Saturday 16 December 2017

SALE NOW ON!

For 48 hours, Since You've Been Gone and Tales for the Fireside will be available to download for 99p/99c on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

Check your local Amazon website for discounts.

Friday 15 December 2017

Flash Sale - starts tomorrow!

To celebrate the release of HIGH SPIRITS on January 6th I'm discounting Since You've Been Gone and Tales for the Fireside (ebooks) to 99p for 48 hours over the weekend 15-16 December.

Find out more by visiting my Facebook page or visit my webpage

Saturday 9 December 2017

Haunted Mansions - part four

My final haunted mansion is Michelham Priory.

Michelham Priory, founded in 1229, was in service to the church up until the Desolation of the Monasteries in the 16th Century.

The church was subsequently demolished, and the main building was turned into a home.

The most notable ghost to haunt the site is that of Thomas Sackville, a prior owner of the site. In life, he was an unpleasant man and continued his disagreeable behaviour in death. He takes great delight in upsetting visitors by pushing or striking them, and it is rumoured that another spirit that of a young girl is so scared of him that she takes refuge at the top of the stairs.

Of course, no respectable haunted house would be without a lady whether they be white, grey or any other colour. Michelham Priory has its own Grey Lady. She is often seen wandering by the bridge and the gatehouse. Sometimes, she is reported to have been seen staring mournfully into the waters of the moat, perhaps grieving for the loss of a child who drowned therein. Slightly more unnerving are the reports of her staring into the faces of sleeping guests.

Poltergeist activity has also been reported with doors and windows which slam seemingly of their own accord.

In my forthcoming novel HIGH SPIRITS which will be published on January 6, 2018, the young ghost called Pol is exceedingly scared of an unknown entity that roams the museum. Through the power of her longevity, she is able to keep him at bay and away from Alec and Jean but as her two friends, emboldened by their new friendship with Bethan, exercise powers of their own, the malevolent spirit becomes increasingly hostile.

Well, this ends my short series on haunted mansions, but I’d like to finish by telling you about my own experiences of working in haunted buildings.

For many years I worked at Dover Castle, probably one of the finest medieval castles in the world.

The most famous ghost is that of the Headless Drummer Boy who reputedly haunts the battlements near the Constable Tower.

Like all of these things, this tale has grown over the years.

In 1945 the Dover Express reported:

Dover Express - Friday 02 March 1945

And Now a Ghost!

The latest stunt about Dover is the "discovery" of a ghost story for the Castle. Until this year people - to whom the Castle has been a familiar friend for years - had never heard about "The Headless Drummer." The "Evening News" this week published an elaboration of the story published a month ago. The gist of this story is that in battles or skirmishes 200 years ago near the Castle a drummer had his head shot off, and that, as it could not be found, he was buried without it, and now his ghost patrols the moat on the night of each full moon, and then disappears with his drum into an underground passage.

To begin with, there were no battles or skirmishes near the Castle 200 years ago. The "Evening News" story about this ghost declares that at the end of the last century a young Guards officer spent a night in "the haunted underground passages," and in the morning had become a gibbering, white-haired madman, unable to give any account his experiences. We have recently been told that an article appeared in the "Strand Magazine" describing this episode. It should be easy, if this be true, to produce the date of the article and the name of the young Guards officer. Not a single writer on the Castle appears to have heard about this 200 years old ghost, of which stories suddenly turn up in 1945!

On Tuesday, the "News Chronicle" produced a new version the Headless Drummer's fate. This story is that he was murdered whilst in charge of the Regiment's pay. This bears a suspicious resemblance to the Ingoldsby Legend of the "Dead Drummer." But that gruesome episode occurred on Salisbury Plain. The “Daily Mail," on Wednesday, reported that the Brigadier at Dover had stopped the Ghost Hunt which was the latest development of this ghost stunt. The "Mail" describes the story as the most persistent legend in Dover. Till a month ago, no one had heard of it. The Brigadier was right to stop the Castle being made a laughing stock.

Dover Express - Friday 13 July 1945

CASTLE GHOST NONSENSE.

