Post by Graveyardbride on Oct 1, 2021 2:08:09 GMT -5
October’s Ghosts
According to some researchers, the ancient Celts were convinced the veil between life and death was at its thinnest when the Constellation Pleiades (also known as the Halloween Cluster) was almost directly overhead, heralding Samhain, one of the great fire festivals. While few today are wont to admit they believe spirits of the dead return from their graves to haunt the living at any time of year, when the nights grow longer, the air turns crisp, falling leaves rustle in the evening breeze and jack-o-lanterns grin from the porches of old, dark houses, it’s easy to think – or hope – death isn’t the end and perhaps those on the other side of the great divide return to visit those whom they loved in life. Following are several spirits who have chosen to make their presence known during the month of October or on All Hallows Eve itself:
United States and Canada
Oct. 13: According to a local urban legend, a light flashes underneath the bridge crossing the Little Econlockhatchee River, the air becomes inexplicably cold and the river itself runs backward just before the apparition of a man called “Christopher Klink” is seen dangling from a rope tied to the railing. The bridge can be accessed via the Little Econ Greenway, a recreation area at 2451 N. Dean Road in Orlando, Florida.
Around Oct. 15: Since 1896, Anna Craig Lake, wife of Judge William Augustus Lake, has been making her presence known at Linden House, located at 1103 Main Street in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on the anniversary of her husband’s death. In 1861, Judge Lake, who had represented Mississippi in the U.S. Congress from March 1855 to March 1857, and served in both the state senate and house of representatives, was running for a seat in the Confederate Congress against Colonel Henry Cousins Chambers. On October 15, 1861, while campaigning, the two fought a duel in Hopefield, Arkansas, and Lake was killed. Mrs. Lake lived until June 1896, and around October 15 of that year, people living in her old home on Main Street reported hearing the swish of long skirts accompanied by a strong scent of jasmine, Anna Lake’s perfume. Since that time, it is said that every year, around the time her husband was killed, Mrs. Lake makes her presence known.
Oct. 28: There was a new moon the night of Saturday, October 28, 1905, when 18-year-old Stuart Lathrop Pierson, with a cryptic note pinned to his chest reading “This will do for this time, but if we come again it will be worse,” was led by his prospective fraternity brothers to the railroad trestle crossing the Kokosing River. It was his freshman year at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, his father’s alma mater, Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE, rhymes with “seek”) was his father’s fraternity, and his father had traveled north from Cincinnati to attend his initiation. It was pitch dark when three frat brothers made their way to the tracks to fetch Pierson around 10 p.m., but instead of their pledge, what they found was a hideous, headless corpse. Although no train was due during the time Pierson was at the tracks, an unscheduled engine headed to Mount Vernon, Ohio, for repairs had come through. The official explanation was that Stuart was tired from having been awake until the early hours of the morning the previous night waiting for his father’s train, which was several hours late. As a consequence, he had fallen asleep on the tracks and either did not hear the oncoming train or for some reason, was unable to get out of the way. The conductor did not realize anyone had been hit until he arrived in Mount Vernon.
Many, however, including W. W. Scarborough, the medical examiner, did not believe the DKE brothers, the college president or Pierson’s own father, insisting instead that the young man had been tied to the tracks. Also suspicious was the fact Mr. Pierson had his son’s body whisked away to Cincinnati before it could be examined and the scene was thoroughly cleaned before any investigation could take place. Scarborough subsequently traveled to Cincinnati to view the body and claimed he saw marks on the boy’s wrists and ankles indicating he had been bound. Additionally, at least one individual claimed to have seen a length of rope in the basket the DKEs instructed Pierson to carry, which also included fig cakes, safety pins, a razor and a bottle of chloroform. It was suggested that even if he hadn’t been tied to the tracks, Stuart could have been rendered unconscious by the chloroform. DKE members, however, declaraed the chloroform was just a “bluff” to scare the young pledge.
Dr. Irvin Workman later testified that the body was “probably dragged over or rolled over and over,” with an arm almost torn off, a broken wrist and numerous “bruises and indentations.” When Ralph McMahon, who helped clean the tracks following the incident, was asked if he found Pierson’s head, he said he found “a little piece of skull, a little piece of jaw bone” and some muscle tissue attached to fabric, all of which he placed in a box and buried.
In the end, there wasn’t enough evidence to charge the DKEs, but the hazing incident made international headlines, enrollment dropped significantly and it was some time before Kenyon recovered its reputation.
