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The Haunted Townhouse of 50 Berkeley Square in London

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One of the most haunted houses in London was 50 Berkeley Square, which according to the stories had a dangerous ghost that could kill the people staying in the attic. 

Once there was a house that was thought to be London’s most haunted house. The Georgian townhouse was located on 50 Berkeley Square in upmarket Mayfair. 

Back in the 18th and 19th century the place was linked with many horrific deaths and mysterious things happening. Residents as well as guests claimed to have seen ghosts in the house before they themselves were found dead. Their mouths and eyes wide open as if they died of pure fear. 

In 1879, reports of the house were published in Mayfair Magazine, telling about a maid who stayed in the attic and was found mad and died in an asylum the day after. In the same article there was also said a nobleman spent the night in the same attic and by morning he was found paralyzed, so scared that he couldn’t even speak. Also he died shortly after.  

The Victorian Christmas Deaths

Britain is known for its ghost stories tied to Christmastime, and this is one of those. One of the more haunted happenings in the house is said to have taken place on Christmas Eve, at least it was published in the magazine as it. 

This is what happened on Christmas Eve in 1887 when two sailors came to London. Blunden and Martin were on leave from HMS Penelope from the Royal Navy and walked through the dark and foggy winter streets, trying to find a place to stay for the night. 
If they were allowed to come in for the night or if they broke into the house is unclear, but they at least settled for the night in the attic. 

What they didn’t know at the time when they found lodging at 50 Berkeley Square when they stumbled upon it, happy to find someplace warm in the cold night, was all the haunted rumors and that the previous occupants of their room had been found mysteriously dead in the very room. 

During the night, Blunden felt uneasy and unable to fall asleep. Something wasn’t right in the house. He woke up Martin when he saw a ghost hanging over him. Blunden acted quickly and went for his weapon to protect them. The ghost came toward him as Martin managed to get out to the streets and found a policeman. 

Martin came back with the bobby and went inside of the house. They found Blunden at the bottom of the stairs, dead. His neck had been broken, probably because of the fall from the stairs. His eyes were wide open, as if from pure terror and fear. 

The Woman in the Attic

The most told legend is that the house was haunted by the spirit of a young woman who killed herself in the attic. After being abused by her uncle for a long time, she is said to have thrown herself out from the top-floor window in the attic. 
She is said to be the one behind the strange deaths as well, as her sight is so frightful people have died from fear of it. Depending who you ask, her spirit takes mostly form as a brown mist or a white ghostly figure.

The Starved Man

Another version of the haunted legends of the house is that there once was a man who was locked in the attic room and was only fed through a hole in the door. His brother, Mr. Du Pre of Wilton Park had to lock him inside because of his violent madness. In some versions he wasn’t mad to start with, but he eventually went mad and died. 

After his death he became a ghost and his moans and screams haunted the whole neighborhood. 

The Strange Thomas Myers of 50 Berkeley Square

So who was haunting the house that in modern times were owned by the Maggs Bros, Antiquarian Booksellers? Most stories are thought to have come from one of the peculiars occupants, Thomas Myers. He slept during the day, and in the night he made strange noises that many believed became exaggerated later. 

He moved into 50 Berkeley Square in 1859 after having been rejected by his fiancee according to the stories. He lived there alone and was said to be slowly getting mad as he locked himself in all day until he died in 1874 at 76. 

When he stayed there, the house with the sweeping stairs, high plaster ceilings and marble floors slowly started decaying more and more and rumors about it being haunted started to form around this time. 

When he was summoned to court for not paying his rates of 50 Berkeley Square, the magistrate excused him because they all knew he lived in a haunted house. So what came first? Thomas Myers or the hauntings?

The Haunted House

The spirits of the house at 50 Berkeley Square are said to be so strong that you only need to touch the Gregorian exterior of the house to feel the shivering hauntings that have infected the house. 

In modern times, we don’t really hear much about any more of the haunted incidents as before, and owners have refuted that the building is haunted. 

So the question is really, was the strange behavior of Mr. Myers the cause behind all of the haunting in the house, or did he see something that made him so?

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References:

Nightmare before Christmas: The history of festive ghost stories

50 Berkeley Square – Wikipedia

https://web.archive.org/web/20140122120101/http://www.walksoflondon.co.uk/37/50-berkeley-square-the-mo.shtml

https://london-beyond-time-and-place.com/50-berkeley-square-the-most-haunted-house-in-london/

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The Deacon of Dark River – An Icelandic Ghost Story

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Djákninn á Myrká meaning the Deacon of Dark River is an Icelandic folk tale that have been passed down for generations now. It tells the story of the ghost of a man trying to make his girlfriend join him in death. 