The "Daily Express," on Friday last, contained in its Hickey's column a nonsensical account of alleged manifestations by the recently invented "Headless Drummer." This is what the "Daily Express" published:-

"Legpull - not so gentle - reported from Dover Castle, where the superstitious think that dreary drummer boy's ghost is walking again. The Castle's new Deputy Constable, Brigadier H. E. Pickering, M.C., is living in the Constable's Tower, a few yards from where the drummer boy is supposed to take his stroll. In the past 24 hours, says a soldier in the garrison these things have happened to the unhappy brigadier:— "His monocle has been snatched from his eye and discovered underneath him; his silk dressing-gown has torn itself to shreds; his spectacles have disappeared from his pocket; his walking-stick disappeared; then, in the afternoon, the brigadier's personal pennant slowly lowered itself, and the missing stick appeared in its place... Drummer boy will get confined to barracks if he doesn't watch out."

[The story of a Drummer Boy's ghost appears to be a war-time invention for the delectation and horrification of our wartime guests and pandering Pressmen, to whom any stunt is acceptable. The Editor of this paper has been a constant visitor to the Castle for many years, and never heard word of this legend from guides, who certainly were expansive in their talks. Not a word of it has appeared in any published Castle folklore.]

Over the course of 12 years at Dover Castle, I have heard reports of ghostly experiences from trusted colleagues. One such was the sighting of a gentleman dressed in 17th century clothing seen by one of my former colleagues as she swept the basement.

Many experiences were centred on the tunnels under the castle. One visitor complemented me and a colleague on the marvellous sound effects in the Underground Works, a series of medieval and Napoleonic tunnels. We informed him that no such effects were used down there and he went very pale. Concerned that someone had found their way into the lower levels we investigated but found nothing.

My own experience may have been a trick of the eye but upon closing up the keep (now grandly called The Great Tower), I thought I spotted a man entering what was then known as the King’s bedroom. I had been tasked with clearing the second floor along with a colleague, a rather tall, thin chap. As I turned, I thought I saw him going into this room, but only the lower part of his leg from below the knee, as it lifted off the ground to mount up into the room. Naturally, I called out that I had already checked that room only to find my colleague appear from another direction. Quickly, he checked the room but found no one and the only way out was through the door.

This tale was taken up (without credit to me, I might add!) on the popular television programme Most Haunted where the medium declared that the chap was called Michael and was some kind of high ranking servant to the king.

Hmmm…well, okay, if you say so!

Again, the tale has got bigger with each telling.

This was how it was reported on the pages of paranormal group who visited the castle for a night vigil in 1991:

On another occasion very recently, two female members of staff saw the lower half of a man's body crossing the doorway of the King's bedchamber during the evening search of the keep. The two witnesses followed the figure into the chamber only to find he had disappeared, and there was no other exit. Other members of staff were close by in the main hall at the time.

Well, nearly right, I suppose!

Sometimes, the half a leg is a whole leg and climbing the spiral stairs…

Moving on from Dover Castle, I next spent 13 years in the employ of the Colchester Museum Service (now Colchester and Ipswich Museum Service).

For the keep itself (misleadingly called Colchester Castle) I never felt much in the way of bad vibes. Even in the prison area.

In the Hollytrees Museum, a former home to the Gray and Round families, perfume and the smell of cooking could be sensed wafting through the house before any visitors had been in.

One day, a colleague came down from doing a patrol of the rooms to report that she wasn’t overly keen on the gentleman she’d seen at the top of the house. She’d said ‘hello’ but he’d glared at her.

It took a while but then I realised we’d only had about half a dozen visitors that day, being as it was winter and looking back on the videotape all were accounted for except a man - we’d had no men visiting us that day.

Feeling less than brave, we summoned a colleague from the castle who checked the whole house to make sure this man hadn’t secreted himself away somewhere. As the only way in and out was by the front desk, we could not explain it.

I personally, have heard what sounded like heavy footsteps pacing up and down in the room above where I was sitting at the front desk. Whilst two of my former colleagues both saw what looked like a lady in a dress, or rather the train of her dress, go by along what was once a corridor but is now blocked by the lift.

