk the grounds of
Shrewsbury Castle- often still accompanied
by one of his unfortunate victims. According to
this 12th century tale, ‘Bloudie Jack, or Jack
Blondel’ (the name often attributed to him)
was a soldier who was stationed at Shrewsbury
Castle who acted as the custodian whilst he
was there. He used his position to charm local
girls and manipulated them into attending his
private quarters at the castle. Unfortunately,
this would be the last thing they did. He would
murder the girls, collecting trophies from their
bodies, only to dispose of their remains by
feeding them to the pigs, or dropping them into
the river Seven. His behaviour was unchecked,
until he murdered his 8th victim- a girl known as
Mary Anne.
Unlike his other victims, Mary Anne could not
keep her new sweetheart a secret. She was
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
so swept up in the passions of her newfound
love, that she bragged to her sister, telling her
all about the solider called Jack she was due to
marry. Her sister was instantly concerned, and
later that day turned up at the castle. She was
greeted by a sight that no family member would
want to see- Jack dragging her poor sister’s
bloody corpse across the castle grounds.
Mary’s sister fled in terror, horrified by what she
was witnessing. However, a few days later, she
returned to the castle. It just so happened that
upon returning, Jack was away, which allowed
her the freedom to search his quarters. There
she found a wooden box, which she carefully
opened. Inside there were 8 sets of fingers,
and 8 sets of toes, arranged in neat little rows.
This ghastly discovery was enough evidence
to convict Jack, and he was hung, drawn and
quartered for his crimes. His head was kept on
display at the castle, as a warning to all those
who went by, and perhaps a reminder to young
women not to trust the wiles of soldiers.
69
 Photo credit: Scivan Scrivener
Photo credit: Scivan Scrivener
70
However, this was not the end of Bloody Jack’s
reign of terror, for many have claimed to see him
stalking the grounds over the years, a shadowy
hunched figure. He is usually accompanied by
blood curdling screams and banging noises.
There have also been sightings of Jack dragging
poor Mary Anne by her hair, to her death.
udlow castle is also known to have its fair
L share of ghosts. The castle itself was founded
by Walter De Lacy and was one of the first stone
castles to be built in England. It has a long and
impressive history and can boast a 900-year-old
ghost and often referred to as the “oldest ghost
in England” Marion De La Buere. This tale begins
with a bit of context, namely with the death of
King Henry I in 1135. Henry died without a male
heir, before his death, he made his Barons swear
an oath, that they would accept his daughter
Matilda as their new queen. Immediately after
his death, many of the Barons chose to support
Stephen (Henry’s Nephew) as their king instead.
Matilda did not part with her title easily though,
which lead to a civil war known as ‘the Anarchy’. It
is during this; we begin our tale.
Ludlow castle was owned by a knight and
husband of Sybilla de Lacy. He belonged to
a group of Barons who supported Matilda.
However, Gilbert De Lacy – a family member and
rival supported Stephen and was looking for an
opportunity to take over Ludlow castle, to gain
favour with the future king.
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
Gilbert’s second in command was called Sir
Arnold De Lyse, and he was encouraged to pursue
Marion La Bruyere (a lady of the castle, who
served Sybilla). The two began a passionate affair,
and Marion fell head over heels for the knight. For
her, the politics of the time meant nought, and
nothing would keep our lovers apart. She would
lower a leather ladder from her bedroom window,
in Pendevin tower, and Arnold would climb up
every night. She spent her days dreaming of her
dearest, and her nights in his arms.
However. Their love was not to be. Arnold took
advantage of her- leaving the ladder out one night
after entering the castle. Whilst the two were in
bed, Gilbert and 100 men stormed the castle,
laying waste to those inside, and claiming it on
behalf of Stephen. Marion realised the mistake
she had made, and the extend of her betrayal.
Arnold was no lover, rather he had used her to
further the machinations of power. Driven by an
anguish so deep it consumed her, she grabbed
her lover’s sword and slit his throat, climbing
to the window and flung herself onto the rocks
below. Marion has not left Ludlow castle, and
if you visit the tower, during quiet evenings
and dusk you can see her ghost still. On the
anniversary of her suicide, she is also said to be
heard and seen, her screams filling the castle
grounds.
To find out more about “oldest
ghost in England https://
chasingcastles.com/the-oldest-
ghost-in-england/
 want us to travel further now, down
I the river Seven to the Ironbridge
area. This is familiar ground for me, it
is where I grew up, and in the cemeteries
my ancestors lie. The whole area has
strong ties to industry and iron- during
the industrial revolution, it would have
been stained black from the coal mines
and shrouded in hellish smoke from the
multitude of furnaces. Ironbridge also
holds cultural importance, boasting the
first large scale production of cast iron.
Today it is a pretty little area of shops and
cafes and museums- and a whole host of
ghosts.

Perhaps the most well-known Ironbridge Ghost

is ‘Fred’ who haunts the Tontine hotel. In life,
Fred was known as Frank Griffin, and he was
the last man to be hung in Shropshire in the
1950s.

After murdering his landlady, he went back to
the room he was renting at the Tontine (room 5)
and this was where he was arrested, and where
his spirit has stayed. Fred is associated with all
sorts of phenomena, including strange lights,
unexplained noises and objects being moved.
He provides all the signatures services of a
haunting it seems. There have been sightings
of Fred in room 5, and in the bar. There are
other ghosts in the Tontine, however we must
leave now, and go outside.
erhaps, my favourite Shropshire spirit is
P not attached to a building, but rather the
River that winds its way, snake like through
What makes this story extra exciting for me
is that around the plagues of the 15th and 16th
centuries, there were plague pits in the Jackfield
area, and a quite common form of transporting
the dead was via the river. Due to the nature of
the plague, the bargeman would often succumb
to the illness. It was also common for people who
had become immune to the disease to take on
such a position, so one can only imagine what
horrors such a person would have witnessed.
Conceivably this tale is a throwback from that
time, a collective memory of these floating
charnel houses, repeated enough times to
become a haunting. Or perhaps the boat is still
making that journey down the River Seven, and
the poor bargeman is doomed to witness this for
eternity. All I know is that this story has stayed
with me since I was a child, and I keep my eye
out for him still.
Amy Boucher is a writer, folklorist, Historian
and a fan of all things spooky. Originally from
Shropshire, she now resides in the North West,
where she works to share the stories, she
grew up with.
To find out more about Amy, hold
your mobile phone camera / QR
Code app reader over QR Code
and enjoy... or if a digital is not your
thing just follow her on Twitter @
G0blinegg
www.nearlyknowledgeablehistory.
blogspot.com
DO YOU WANT TO CALL UP YOUR INNER
JUDITH CHILLMERS OR ALAN WICCA AND
WRITE ABOUT THE SPOOKY AREA WHERE
YOU LIVE OR GREW UP, FOR US?

