79. Digging Up The Past It began with a strange dream. Margaret Wilson had moved into her new home at Walthamstow but each night she was plagued by the same visions as she slept. Out of the darkness of slumber all she seemed to dream was of a rocket, devoured by flames, plummeting to Earth, and crashing into her back garden. At first she put this recurring dream down to the move, but every... [continue]

The Phantom Bride. In ghost lore, tales of spectral ladies are rife, and many of such yarns do indeed pertain to ghostly brides—women who tragically never saw their wedding day. Such veiled women stalk their lonely limbo in search of some kind of destination or happiness. One such spirit bride haunts the City Tavern at Second and Walnut Street in Philly. This building is a fine restaurant which began life in 1773, but not much... [continue]

78. The Whatsit Of Wanstead Woods. If recent rumours are anything to go by, then some strange beast is loitering around the outskirts of London. Situated within the London Borough of Redbridge, Wanstead, spliced by the A12, it is hardly the Pacific Northwest (although its open grasslands do merge with Epping Forest), but could, as the press have been quick to mention, Bigfoot be in our backyards? The name of the suburban area means... [continue]

The Headless Woman The Germantown section is thought to be one of Philadelphia's most haunted areas, with its old mansions harboring many an elusive spirit. Yet many of the ghosts said to loiter in the vicinity do not appear to be shy, hence the fact that several of these spooks have become well known due to their frequent appearances. The headless female phantom of Cliveden is a popular ghostly yarn, and is said to originate... [continue]

77. The Horror of 22542! When ancient tombs were disturbed in Egypt, legends of fatal curses spread like wildfire. Whether such dark whispers were true or whether any tragedies surrounding such excavations were mere coincidence, the case of Exhibit 22542 at the British Museum may warn us not to take such sinister rumours lightly. The item in question is a mummy discovered in the latter part of the 1800s which, over time, harboured such... [continue]

The Man Who Died Twice! 1793 was a grim year for Philly and its residents. Yellow fever gripped the city and death nipped in on a black wave and stole the souls of hundreds of people. So severe was the epidemic that the United States bureaucracy was urgently shifted to Germantown as bodies dropped like flies. Of course, with so much death under the spell of the yellow fever, tales of wandering spirits and their... [continue]

76. A Gaggle Of Ghosts: Part Six "There can be no doubt of the phenomena. I have seen them, myself" so said the Rev. A.L. Gardiner in 1921 as London was hit by a mysterious mini-plague pertaining to the exploding of coal from grates. Ordinary, enough, but it was not so simple to explain. Such pieces were then said to dance along the floor, especially in the home of a Mr J.S. Frost who... [continue]

The Season of the Witch With Halloween fast approaching we must share with you the tale of an alleged witch from Philly's foggy folkloric past. Of course, the term "witch" was once applied to any individual who seemed to harbor dark powers, whether in the form of prediction, healing or the art of voodoo, and many such people were often perceived as evil and usually exorcised in the only way possible—by death. Tuggy the so-called... [continue]

75. A Gaggle Of Ghosts: Part Five After a recent visit to the village of Highgate I'd like to share with you some of the area's lesser known ghosts, as previous episodes of The Saturday Strangeness have covered the phantom chicken of Pond Square and of course, the 'vampire' once said to prowl the cemetery. The Gatehouse Public House sits only minutes away from the gothic cemetery confines and the legend of the vampire... [continue]

A Haunting Tale of Two Endings Bryn Mawr College in Montgomery County harbours a tragic legend. One both scary and also sad, for it pertains to the spirit of one Lillian Vickers who in 1901, after becoming mentally unstable, allegedly committed suicide. Lillian believed herself to have leprosy which drove her to the brink, and whilst for many months she sought a solution to her disease, she eventually self-destructed, and her spectre is said to... [continue]

74. A Gaggle Of Ghosts: Part Four – Ghostly Women Red and yellow and pink and green, purple and orange and blue... black, white and grey too! Not just the colours of the rainbow but also the many varying types of spectral woman seen around the world. Just like black and grey monks, ladies adorned in varying colours are considered the archetype female spirit as they are oft' seen floating through graveyards, dusty corridors... [continue]

73. A Gaggle Of Ghosts: Part Three London's dark history is littered with tales of eerie mysteries, and not many places harbour such weirdness as Hampton Court Palace, the most haunted royal residence in the capital. Stretching for over sixty acres, this beautiful structure, and its grounds, have been shared with the public since 1838, and many of these visitors I'm sure are very unaware of the spectres which reside within the vast hallways,... [continue]

More hauntings-a-go-go! A sinister apparition is said to haunt the Crier in the Country Restaurant which is situated in Glen Mills, just seventeen miles southwest of Philly on U.S. Highway 1. The building itself, which dates back to 1740, has a history of bizarre happenings and it remains one of Philly's spookiest places. With regards to the malignant apparition, it is said to be of shadowy form and to lurk around the third floor. On... [continue]

72. A Gaggle Of Ghosts: Part Two More from London's haunted side, as the shadow of All Hallow's Eve lurks on the horizon like some rustic menace. Baker Street – famous for its Sherlock Holmes connections, a fine detective who would no doubt have found the many hauntings of this famous street a fine mystery indeed. For Baker Street has long been considered the capital's most haunted street, harbouring a true gaggle of phantoms,... [continue]

More hauntings... Philly is considered one of the most haunted places in the U.S. The Davy Estate in North Philadelphia is a Victorian mansion of elegance and beauty which was constructed in the 1880s. William Davy lived at the house with his wife Mary and his father William Sr. They all reported weird and eerie encounters in the house. The estate is close to Temple University, but surprisingly, despite the handful of hauntings at the... [continue]

71. A Gaggle Of Ghosts: Part One With All Hallows Eve just over a month away I'd like to share with you some of London's finest, although not necessarily most known ghost stories which The Saturday Strangeness has been bereft of since its beginnings. Sutton House at Hackney, built in 1535 and in the care of the National Trust, is most certainly a very haunted building. In 1990 an architect visiting the premises encountered... [continue]

Most haunted Flick through any book pertaining to Philadelphia's most haunted locations and you'll uncover a veritable feast of local weirdness and be truly amazed at the amount of spooks, spectres and spirits which allegedly haunt some of these mysterious places. Bolton Mansion in Levittown has several eerie ghosts. One is a young girl who has been seen peeking from many of the windows which leer from the facade of the building. Her fleeting form... [continue]

70. The Thamesmead Prowler During the early hours of Saturday 10th August at Goldfinch Road, west Thamesmead, a man awoke and peered around his curtain into the blackness of the night. A small animal startled him in the distance as it scurried around a corner into the gloom, but what shocked him even more was its pursuer. A large black animal seemed to begin to roll on the grass between two trees. "Bloody Hell!... [continue]

When Satan Came to Philly! "A dreadful thing happened in Philadelphia, to the wife of a butcher...", wrote Rev. Andreas Sandel in his diary on January 12th, 1716. The woman had dared to quarrel with her husband after she refused to make their bed. The argument spiralled out of control when the man told her that if she didn't make the bed, she would be cast out into the street, to which she replied, "And... [continue]

69. The Phantom Wall Smasher! Well, that's what the press, being The Sun, Daily Mirror and Metropolitan Police newspaper The Job called him in 1977. Following on from last week's feature on bizarre compulsions and spectral assailants, this time we move onto less sinister acts, but something certainly irritating. It took place between the July and September of '77, mainly around Danby Street in Peckham. It was here that some unseen 'wall banger' was... [continue]