I think the only place I ever felt very uncomfortable in was the Natural History Museum in Colchester which is housed in a redundant church – All Saints.

All Saints parish is tiny; tucked at the end of the High Street. The church is surrounded by a small graveyard and underneath is a crypt into which the wealthier members of the parish were buried including Charles Grey, one-time owner of Hollytrees and the castle and its grounds.

One day, I and another member of staff were asked to go to the museum as the staff member on duty had reported a problem, possibly with the roof. Now, this gentleman is one of the calmest, most pragmatic people I ever knew so when he said that he heard a loud noise that sounded like slates falling from the roof, we believed him.

Neither myself nor my colleague could see any damage to the roof. To put things into perspective, the interior of the church is open to the roof and sound carries in very strange ways, but our colleague was insistent and, to be honest, he wasn’t one prone to histrionics. He described it as sounding like the tiles were slipping then crashing to the ground.

Another check confirmed that all tiles were intact.

About a year or so later, I was in the museum alone save for two elderly persons. All of a sudden there was a terrific noise which sounded like something sliding down the roof followed by an enormous crash. Just as my colleague had described. The two visitors also heard the noise and wondered about it.

Again, no external damage was found.

An interesting theory was put forward – not knowing how the crypt underneath was laid out, could it be possible that a coffin, perhaps sitting on a wooden shelf which had given way, had landed on a coffin below (this would account for the sliding and crashing sound) and that finally, unable to bear the weight any longer that coffin had finally fallen? Without being able to access the crypt, we can’t tell but it was a truly weird experience.

Thursday 7 December 2017

The Canterville Ghost

I love The Canterville Ghost, particularly Charles Laughton's version (although it's hard not to enjoy Patrick Stewart's turn as the irascible old ghost)

In the seventeenth century, Sir Simon de Canterville is forced by a Code of Chivalry to engage in a duel on behalf of his brother but flees to the family castle out of cowardice.

Disgusted by his son's behaviour, Lord Canterville has the only entrance to his son's hiding place bricked over as proof that Simon is not there, ignoring Simon's pleas for mercy. Here, Sir Simon is condemned to a slow, nightmarish death.

Lord Canterville then curses his doomed cowardly son to find no rest until "a kinsman shall perform an act of bravery" in his name.

Over the centuries, Sir Simon becomes famous as the most terrifying ghost in all of England.

During World War II the castle, now owned by six-year-old Lady Jessica de Canterville (who lives in fear of him), becomes home to the US Army Rangers who are billeted there. Sadly, for Sir Simon, the soldiers are not in fear of him but, instead, mock him. Sir Simon cuts a lonely figure who is weary of his time on earth.

Jessica soon discovers that one of the soldiers, Cuffy, is a Canterville and with his help, she overcomes her own terror of the ghost.

Sir Simon introduces Cuffy to all his ancestors via the family portrait gallery. Each Canterville has his own sorry story of cowardice. Cuffy scoffs at Simon's misgivings and boasts that he is different.

Cuffy, however, displays his true Canterville colours when, on a raid in France, he is paralysed by fear. Naturally, this act means he must leave the Rangers. Lady Jessica, in an attempt to bring out the inner hero in Cuffy, accidentally triggers a mine. Cuffy hitches the bomb behind a jeep and steers it into a ravine. The courageous act finally frees Sir Simon from his centuries of bondage.

Loosely adapted from a story by Oscar Wilder, it is the tale of a cowardly ghost seeking redemption. The tale is set in World War II, a wild deviation from its source material, and mixes themes such as heroism and courage under fire, the qualities Sir Simon lacks.

Tuesday 5 December 2017

Blithe Spirit

My next film is the second one starring Rex Harrison and, as I said in my last post I’m not fond of him as an actor but Blithe Spirit is a joyous affair made all the better for the wonderful performance by Margaret Rutherford as Madame Arcati.

Directed by David Lean and adapted from the play of the same name by Noel Coward, Blithe Spirit was not a notable success. Coward objected to the changed ending – in the play Charles leaves the two bickering wives to it, taunting them with his freedom as he does.

The dialogue, in typical Coward style, is fast, witty and slightly risqué in parts (online being deemed too much for US ears).