the county- The River Seven. Once a
goddess known as Sabrina or Hafren in Welsh,
the River Seven cuts through the Ironbridge
Gorge, you can cross it via the Iron-bridge
if you wish, and it is said to be haunted by a
Spectral Barge. There have been innumerable
sightings of this ghostly vessel, which is said
to be long, and dark as if cloaked by night. It
is said to float down the River Seven slowly,
carrying a ghastly cargo of human bodies,
stacked side by side and on top of each other.
It is driven by a solitary creature, hooded in
a shroud of night, and often described an
inhumanly tall. It sails slowly underneath the
Ironbridge and disappears. But this is not the
I have only scratched the surface with my WELL WHISTLE AND WE’LL COME TO YOU
depiction of Shropshire hauntings. I could have OR JUST IN CASE YOU CAN’T WHISTLE,
talked about the drowned twins of Jackfield, YOU COULD JUST EMAIL US AT
who still haunt the house their bodies were taken whistlestoptour@hauntedmagazine.co.uk
to, or indeed the multitude of ghostly monks
that have a proclivity for the region (one of my
favourite being the two monks of St Peters
Church in Easthope who died fighting, and
their ghosts still spar to this day). There are
white ladies and black dogs, wicked horsemen
and many of the tropes familiar in paranormal
discourse, as well as some unique tales which I
would urge you to discover. Shropshire may be
an understated place, but it is enlivened with
the memories of its dead.

A my x
end of the tale. The bargeman is often seen
again, down river in Jackfield. Here he stands
on the riverbed, as if waiting, next to rows and
rows of the corpses, now on dry land.

HAUNTED MAGAZINE 71
 #TheWorldOfTheUnknown trilogy comes to a monstrous finale with the
republishing of another seminal classic #AllAboutMonsters…

MONSTERS ‘INK’
It is Usborne’s aim to make knowledge absolutely irresistible, to feed children’s curiosity
and to help them continue discovering the world around them

F
irst published in 1977, The World of the Unknown:
Monsters was one of the very first books from
Usborne, then a brand-new publisher that set out
to revolutionise the world of children’s books.
Alongside the other books in the series, Ghosts and UFOs, it
lived on bookshelves in bedrooms and libraries, thrilling its
young readers with mythical monsters and sinister sightings,
and igniting their curiosity with the possibility of strange,
undiscovered creatures in our world.

After twenty years, the world moved on, and the World of
the Unknown series went out of print. But it wasn’t forgotten.
The books lived on in the memories of a generation, and
when the readers of the 1970s and ‘80s grew up, they
wanted them back. In 2019, Usborne’s very own World of
the Unknown superfan set up a petition to bring back the
first in the series, Ghosts. It was a resounding success, and
the book was printed in time for Halloween with a brand-
new foreword from another mega-fan, BAFTA-winning
writer, comedian, and actor Reece Shearsmith. UFOs
was then resurrected the following year, this time with a
contribution from actor and comedian Jon Culshaw.

And now, in October 2021, Usborne is proud

to summon the final book in the series back
from the depths for a new generation of
readers, leading the way in publishing books
that spark children’s imagination and curiosity.
The World of the Unknown: Monsters is for
anyone who has ever glimpsed a sinister
shape looming in the sea, heard an unknown
creature’s footsteps crunching through the
forest, or wondered about the existence of
monsters in remote regions of the world.
And that is what Usborne’s all about, even now, almost 50
years after the books were originally published. Kids are
naturally, irrepressibly interested in the world around them –
it is Usborne’s aim to make knowledge absolutely irresistible,
to feed their curiosity and to help them continue discovering
the world around them – and perhaps, one day, the worlds
beyond…

Joining Reece Shearsmith and Jon Culshaw is comedian,

actor, writer, and monster enthusiast Robin Ince, who
provides the new foreword for this final book in the series.

The World of the Unknown: Monsters is out September

30th & available from bookstores and online. Please try
to support your independent bookstore (Shhh, don’t tell
Amazon OK?)

72 HAUNTED MAGAZINE
 Enter The World Of Robin Ince’s Unknown

#AllAboutRobin
Robin, first of all, thanks
for speaking to us, please
tell us how writing the
foreword for the republish
of #WorldOfTheUnknown
Monsters came about?

I am not sure whether

someone saw my
Satanic Rites of Robin Ince
show which included talk of
these great Usborne books,
or heard me muttering
about The Loch Ness
Monster on The Infinite
Monkey Cage (favourite
theory - the monster is
actually the ghost of a
dinosaur) or whether it was
from my podcast series
An Uncanny Hour which
deals with mystical and
mythical masterpieces, but
consciousness and
one day, the email arrived, and I said
curiosity that means that ghosts may
an immediate yes.
play in their skulls too, just as I love
How would you describe yourself? looking at old photos and thinking
Who is Robin Ince? about how the life of the long dead
can feel trapped in them.
A frenetic fool desperately fighting
against the anxiety churned up by How did The Infinity Monkey Cage
his lower animal brain and trying come about? AND can you describe
to defend himself by perpetually Professor Brian Cox in three words?
retreating into busy-ness or
impersonations of Brian Blessed. That’s The Infinity Monkey cage came about
who Robin Ince (me) is. because I was the guest on pilot that
didn’t work, but our producer thought
What are your memories of there might be fun to be had by sitting
the Usborne World of the Unknown Brian Cox next to an idiot and thus we
books growing up? What monster became the Hart to Hart of science
thrilled, fascinated and / or scared broadcasting.
you?
3 words for Cox? Immaculate Stepford
The story of Borley Rectory stuck with physicist.
me, but I am a big fan of lycanthropy
and all the different culture versions of We loved the two Dead Funny
shape changers, so the muscular torso books (horror stories by comedians).
and wide trunk of the African elephant How did Dead Funny come about?
spirit sticks in my mind. Are there more Dead Funny books
planned?
Do you believe in the paranormal,
and have you ever had a paranormal That came about from drinking fine
experience that you can share? pale ale in the bar of the Norwich
art centre with horror genius Johnny
I am fascinated by it but believe it Mains. I met him after a gig, we
is all the creation of our energetic drank and talked of horrible things,
minds, which does not make it dull for and he thought horror stories by
me. I love thinking about what other comedians was a good idea and so
animals may have a level of self- did I.