Following Pierson’s untimely death, men living in the west wing of Old Kenyon, constructed in 1827, began reporting strange activity and on October 28th of the following year, several students reported seeing the spectral image of Stuart himself peering down from the fourth floor bullseye (pictured above). Students were reluctant to remain in the room alone, so fearful were they of the ghost. While encounters dwindled through the years, they were still going strong when the old Gothic Revival structure burned to the ground in the early morning hours of February 27, 1949, killing nine residents.
Reconstruction began almost immediately and while the interior was modernized, the exterior was an exact replica of the former structure. The first residents moved into the “new” Old Kenyon on September 11, 1950. But if officials thought Pierson’s ghost was laid with the fire, they were sadly mistaken, for on October 28, 1950, the spectral pledge was seen once again, staring down at the ever-changing campus from his renovated room on the fourth floor.
By the 21st century, after the passage of almost a hundred years, one would think the tragedy that befell Stuart Pierson (above) in 1905 would have faded into nothing more than an unpleasant memory, but this is not the case. As soon as a student moves into Old Kenyon, one of the first things he learns is that the dorm is haunted by a ghost now affectionately known as “Stewie.” According to John Hepp (class of 2004), who lived in the bullseye room during his senior year, the “legend is so powerful that many residents of that room will opt to sleep on a friend’s couch or in their girlfriend's room” on the fateful night. Hepp himself had a few encounters with what he believes could have been Pierson’s ghost. For example, one night he awakened, certain he had felt an icy-cold hand touch the back of his neck. After jumping out of bed and turning on the light, he noticed the lock on what he called a “mini-door” beside his closet was open. Intrigued, he decided to explore and inside, he found a narrow crawlspace which led to an opening. As he moved his flashlight around the room, he saw some old pledge books, DKE pins and other items from the distant past, as well as the signatures of dozens of young men on the wall and one of them read “SLP 1905.” He didn’t think much of it. After all, Stewie was about to become a DKE. “Then it hit me,” he continued. “The dorm burned down in 1949 and Pierson had never set foot in the current building, so when did he sign the wall? My blood ran cold.”
Pierson’s ghost also has been seen on the old trestle, which has now been turned into a footbridge as part of the Kokosing Gap Trail. And following the 1949 fire, the men of Old Kenyon began seeing the legless apparitions of the young men who lost their lives in the fire. It seems when the building was reconstructed, the ceilings in the new dorm were 18 inches higher than in the old and because the apparitions walk the floors of the no longer extant structure, the lower portions of their legs aren’t visible.
Halloween Haunts
The following eight hauntings occur on or near All Hallows Eve:
The Dakota Apartments (New York City). One of the many wraiths stalking the The Dakota Apartments at One West 72nd Street is Boris Karloff, who interrupts his rest to return to his old abode just once a year – on Halloween night. Karloff (born William Henry Pratt), like Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi and Vincent Price, is one of the true icons of horror films. He wasn’t a handsome man and after he was cast as the monster in Frankenstein, the actor became closely associated with the role. He spent his final years at The Dakota, a building with something of a dark history – Rosemary’s Baby was filmed at The Dakota. Karloff was distressed that children in the spooky old structure avoided him because of his somewhat fiendish appearance and none came to his door on Halloween night. When he died of emphysema on February 2, 1969, a superstitious doorman at The Dakota quipped, “He’ll be back. Wait and see.” The doorman was right: The following Halloween, people reported seeing a strange, “evil-looking” man watching trick-or-treaters and following them onto the elevators. Even though it’s been more than a half-century since his death, children still occasionally claim to have seen a “weird guy” on the elevator, but when they reach their floor and look around, he is no longer there.
Gamble Place (Port Orange, Florida). James N. Gamble of the Procter and Gamble Company is probably best-known for inventing Ivory soap. Few know he purchased land on Spruce Creek in 1898 and built the Florida Cracker-style house at 1819 Taylor Road in 1907. He christened his winter home “Egwanulti,” an American Indian word meaning “by the water.” In the late 1930s, Judge Alfred K. Nippert, Gamble’s son-in-law, inherited the estate. Entranced by Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, he had several structures from the movie replicated on the estate, including The Black Forest Cottage (formerly Snow White’s Cottage), the Witches’ Hut and a wishing well. The ghost said to walk the estate on Halloween night is that of a longtime and dedicated old caretaker, who once a year, strolls Gamble Place making sure all is well.