Believing her to be a charlatan, and rather amused by her eccentricity, Charles, his wife Ruth and their guests George and Violet, can barely stop themselves laughing at Madame Arcati.

Finally, after falling into a trance, Charles becomes convinced that he can hear the voice of his dead first wife, Elvira. To bad for him then that the others can’t, and he passes it off. When Madame Arcati comes to she is convinced something occurred but the others all deny it.

After their guests have gone, Charles tries to convince Ruth that something did happen, but she doesn’t believe him and retires for the night. Elvira reveals herself to Charles but only to him.

As tension mounts between husband and wife, Charles finds himself talking to his dead wife much to the chagrin of his present one. In a last-ditch attempt to convince Ruth he’s not mad he persuades Elvira to pick up a vase and chair.

Of course, when this happens it doesn’t make Ruth feel any better!

Ruth seeks out Madame Arcati in an attempt to return Elvira back to where she came from but the medium claims she doesn’t know how.

Persuaded that Elvira is trying to be reunited with her former husband, Ruth tells Charles that the ghost is planning his demise. Of course, Charles is having none of it. Sadly, for Ruth, she was correct, but Elvira has miscalculated and instead of topping Charles, it is Ruth who dies in the car the ghost has tampered with.

Now a spirit herself, Ruth exacts revenge on Elvira by harassing her, so she wants to leave.

A now desperate Charles, being haunted by two wives, turns once more to Madame Arcati but all her conjuring fails when it is revealed that she didn’t summon the spirit at all; it was the maid!

Unable to assist, Madame Arcati suggests that Charles leaves on a long vacation however, it is not long before he too has a fateful accident and joins Elvira and Ruth as a spirit.

In my forthcoming novel HIGH SPIRITS, the ghosts of Partridge Hall are aghast to learn that their friend Billy, the night guard, is being replaced by modern sensors and CCTV. They set out to scare the men installing the equipment, in an attempt to stop it happening.

Excerpt:

Darren looked around the room as he waited for Steve to finish.

“Reckon it’s true about this place being haunted.”

“You what?”

“Straight up! Reckon it’s the old curator.”

“Blimey, must have been a saddo to want to be in here during his life let alone haunt it forever!”

“Well, the damn cheek of it!”

“Now, Alec, don’t lose your temper!”

“I’ll show him!”

“Pol! No!”

It was too late; Pol was off.

“Yeah, think they’d have better things to do in their….” Darren’s voice trailed off as something caught his eye.

As he watched, he saw a shape seem to materialise before him, but nothing defined. He stared wide-eyed as the shape moved. It was a bundle of clothing such as he’d noticed in the boxes dotted around the museum.

“Okay, mate, you stop that!”

Steve stopped what he was doing and peered down the ladder. “What’d you say?”

The shape continued to move, to grow as the clothes took on a form.

“I said, enough!” Darren could feel the hairs on the back of his head standing up, and he had the greatest desire to pee.

Steve looked over to see what Darren was seeing, and the screwdriver fell from his hand, nearly hitting the petrified Darren on the head.

“What is that?” he stuttered.

“Someone messing about!” Darren was trying to sound braver than he felt. “Oi! I said enough!”

“I don’t like this!” said Steve coming down the ladder.

The two men stood shoulder to shoulder as the clothing, seemingly devoid of a wearer danced around before them.

Alec stood beside them, unseen and unheard, laughing at Pol, who had slipped inside the clothing, and was dancing away, wildly throwing her arms and legs out.

“Alec, don’t encourage her!”

“Serves them right, I say!”

Darren and Steve began to back away as Pol stopped dancing and with deliberate steps that gave the ‘empty’ clothes an air of menace, started to walk towards them.

The two men fled into the hall outside, almost falling over themselves in their rush to get out of the room.

Alec and Jean roared with laughter as Pol stepped out of the clothing, leaving it where it fell on the floor.

Saturday 2 December 2017

Haunted Mansion Part Three

Welcome back to my tour of haunted mansions.

In this post I've selected three wonderful buildings.