HAUNTED MAGAZINE 73

The surprise I think was just how grotesque
some of them were.
My kids seem disinterested in science at
school, do you think it should be taught
differently to get kids interested in it more?
I think there is not enough play in science.
Sadly, education secretaries have successively
promoted joyless memorisation and not the
real delight of looking at something and being
bemused and starting to tinker. I write quite a
lot about it in my new book - The Importance
of Being Interested (WHAT DO YOU MEAN
I AM ONLY MEANT TO BE PLUGGING
ONE THING IN THIS INTERVIEW, BUT IT
IS OUT SOON AND JANE GOODALL AND
ALAN MOORE ARE IN IT... okay, back to the
monsters).
Do you think there is a Monster in Loch
Ness? What are you favourite monsters (fact
or fiction)?
I still find the famous footage of bigfoot
haunting, and also the movie footage
of the Loch Ness Monster interesting
to watch; but I am afraid the most
monstrous things are still found in the cruel
imagination of certain humans. I am a big
fan of the Shadmock, I know it can only
whistle, but when you see the result of a
Shadmock’s whistle ...
What books are you reading at the moment,
tell us about the Cosmic Shambles network?
74
The books I have been reading this afternoon
in the bath are Michael Talbot’s The
Holographic Universe, James Kinsley’s novella
Playtime’s Over which starts with a very
haunting drowning and Roy ’Chubby’ Brown’s
Common as Muck as recommended by Wil
Hodgson, the ex-wrestler and comedian
who trims my beard (you probably think i
am making all of this up, but this is all true). I
started the day reading Anil Seth’s Being You
- a new science of consciousness - I like to
bombard my brain with as much as possible,
it doesn’t retain it all, but it leads to some
interesting echoes.
Do you think World of the Unknown:
Monsters will appeal to both kids and over
45s alike, or just us over 45s reminiscing of
innocent days gone by, reading about ghosts,
UFOs, and monsters?
I think it will appeal to everyone with a desire
to explore the gigantic, the murky and the
fanged.
You seem to be involved in more podcasts
than you can shake a stick at, what is An
Uncanny Hour?
An Uncanny Hour came out of me needing
too much to do during lockdown. I recorded
an interview with someone who had written a
book about UFOs and it hadn’t come out how
I hoped, so rather than jettisoning it, I thought
I would speak to more people and make it into
a documentary, then I thought, I fancy making
another about Ealing’s Dead of Night and
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
Pictures courtesy of Usborne
another about the early work of Hawkwind
and off I went, chatting to Toyah Willcox,
Stewart Lee, Mark Gatiss and lots more. We
have made 12 so far and are about to do a
new series starting with The Owl Service, plus
Stewart Lee and I are about to make something
else too, of a similar sort.
Are there any more classic kid’s books from
back in the day that should be reprinted
and republished? (We are hoping Usborne’s
Supernatural World can come back from the
dead.)
I would love to see updates of all the Hamlyn
books such as The Hamlyn Book of Horror by
Dan Farson.
And finally, what’s on the agenda for Robin
Ince from October 2021 and onwards into
2022?
All being well, I will be doing a tour of 100
independent bookshops when my new
book The Importance of Being Interested is
published - from Aberdeen to Penzance with
98 stops in between and hopefully Monkey
Cage will be back. Then, I am off on tour with
Prof Cox, plus I am working on two more
books - one on reality and one on
anxiety
Thanks so much for the
fascinating chat Robin.
Find more about The World of
Robin Ince http://robinince.com/