Once upon a time in Horgardalur not far from Akureyri in Iceland a deacon lived on a farm called Myrká. He was riding his trusted horse called Faxi to meet up with the woman he loved named Guðrún. It was the day before Christmas, a stormy and cold winter night. 

It was a long ride to her farm called Bægisá. On the way to her he had to cross the river Hörgá, but he fell into it. He ended up drowning and only his horse survived the night. He was found the next morning by a farmer and laid to rest, but Guðrún didn’t get the message and she waited for her loved one to come and pick her up.

So when she got a visitor in the darkness she believed it was him and went with him. He was behaving strangely though and kept calling her Garún. In Icelandic folklore, ghosts are unable to utter the word for God, which Guðrún is compiled of. 

It wasn’t before the raging wind blows off the large hat on the visitor she realizes it isn’t her boyfriend alive, but a skeleton. She also saw an open grave in the graveyard the skeleton tried to pull her towards.

The ghost skeleton of her boyfriend keeps pestering her and he wants her to join him in death so they can be together. Guðrún finally breaks free from the ghost and gets the help of a sorcerer. The sorcerer traps the ghost on unholy ground outside the graveyard belonging to the church at Myrka. 

He places a large and cursed stone on it that still holds the ghost of the priest’s apprentice. You can still see it today on the unholy ground, still waiting for his girlfriend to be together forever. 

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Most haunted place in Iceland

Djákninn á Myrká – Wikipedia

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Royal Christmas at Haunted Sandringham House

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Every year the British Royal family celebrates their Christmas at Sandringham House in Norfolk, England. Stories say that the place is particularly haunted during the Christmas season both for the royals and their servants.  

One Christmas in 1996, the footman, Shaun Croasdale made his way down to the wine cellar to pick out some wine for the royals that had come to celebrate Christmas at Sandringham House. With wine bottles in his hand, he suddenly saw one of the favorite servants of the late Queen, Tony Jarred. 

Perhaps this is nothing to worry about, except that Tony Jarred had died the previous year after almost 40 years in service for her majesty. The footman dropped the bottles and ran screaming from the cellar. No one was really surprised at this however, as it was Christmas time, and Sandringham House is notoriously haunted every year. 

Ghost of Christmas Pasts at Sandringham House

England has its fair share of ghostly history and Christmas time is no different. Each year, English haunted buildings come alive with stories of ghosts, spirits and shadows of the past. From extravagant castles to medieval manor houses, spooky apparitions haunt the grounds and make their presence known during the winter season.

Many people believe that these ghosts are lords and servants who once inhabited these old buildings, now returning during Christmas to either fulfill a task or simply bring good cheer and memories to those they left behind. Moreover, Christmas ghost stories have become a beloved pastime among many Brits who can be found throughout England’s haunted buildings searching for their own spooky mysteries.

Sandringham House, located in Norfolk, England, is the private residence of the British royal family and has been since 1862. Every year, the Queen and her family spend Christmas at Sandringham House, a tradition that dates back over a century.

In the later years though, it has also been known as an annual haunting, starting most often at Christmas Eve and lasting for a few weeks.

History of Christmas at Sandringham House

The tradition of spending Christmas at Sandringham House began in the late 19th century, when Queen Victoria’s son, King Edward VII, purchased the estate. Since then, the royal family has spent every Christmas at Sandringham House, with the exception of a few years during World War II.

The Queen and her family typically arrive at Sandringham House a few days before Christmas, and spend the holiday period together. The festivities include a number of traditions, such as the exchange of gifts on Christmas Eve and a formal dinner on Christmas Day.

Christmas at Sandringham House Today

Today, Christmas at Sandringham House is a highly anticipated event, both for the royal family and for the public. Members of the royal family attend a Christmas Day church service at St. Mary Magdalene Church, which is located on the Sandringham estate. Crowds of well-wishers gather outside the church to catch a glimpse of the royals as they arrive and leave.

In addition to the church service, the Queen and her family participate in a number of other holiday traditions. These include a Christmas Eve dinner, where the family exchanges gifts, and a Boxing Day pheasant shoot.

Ghost Haunting SAndringham House

So who is it actually that haunts Sandringham House, even in the place of the royals?

