The Tower of London

England is steeped in rich history and intrigue, so it is no surprise that there are many famous tales of hauntings across the country. One of the more famous spots for ghostly activities is in the Tower of London. It was built in 1080 in the center of William the Conqueror’s enormous fortress and was added to by other Monarchs in later years. Because of its use as a prison and execution grounds, the Tower is rife with ghost stories. Here are just a few of the ghosts that haunt the Tower:

Arbella Stuart
Stories say that she haunts the Queen’s house, which is considered the most haunted place within the Tower grounds. She is recorded as marrying William Seymore, Lady Jane Grey’s nephew, without King James I’s permission in 1610. Arbella was put under house arrest in Lambeth while William was sent to the Tower. Being spirited and rebellious, Arbella managed to escape and disguised as a man, was able to get William released from the Tower. William missed their rendez-vous and Arbella was forced to set sail without him. She was eventually caught and sent to the Tower while William made it safely to France. She died in the Queen’s House in 1615.

To this day, she is said to haunt the Lennox room of the Queen’s House, where she was possibly murdered. In 1994, Major General Geoffrey Field and his wife, Janice came to live in the house. While making up the Lennox bedroom, Janice felt a violent push on her back which propelled her out of the room. Several women who have slept in the room, claim to have woken up in terror with a feeling that they were being strangled. Soon after, it became a house rule that no woman would stay unaccompanied in the Lennox room of the house.

The Grey Lady of Hampton Court
Dame Sybil Penn, otherwise known as the Grey Lady, is said to haunt the state apartments and the Clock Court as well as several other places on the grounds. Dame Sybil resided in Hampton Court and was the nurse of Prince Edward and also cared for Elizabeth I while she was sick with small pox in 1562. Tragically, Dame Sybil succumbed to the same disease shortly afterwards.

After her tomb was disturbed, strange noises were heard through the walls of Hampton Court. The noises sounded similar to that of someone using a spinning wheel. When the building was searched, a hidden chamber revealed an antique spinning wheel inside.

Skeletor
Skeletor was the name given to a ghostly spectre which appeared on the palace’s CCTV cameras in 2003. Three days in a row, palace staff had been called to close a particular fire door near the Palace’s Introductory Exhibition. On the first day, the doors were captured on CCTV camera flying open with a great force on their own. On the second day, the doors once again flew open but this time, the cameras picked up a ghostly figure dressed in period close the doors. On the third day, the doors flew open but this time there was no sign of the eerie spectre.

The Screaming Lady
Catherine Howard, known now as the Screaming Lady who haunts the Gallery of the Tower, was the fifth wife of Henry VIII. In 1541, she was accused of adultery and put under house arrest at the palace. She escaped and ran to the Gallery to plead her case to the King but she was captured and dragged, screaming, back to her room. She was later executed at the Tower of London.

Her story was so famous that when the Gallery opened to the public in 1918, it was already dubbed The Haunted Gallery and with good reason. Residents in neighbouring apartments have claimed to have heard screams coming from the Gallery and during a tour, two women fainted on exactly the same spot in the Gallery within a half hour of each other.

Ghouls

Ghouls are a type of monster that originates from Arabian folklore. The earliest recorded mention of the Ghoul is in the collection of short stories titled A Thousand and One Nights. They are said to devour the flesh of humans and reside in graveyards and cemeteries.

In Arabic folklore, the ghoul or ghul are a type of jinn which were believed to be sired by Iblis, the Islamic devil. Ghouls prey on young children, rob graves, drink blood and consume corpses. While they do dig up corpses to eat they delight in killing their meals as well.

Its appearance can vary as it is known to be able to shape-shift into animals. It can also take the form of the last human it devoured. Often times they are portrayed in drawings as decaying corpses or skeletons in rags.

Lady in White

A white lady is a type of female ghost usually seen in rural areas and is usually associated with a local legend or tragedy. Legends of Ladies in White span the globe and a common theme to the stories is that of a lost loved one or betrayal by a fiancé or husband. They are often thought to be a harbinger of death much like a banshee, ravens or the Black Shuck. In fact, in medieval times, the White Lady was said to appear in a person’s house day or night when someone was going to die and were believed to be the spirit of a dead ancestress.