The first is Belgrave Hall, a Queen Anne-style Grade II* mansion, constructed as a family home for Edmund and Ann Craddock in 1709 in the city of Leicester. John Ellis, a businessman with connections to the Midland Counties Railways, purchased the mansion in 1847 as a home for him and his family of seven daughters.

The White Lady reputedly haunts the rooms of Belgrave Hall and is said to be one of these daughters, Charlotte.

Other apparitions seem to favour the Victorian garb, with one receiving the nickname 'Victorian Lady', whilst another is called 'the Green Lady' and 'the Grey Lady'.

Often, sightings are accompanied by smells of fresh bread and gingerbread.

After one of these spirits was caught on camera, a Paranormal Society was brought in to investigate and reportedly encountered a hostile male spirit, a child who had died of tuberculosis and a man who had died in a fall.

Another interesting sighting is a ghost from before the Hall was built.

Excerpt

Pol, on the other hand, had completely come to terms with her death. She’d been here before the Romans had found a use for the river; at a time when the Ancient Britons ruled the land.

For over two thousand years she’d been here, trapped inside various structures or none at all but tethered to the place she had lost her life at the age of eleven.

She’d witnessed the building of Partridge Hall, and the comings and goings of the families therein. She’d sat around their firesides of an evening watching the women sewing, or reading.

She’d sat on the landing when the balls were held, watching in wonder at the changing fashions until the last Partridge had departed this earth.

She had been at his bedside, as he took his final breath, she’d greeted his spirit as it left his body, not to linger, as she had done, but to rise up and be greeted by his long-gone relatives.

She had witnessed the transformation from family home to a museum, and she’d ached with longing for the days of laughter, of small children rushing through the room, of the singing around the piano at Christmas. For the first time, in a long, time, she’d felt alone – until that fateful night.

Next up: Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich, Suffolk.

Christchurch Mansion, originally called 'Withipoll House' by its owner, is a Grade I listed Tudor era mansion which now serves as a museum.

The ghosts of Christchurch Mansion include a young Edwardian lady who witnesses describe as dancing and laughing in the upper picture gallery. Some even say she is accompanied by two young children.

Downstairs, a female spirit is seen. Described as a lady in grey who suddenly appears from nowhere and is recognisable by the swishing of her gown.

A third ghost, that of a young servant girl is said to have been seen in the property having passed away under mysterious circumstances.

Excerpt

“Have I ever told you, how beautiful you are?” he said.

Jean smiled.

Alec stood and held out his hands in an invite to dance. Jean placed her hand on his shoulder, and he cupped her other hand inside his and waltzed around the room. As they gathered momentum, the lights in the office began to flicker, as if someone were turning the switches on and off. Jean threw back her head and laughed as Alec guided her steps in a dance all their own.

Lastly, let's hear about Chillingham Castle in Northumberland, the seat of the Grey and Bennet families from the 15th century until the 1980s.

Originally a monastery, it commanded a strategic position between England and Scotland.

Today, Chillingham Castle enjoys the reputation as one of England’s most haunted castle.

From the White Pantry Ghost to the Voices in the Chapel, Chillingham has a chilling history of hauntings.

The White Pantry Ghost is that of a frail woman who appeared one nigh to the footman whose job it was to sleep in the inner pantry where the silver was kept.

He was about to turn in for the night when a woman in white begged him for some water. At first the man believed it to be a castle guest then realising that he’d locked the door, he quickly realised that it was not possible.

The pale figure is still seen to this day, begging for water leading some to believe that she was poisoned.

A dark creeping sensation has been felt in one of the chambers, leading to an oppressive atmosphere. Something unseen yet moving lurks therein.

In the Chapel beside the Great Hall, visitors often hear two men talking. Those who try and follow the sound of the voices soon find that the men have disappeared.

Excerpt

Pol had spotted the shadow, and her eyes grew wide with fear.

“I can’t,” her voice trembled. “He’s coming.”

Bethan followed Pol’s petrified stare. Some of the audience members closest to the wall looked down and could see the swirling mass.

Instinctively, they leapt back, causing their chairs to tip and in the attempt to not topple, they did topple into the laps of their neighbours who also jumped to get out of the way. The domino effect caused people to fall between chairs and then scramble to their feet. The chairs scraped against the tile flooring, causing gauges as the audience tried to get away from the creature that now had some shape, like a human on all fours, sniffing at the ground, blind to what it was trying to find.