The Victorian residence has been said to have some sort of poltergeist-like activity, especially in the servant quarters of the house where blankets are pulled off the beds. They hear mysterious footsteps in the dead of night and the doors are closing and opening by themselves. 

The most haunted place is the sergeant footman’s corridor where the maids only go in pair or groups. The lights turn on and off and there have also been said to be a heavy and haunted breathing from the empty rooms in the service corridors, and at one point, servants were refusing to go into certain rooms as they thought the heavy breathing was the ghost of a former footman. 
Christmas cards move around and are thrown all over the floor on Christmas Eve. 

Even the Royals have Noticed the Hauntings

It is not only the servants that have said they have felt the haunting presence, but even the King himself is said to have noticed. 
Ken Stronach, the valet of King Charles said in an interview that:

 “Everyone believes there are ghosts because so many have -experienced them, ¬ including Prince Charles. There are old parts of the house where nobody wants to go or be alone,”

The valet also talked about an incident in the mid 80’s where they also had an experience of a drop in temperature and that they both were convinced that someone was there in the room with them. 

The uncle of Prince Phillip, Prince Christopher of Greece claimed to have seen the head and shoulders of a woman in a mirror when he was staying in Sandringham. Later he saw a portrait of the woman that he claimed it was of. Her name was Dorothy Walpole, and has been called the Brown Lady as she has been frequently seen haunting her old home in Raynham Hall in Norfolk. 

Read More about: The Lady in Brown at Raynham Hall

The Haunted Library Making Sure Staff is Working

Also the library in the house is said to be one of the more haunted rooms in the house. A servant was once napping in the room when being woken up by the books flying off the shelves. The hands of an old clock are also said to be moving by themselves, not following the time at all. 

Queen Elizabeth had an Exorcism?

One of the more surprising things that happened though, is when the late Queen Elizabeth II had a ritual in one of the rooms because of the ghosts they believed resided in there. 

The room in question belonged to the Queen’s late father, King George VI on the ground floor they used for him before his death, and it was said it was so haunted that the staff refused to work there. 

According to reports, a person came to hold a service to, as quoted, “not exactly of exorcism, but bringing tranquility.”
The service was to hola a congregation where they took the Holy Communion and said some special prayers. 

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References:

Nightmare before Christmas: The history of festive ghost stories

Christmas at Haunted Sandringham – Paranormal

The ghostly history of Sandringham House where the Royal Family will be spending Christmas – MyLondon

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The Imperial Haunting at Yun Shan Fan Dian Hotel

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Checking into the Yun Shan Fan Dian Hotel in Chengde, China? According to legend, this is a haunted hotel, and the ghost in question is none else than the former Empress Dowager Cixi. 

In the mountains to the northeast, three hours from Beijing is the city of Chengde in Hebei province, home to the Yun Shan Fan Dian Hotel (承德云山饭店) situated by the Yangtze River and was built as the modern pride of the city to welcome guests. 

Read more: Haunted Hotels around the World 

The Hotel has around 220 rooms and is the old imperial resort destination of Chengde and was the first four star hotel in the city meant to cater to foreign tourists as well as locals. The hotel is also known as one of the more haunted hotels in the country.

The Ghost of The Empress Dowager Cixi

Yehe Nara Xingzhen: (29.11 1835 – 15.11 1908), a Chinese noblewoman of the Manchu Yehe Nara clan who controlled the Chinese government in the late Qing dynasty as empress dowager. Selected as a concubine of the Xianfeng Emperor she gave birth to a son, Zaichun, in 1856 and controlled until her death.

The Yun Shan Fan Dian Hotel overlooks the Yangtze River and is said to be the haunting grounds of Empress Dowager Cixi (慈禧太后) from the Qing Dynasty, the last empress of China. 

Empress Dowager Cixi governed the country for 47 years until her death in 1861 after working her way from the position as a concubine and was a highly controversial figure, often depicted as a ruthless despot that was a big reason for China’s corruption problem, anarchy and revolution that came in the following years. 

Although in recent years, other perspectives on her have emerged as well as many, this meant that the problems in China at the time were much more deep rooted to blame on just one regent. 

Read More: Check out all our collection of ghost stories from China

The Empress is said to watch over her former gardens which the site where Yun Shan Fan Dian Hotel is built on used to be a part of. The Empress Dowager Cixi is said to be appearing at the end of the hallway on the 8th floor dressed in the traditional Chinese clothes from the late 1800s. 

For what reason The Empress Dowager Cixi is said to be haunting this exact hotel is uncertain and in no sources found do they state a connection to the place other than the gardens. 