One of the most famous Lady in White stories, is that of a young prom couple whose car crashes. The girl dies but the boy lives. Some motorists may catch a glimpse of her walking along the road, forever searching for her Prom date, her lost love.

Whether the White Lady is a death omen or simply a lost and lonely spirit, her story will continue to mystify and mesmerize us for all time.

Does your town have a White Lady legend? Feel free to share in the comments.

Frankenstein's Monster



Mary Shelley's version of Frankenstein



Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus is widely regarded as one of the best classic horror stories. It is widely regarded as one of the first examples of Science Fiction and is about the dangers of playing God.

The name Frankenstein has been incorrectly attributed to the monster in the story but actually refers to the character Victor Frankenstein who creates the monster. The monster in the novel goes unnamed marking Frankenstein’s rejection of his creation by refusing to give it an identity. He refers to his creation only as “monster”, “daemon”, “it”, “wretch”, “fiend”, and “devil”. Mary Shelley did refer to the monster as “Adam” during a telling of Frankenstein and the monster himself refers to himself as the “Adam of your labours” when addressing his creator. This obviously refers to the first man in the Garden of Eden and further relates to Victor Frankenstein’s role as God in creating his first man.

It is ironic that people think of the monster when they hear the name Frankenstein these days for it can be argued that the true monster of the story is Victor Frankenstein himself while his creation, the monster, can actually be viewed as a somewhat tragic figure. He is a creature rejected by his own creator who is doomed to be alone as no one will accept him.

Frankenstein’s monster is described by Shelley as an 8 foot tall, hideously ugly creation, with translucent yellowish skin pulled so taut over the body that it "barely disguised the workings of the vessels and muscles underneath"; watery, glowing eyes, flowing black hair, black lips, and prominent white teeth.



Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's Monster



Of course Boris Karloff’s look in the 1930’s film version of Frankenstein is the most popular version even today. Now the monster appears mainly as a tall, flat-headed monster with bolts on its neck and green skin. It normally wears a black suit and walks with a slow gait rather than being quicker and more agile than man as described in Shelley’s novel.

Frankenstein’s Monster will always terrify us and teach us that there are some things man should never mess with.

Cthulu



Drawing by H.P. Lovecraft



Cthulhu is a fictional creature created by noted horror author H. P. Lovecraft. It first appeared in his short story Call of Cthulhu which appeared in Weird Tales 11, No. 2, published in February of 1928.

Cthulhu is one of many of Lovecraft’s creations but is probably his most popular. It is described in Call of Cthulhu as follows:

“Above these apparent hieroglyphics was a figure of evidently pictorial intent, though its impressionistic execution forbade a very clear idea of its nature. It seemed to be a sort of monster, or symbol representing a monster, of a form which only a diseased fancy could conceive. If I say that my somewhat extravagant imagination yielded simultaneous pictures of an octopus, a dragon, and a human caricature, I shall not be unfaithful to the spirit of the thing. A pulpy, tentacled head surmounted a grotesque and scaly body with rudimentary wings; but it was the general outline of the whole which made it most shockingly frightful. Behind the figure was a vague suggestion of a Cyclopean architectural background.”

While it may be a fictional creature, one cannot deny that Cthulhu is an iconic symbol of all that is evil.

H.P. Lovecraft

That is not dead which can eternal lie

And with strange aeons even death may die

The Borley Rectory



Reportedly the most haunted house in England, The Borley Rectory was built in 1863 for the Reverend Henry Bull. It was built on top of an ancient monastery said to be visited by a nun who could be seen walking along a path on the grounds.

Aware of the ghost, the villagers of Borley told stories that she was the ghost of a nun who had fallen in love with a monk from the Borley Monastery. The two had planned to elope but they were tracked down and caught. The monk was executed while the nun was bricked up inside the cellar walls of the monastery.

