As the days shorten and the air begins to chill, the autumn equinox marks a change in the seasons and mood. In October, ribbons of mist float over gardens and fields, and at dusk, owls, foxes and deer shriek into the darkness, unseen.
At the turn of the month, we celebrate a trio of festival days: Halloween, or All Hallows Eve, on 31st October; and All Saints Day and All Souls Day on 1st and 2nd November. For many of us, this means carving pumpkins to place on doorsteps, while excited children go trick or treating.
But in some Christian traditions, it’s also a time when we commemorate departed loved ones. Meanwhile, certain Pagan practices suggest that the realms of heaven and earth blur during this period, allowing ghosts and spirits to roam among us. Whatever your belief, this eerie time of year lends itself to stories of the supernatural.
Caught on camera?
The V&A holds a number of ‘spirit’ photographs taken in the 19th century. ‘The Victorians loved being spooked by ghosts, in stories and at séances, and Spiritualism was characterised by the belief that spirits were all around us,’ explains curator Ruth Hibbard.
There was much debate about whether ghosts were real, but interest in the ‘spirit world’ continued until well after the First World War, when so many young men died. Dating to 1935–1936, a group of ten ‘spirit’ photos taken by self-described ‘Renowned Psychic Photographers’, the Falconer Brothers, came up for sale at Bonhams, making £2,560 in March 2024.
Countering witchcraft
Fear of the supernatural is a human trait, and in past centuries, people took measures to resist witchcraft. According to the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, charms were placed inside walls, under floorboards and on fireplace ledges to divert evil forces away from residents.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, mercury glass ‘witch-balls’ were popular, hung near windows and doors to ward off evil. This set came from The Grange in Wendover, Buckinghamshire, and sold at Woolley & Wallis for £630.
Spooky fiction
On his BBC radio and TV programme, Uncanny, Danny Robins has championed the ghost narrative for our times, but he’s treading a well-worn path previously laid by the author Montague Rhodes James (1862-1936), or M.R. James.
The medieval scholar worked at the University of Cambridge, and began conjuring up tales of phantoms to entertain friends and students on Christmas Eve. His first book, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, was published in 1904, culminating in The Collected Ghost Stories in 1931, a first edition of which sold for £1,008 at Forum Auctions.
M.R. James’ success laid the foundations for the ghostly horror story genre that evolved throughout the 20th century.
Roman remains
York’s beautiful old Treasurer’s House building has many layers of history. The present structure dates to the late 16th century, but beneath it is Via Decumana, a Roman road built when York was the northerly fort of Eboracum.
In 1897, the house was sumptuously refashioned by Wakefield industrialist Frank Green, to display his antique furniture and art; in 1930, both site and collection were donated to the National Trust. Since then,
the ghosts have run riot, ranging from two girls playing marbles in the Great Hall, to a mysterious dog scampering through rooms, and the aroma of Frank Green’s cigar smoke.
The most haunting story of all is that of a group of Roman soldiers, said to walk through the cellar, visible from the knees up. Most famously, they were seen and heard in 1953 by Harry Martindale, an apprentice heating engineer installing a boiler. Harry later said: ‘I don’t know about ghosts, but I do know what I saw down here that day.’
Ghostly goings-on
Many old inns vie for the title ‘most haunted’, boasting centuries-old buildings and antics fair and foul. One of the best-known is The Mermaid Inn in Rye, East Sussex, which has all the right credentials: 605 years old, with cellars dating to 1156, a secret passageway, and a priest hole.
Every January, paranormal societies gather to detect unexplained activity, such as the duelling ghosts in The Elizabethan Bedchamber (aka Room 16), or reports of a ‘lady in white’ who sits in the chair by the fireplace in The James (Room 1).
Then there are the doors flying open by themselves, icy blasts of air, orbs of light caught on camera, spectres walking through walls, and invisible people brushing past guests. You be the judge.
Famous ghouls
As a child, the author Charles Dickens listened to ghost stories recounted by his nursemaid. It stoked a lifelong interest in the paranormal, and 20 of his books feature such apparitions, including The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain and A Christmas Carol.
The latter, published in 1843, tells how Ebenezer Scrooge becomes a kinder man after spectral visitations from his dead business partner, Jacob Marley, and the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. This first edition sold for £8,160 at Dominic Winter Auctioneers. A later edition, illustrated by Arthur Rackham, c1915, made £1,071 at Forum Auctions.
Bottled magic
In 2018, Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum held a bewitching exhibition, ‘Spellbound’, featuring magical items. They included the purple crystal ball of John Dee, the magician who advised Queen Elizabeth I, and an Edwardian folkloric ‘poppet’ doll with a stiletto piercing its face.
Another star object was the ‘Witch in a bottle’, a small glass flask loaned by the city’s Pitt Rivers Museum. It was obtained in 1915 from an elderly woman who lived in Hove, East Sussex, who remarked: ‘And they do say there be a witch in it and if you let un out there’ll be a peck o’ trouble.’ To this day, the bottle has never been opened.