The Man in Western Clothes

The Yun Shan Fan Dian Hotel is not a hotel with just one ghost if we are to believe the legend though. The Hotel is also said to be haunted by a man wearing western style clothes who also hangs around on the same floor as well as the ghost of the The Empress Dowager Cixi. 

Whether this particular ghost actually was a western visitor or just wearing the clothes are never really made clear. Although the female ghost both has a name and a history, the ghost of the man is for now nameless and no one knows who it can be. 

Yun Shan Fan Dian Hotel: Supposedly one of the more haunted hotels in China. // Source

The Legends of the Yun Shan Fan Dian Hotel

The one problem encountered with this story of a haunted hotel though is the lack of Chinese sources for it. Why are they all seemingly just speaking in English? Have the ghosts just been seen by foreign tourists? Did the haunted rumors just happen to be jotted down in English on English sites or are the ghost stories about the former dowagers thinner than the top haunted lists would have it?

The question remains, is there actually a more deep rooted ghost story in The Yun Shan Fan Dian Hotel?

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References:

Yun Shan Fan Dian In China Is Haunted By The Emperess Cixi.

List of reportedly haunted locations in China – Wikipedia 

承德云山饭店_百度百科

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High Street Ghost House in the Sai Ying Pun Community Complex

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On High Street in Hong Kong there is a haunted house with a long history of housing nurses as well as patients that are now haunting the building known as the Sai Ying Pun Community Complex 

High Street, Hong Kong, is a one way street filled with stories and culture that connects to the Bonham Road and Pok Fu Lam Road in the Sai Ying Pun district, that referred to the military camps as it used to be a place where the British stayed.

The area above High Street was assigned to Europeans only and the Chinese were excluded from living there once upon a time. The street itself used to be called Fourth Street, but since the connotation with bad luck and death in China, the street changed its name to High Street. 

Read also: Haunted Numbers

And the reputation of the street is like the reputation of its former name, haunted and cursed. So take a tour down High Street with us to experience all that this iconic destination has to offer.

As you stroll along High Street, you’ll encounter many sites and monuments of note, such as parks, schools, markets and mansions. One of the buildings is the Sai Ying Pun Complex (西營盤社區綜合大樓). 

The High Street Haunted House

There are some dark mysteries surrounding the streets of High Street in Hong Kong. The Sai Ying Pun Community complex dates back to 1892 when it was built for hosting European nurses working at the Civil Hospital until World War II.

Sai Ying Pun Community Complex

There was a lot to do, as even the bubonic plague ravaged the district in 1894 that wiped out entire streets and some of the ghost stories you hear about it today is from the unfortunate patients that didn’t make it. 

Read More: Check out all our collection of ghost stories from China

The Sai Ying Pun Community Complex was also where they reportedly executed people when the Japanese occupied China during World War II. 

After the war the Sai Ying Pun Community Complex was turned into an asylum where the building was for female patients and what most locals know the building for. It was one of its kind back then and known as the mental asylum. This closed its doors in 1961 after the opening of Castle Peak Mental Hospital, but served as a day treatment center until 1971.

Read more: Haunted Hospitals and Asylums

Since then the Sai Ying Pun Community Complex has been known for being one of the most haunted places in Hong Kong and often the building was simply called High Street Ghost House. 

High Street Ghost House

In the 70s, the Sai Ying Pun Community Complex was largely abandoned except for drug addicts from the nearby methadone clinic and teenagers coming to spray graffiti and talk about the ghosts they claimed to see there. There is not really one specific story about the building, but most dates back to its time as the mental hospital.

The ghost stories from the High Street Ghost House also bled through into the urban legends and ghost stories from the metro stations that were built underneath the area as well were stories about the ghost of the mental hospital wandered down to the underground stations.

Today the Sai Ying Pun Community Complex is a protected 9 storey building on the site with the arched verandas. There have been reports about headless ghosts roaming the corridors of the community complex and it is said it’s the spirits of the murdered victims and patients that died there. 

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References:

High Street | LANDMARK

Sai Ying Pun Community Complex – Wikipedia 

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The Ghosts Children Begging in Bramber

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Dressed in rags in the cold Christmas season, the ghost of the children from the haunted Bramber Castle haunts the roads, begging for food as they starved to death on the King’s order. This is the eerie Christmas tale of The Ghosts Children Begging in Bramber. 