Oak Grove Cemetery (St. Marys, Georgia). One Halloween night in the 1960s or 70s, a group of thrill-seeking teenagers got the fright of their young lives when they saw what they described as an angel strolling through the moonlit cemetery. Someone later decided the perambulating angel had to be the splendid sculpture watching over the graves of Frank M. Paige (1859-1893) and Camden Mason Sheffield (1869-1897). According to the story, Sheffield was originally buried at Sheffield Cemetery, northwest of Kingsland, against his wife’s wishes. So, without the knowledge of her in-laws, the young lady had her husband’s body disinterred in the dead of night, transported the coffin to St. Marys and laid him to rest beside Paige in Oak Grove Cemetery. It was some time before Sheffield’s father found out what his daughter-in-law had done and he wasn’t happy, but, alas, there was nothing he could do about it. The relationship between Sheffield and Paige is unknown, but more than likely, Paige was one of Mrs. Sheffield’s relatives. Of course no one really believes the angel steps down from her plinth and walks the cemetery on Halloween, but there have been several reports of what witnesses describe as a winged apparition moving about underneath the moss-draped oaks on All Hallows Eve. Although the graveyard is closed at night, as recently as Halloween 2001, two ghost hunters reportedly saw the heavenly creature gliding through the graveyard in the light of the moon.
Ocean Born Mary House (Henniker, New Hampshire). It is said that at midnight on October 31, a coach pulls up to the front of the old Georgian home at 618 Bear Hill Road and a tall, titian-haired woman steps out. According to legend, the lady is none other than Mary Wilson Wallace, aka Ocean Born Mary, who was born July 26, 1720, aboard a ship overtaken by pirates. When the leader of the lawless crew saw Mrs. Wilson holding her newborn daughter, he offered to spare the ship if she would honor him by naming the child Mary for his mother. The young mother agreed and the pirate left the ship momentarily, returning with a bolt of luxurious green silk brocade for Mary’s wedding dress. She grew into a striking woman: 6-foot-tall with flaming red hair and eyes like emeralds, and when she married James Wallace in 1742, she wore a dress sewn from the exquisite fabric. Her sons and sons-in-law became successful, prominent men and she was living with her son, William, when death claimed her on February 13, 1814, at the age of 93. The house on Bear Hill Road was the home of her other son, Robert, and so far as is known, she never lived there. However, James Wallace, Mary’s spouse of 39 years, died October 30, 1781, and some surmise Mary’s annual haunting could be a reenactment of events that transpired at the time of her husband’s death.
St. James Episcopal Cemetery (Marietta, Georgia). The most famous and oft-visited grave at St. James Episcopal Cemetery in Marietta, Georgia, is that of slain child beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey, but the most interesting is the life-size marble sculpture (above) of a seated woman cradling two babes upon her lap. Marion “Mary” Meinert, age 34, wife of Henry Meinert and mother of six children, including twin girls just four weeks old, died May 26, 1898. According to her obituary, Mrs. Meinert, described as “one of the most patient, lovable women in Marietta,” had been ill since giving birth, “her lungs being involved,” an indication she died of either pneumonia or tuberculosis. Through the years, people have reported hearing what sounds like a woman weeping near the front of the cemetery in the vicinity of the original gates, and some claim to have seen tears flowing from the statue’s sightless eyes. There’s also a legend that if one circles Mary’s statue three times on Halloween night chanting, “Mary, Mary, how did your children die?” her spirit will appear.
St. Rita Catholic Church (Chicago, Illinois). On All Souls Day (November 2, 1961), in excess of a dozen parishioners at the old Spanish Moorish-style church at 6243 South Fairfield Avenue were keeping vigil when the organ began to play. The organist wasn’t at the keyboard and when the men and women looked toward the organ loft above the main entrance, they beheld six robed, semitransparent figures – three in white and three in black – the faces and hands of whom were obscured by their garments. Terrified, the congregants rushed toward the door as the spiritual beings floated downward to the main floor, gliding above the pews. Then a disembodied voice implored, “Pray for us,” as a chill wind of unknown origin swept through the sanctuary and the doors were flung open by unseen hands. Since that time, others have reported seeing groups of people in robes both inside and outside the church around Halloween. Some say what they are seeing are mischievous teenagers playing a prank on gullible parishioners and curious visitors, however, some of the witnesses insist the figures are so transparent one can see right through them.