If you’re into the
paranormal you are
probably searching for
answers, WE ARE!! Not
always from the spooks
though, we like to ask
questions on our social
media pages too, from time
to time. It’s a good way
to interact, to learn and
have a bit of fun.
We actually thought it would be interesting to share the thought process of people as we always
have different ways of interpreting a question, dependant on your belief systems and your
personality. BUT first, we have to say this, call it a paranormal disclaimer, if you will:
IF YOU ASK A QUESTION, BE PREPARED FOR THE ANSWER!!!
QUESTION: If you were a ghost, how would you "haunt",
where would you "haunt" and who would you "haunt"?
I’d be a stone tape ghost and
keep repeating 1988-1998... Do
NOT disturb me! Ashley
I’d haunt the space station and
keep moving things around,
peeking in the windows,
knocking on the door, etc.
Nancy
I can’t say, it would spoil the
surprise for those on the
receiving end. Becky
Just as I was reading this there
was a bump upstairs. Sheila
Don’t really want to be a lost
spirit but if I was, I think that I
would get great joy in looking
at the livings faces and seeing
them running away while I was
bumping around. Linda
I’d be a nightmare, there’s
several people who will suffer.
I’m looking forward to it. Angela
Me have my friend have decided
to have a code word or do
something in particular to either
of us when we pass, until we
meet again. Then there’s a few
others who have broken my
heart, I want to scare the shit out
of them, otherwise I’m all love
and light. Emma
HAUN TE D M AGAZINE’S
I’d haunt the men’s room of a
busy pub. Got to get my laughs
somewhere. Lucy
Well, it would have to be my
husband and the people who
talks about me behind my back.
Wendy
I would haunt all who have lied
to me and used me in the past.
Susan
I’d go to the locations where
people stabbed me in the back
and stole my research and I would
do stuff like move toilet rolls,
and just basically inconvenience
people. Mike
I’d haunt an old building that
was busy I’d move things from
room to room and have a sinister
mischievous laugh. I’d touch
people when there alone or not
paying attention. John
I’d knock on people’s doors while
they are masturbating. Bryan
I’d haunt all of the gaslighters and
make them think THEY’RE crazy!
Kate
I would haunt all these so-called
paranormal investigators for
being so rude and disrespectful
especially swearing to all our
dearly departed loved ones....
Fact. Molly
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
From an idea
by Juliette
Gregson
I’d take the spinning plate out of
their microwave! Bev
Can we throw people through
windows? Asking for a friend.
Colin
I’d haunt somewhere cool and
old, but busy. Like a castle. And
I’d make it my mission to give
people heart attacks. Like waiting
round corners, outside toilets
doors etc, where people would
least expect it. Give them a good,
instantaneous fright and vanish in
a puff of laughter. Lorien
I have repeatedly told my
daughters that when I die, they
are not to sell my yarn stash for
pennies. And if they do, I will
come back and haunt them.
Seriously considering adding
to my Last Will and Testament!
Paula
I’ve a list of people who I’m going
to haunt lol...many with mischief
... some inconvenient ... and some
payback. Vonne
Keep checking our social media
for our random questions
(search Haunted Magazine
on Facebook, Twitter or
Instagram) and you may appear
in future issues.
75
 ‘Lincolnshire is a place that is filled with
mystery, history, and some of breath-taking
scenery, it is a place that I visit regularly, often
in search of old WWII sites, but in recent years
the county has drawn me back time and time
again. During 2020 and 2021 I was tasked with
researching a story that was doing the rounds
but had never been properly researched’
A reporter friend of mine, who regularly writes
for the national newspapers, had heard a story
about cursed cauldrons in Lincolnshire, and
asked me to look into it for him. He knew
that I had a liking for such stories, and as such
he wanted me to uncover the truth. We had
worked together on several big stories over the
years including “The 1801 Hull UFO Scare,”
“The Beast of Barmston Drain,” and “The
Humber Monster,” and on several occasions our
stories had gone viral. I was reluctant at first to
participate, given that Lincolnshire is not really
my area of expertise, but he soon convinced
me. I set out to explore the story, but was soon
taken down a long weaving, winding track, with
one cursed cauldron quickly becoming two!
While I was researching it became known
that I was dipping my toes into the region,
and as such I was inundated with requests to
discuss the topic on podcasts and radio shows,
eventually appearing on TalkRadio, where we
discussed the case. At the time, though, I was
still researching, and reluctant to give too much
away.
I eventually submitted my research, two pages
of historical data, but the story never made it
to the press, so instead I decided to dig deeper.
When one has a deadline, you can tend to
rush to make it work, but when you have the
freedom of time, you can spend more hours
in the archives researching and not have to
worry about rushing. The further details that I
uncovered are presented here, exclusively, for
the readers of Haunted Magazine!
76
A
ccording to the stories East Halton’s
Manor Farm is the location of a pot, or
cauldron, depending upon which story
you read, that is cursed. This was the first
cursed cauldron I was asked to investigate.
It is said that the object is contained within
a cask, which in turn is kept locked away
within a steel cage, which in turn is bricked
up in a cellar. The reason for this is that
the pot is said to have caused at least three
deaths.
The origins of the pot are shrouded in
mystery, but one of the stories states that
some years previously the Manor Farm was
connected via a tunnel in the basement to the
nearby Thornton Abbey. The abbey itself is
purported to be haunted, but it was not the
ghosts of the abbey that caused the story.
Depending upon which version you read,
either a vertically challenged man with a
birth defect (a humpback dwarf) entered the
basement via the tunnel from the abbey and
was subsequently killed on account of him
entering the property. Another version states
that there was a goblin that was found in the
basement and killed.
Another version states that the vertically
challenged man with the birth defect was
killed by the monks, who, to get rid of the
evidence, burnt the body and put the ashes
into the pot, which was then smuggled into
the Manor Farm basement. Other variations
link the body in the pot to a mischievous hob,
a kind of nature spirit, often referred to as
boggles, in other counties, and occasionally
sprites.
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
THE CURSED
CAULDRON AT
EAST HALTON
The curious thing about the allegedly cursed
cauldron, is that with every telling the story
seemed to change. There was no singular
narrative, and details such as the ghosts,
hauntings, victims, and locations changed
with every version. Tracing the origins of the
story were also troublesome.
Mabel Peacock first mentioned the story
of the pot when she was informed that the
property was haunted by a hob, which had
first appeared at the property only three or
four years before she visited. She reported
that the creature’s appearance was said to
be linked to an old iron cauldron kept in the
cellar. According to her version of the story
the cauldron was full of sand and bones,
which were said to have been the thumb
bones of children. She was informed that
if the bones or sand were stirred, the hob
would show itself at 12 o’clock. Peacock
stated that she knew of at least one occasion
when the cauldron was removed from the
cellar, emptied, and used, but with nothing
untoward happening afterwards. Mabel
Peacock was a well-known poet and
writer who was often in the Lincolnshire
newspapers during the 1880’s talking about
local folklore and local dialect.
The story would again resurface in 1893,
when Leland Lewis Duncan sent a letter,
which stated that the hob would appear at
night, and when the cauldron was disturbed,
poltergeist activity would take place, with
reports of chairs moving and falling, and the
sound of someone running up and down the
stairs.
 It was later reported that when the family tried to flee the
farm, the hob followed them, causing their return. This is
similar to the hob stories told in North Yorkshire.
EAST HALTON OR
HALTON HOLEGATE
I wanted to ascertain whether there was any historical
documentation or relevant contemporary newspaper reports
that covered the story and began researching for anything to
do with Halton and ghosts. A shocking twist in the story came
when a new story emerged that caused a sensation when it
was published during August 1897 in a number of newspapers,
including The London Daily News, dated Monday August 30th,
1897, The Manchester Evening News, dated Monday August
30th, 1897, and The Sheffield Daily Telegraph, also dated Monday
August 30th, 1897, and many more, it stated:
A LINCOLNSHIRE GHOST STORY.
STRANGE TALE FROM A COUNTRY
FARMHOUSE
From Halton Holegate, a village near Spilsby, Lincolnshire,
comes a mysterious story, which one can easily imagine caus-
ing the utmost sensation among the simple country folk in
the neighbourhood. For some time, rumours of human bones
having been discovered under a brick floor of a farm near the
village, of strange unearthly tapping, and the like having been
heard, and of a ghost having been seen, have been afloat, and
it was with the intention (if possible) of sighting the mystery
to the bottom that a Lincolnshire reporter visited the scene.
The farmstead where the weird sounds are said to have been
heard and the ghost seen stands back some distance from
the high road, and is occupied by a Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, and
their manservant. On being interviewed by the reporter, Mrs.
Wilson narrated the following story:
“We came here on Lady Day last. The first night or so we
heard very strange noises about midnight, as though some-
one was knocking at the doors and walls. Once it seemed as
though someone was moving all the things about in a hurry
downstairs. Another time the noise was like a heavy picture
falling from the wall, but in the morning, I found everything