It has always been said that the English are obsessed with ghosts and other mysterious happenings, and this is especially true at Christmas time. With old castles and lordly manors dotting the country there are more than enough haunted places for stories to come alive. 

Read more about: Christmas Hauntings Ghost Stories of Christmas Hauntings from the world, but mostly England.

England is filled with tales of Christmas hauntings, where ghosts roam about the old buildings telling their stories of days gone by. This is also the case about the horrible and tragic legend of The Ghosts Children Begging in Bramber.

The Ruins of the Bramber Castle

For centuries Bramber in Sussex, England was owned by the powerful de Braose family who were lords of Bramber and had their seat at Bramber Castle that dates back to 1070 overlooking the River Adur. 

The ruins of Bramber Castle: Part of the remains of Bramber Castle.//Source: Marathon/Wikimedia

The House of Braose was a prominent family of Anglo-Norman nobles that grew powerful under King John in particular. 
Now there are only ruins left of the Bramber Castle with only the Gatehouse Tower remaining, and the Bramber family are only ghosts. A white horse without a rider has been seen many times, but the place is mostly remembered for its annual Christmas hauntings of starving and bony children begging for food. 

The Lord that fell out of the King’s Favour

In the early 13th century, William was the 4th Lord of Bramber. This Lord of Bramber is Infamous for the Christmas Day Massacre of Welsh Princes at Abergavenny Castle in 1175. Under the pretense of peace and ending the year with a new start, he lured three Welsh Princes and Welsh leaders to their death as they were seated for the feast in the Great Hall. 

He was even so cruel, he hunted down one of their sons and slaughtered him in cold blood so there would be no one from the bloodline claiming the right to their fathers claim in Wales. The child was seven years old, and one can wonder if he was thinking of his children that would share a similar fate. 

Because of this, he was hated by the Welsh and was called the Ogre of Abergavenny. 

He fell out with King John. Why is a bit of a mystery, but many said his lavish lifestyle upset the King who envied him. Perhaps he grew too powerful? Perhaps he grew to hate the country by all of his massacres and scheming.   

The King followed the Lord of Bramer all over the country as well as Ireland and Wales to make an example out of him to the other Barons. His lands, his castle as well as his entire family were seized and handed over to the crown in 1208. 

The Starved Children on the Roads in Bramber

According to the legends of The Ghosts Children Begging in Bramber, William’s children were held as hostages by the king at Windsor Castle, or in some version of the story, Corfe Castle. But no one came to free them and they ended up starving to death in captivity. How many of them is unclear in the legends. In historical data though, it seems like it was the younger William who was held with his mother and starved to death. 

Read also: Another castle that claims you can hear the sound of starving children is in the Corfe Castle were it is also said they were held:. 

The Ghosts Children Begging in Bramber

According to the local legend though, the children finally returned to Bramber, even if it was as ghosts. The Ghosts Children Begging in Bramber allegedly haunt the road of Bramber Village in the dark, all dressed in nothing but rags as they run after people passing by trying to get food. 

Every Christmas, a boy and a girl of the ghost siblings are seen as they watch in sorrow the ruins of their former home, Bramber Castle, now in ruins. Their father was massacred on Christmas and they died because of his actions. Now, the season is time for them to return to their home and haunt as they die, starving. 

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References:

Haunted Castles Type: Best Sorted by Country

Nightmare before Christmas: The history of festive ghost stories

Bramber Castle | English Heritage

NOSTALGIA: Ancient echoes of the Ogre of Abergavenny’s atrocities | SussexWorld

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Oskorsreia – the Wild Hunt in the North

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The wild hunt is a supernatural ghost ride in the sky during the dark winter days. In Scandinavia this hunt is called Oskorsreia, often a hunt led by Odin himself that could be dangerous for people to get entangled in. 

The sound of rumbling thunder, horses tramping in the pitch black night sky, and the screams of the hunters making their way through the sky is a familiar picture for many Europeans. The idea of the wild hunt that can take you away is a frightening one. Especially in the northern part of the world, where the fear from the hunt was real. 

Loudly through air at night they haste,
An uproar on wild black horses!
As a storm the wild crowds travel by
With nothing but clouds for foothold.
Over the valleys, the woods and meadows –
Through darkness and weather, they never heed.
The traveler throws himself frightened to ground.
Listen… what clamor! It’s the forces of Asgard!
— Åsgårdsreien by Johan Sebastian Welhaven (english translation)

The time of Christmas is a cozy one for most people today. Many of the traditional customs however, have a much darker backstory than many know today. From the evil Krampus in Germany, the horse skull of Mari Lwyd in Wales to the wild hunt of Oskorsreia in the north.