Senior Hall, Stephens College (Columbia, Missouri). Does Sarah Wheeler still walk the corridors of Senior Hall? The story goes that during a skirmish during the War Between the States, a Confederate soldier was seriously injured and sought refuge at what was then the Columbia Female Baptist Academy. While the young women were nursing him back to health, he and Sarah fell in love. According to one version of the tale, Sarah and her beau eloped and drowned in either the Missouri River or nearby Hickson Creek. In another, and most oft-repeated version, the Yankees heard rumors the school was harboring a Confederate soldier, captured the young man and hanged him in front of the teenage girls who had saved his life. Distraught, Sarah committed suicide, either by taking poison, or jumping to her death from an upper window.
For more than 150 years, students have reported encounters with Sarah, always on or around Halloween. For a number of years, Senior Hall stood empty and fell into a state of disrepair, during which time both students and outsiders would break into the building at Halloween to see if they could “raise” Sarah’s spirit. The Hall was renovated in the 1990s and is now used for music and dancing classes, but the stories of Sarah persist and every fall, as the days grow shorter and cooler and Halloween approaches, students make certain they don’t end up alone in the haunted hall.
The following eight hauntings occur on or near All Hallows Eve:
The Dakota Apartments (New York City). One of the many wraiths stalking the The Dakota Apartments at One West 72nd Street is Boris Karloff, who interrupts his rest to return to his old abode just once a year – on Halloween night. Karloff (born William Henry Pratt), like Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi and Vincent Price, is one of the true icons of horror films. He wasn’t a handsome man and after he was cast as the monster in Frankenstein, the actor became closely associated with the role. He spent his final years at The Dakota, a building with something of a dark history – Rosemary’s Baby was filmed at The Dakota. Karloff was distressed that children in the spooky old structure avoided him because of his somewhat fiendish appearance and none came to his door on Halloween night. When he died of emphysema on February 2, 1969, a superstitious doorman at The Dakota quipped, “He’ll be back. Wait and see.” The doorman was right: The following Halloween, people reported seeing a strange, “evil-looking” man watching trick-or-treaters and following them onto the elevators. Even though it’s been more than a half-century since his death, children still occasionally claim to have seen a “weird guy” on the elevator, but when they reach their floor and look around, he is no longer there.
Gamble Place (Port Orange, Florida). James N. Gamble of the Procter and Gamble Company is probably best-known for inventing Ivory soap. Few know he purchased land on Spruce Creek in 1898 and built the Florida Cracker-style house at 1819 Taylor Road in 1907. He christened his winter home “Egwanulti,” an American Indian word meaning “by the water.” In the late 1930s, Judge Alfred K. Nippert, Gamble’s son-in-law, inherited the estate. Entranced by Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, he had several structures from the movie replicated on the estate, including The Black Forest Cottage (formerly Snow White’s Cottage), the Witches’ Hut and a wishing well. The ghost said to walk the estate on Halloween night is that of a longtime and dedicated old caretaker, who once a year, strolls Gamble Place making sure all is well.
Oak Grove Cemetery (St. Marys, Georgia). One Halloween night in the 1960s or 70s, a group of thrill-seeking teenagers got the fright of their young lives when they saw what they described as an angel strolling through the moonlit cemetery. Someone later decided the perambulating angel had to be the splendid sculpture watching over the graves of Frank M. Paige (1859-1893) and Camden Mason Sheffield (1869-1897). According to the story, Sheffield was originally buried at Sheffield Cemetery, northwest of Kingsland, against his wife’s wishes. So, without the knowledge of her in-laws, the young lady had her husband’s body disinterred in the dead of night, transported the coffin to St. Marys and laid him to rest beside Paige in Oak Grove Cemetery. It was some time before Sheffield’s father found out what his daughter-in-law had done and he wasn’t happy, but, alas, there was nothing he could do about it. The relationship between Sheffield and Paige is unknown, but more than likely, Paige was one of Mrs. Sheffield’s relatives. Of course no one really believes the angel steps down from her plinth and walks the cemetery on Halloween, but there have been several reports of what witnesses describe as a winged apparition moving about underneath the moss-draped oaks on All Hallows Eve. Although the graveyard is closed at night, as recently as Halloween 2001, two ghost hunters reportedly saw the heavenly creature gliding through the graveyard in the light of the moon.