as right as it was the night before. The servant man left, say-
ing that he dare not stop, and we had to get another. Then
about six weeks ago I saw “something.” Before getting into
bed, my husband having retired before me, I thought I would
do downstairs and see if the cow was all right, as it was about
to calve. I did so, and then at the foot of the stairs, just as I
was about to go up again, I saw an old man standing at the
top and looking at me. He was standing as though he was
very round-shouldered. How I got past I can’t say, but I dart-
ed past him into the bedroom and slammed the door. Here
I went to get some water from the dressing table, but feeling
that someone was behind me, I turned round sharply, and
there again stood the same old man. He quickly vanished, but
I am quite certain I had seen him. I have also seen him sever-
al times since, though not quite so distinctly.” Mrs. Wilson
next conducted her interviewer to the sitting room, where it
appeared a gruesome discovery had been made. The floor in
one corner, it seems, had been very uneven, and a day or two
ago Mrs. Wilson took up the bricks with the intention of her
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
relaying them. No sooner had she done this, however,
than a most disagreeable odour was emitted. Her sus-
picions being aroused, she called her husband, and the
two commenced a minute examination. Three or four
bones were soon turned over, together with a gold ring
and several pieces of black silk. All these had evidently
been buried in quicklime, the bones and silk being ob-
viously burnt therewith. The search after this was not
further prosecuted, but a quantity of sand introduced,
and the floor quickly levelled again. Asked what her own
opinion was on the mysteries, Mrs. Wilson confidently
asserted that her belief at some time or other foul play
had taken place. She was fully persuaded in her own
mind with regard to the apparition, for thought it was
suggested she might have been mistaken, she disdained
the idea as being beneath notice. Dr. Gay, to whom the
bones were submitted, stated that they might be those
of a dog or pig. Writing later, the correspondent says
Dr. Gay on further examination states the bones are un-
doubtedly human, but he believes them to be nearly a
hundred years old.
That version of the events was published in countless newspapers
around the country. It laid the foundation for the story which
would gather pace over the next few days with many twists and
turns, but it also moved the story from East Halton to Halton
Holegate.
East Halton, the village associated with the infamous cursed
cauldron is a civil parish in North Lincolnshire that stands to the
north-west of Immingham and stands approximately 2.55 km /
1.59 miles to the north of North Killingholme, and approximately
2.83 km / 1.76 miles to the west of the Humber, from where the
Killingholme and Immingham ports are situated.
Halton Holegate is a small village in the East Lindsey District, and
also stands in Lincolnshire. The village stands approximately 1.91
km / 1.19 miles from the junction of the A16 and B1195 roads at
Spilsby.
Halton Holegate stands approximately 60.96 km / 37.88 miles to
the south-east of East Holgate.
Another story that was printed in numerous sources was a follow
up that included a few more details. The follow up was printed
in The Lancashire Evening Post, dated Wednesday September 1st,
1897, it stated:
THE LINCOLNSHIRE GHOST
Further discoveries are being made at the farmhouse in
Halton Holgate, near Spilsby, where the movements of the
latest Lincolnshire ghost were reported the other day. An-
other examination of the brickwork covering the floor of
the sitting room was made yesterday, when several more
bones were unearthed, and further pieces of carded silk
were found. These, together with the bones discovered
on the previous occasion, are broken, and decayed, but,
according to the medical advice already consulted, the ev-
idence is clear that the body interred was that of a lady.
Despite the wide publication given to the movements of
the “ghost,” the nocturnal visitant continues to make his
mysterious presence known in a variety of ways. Every
night the occupants of the farmhouse are disturbed by
knockings and tappings.
77
 For some days, however, the “round shouldered old man”
who suddenly appeared before the farmer’s wife has not
been seen. A lamp is now kept burning in the bedroom,
where, according to Mrs. Wilson, the apparition made his
previous appearance.
The Derby Mercury dated Wednesday September 1st, 1897,
featured a brief report on the case that was different from the
other stories. It stated that the Lincolnshire ghost was disturbed
when the bones were exhumed, and that the best way to put
these nocturnal supernatural visits to rest, would be to bury the
bones in consecrated ground.
The Westminster Gazette, a newspaper published in London also
picked up on the story in a report dated Friday September 3rd,
1897, which stated:
THE LINCOLNSHIRE GHOST STORY
of
Mr. Millson Enderby, of the Station Hotel, Boston, as proprietor
the High Farm, Halton Holgate, near Spilsby, where the Lincolnshire
ghost was reported to have made its appeara nce, writes to deny many
of the statements publishe d in connect ion with that subject. He adds:
“The house is a lonely place, stands in the middle of the farm, and has
been occupied by farmers, auctione ers, &c, since it was built in 1819.”
On the same day The Stamford Mercury, dated Friday September
3rd, 1897, added a slightly different angle to the story with an
article that it published which stated:
THE LINCOLNSHIRE GHOST:
MORE HUMAN REMAINS FOUND
Further excavations under a farmhou se at Halton Holegate, under
the brick floor of the sitting room, have led to more bones being
unearth ed and more pieces of corded silk being found. This far
the bones of the arms and legs have been found, presuma bly of a
female. Every night the occupants are aroused by knockings and
tappings, but the ghostly visitor has not been seen for over a week,
a lamp being now kept burning in the bedroom where Mrs. Wilson
asserts that she several times saw the apparitio n of an old man.
The Illustrated Police News, dated Saturday September 4th,
1897, a newspaper that published a lot of national crime
stories even picked up on the story, it stated that:
A LINCOLNSHIRE GHOST. SUPPOSED
DISCOVERY OF HUMAN BONES.
The good folk at Halton Holegate, a village near Spilsby, in Lincoln-
shire, are excited over a ghost story. For some time, rumours have
been afloat of human bones having been discovered under the brick
floor of a farm near the village, of strange unearthly tappings having
been heard, and of the appearance of a ghostly visitor as the precursor
of these happenings.
The farmstead, where the weird sounds are said to have been
heard and the ghost is said to have been seen, stands some
distance from the high road, and is occupied by Mr. and Mrs.
78 HAUNTED MAGAZINE
Wilson a manservant. Mrs. Wilson has been seen and told the
following remarkable story: -
“We came here on Lady Day last. The first night or so we heard
very strange noises about midnight, as though someone was knock-
ing at the door and walls. Once it seemed as though someone was
moving all the things about in a hurry downstairs. Another time
the noise was like a heavy picture falling from the wall, but in the
morning, I found everything as right as it was the night before.
The servant man left, saying he dared not stop, and we had to get
another. Then about six weeks ago I saw something. Before getting
into bed – my husband having retired before me – I went downstairs
to see the cow, and just as I was about to go up again, I saw an old
man standing at the top looking at me. He was standing as though
he was round-shouldered. How I got past I can’t say, but I darted
past him into the bedroom and slammed the door. Afterwards I felt
that someone was behind me; I turned round sharply, and there
again stood the same old man. He quickly vanished, but I am quite
certain I saw him. I have also seen him several times since, though
not quite so distinctly.”
Mrs. Wilson next conducted her interviewer to the sitting room,
where a gruesome discovery had been made. The floor in one
corner had been very uneven, and a day or two ago Mrs. Wilson
took up the bricks with the intention of relaying them. No sooner
had she done this than a most disagreeable odour was emitted.
Her suspicions being aroused, she called her husband, and the
two commenced a minute examination. Three or four bones were
soon turned over, together with a gold ring and several pieces of
old black silk. All these had evidently been buried in quick lime.
Asked what her own opinion of the affair was, Mrs. Wilson confi-
dently asserted her belief that at some time or other foul play had
taken place. She was fully persuaded in her own mind with regard
to the apparition, and though it was suggested she might have
been mistaken she disdained the idea as being beneath notice.
Dr. Gay, a local medical man, to whom the bones have been sub-
mitted, states that they are undoubtedly human, but he believes
them to be nearly 100 years old.
The Sheffield Daily Telegraph featured a follow up report on
Monday September 13th, 1897, which stated:
THE LINCOLNSHIRE GHOST. FURTHER
PARTICULARS.
Despite all efforts the Lincolnshire ghost mystery still remains
unravelled. That the noise nightly heard cannot be attributed to
rats has been amply demonstrated, and other suggestions when
acted upon likewise fail to elucidate the mystery. All over the
country the affair has excited the greatest interest, and two Lon-
don gentlemen have written asking for permission to stay a night
in the house. Other letters have been received from clairvoyants
asking for pieces of the silk or one of the bones found under the
floor, whilst a London clergyman has written advising Mrs. Wil-
son to have the bones buried in consecrated ground. “Then,” he
says, “the ghostly visitor will trouble you no longer.” The owner
of the house in question – a farmstead near Halton Holegate, near
Spilsby – has tries to throw discredit on the whole affair, but such
efforts have failed, and it now transpires the house was known to
be haunted fully 30 years ago.
CURSES, CAULDRONS,
BLACK DOGS, GHOSTS,
AND A ONE-EYED COW