“Pol,” said Bethan, trying to get the girl to focus, “Pol, listen to me, you must focus okay, we have to end this now!”

Pol nodded. “He took a pig skull into the store; its smell helped to mask the gas.”

The shadow began to rise, taking a new form, that of a man, with clothes that hung loosely on his gaunt frame.

Friday 1 December 2017

The Ghost and Mrs Muir

My next ghostly film features an actor that I've not always been particularly fond of, yet he turns up in two of my favourite supernatural films. The first is The Ghost and Mrs Muir.

It's a rather sombre tale in parts but it is a true love story albeit one that takes a lifetime to come to fruition. Set against the backdrop of the sea, it tells the story of a young widow and a roguish ghostly sea captain.

In the early 1900s, young widow Lucy Muir moves to the seaside English village of Whitecliff to rent a house by the charming name of Gull Cottage It is reputed to be haunted by the spirit of a seaman who had committed suicide. Despite this grim tale, Lucy moves in with her young daughter, Anna and their maid, Martha.

On the very first night, the ghost of Daniel Gregg, the sea captain and former owner, visits Lucy. He tells her that despite what she'd heard, he did not commit suicide but did accidentally when he fell asleep and kicked open the valve on the gas heater.

He's also not very keen on Lucy living there but, after they chat, he reluctantly allows Lucy to live there unhindered.

Unfortunately for Lucy, her finances take a turn for the worse and her ghastly in-laws arrive to persuade her to return to London. Captain Gregg steps in and scares them out of the house then comes up with a fine plan to help Lucy: he will dictate his memoirs to her and she will have them published, with the royalties going to her. During the course of writing the book, they find themselves falling in love, but as both realize it is a hopeless situation, Daniel tells her she should find a real (live) man.

Upon visiting a publisher, Lucy finds herself drawn to handsome Miles Fairley, an author of children's' books. Despite reservations, the publisher eventually agrees to publish the Captain's somewhat racy recollections. The book becomes an instant bestseller, allowing Lucy to buy Gull Cottage.

Lucy and Fairley begin a whirlwind courtship much to the disgust of the Captain but, realising that he is standing in her way, he visits her whilst she is asleep and puts it into her mind that she alone wrote the book and that he was merely a dream.

"You must make your own life amongst the living and, whether you meet fair winds or foul, find your own way to harbour in the end." His task accomplished, Captain Gregg faded away.

Lucy, whilst visiting her publisher, decides to surprise Fairley and turns up at his home, only to find that he is already married and that this is not the first time he has gone off the rails.

Heartbroken, Lucy returns to Gull Cottage and spends the rest of her life as a recluse.

The story moves on ten years and Anna, now engaged to be married returns home with her fiance. It is during a conversation that Anna reveals that she knew all about the Captain and was not afraid of her strange companion.

Lucy lives a long and peaceful life but her health ails. Complaining to the steady Martha that she needs to rest, Martha leaves her. Lucy dies and a few moments later the Captain appears at her side.

Her young spirit takes his hands and stands free of her aged body. The two stare lovingly at each other for a moment before walking arm in arm down the stairs, and out of the front door into an ethereal mist.

My latest novel features a love story in the afterlife. HIGH SPIRITS finds Alec and Jean spending eternity in his beloved museuem.

Excerpt

Alec turned the page, but there was nothing else.

“Alec?”

Alec snapped shut the diary and turned to the doorway to see Jean just inside.

She walked gracefully over to the desk and looked at the collection of photographs finally spotting the one of her and Alec. She stared at it for a moment, before she looked up at him with limpid eyes.

“Have I ever told you, how beautiful you are?” he said.

Jean smiled.

Alec stood and held out his hands in an invite to dance. Jean placed her hand on his shoulder, and he cupped her other hand inside his and waltzed around the room.

As they gathered momentum, the lights in the office began to flicker, as if someone were turning the switches on and off. Jean threw back her head and laughed as Alec guided her steps in a dance all their own.