Read more about ghost and hauntings during Christmas time: Ghost Stories of Christmas Hauntings

Especially in the northern part of the world, the idea of Christmas and winter have much more sinister connotations than elsewhere in the world. The days are shorter here, and the nights are much darker with more dangers lurking in the stormy winds, cold and snowy landscapes where the sun only peaks over the mountains a couple of hours each day. Christmas times are around the darkest time of the year and winter solstice has been celebrated and often feared as well as the time where the wild dark forces get unleashed into the world. 

The Wild Hunt in Europe

The idea, the fear and the legends about The Wild Hunt is found in many places in European mythologies. To the Germanic stories about the wild hunt between the Christmas weekend and new years weekend and the phenomenon was popularized when the brothers Grimm brought it up in their writings.

The Wild Hunt: Die Wilde Jagd, a German interpretation of the wild hunt by Johann Cordes from 1856. Almost every part of Europe have their own version of the wild hunt and there are many different historical, mythical or godly persons leading the hunt.

There are a lot of variations of the legends like Oskorsreia and the wild hunt, but mainly, it is the stories about restless spirits riding through the night sky. Often it is historical figures, like King Valdemar stalking a woman in Denmark, Theodoric the Great in Italy.

In Scandinavia they called it Oskorsreia and Wild Hunt was not only connected with the restless spirits in the sky, but also to the Gods and it was told before Christian times, it was believed it was Odin himself that led the hunt, the leader of the Norse Gods. 

Oskorsreia in Scandinavia

The Wild Hunt of Asgard raids the county
Whilst fall and winter at stormy nights.
But it favors to travel at Yuletide…
They feast with trolls and giants;
they closely ride by meadow and path
And pass the fearful nation.
Then, – take care farmer! Keep all in order!
As the wild hunt of Asgard may visit your home!
— Åsgårdsreien by Johan Sebastian Welhaven (english translation)

Oskoreia, or Åsgardsreia as it was later called by the 1800s national romantics as a connotation to Åsgard, where the norse Gods resided, was in Scandinavian lore restless spirits riding in the sky in the night. This happened especially around christmas time, or yule, called Juleskreia. Oskoreia was the older world for it, from a time when even Christmas hadn’t reached the icy tips of Scandinavia. 

Oskorsreia was often in folklore about making sure you were ready with the preparations for Christmas and not being outside when the hunt was on. If you were not prepared and out and about when they came riding, chances were high that you would be carried along with them. 

Julereia: Jul, meaning Yule or Christmas was also a version, sometimes used in stead of the more godly ride we oten connect Oskorsreia with. It was a group of goblins, witches, trolls, elfs and other obscure creatures, travelling around during christmas time in order to cause chaos and havoc.//Picture: Nils Bergslien 1922.

Oskorsreia was supposedly dangerous for humans to get entangled with the hunt, as it would tear at your soul and carry you so far you might not get home. Many sagas tell about people taken from their homestead and are let down in an unfamiliar place. 

To stay safe against the Oskorsreia hunt, people painted crosses of tar or chalk on their doors both for humans and animals in the more Christian area. They also placed sharp steel over the doors to protect both the people in the house as well as the horses in the stables. If you were already out when you heard the ghost riders coming, your only hope was to throw yourself on the ground, arms and legs spread out and just hope that the riders would pass you. 

The Danger of Oskorsreia

As through the air in the dark came a thunder,
– a howling horde on ferocious horses,
It raced over woods to the wedding house,
Intended to visit the bloody performance.
Then horns blew, and an awesome noise
From bells and riding-gear resounded.
Now it was close – it came over the hill –
There was an outcry: The wild hunt of Asgard!

There was a tempest in Heaven and Earth,
That hurled a horror in every heart,
It blasted along in growing circles,
It punched with wings and grabbed with arms.
Then Wolf was dragged away by his hair,
thrown up in the air and taken away,
Yes, taken away over woods and mountains,
He was never seen or heard of again.
— Åsgårdsreien by Johan Sebastian Welhaven (english translation)

Over time when there was a mysterious death no one could explain, it was often blamed on the Oskorsreia, especially during Christmas times. There are many folk tales from Scandinavia where they tell about someone trying to celebrate Christmas, but an unknown corpse appears on the farm, in the woods or close to the house no one knows where it came from. Then it was thought it was a person who got tangled up in the ride, was taken away and dropped down from the sky again. 