I
n February 1932 the property was visited by Ethel Rudkin and
reported that it was badly haunted. Rudkin was a well-known
folklorist. She reported that the pot was put in the basement by the
then occupiers, and to put the spirit to rest it was covered in pins and
earth. Rudkin reported that she got into the cellar by a single stone
set of steps, with the cellar being 8ft square, and the pot buried under
a slab in the centre. Rudkin was able to interview a former resident,
who claimed that she had never ever moved the pot for fear of getting
bad luck for life. Ethel Rudkin would eventually publish her version
of events and often made appearances in the Lincolnshire newspapers
discussing folklore, Arthurian legends, and stories of Big Black Dogs in
the district.
In 1975 the pot made headline news again when the Lincolnshire Echo
Mr. W. Winter in the village, gave birth to a one-eyed calf a few days
reported on the deaths of three individuals, all of whom had links to
earlier. The animal also had one ear, and the jaws were crossed. It
the curse attached to the pot. At that time the builder responsible for
was stated that the animal was healthy but would not be able to eat
the renovations was Mr. Alf Darwood, who was photographed with the
solid food and would have rely on a diet of milk.
pot.
According to the report a local businessman, named John Morton, CONCLUSION
purchased the property, and began extensive renovations. He was
asked whether he wanted the pot removing, by the local minister It would appear that both Halton Holegate and East Halton
Reverend Bob Kenyon, who firmly believed in the curse, but he have stories regarding allegedly haunted properties in which are
decided to put steel plates around the pot to stop it being moved. allegedly cursed cauldrons which have since been bricked up. Both
have historical backgrounds, with historical contemporary reports,
It was later reported that the cellar had been bricked up and was but both stories have swapped details with each telling, and as such
unreachable today, and that the pot was still there, in the steel cage they have become inter-twined.
away from curious onlookers.
According to the legend a family by the name of Atkin took over the ‘Whatever the case, I would firmly suggest that if you venture into
Manor Farm in East Halton during the early 20th century, with a young Lincolnshire over the next few months, you avoid touching, kicking,
boy dismissing the story. It was said that he took the pot and threw it holding, grabbing, removing, or returning any cauldrons in the
into the village pond but was later killed when a wagon ran him over district!’
down the lane. The little boy was never named in any of the stories
and a search of the contemporary newspapers show no such event
Mike Covell
having taken place, or at the very least not been reported. You would East Halton, with Manor Farm, marked as Manor House on this
think, though, that such a story would make the headlines! map from the 1890’s.
It is then claimed that a local, who was superstitious, took the pot
from the pond and returned it to the cellar, but died within the day...
or hours, depending upon which version of the story you read. The
man was never named in any of the stories, and again a search of the
contemporary newspaper reports revealed no such story. Again, you
think that such a story would make the headlines, but again there was
nothing reported.
It is claimed that Atkin warned his children to stay away from the pot,
but one evening his son, six-year-old Charles, accidentally knocked
into it, and the following day Charles was killed when he was ran over
by a haycart.
Curiously a search of the British Death Indexes for Charles Atkin aged
6 turned up a blank. Alternatively, a search of the 19th and 20th century
newspapers also failed to turn up such a story. Some versions of the
story state that the Atkin family resided at the farm from 1930 but
searching the historical newspaper archives for the name of Charles
Atkin or Atkins turned up a blank for a six-year-old boy being killed in
such a tragedy.
It was after this that his father ordered that the cellar be bricked up,
and the pot put out of reach of anyone who might dare to break
superstition. ≠
East Halton is no stranger to strange goings on, on Friday January 7th,
1927, it was reported in the Hull Daily Mail that a cow, belonging to