Ocean Born Mary House (Henniker, New Hampshire). It is said that at midnight on October 31, a coach pulls up to the front of the old Georgian home at 618 Bear Hill Road and a tall, titian-haired woman steps out. According to legend, the lady is none other than Mary Wilson Wallace, aka Ocean Born Mary, who was born July 26, 1720, aboard a ship overtaken by pirates. When the leader of the lawless crew saw Mrs. Wilson holding her newborn daughter, he offered to spare the ship if she would honor him by naming the child Mary for his mother. The young mother agreed and the pirate left the ship momentarily, returning with a bolt of luxurious green silk brocade for Mary’s wedding dress. She grew into a striking woman: 6-foot-tall with flaming red hair and eyes like emeralds, and when she married James Wallace in 1742, she wore a dress sewn from the exquisite fabric. Her sons and sons-in-law became successful, prominent men and she was living with her son, William, when death claimed her on February 13, 1814, at the age of 93. The house on Bear Hill Road was the home of her other son, Robert, and so far as is known, she never lived there. However, James Wallace, Mary’s spouse of 39 years, died October 30, 1781, and some surmise Mary’s annual haunting could be a reenactment of events that transpired at the time of her husband’s death.
St. James Episcopal Cemetery (Marietta, Georgia). The most famous and oft-visited grave at St. James Episcopal Cemetery in Marietta, Georgia, is that of slain child beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey, but the most interesting is the life-size marble sculpture (above) of a seated woman cradling two babes upon her lap. Marion “Mary” Meinert, age 34, wife of Henry Meinert and mother of six children, including twin girls just four weeks old, died May 26, 1898. According to her obituary, Mrs. Meinert, described as “one of the most patient, lovable women in Marietta,” had been ill since giving birth, “her lungs being involved,” an indication she died of either pneumonia or tuberculosis. Through the years, people have reported hearing what sounds like a woman weeping near the front of the cemetery in the vicinity of the original gates, and some claim to have seen tears flowing from the statue’s sightless eyes. There’s also a legend that if one circles Mary’s statue three times on Halloween night chanting, “Mary, Mary, how did your children die?” her spirit will appear.
St. Rita Catholic Church (Chicago, Illinois). On All Souls Day (November 2, 1961), in excess of a dozen parishioners at the old Spanish Moorish-style church at 6243 South Fairfield Avenue were keeping vigil when the organ began to play. The organist wasn’t at the keyboard and when the men and women looked toward the organ loft above the main entrance, they beheld six robed, semitransparent figures – three in white and three in black – the faces and hands of whom were obscured by their garments. Terrified, the congregants rushed toward the door as the spiritual beings floated downward to the main floor, gliding above the pews. Then a disembodied voice implored, “Pray for us,” as a chill wind of unknown origin swept through the sanctuary and the doors were flung open by unseen hands. Since that time, others have reported seeing groups of people in robes both inside and outside the church around Halloween. Some say what they are seeing are mischievous teenagers playing a prank on gullible parishioners and curious visitors, however, some of the witnesses insist the figures are so transparent one can see right through them.
Senior Hall, Stephens College (Columbia, Missouri). Does Sarah Wheeler still walk the corridors of Senior Hall? The story goes that during a skirmish during the War Between the States, a Confederate soldier was seriously injured and sought refuge at what was then the Columbia Female Baptist Academy. While the young women were nursing him back to health, he and Sarah fell in love. According to one version of the tale, Sarah and her beau eloped and drowned in either the Missouri River or nearby Hickson Creek. In another, and most oft-repeated version, the Yankees heard rumors the school was harboring a Confederate soldier, captured the young man and hanged him in front of the teenage girls who had saved his life. Distraught, Sarah committed suicide, either by taking poison, or jumping to her death from an upper window.
For more than 150 years, students have reported encounters with Sarah, always on or around Halloween. For a number of years, Senior Hall stood empty and fell into a state of disrepair, during which time both students and outsiders would break into the building at Halloween to see if they could “raise” Sarah’s spirit. The Hall was renovated in the 1990s and is now used for music and dancing classes, but the stories of Sarah persist and every fall, as the days grow shorter and cooler and Halloween approaches, students make certain they don’t end up alone in the haunted hall.
Other October Haunts
Month of October: The Flaming Ship of St. Martin’s, usually seen in the month of October, sails the waters of the Bay of Fundy off St. Martin’s New Brunswick, Canada. Some say the phantom returns every seven years and others claim it appears just before a storm.
October Full Moon: A Frenchman beheaded by Indians in 1618 is said to manifest on the Twin Sisters Trail in Potter County, Pennsylvania.
Late October Storms: A vanishing hitchhiker walks Highway 17 near what is called the “Devil’s Elbow” in Binghampton, New York, a location where there have been numerous motor vehicle accidents, including several fatalities.