In the 1800, Oskorsreia and The Wild Hunt was a popular motif for the Germanic painters, poets and sculpture, and today we have many pieces of art depicting the hunt. But it is not the only place we can see the remnants of people’s fear of the wild hunt. 

Back in pre Christian times the hunt was either a ride of witches through the night, meaning Gandferd. Gand was originally the word for a pointy staff the witches used, and this witch ride is one of the origins stories of why we think witches ride on brooms. 

Why the wild hunt like Oskorsreia was happening varied, but most likely it started as an explanation to the stormy weathers during winter times. Oskorsreia and the Wild Hunt was often thought to be a warning of a coming plague or war, and also more harmless reasons as to check on people if they were doing their Christmas preparations correctly. 

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References

Salomonsen konversasjonsleksikon om Asgaardsrei

https://snl.no/%C3%85sg%C3%A5rdsrei

Wild Hunt – Wikipedia

Complete translated poem of Åsgårsreia by Johan Sebastian Welhaven: http://www.odins-gift.com/pclass/asgardsreien.htm

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Lady Ursula’s Ghost Walk at Madingley Hall on Christmas Eve

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Every year on Christmas Eve, the ghost of Lady Ursula is seen walking from Madingley Hall in Cambridge, unable to move on in the afterlife because of her son’s actions. 

And things are done you’d not believe
At Madingley on Christmas Eve.
– From Rupert Brooke, The Old Vicarage, Grantchester

England’s dark and mysterious past, full of brooding castles and unsettled spirits, makes it a place of fascination come the holiday season. Curious tales of Christmas hauntings at old castles and lordly homes throughout England have been around for generations, with local ghost stories passed through generations. Join us as we explore the mysteries behind these tales of longstanding hauntings by ghosts in England during Christmastime!

In Cambridge, England, there is a big conference center. It used to be the Tudor Madingley Hall, a grand estate owned by the Hynde family and built by John Hyde in the 1540s. 

Madingley Hall on Christmas Eve

Cambridge is a notoriously haunted place with its old history and a place where a lot of things happened. The university is said to be one of the more haunted universities in the world. Cambridge University took over the building known as The Shire Manor of Madingley they started talking about sightings of a ghost in the dead of the winter nights.

Read Also: Ghost Stories of Christmas Hauntings

Ghost Haunting the Madingley Hall Inside of the Tudor manor it is said to be heard an eerie music playing from nowhere and a group of women has been seen wandering around the grounds of the hall. Who are they? Some say that it is from Victorian times because of their clothing. There is also a ghost that makes her annual appearance we do know the name and history of. 

Madingley Hall: It is said that the hall is haunted by ghostly music, women in Victorian clothing and every Christmas Eve, there is a ghost that walk from the hall to the town every year.//Source: Bob Jones / Madingley Hall / CC BY-SA 2.0

Every Christmas Eve there is a ghost that walks between the hall and the location where there once was a church in Histon. She has been walking for many years now, and today she has to cross a motorway to get there. But still, every Christmas she haunts the place in anger for what her son ended up doing to her beloved church. 

Ghost of Lady Ursula Hynde

During Queen Elizabeth I reign, Sir Francis Hynde was an MP and he did several expanding of his hall that he took over from his father. Among other things, he demolished a nearby church in the nearby village of Histon that would be the building materials for his own home. 

Lady Ursula Hynde: It is believed that it is the ghost of Ursula hynde that is haunting Madingley Hall and takes her annual walks every Christmas Eve.

This time was a religious turnover in England as they turned from the Catholic church and several of the monasteries and churches were stripped from their wealth, and even the stone and timber they were built in wasn’t safe anymore. This was something that upset many of the English people still catholic at heart, and Sir Francis Hynde’s mother was one of those. 

Read Also: Haunted Monasteries and Churches

He demolished the church almost 40 years after the death of his mother, Lady Ursula. Sir Francis Hynde apparently had a deep hatred for the religious institution, unlike his mother, a devoted catholic to her death in 1555, and beyond if we are to believe the legend. 

The Ghost Walk on Christmas Eve

According to the legend, her spirit got angered by the demolition of the church that were used to expand her sons personal mansion and she has haunted the Madingley Hall ever since

People that claim to have seen her, say she is walking, wringing her hands in anguish almost in prayer and sobbing uncontrollably, heartbroken over her son’s desecrations of the church and opposition to her religion.