HAUNTED MAGAZINE 79
 The Scrambled Ramblings of Hubert’s Ramblings…
PROTECT, RESPECT &
HELP THE AGED
‘Fresh from many days of shielding
and lockdown after lockdown,
Hubert Hobux, the oldest ghost
hunter that we know (there’s rumour
he quaffed a few with Harry Price
and downed Absinthe with Conan-
Doyle you know), is on a journey,
spiritually YES, paranormal OF
COURSE but also a physical journey
walking and exploring the many
beautiful locations his local area and
surroundings have to offer. Penning
them to parchment via a feathered
quill (and sending them to us via
either pigeon, a coach and horses, or
mysteriously packaged and left for
us), he visits locations you may know,
some you may not, and writes about
them in his own unequivocal and
unique style’
80
llow me to indulge in a rant first
A if I may. So sadly, as I predicted,
the lockdown release brought the
urbanised survivors from beneath their
rocks and immediately tried to catch up
on the destruction of the earth... Belching
poisonous exhaust fumes into the newly
cleaned air, strewing the beaches with plastic
and bodily fluids... littering the leafy country
lanes with the detritus of disrespectful
humanity... We were patient, we
allowed them their moment of
hysteria as they emerged
blinking out into the
brightness of a new day...
but the maltreatment of a
local ancient monument
has gone beyond the
pale.
Doll Tor, “Six Stones“,
an early Bronze Aged
stone circle, is in a
secluded dell long
prone to unintentional
abuse from neo pagans...
unfortunately the circle has
been lately desecrated by wild
campers, who deconstructed parts
of the site to “scrape out” a “fire pit”,
destroying the ancient centre cairn in
the process… as well as lighting other
fires dangerously close to tinder dry
scrub... how the copse wasn’t engulfed
in flames is a mystery known only to the
elementals!
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
Admittedly the circle and cairn had been
previously “ knocked about a bit”... partially
excavated by Thomas Bateman (“The Barrow
Knight”) in 1852, when he removed various
artefacts from the monument including
‘bucket’ urns, cups and calcined human
remains. Then in 1932 J.P. Heathcote, county
archaeologist, dug anew, finding evidence
of five more cremations and excavated bone,
bronze and flint implements.
Pottery was recovered, as
well as further evidence
of calcined human
remains, notably
a female... He
interpreted the
monument as a
place of burial,
ritual and possibly
an area reserved
for seasonal
celebrations.
The placing of
the later cairn or
cairns shows that
the site was used for
a protracted period
of time.... though that
doesn’t give people the right
to invade and damage the site
in the euphoria of lockdown release... I’ll tell
you why I’m always very respectful when
approaching these ancient spiritual sites;
sites that may still harbour things of which
we do not understand.... When the Heathcote
party were excavating here in 1933, three
of the stones were mysteriously smashed
overnight.
No explanation was ever found. They
are now held together with concrete.
I had my own spirit-ee encounter
at another sacred circle in the
Peaks...
I will never forget that first walk
to The Seven Stones of Hordron,
and I’d been curious to visit that
unique Derbyshire stone circle for a
long, long time... even before I was
orientated to the locale I had heard
first hand from “Megalith Baggers
“ that the “interesting site” was
worthwhile seeking out... generally
they hunt usually overgrown, heather
obscured Neolithic sites… Hordron
Edge was a little more distinct than
others with paradoxically nine, of the
stumpy menhirs are still standing...
and came with folklore attached...
The slightly larger stone aligned with
far off Lose Hill is actually known
as the “Fairy Stone” ... oft noticed
were mysterious lights, witnessed
flitting around and over the Edge by
the travellers negotiating the paths
of Moscar Moor in twilight... The Fae
were obviously dancing about still... I
was magnetically drawn, still took me
several years to reach the Circle of
Hordron though...
Whichever way you approach the
Seven Stones is steep... very...
and frequently claggy and you’re
often alone as they’re not on a
path “to anywhere” as such... not
directionally anyway ... As I crested
the plateau gasping ... and picked up
the old sheep trail towards what must
have been the ceremonial entrance
... I was struck by an awe of solemn
reverence for some reason... and felt
the need to “ask permission to enter
their sacred circle...” best thing I did,
for as I walked around the inner circle
in a processional stroll I was slowly
overtaken and enveloped by one of
those cold, “staticky” embraces!
Gentle and brief, something was
indicating its awareness of me, and
I was relieved my intentions were
good... the sense was of something
incredibly old and wise... I noticed
the tributes people had obviously
taken up as offerings, simple cockle
shells, pebbles, and small stones
apparently from other far-off areas,
I had nothing with me to leave but I
promised to bring something next
time and placed my hand on the Fairy
Stone in gratitude for such a kind
welcome... and I kid you not, the Fairy
Stone that day... was pulsing with
energy....
So, forgive our jealousy in wanting
to protect our local ancient
heritage from maltreatment...
some of us will always be
respectful for the old... the
mystical old...
THE SEARCH FOR
THE SHATTON BOGGART
he story goes thus; a labourer
T had been helping the farmer at
Old Lees, upon completion of his
toil he heads off back home along
Offerton Lane... reaching “the two stone
stoops between which the pathway from
Shatton runs into a field”, he found his
way blocked by a black, misty mass of...
something disconcerting... stopping
him dead in his tracks with a dread that
convinced him not to proceed.
“The Boggart simply wouldn’t
allow him to pass there,
as had always been
his custom. So, he
worked his way
round to a gap
in the hedge,
only to find
that ‘the
thing’ was to
confront him
there also.
‘It wasn’t a
dog or a ram’
he assured
those to whom
he spoke of his
adventure. ‘Oh,
dear no! It was
something terrifying
and supernatural!’
Finally, he abandoned his
endeavour to reach Offerton
by his usual route and sought his
destination circuitously.”
You can still follow the blighted
labourers’ route very easily, and an
eerie way it can be on occasion... with
only the sheep peripherally observing
your progress, some tortuously twisted
trees and curiously discarded ancient
boundary stones mysteriously lining your
trail.... the high moorland above you is
of course littered with remnants from
the Bronze Age and earlier peoples, you
could well imagine some primordial force
of avenging energy swooping down from
the dark peaty heights to confront your
deepest inner fears......
Some say... this tale is only a slice from
the vivid imagination of Doctor Mary
Andrews... a marvellous lady who lived
in Shatton after taking a break from her
beloved Totley Wolf Cub troop... of whom
she had been “Scoutmaster” of the 85th
Sheffield from 1919 until 1940. A keen
writer and member of the Buxton Writer’s
Circle as well as a student of local history
and archaeology, Dr. Andrews published
at least two books: A Child’s History of
Sheffield and A Scout’s Short History
of Sheffield. She was also a renowned
raconteur of local ghost stories...
HAUNTED MAGAZINE
refreshingly
contrary to
her scientific upbringing... maybe she
had absorbed the paranormal vibe
from the place of her birth... Wortley
Forge... Born 16th March 1886 to Thomas
Andrews, a steel master, and his wife
Mary Hannah Stanley. Mary Andrews
followed a medical career becoming a
Member of the Royal College of Surgeons
(England) and a Licentiate of the Royal
College of Physicians. Her “calling”
was probably influenced by her uncle,
Dr. William Dyson, who was one
of the foremost physicians
in Sheffield. During The
Great War, Dr. Andrews
was one of the doctors
stationed at the V.A.D.
hospital at St. John’s
Church Rooms...
(Dore?). ...In June