England, Northern Ireland and Scotland
Oct. 1: Corbrook Court Nursing Home occupies an old manor house on the outskirts of Audlem, Cheshire, and the road leading thereto is haunted by what a witness dubbed the “staring man.” It was on the first day of October that a driver initially reported seeing a strange-looking figure beside the road that stared into his vehicle as he drove past. However, when he checked his rearview mirror, there was no one there. Although he drove the route frequently, he did not see the figure again until the following October 1st, when the exact same thing happened again.
Oct. 3: Alexander MacAllister was beheaded when the first cannon was fired during the Battle of Glenlivet in the Scottish Highlands on October 3, 1594. Ever since, on the anniversary of his death, MacAllister’s headless ghost returns to the site where he was decapitated.
Oct. 7: St. Osyth Priory is an exceptional collection of historical monastic buildings in the parish of St. Osyth (formerly Chich) in Essex, England. The imposing gates are featured in Death in Holy Orders, the 2003 mini-series based on the P. D. James novel of the same name. According to legend, on October 7, 700, St. Osyth, a chieftain’s daughter who established a monastery at the site now occupied by the Priory, was beheaded in nearby “Nun’s Wood” by Danish invaders. However, to the astonishment of her executioners, instead of falling to the ground, she picked up her head and holding it at arm’s length – presumably by the hair – ambled to the chapel, where she stood at the entrance and knocked several times on the door before slumping to the floor. It is said that every October 7th, her spirit manifests and repeats this miraculous feat. The location also is haunted by a procession of spectral Augustinian monks, a pale monk who walks the grounds at night carrying a lit candle, and a dark-robed monk in the laundry area.
Oct. 9: A pale riderless horse gallops through the gardens of the Mercure Warwickshire Walton Hall Hotel & Spa in Wellesbourne twice each decade on the 9th day of October. No one knows why the apparition appears every five years, but those interested in watching for this particular spook should make plans now for the ghost horse is due to appear this year (2021). The hotel is also haunted by a young man some speculate was thrown and killed by the horse.
Oct. 14: The town of Battle in East Sussex is the site of the 1066 Battle of Hastings. The fight – during which William the Conqueror, who then became William I, defeated Harold II, the Saxon king – took place October 14th. Each year on this date, it is claimed a phantom knight on horseback makes a brief appearance at the location where, presumably, he lost his life. Other supernatural entities also have been seen in the area and some say the ground bleeds after a storm.
Oct. 22: Two Czech pilots crashed in a field in Poynton Green, Shropshire, on October 22, 1941. A farmer rushed to the site, but the plane was engulfed in flames and he could not save the men, however, he noticed a large black cat emerge from the wreckage. The animal was taken in by an old woman and when she died years later, the feline vanished. Since that time, people who find themselves at the location on the anniversary of the crash have reported seeing a black cat, which, for some reason, manifests just once every 10 years. If the stories are true, the cat should make an appearance this year (2021).
Oct. 23: On Sunday, October 23, 1642, the army of the Earl of Essex, Parliamentarian Lord General, and the King’s army clashed at Edgehill in open fields between the villages of Kineton and Radway in southern Warwickshire in what was the first major action of the English Civil War. Since that time, on the anniversary of the bloody conflict, the unnerving sounds of battle emanate from the location where approximately a thousand men died and some 2,000 were wounded.
Oct. 25: No whine of wheels, no beat of hooves
Nary a warning cry,
No creak of shafts, no crack of whip
Or driver’s weary sigh.
Nothing save horses’ nostrilled breath
Steaming to darkened sky,
As down the lane the Kidbrooke coach
Is passing, passing by.
The foregoing verse about a long ago tragedy was written by Stan Clayton and while his reference to “horses’ nostrilled breath” when describing incorporeal “beings” is decidedly odd, the events of more than 150 years ago are nonetheless sad. Shortly after Kate Usher and Giles Kidbrooke of Mapperley, Derbyshire, were engaged to be married, they were separated by the Crimean War (October 1853 - February 1856). Kate was inconsolable when she received word her beloved had been killed in battle and a few months later, her body was pulled from Mapperley Lake (now a reservoir) and a coroner’s jury returned a verdict of suicide. The girl was buried in the churchyard, but her grave remained unmarked.