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References:

Nightmare before Christmas: The history of festive ghost stories

Lady Ursula’s Ghostly Christmas Walk At Madingley Hall | Spooky Isles

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The Dangerously Haunted Tuen Mun Road

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On the major expressways in Hong Kong, there are rumors that it is ghosts that are causing some of the many car accidents that have happened over the course of the years on the Tuen Mun Road. 

Today Hong Kong is known for being a major urban area with concrete as far as the eye goes, that is including the highways. Tuen Mun Road was one of the first major expressways in Hong Kong that opened in 1978 that proved to be a great challenge for the engineers building it at the time because of the winding coastline and steep terrain along the coast that also makes it more dangerous than a road in a straight line.

Read More: Check out all our collection of ghost stories from China

The Tuen Mun Road connects two villages in greater Hong Kong called Tuen Mun and Tsuen Wan and is a notoriously congested highway. The almost 20 km long road is described as a ‘Zombie’ Road due to its habit of causing dangerous accidents as well as having a haunted reputation. 

Dangerous Highway with many Accidents

As mentioned, the Tuen Mun Road is known for its heavy traffic jams and frequent road accidents that sometimes end in tragedy. Over the almost 40 years there have been hundreds of accidents and several deaths because of it. One of the most talked about being the bus accident in 2003 that killed 21 people. 

But what is it that makes this particular road more dangerous than others? The road accident on Tuen Mun Road is said to be because of the steep terrain with slopes and sharp turns, but is that all there is to it? 

There are alternative explanations that are based on local legends and are grounded in the supernatural . 

Tuen Mun Road Haunted by Ghosts of Former Drivers

The Tuen Mun Road has been called the zombie road and is known for being a haunted road of the victims from the road accidents. Some even claim that the ghosts are some of the reasons why these accidents, or rather, collisions, happen.

Legend has it that people have been driving and suddenly see something that looks like a human, or at least the specter of it and they have tried to avoid it by steering away. However, the thing in the middle of the road was nothing but a ghost and when swerving in the road they hit the sides of the road or other cars, causing more accidents and in the worst cases, more deaths. 

There are even those that claim that the ghosts that roam along the haunted road have taken control over the vehicle and caused the accidents on purpose.  

Because of this, rumors about ghosts haunting the road started and today the road is known as one of the most haunted roads in the world. 

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References:

屯門公路- 维基百科，自由的百科全书

Tuen Mun Road in China is haunted by ghosts

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The Ghosts Inside of Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defense

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Uncover stories of battles and defenses that shaped Hong Kong’s past at the Museum of Coastal Defense. According to the legends, there are also tales of ghosts of the fallen soldiers, and also the ghost of a dismembered woman wearing white. 

Step back in time and explore the enthralling world of coastal defense at the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defense (香港海防博物館). Discover fascinating stories of powerful battles, ancient defenses, and history’s impact on this remarkable region as you explore this former coastal defense fort. And if we are to believe the legends, a haunted one at that. 

Read More: Check out all our collection of ghost stories from China

Overlooking the Lei Yue Mun channel near Shau Kei wan on Hong Kong island’s beautiful coastline, the museum is home to picturesque artifacts and historical treasures from across Hong Kong’s long and varied past. 

Centuries of Defense over the Hong Kong Island

The Museum of Coastal Defense was built around an original fort that the British constructed in 1887. During the Second World War, this fort and others like it helped to protect Hong Kong from potential invasion. 

Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defense

The area has been used as a fortress of defense for much longer though, as far back as the Ming Dynasty and they have an exhibition titled “600 years of coastal defense”. 

The same goes for the opium wars when Hong Kong became a British Colony as a result of the First and Second Opium wars.

Perhaps the place is best known from the battle on December 8. in 1941 when Japan attacked Hong Kong Island during the Battle of Hong Kong. After the fall of Kowloon, the British fortified their defense to keep the Japanese forces coming over the Devil’s Peak and crossing over the Lei Yue Mun Channel, although they were eventually overrun and ended up under Japanese occupation throughout the war years.  

Haunted Rumors at Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defense

So who is haunting this place? First and foremost people believe it is haunted by soldiers that died in the battles that were fought there over the years. 

The ghost of the soldiers is not the only thing that are said to be haunting the place. There have also been reports about a woman in white that are supposedly haunting the halls of the museum. 

Late at night when the security guards are patrolling the museum they have heard distant screams in the corridors. There is also talk about a woman with long hair, but only half a body around in Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defense. 

Visitors are also said to have spotted this ghostly woman wearing all white. 

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Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence

Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence – Wikipedia