1920 she accepted
the appointment
of Medical Officer
to the Cherry tree
Orphanage and
stayed in the role
for a decade, earning
great respect during the
Scarlet Fever epidemic
of August 1929, “when
she insisted that the children
should all be taken to camp in Filey
so that the Orphanage could be closed
and properly disinfected. Many an orphan
would later pay tribute to the role that Dr.
Andrews played in their early welfare and
development.”
Mary was a driving force in the area,
became an A.R.P. Officer at Chapel en le
Frith during World War Two and famously
dug her own air raid shelter, single-
handedly, in her garden at Shatton, so the
locals took her to their hearts and readily
shared closely held folk tales with her...
When the Shatton Boggart actually made
its nefarious appearance is not recorded
historically, but I am fairly certain that
the person who related the account to
her was passing down a well believed and
handed down family narrative!
In her correspondence with another
follower of the otherworld-ee she wrote:
You mentioned faeries the other day.
People living in our isolated villages and
on our lonely farms not only believe in
them but see them and hear them! Yes,
we have our faeries in plenty. And we
have our boggarts and our hobgoblins,
often seen in the form of black dogs.
The dales folk speak of them as ‘hounds
of hell’. And, of course, we have our
phantom horses – any number of them...
81
WHERE THERE’S
HOPE THERE’S…
his may explain why I had my own
T haunted encounter on another ancient
highway to Hope... that narrow hill
lane mostly ploughs through and
connects mediaeval farmsteads and crofts
that have populated the slopes of Win Hill
since settlement began... a more solitary
route for me to take toward the fleshpots
of our larger village, I began walking Aston
Lane as a matter of regular course... and
almost immediately started having eerie
encounters on the metalled trail with its
blind bends obscured by high hedging and
dry stone wall... your senses always need
to be heightened... listening out ahead for
approaching motor car or breakneck speed
racing bicycle ‘peloton’ bearing deadly silent
down toward you...
I once cleared a bend, and was faced with
a large gentleman sat high on horseback,
dressed in full hunting pink his black
mount trotting toward me ...when the pair
disappeared into thin air in a split second...
I stood non plussed for a second or two...
ventured toward the spot they had gone....
and sensed a full frisson of swirling energy.
Been over there a hundred times since. Never
seen phantom man or horse again. Did take
some pictures at the time and was warned
by a *social media psychic* that something
dark lurked in the fields to the side of that
place... That wasn’t the oddest encounter
I have had on that lane though... further
along, a mile or so toward “Kings Haigh “ is
Tudor period-built Aston Hall, (once a home
for the ancient ‘Balguy’ family) and an old
farmstead called “Dimmings” between the
two spots ... Once walking that way, from
a distance I envisaged... leaning against a
dry-stone wall... a quaintly dressed farm
lad, and a much fancier lady next to him...
stood motionless, expressionless, patiently
waiting.... twice more I saw them on different
journeys by.... each time gleaning a little
more of their happenstance, though not
through word of mouth as of course they
weren’t there in actual bodily person... and
the story was odd... and unrecorded... she
had confided in him, {the farm lad}, of some
disagreement she had had with her master,
the master enraged, disposed of her, fearing
ruin otherwise... and the farm lad now
suspecting too much had to go also ... what
isolated strip of sheep pasture they ended
up in goodness alone knows.. I guess in those
days, possibly the early nineteenth century...
plain country folk’s disappearance could be
easily explained by ‘scandalous elopement
‘ and they would soon be discussed only in
hushed gossip by brow beaten servant staff…
After those few moments of hallucinatory
revelation, the pair seem to have gone...
maybe to a better place... Who really knows?
Good day to you all, I hope our paths cross
again...
Hubert H.
82
BUT THERE’S MORE…
That haunted encounter happened several
years ago... I hadn’t walked Aston Lane
in a long while and I have only recently
started enjoying its solitudal calm again.
I expect that’s why I was compelled to
commit the experience to paper. Then
just after I’d penned the account... the
very next day as happens, I was headed
off towards the Co-Operative shopping
emporium down in the ‘Valley ‘ when I was
led off on a path less trod by some force
not of my own control... yes, I was ‘spirit
led’ again!
I found myself around the back of a
quiet hamlet on an aimless, though
public footpath, {archaically used by
camping girl guides to obtain milk and
bread from the farm behind a Chapel}...
Scaling an atmospheric, little used stile
I was immediately bombarded by sticks
thrown from the clustered canopy above,
a cacophony of screech and caw followed,
and as I jumped down into the long, wet
grass a tiny black bundle started flopping
about in front of me... a baby Jackdaw
either blown out of the roost or fledged
too early was stranded on the ground in
distress… and the large “Clattering” of
elder Jackdaw’s were trying to scare me
away with their din!
I gladly left them to their own little
‘Corvid’ drama and followed my nose
along an ancient cart track crossing the
field top… (I shouldn’t have; this is private
farmland and I admittedly have no right
to trespass over it... I can only apologise
for my hypocritical digression by claiming
I was being blindly led) ... Where I was
going, I didn’t know, having never cut
across these fields before, cattle was
roaming but at that moment I had no
concern of being seen and rebuked, all
that mattered was to proceed... then up
ahead of me, the dry stone walled gable
of some ruined old farm building came
into view... the remnants of one of the old
‘crofts ‘ I assumed. Since mediaeval days,
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this part of the Peaks were farmed by the
occupants of these tiny croft steads, this
was where I was meant to be, amidst this
sheltered lea, with its feel of timelessness
...so I took some photographs, absorbed
whatever energy may have lingered, and
headed back downhill towards the proper
old path whilst the going was good...
Shopping completed. I was back home
later that afternoon and mentally
recounting the movements of my day, for
the life of me I couldn’t think why the trip
had taken a good hour longer than should
have been expected... nothing out of the
ordinary perhaps, I didn’t have to rush
about after all ... but that night I didn’t get
the best of sleeps... though I was blaming
the full Strawberry Moon for that! The
next morning, I woke thinking of that poor
young Jackdaw and the guilt I might have
helped it better played on my mind for
some hours...
As I chored through the daily routines,
a picture of the farm lad and fine lady
sprung into my head ... and it dawned
on me... in an almost “Ghosts of
Shepherdstown “ revelation... that they
could... no must... have some connection
to that tract of land... For even though
it’s not of great acreage agriculturally
speaking, there is space aplenty to lose
and forget a discomfiture or two...?!
I thought I’d laid the pair a good while
ago... maybe they are asking for more?
Maybe I’ll seek permission of the farmer
and have a good long wander over those
grassy slopes with the dowsing rods?
Hopefully, the simple fact that something
needed to be writ will suffice... {never
have I been so drained or affected
mentally when writing on a topic of
imagination}. Who knows these two might
be the elusive ghostly entities of my own
Boggart Bungalow and this could be the
endgame of that haunting?
EDITOR
Paul Stevenson
@hauntedmagazine
paul@hauntedmagazine.co.uk
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andy@hauntedmagazine.co.uk
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