It turned out the young woman had been misinformed: Kidbrooke had been seriously wounded battle, but he had survived. When he returned home and learned of Kate’s death, he was overcome by grief, turned into a recluse and a few years later, joined his betrothed in the churchyard. Following his death, rumors spread of a phantom coach circling the lake at night, traveling from the Old Black Horse Inn to The Candlestick Pub (now a private residence). Those lucky (or unlucky) enough to catch a glimpse of the passenger inside the conveyance were shocked to see the sad face of Giles Kidbrooke, lately laid to rest. Reports of the strange apparition decreased with the passing years and by the 20th century, the phantom coach was seen but once a year: on October 25th, the day Kate Usher took her own life.
Nary a warning cry,
No creak of shafts, no crack of whip
Or driver’s weary sigh.
Nothing save horses’ nostrilled breath
Steaming to darkened sky,
As down the lane the Kidbrooke coach
Is passing, passing by.
The foregoing verse about a long ago tragedy was written by Stan Clayton and while his reference to “horses’ nostrilled breath” when describing incorporeal “beings” is decidedly odd, the events of more than 150 years ago are nonetheless sad. Shortly after Kate Usher and Giles Kidbrooke of Mapperley, Derbyshire, were engaged to be married, they were separated by the Crimean War (October 1853 - February 1856). Kate was inconsolable when she received word her beloved had been killed in battle and a few months later, her body was pulled from Mapperley Lake (now a reservoir) and a coroner’s jury returned a verdict of suicide. The girl was buried in the churchyard, but her grave remained unmarked.
It turned out the young woman had been misinformed: Kidbrooke had been seriously wounded battle, but he had survived. When he returned home and learned of Kate’s death, he was overcome by grief, turned into a recluse and a few years later, joined his betrothed in the churchyard. Following his death, rumors spread of a phantom coach circling the lake at night, traveling from the Old Black Horse Inn to The Candlestick Pub (now a private residence). Those lucky (or unlucky) enough to catch a glimpse of the passenger inside the conveyance were shocked to see the sad face of Giles Kidbrooke, lately laid to rest. Reports of the strange apparition decreased with the passing years and by the 20th century, the phantom coach was seen but once a year: on October 25th, the day Kate Usher took her own life.
Oct. 30: In West Yorkshire, between the market town of Todmorden and the hamlet of Mankinholes, a pack of baying hounds sprint over both land and water on the night of October 30th.
Halloween Haunts
England
Bournemouth Town Hall (Dorset). At this old town hall on the southeastern coast of England, a World War I soldier appears every October 31st for a drink of water. But if you can’t make it on Halloween, don’t be discouraged for there are several other ghosts, including a World War I nurse seen during the autumn months; a headless Maharaja, who moans plaintively from his chair on the fourth floor; the spirit of a young girl; a Scotsman playing bagpipes and the apparitions of maids and men in bowler hats.
Cley Hill (Warminster, Wiltshire). Cley Hill, an 800-foot hill fort, rises dramatically from the flat fields southwest of Warminster. The summit is encircled by a series of Iron Age earthworks and within are several Bronze Age bowl barrows. Through the years, several witnesses have reported what appear to be bonfires – always on the night of October 31st, or a night or two thereafter. Those who have gotten close enough, even claim to have seen human figures dancing around the fires. Some of the witnesses, believing a modern-day pagan group, or, God forbid, Satanists, are engaging in some sort of pagan or demonic ritual, have investigated the following day, but there is never any evidence of a fire, or anything else to indicate anyone was in the area. Are a few lucky souls catching a glimpse of ancient rites from the distant past?
Lesnes Abbey (Plumstead, Northamptonshire). On All Hallows Eve, a headless monk manifests in the ruins of this 12th-century Augustinian abbey on the south bank of the Thames River. According to legend, he was caught in a compromising situation with a woman and beheaded for his crime. The location, near a popular nature reserve, is also haunted by phantom horsemen and the spirit of Roesia of Dover, who walks the grounds in search of her heart. Roesia was brought up in the abbey, where she was very happy. She grew up, married and moved away and when she died, her heart was removed and buried at Lesnes Abbey.
Minsden Chapel (Hertfordshire). In 1907, a spectral monk appeared in a photograph taken at the ruins situated in the fields above Chapelfoot near Preston. It isn’t known if this is the same ghostly monk – heralded by the ringing of phantom bells – that is said to appear every year on Halloween. In the 20th century, Reginald Hine, an author, fell in love with the ruins and declared that upon his death, he intended to haunt the place, however, there have been no reported sightings of his ghost.