Reverend Bull’s home had been erected beside the so-called “nun’s walk” so that he could view the manifestations. The nun, however, became more of a nuisance than an amusement. She would startle guests by looking at them through the new Rectory’s windows. Servants would not stay late in the night and the Reverend’s four daughters began to see the nun gliding across the lawn in broad daylight. The hauntings increased when the Reverend’s son, Harry, took over the Rectory. A new apparition of a ghostly horse-drawn coach began to appear, racing up the Rectory’s driveway.

As the last of the Bull’s passed away, Reverend Eric Smith and his wife moved into the Rectory in 1927. Hearing of the house’s reputation, they invited famed psychic researcher, Harry Price to the house to investigate. His appearance brought forth an increase in poltergeist activity. Now items were being smashed and large stones thrown at the investigator. The Smith’s could only endure two years in the house before moving out.



Communicating beyond the grave?



The hauntings grew worse still when the Reverend Lionel Foyster and his family moved into the home. The ghost seemed to take a liking to the Reverend’s wife, Marianne. Going so far as to throw things at her and write her messages on the walls of the home, even as people watched. Attempts were made to try and communicate with the ghosts but the messages remained mainly intelligible. However there were a few that seemed to make out “Marianne, please help get.” And “Pleas for help and prayers”

Finally, the Reverend Foyster had the Borley Rectory exorcised. The apparitions stopped for a while but soon returned in different ways. Music could be heard from the nearby church, communion wine mysteriously turned to ink, the servant’s bells rang on their own, and the Foyster’s child was attacked by some unseen terror. Finally becoming fed up, the Reverend and his family left the home. No other incumbents would inhabit the house.

Harry Price, intrigued by the continuing reports of paranormal activity, returned to Borley Rectory in 1937, renting it himself. He took out an ad, searching for assistents and attempted to investigate the reasons behind the hauntings. He managed to gather a team of 48 witnesses who witnessed a surprising amount of paranormal phenomena while staying at the Rectory. During a séance held at the house on March 27th of 1938, they were told by a spirit that the house would catch fire in the hallway and burn to the ground, revealing the body of a nun. Nothing happened that night. Harry Price’s lease was up in that year and a new occupant moved in.

While in possession of the Borley Rectory, Captain Gregson lost his two dogs and then exactly eleven months to the day, an oil lamp fell over in the hall and the Borley Rectory burned to the ground. Witnesses claimed to see spirits wandering through the flames as the house burned and the nun’s face peering out through a window.

Once again, Harry returned to the Borley Rectory in 1943, determined to put an end to the hauntings. He dug up the cellar and reportedly found the jawbone of a young woman. Convinced that it was the jawbone of the ghostly nun, he gave the bone a proper burial in an attempt to appease her spirit. His efforts seem to have been in vain as there are still reported supernatural occurrences near the site of the Borley Rectory and in the nearby churchyard.

The spirits are perhaps doomed to roam the grounds for all eternity or perhaps until someone manages to finally break their curse.

Chupacabra

El Chupacabra is a creature that is said to suck the blood of goats and other livestock. Its funny name means 'goat sucker' and was first coined by comedian Silverio Perez. They have been spotted mainly in Puerto Rico, Mexico and the States. The interesting thing about the Chupacabra is the fact that its sightings are so recent and yet it already seems to have reached legend/myth status. There are dozens of unexplained livestock deaths being reported and they all seem to be attributed to the mysterious creature.

There are many different descriptions of what Chupacabras look like but most describe it as being reptile-like and said to be the size of a small bear with quills running down its back. I don't know, to me they look kind of like a deranged hairless kangaroo with fangs.

The Chupacabra's most infamous recorded attack was in March, 1995 in Puerto Rico. Denise Padilla found eight dead sheep, each drained of their blood with three tiny circular puncture wounds on their chests. Since then, Chupacabras have been blamed for many strange animal deaths especially when bolstered with the evidence of supposed Chupacabra carcasses found near the areas of the attacks. Many of these cases have been discredited as the carcasses were found to be the bodies of coyotes with severe cases of mange. Still the legend remains a strong one and people are still on the lookout for the elusive and mysterious El Chupacabra.