Tag: history

23 February 2022

“What Drew Her Into Oblivion?”: The Disappearance of Silent Film Actress Marie Empress

Mary Ann Louisa Taylor, known by her stage name Marie Empress, was born on 26 March 1884 in Birmingham, England. Marie had a busy career as an actress, singer, dancer, and successful male impersonator, and garnered a reputation as a comedienne in Britain. She specialised in playing femme fatale, or vamp characters which led to confusion about her real persona...

Categories Weird History

8 February 2022

No, John Dee Didn’t Actually Translate the Necronomicon

Polarising American author HP Lovecraft (1890-1937) wrote some deeply unsavoury things during his lifetime. But his contributions to the realm of speculative fiction are so immense that it’s impossible to ignore his continued influence on the genres of fantasy, horror, and science fiction.

Categories Weird History

28 January 2022

‘Castle Sinister’: The Terrible 1932 British Horror Film Lost in Time

Castle Sinister, released in 1932, was a 50 minute (4410 foot long) black and white British horror film produced by Delta Pictures that’s now classified as ‘lost media’. The film is so obscure that there is no remaining footage, stills, teasers, or posters and most of the actors don’t have any photos available online. It’s unfortunately common for early films...

Categories Weird History

24 January 2022

‘Bloody Mary’: Is an English Queen Behind the Haunting Urban Legend?

It’s 1999 and you’re at a sleepover for a friend’s birthday party. You’ve exhausted the films rented from Blockbuster and you’re all eager for something else to do. It’s nearly midnight when one of your friends mentions a game she heard from someone… a friend of a friend, but she doesn’t remember who. She’s wanted to try it for a...

Categories Paranormal Encounters

17 January 2022

‘Ghostwatch’: When the BBC Terrified the Nation with a (Fake) Haunted House Documentary

On Halloween night in 1992, the BBC aired what would become one of the most controversial programmes in the broadcaster’s history. Ghostwatch, presented as a live broadcast, followed the Early family and the horrors they experienced living in what was pitched as one of the most haunted houses in the country. And luckily for the BBC an array of paranormal...

Categories Weird History

29 December 2021

The Wacky World of Victorian Christmas Cards

In 1843, English inventor Sir Henry Cole created the first commercially produced Christmas card. It was tame and festive, showing a family gathered around for Christmas dinner above an inscription wishing the recipient a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. By the 1870s Christmas cards were being sent by nearly everyone thanks to the emergence of the affordable halfpenny stamp...

Categories Weird History

20 November 2021

The Mysterious Dog Suicides on Overtoun Bridge, West Dunbartonshire

Overtoun Bridge, located in Scotland’s West Dunbartonshire, has a peculiar and frightening reputation: since the 1950s the bridge has allegedly been plagued by an ongoing trend of canine ‘suicides’. Reports of the number of dogs that have jumped or fallen over the edge of Overtoun Bridge could be as high as 300. In at least 50 cases, the dogs have...

Categories Paranormal Encounters/Weird History

9 August 2021

The History of The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall and Britain’s Most Famous Ghost Photograph

Raynham Hall in Norfolk, considered one of the most beautiful homes in the country, began construction in 1619 and was completed some fifteenth years later. The house was designed by Sir Roger, 1st Baronet Townshend, with construction lead by his Master Mason, William Edge. The hall is the first in England to be heavily influenced by European architecture, possibly a...

Categories Paranormal Encounters

18 March 2021

The Ghosts of England’s Oldest Pub, The Royal Standard of England, Buckinghamshire

Quirky, cosy, and radiating warmth, The Royal Standard of England in Penn, Buckinghamshire can easily be considered one of the most charming pubs in the southwest. With low beams, hidden nooks and crannies, and an assortment of knick-knacks, the pub’s unique aesthetic is only rivalled by it’s delicious food and homey atmosphere. And according to reports, this historic pub is...

Categories Paranormal Encounters

2 February 2021

The Ghost Bishop at Norwich Cathedral: A Closer Examination

In the summer of 2015, Kerry Launders was visiting Norwich Cathedral with her family when she snapped this peculiar photograph: According to both Launders and online commentary, the twenty-nine-year-old successfully captured what appears to be a ghostly figure gazing towards the cathedral’s presbytery. Since the city of Norwich is ripe with tales of hauntings, adding yet another ghost to the...

Categories Paranormal Encounters