(Photo by Sue Wilkes)
Netley Abbey (Hampshire). “Blind Peter,” a Cistercian monk, walks the cursed ruins of Netley Abbey (above) every Halloween night. According to legend, the ghost guards a treasure hidden at the end of a long tunnel. The curse dates to the Dissolution of the Monasteries when Peter was placed in charge of the abbey’s riches. Many years later, a man by the name of Slown attempted to locate the treasure and was in the process of digging it up when he ran from the ruins screaming, “For God’s sake, block it up!” before dying of fright.
Rossall School (Fleetwood, Lancashire). No school is complete without a ghost and at this day and boarding school founded in 1844, students claim an ashen-faced woman strolls the grounds on All Hallows Eve.
Thirilmere Reservoir (Cumbria). It is said that someone maliciously drowned the daughter of the owner of Armboth House – now at the bottom of the reservoir – on October 31st, the day before her wedding. Prior to the flooding of the area, Armboth House was haunted, but now the spirit manifests as a ringing of sunken bells and a ghostly hound is observed swimming in the area where the bride-to-be died.
St. Lawrence the Martyr Churchyard and Vicarage (Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire). Legend has it that on the night of October 31st, the spirit of Mary Anne Treble, an elderly servant who died in 1914 – possibly as the result of mistreatment by the vicar’s wife – rises from her grave, glides across the driveway and manifests in the old vicarage. When the 18th-century Georgian house that had served as the vicarage for 300 years was recently put up for sale, there were reports of strange lights and other unexplained activity in and around the structure. It was suggested the disturbances were caused by the ghost of some long-dead man of the cloth who was expressing his dissatisfaction over the Church’s decline and influence – it isn’t known when, or if, the disturbances ceased.
Smith’s Dockyards (North Shields, Northumberland). A sailor who had been at sea for many years decided to surprise his parents, but they failed to recognize their son, and believing he intended to do them harm, slew him. Every year on Halloween night, he returns in the form of a large black dog to stalk the area where he lost his life.
Northern Ireland
The White Gates (Ballymena, County Atrium). Many years ago, a man stole a great deal of money from a house near the White Gates off Crebilly Road, and took off at a fast gallop. As he approached the gates, he was unaware that guards had stretched a wire across the path and when he hit the wire, it very neatly sliced off his head. Ever since, on Halloween night, there have been reports of galloping hoof beats and the apparition of a headless horseman riding toward the White Gates.
Scotland
Newton Castle (Perthshire). The castle has long been haunted by a shade known as the “Green Lady,” who is seen most often on October 31st.
Spynie Palace Ruins (Morayshire, Scotland). A bishop at Spynie Palace was suspected of practicing Black Magic. Following his death, rumors spread that on All Hallows Eve, his spirit briefly manifested as he prepared to fly off to a witches’ sabbat.
Sources: The National Directory of Haunted Places by Dennis William Hauck; Yankee Magazine; Rebecca Turner, "Kenyon College's Ominous History Still Survives on Campus," The Kenyon Collegian, October 31, 2019; "Death on the Tracks," Kenyon College Alumni Bulletin, Spring/Summer 2011; Kenyon College Alumni Bulletin, Fall 2007; The New York Times, February 28, 1949; The Kenyon Collegian, November 3, 1905; Christopher Barths, "Kenyon Then & Now"; Central Ohio Legends and Lore by James A. Willis; GoDeke, March 21, 2005; The Examiner, December 17, 2008; "The Little-Known Story Behind Snow White's Cottage," Chad Gallivanter; Tripadvisor; CrackerCreek.com; IMDb; Britain's Haunted Heritage by J. A. Brooks; The Good Ghost Guide by John Brooks; Haunted Britain and Ireland; Abigail Rabbett, CambridgeshireLive, June 12, 2021; Nicole Braddeley, The Daily Echo, October 30, 2020; Brian Handwerk, "Halloween: Costumes, History, Myths and More," National Geographic, October 19, 2018; Martin E. Comas, The Orlando Sentinel, February 27, 2018; Real Estate Wall, September 27, 2013; Bob's Home for Writing, October 3, 2010; "Haunted Spots of Ireland," Dreaded Places, August 18, 2006; Haunted England: The Penguin Book of Ghosts by Jennifer Westwood; BusinessYab, Orlando, Florida; Derbyshire Ghosts and Legends by David Bell; Jenny Butler, "Halloween's Celtic Roots," Archaeology, October 27, 2006; and St. Osyth Priory.
