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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 4m

I have to admire Hopkins' hutzpah. He claims the story (part of the Warbleton Priory screaming skulls legend) was told to him by Rudyard Kipling, who had 'forbade him to mention his name' (he died in 1936). But the tale also appears in Harper's 'Haunted Houses' (1907), so this might just be a fib.

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 13m

@buchanan.today Aha! "When the wall [at Rushlake Green] was being demolished some time about 1820 a workman put his pick into the corner of a recess and a flat stone came away disclosing a human head, and, at the same moment, an enormous toad jumped out of the hole."
@drpaullee.bsky.social #ghosts

Part of the artwork of the dust jacket of 'Adventures With Phantoms' by R Thurston Hopkins (1946). It shows a toad (highlighted in green) squatting on a skull (highlighted in pink).

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 31m

I checked to see whether there was any Price or O'Donnell lurking in the North Wales stack, but alas, no.

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 33m

I have only read the first chapter thus far. I feel convinced that's an image borrowed from something famous, but not so famous that I can remember what it is (something Baroque probably). The toad looks a bit spaced out, like Hypnotoad from 'Futurama'.

Reposted by The Ghost Monk

Out of Context Mickey Mouse Comic Strips @oocmickeycomics.bsky.social · Sep 13

From Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Vol. 1: Race to Death Valley...

A strange scarecrow creature stalks towards Minnie Mouse, who screams in horror, in the rain.

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 2h

If this was in any way relevant to my account, I'd be gleefully reposting this!

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 2h

Some of this stuff is seriously surreal!

The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 3h

That's good to know. It's sadly without its jacket, and knackered. I was hoping to annoy you with it! Some fool has inked in on the front board: 'Including certain records of Welsh Ghosts in Wales'. Where else would you expect Welsh ghosts to haunt? 'The Hanging Gardens Of Babylon, perhaps...?'

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 3h

If you stumbled upon some #fairies, they might offer to take you home: 'Below the wind, in the wind or above the wind'. If you chose the first, they'd drag you along the ground through the undergrowth; the latter, high in the cold airless atmosphere; but 'in the wind', gently home.
#folklore #faerie

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 3h

Hi @drpaullee.bsky.social Amazingly, my local Library Service has found me a copy of 'Adventures With Phantoms' (it was last borrowed in 1964!). But it's a disappointing affair: a slim volume of 175 pages with small type. It's Quality Press, 'First published in 1946'. But what did yours look like?

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 5h

The answer must be that Sacheverell, Osbert and Edith grew up in haunted Renishaw Hall, #Derbyshire. In a small bedroom a young lady suffered the disturbing sensation of being kissed by an invisible man's cold lips. Later, during restoration work, a 17th C coffin was found under the floorboards.

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 5h

My 1940 first edition of 'Poltergeists' by the poet and art historian Sacheverell Sitwell. Despite the silly cover, this is a serious re-examination of early poltergeist cases. But why would a member of the aesthetic and literary Sitwells be interested? [1/2
#31DaysOfHalloween #BookChatWeekly

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 6h

A basilisk threatens a small youth. From 'Baleful Beasts and Eerie Creatures' (1976) by Rod Ruth. I don't own this book. Wish I did, because aside from the fact the illustrations look great, it is worth a remarkable amount of money: £1,000+ in decent condition.
#BookChatWeekly #monsters #fantasyart

A boy in jeans, orange top and natty shades cowers away from a hideous creature, part reptile, part cockerel. The setting appears to be an old stone-walled building and the boy has backed up against a mirror.

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 17h

I have wanted to see this full quote for so long and thanks to Colin, I have! I wondered how Ellison got to know Dr Who at all and now I know it was all down to Michael Moorcock. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

Colin Smith @colinsmith.bsky.social · 21h

1975: Harlan Ellison visits Michael Moorcock in London. The Englishman sits Ellison in front of the TV when Dr Who comes on & insists Ellison “be quiet & just watch”. By the late 1970s,Ellison is such a fan of Dr Who that he’s taunting US scifi fans with declarations of its superiority over US fare.

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Reposted by The Ghost Monk

Hubert Hobux @huberthobux.bsky.social · 8d

huberthobux.wordpress.com/vale-royal-v...

A fresh ghost sighting has come to light courtesy of a friend...

Vale Royal Victorians..?

Recently talking all things ghostly to a ‘usually’ pragmatic friend, she completely floors me with this sudden revelation of her own very personal ‘paranormal’ experience wh…

huberthobux.wordpress.com

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Reposted by The Ghost Monk

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris @drlindseyfitz.bsky.social · 4d

Funeral Invitation, 1688.

Funeral invitations first appeared in the 17th century, and acted as an admission ticket to both the church and the funeral feast. Pallbearers were often assigned a number on the ticket to signify their position in carrying the coffin.

A funeral invitation from April, 1688. It has an ornate black border with various memento mori iconography around it - like skeletons, winged hourglasses, and scythes.

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Reposted by The Ghost Monk

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris @drlindseyfitz.bsky.social · 1d

Dental Phantom, c.1898. Or, what it feels like to live in 2025.

The dental phantom was first created by the Glaswegian dentist Eduard Oswald Fergus a few years earlier as a tool for students to practice their craft before working on human subjects.

A metal head with a mouth wide open as if it is screaming. Inside are a full set of dentures.

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 19h

Rather attractive font they've used for 'Russia'. The sort of font travel companies in the UK would have used for 'Come to sunny Spain'.

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 23h

Something strange to finish off the day: a big red Elizabethan stone skull-thing by Polish artist Zdzislaw Beksinski.
#artsky #PolishArt #weirdart #weird

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 1d

My 1945 first edition of Harry Price's oddly-named 'Poltergeist Over England'. Its subject matter is clear enough, though. An uncommon book, especially in its dust jacket. The Wartime Economy Standard on paper meant the DJ was thin and fragile - it's not survived well on my copy.
#31DaysOfHalloween

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 1d

Only now, having made a post about Parc y Meirw, have I realised my mistake here. 'Meirw' means 'dead' not 'meilw'. Meilw (or Feilw) is a difficult one to translate - it may be a personal name. I like to think I'm knowledgeable about the meaning of Welsh place names, so this is really embarrassing.

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 1d

And of course that should be 'Meirw' - stupid of me.

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 1d

There are 9 posts where I've remembered to use that tag. Most are illustrations of first appearances of a number of his short stories.

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 1d

Thank you, that's an even better tip because they only provide contents pages for a few of the publications and those I saw had only two or three at best I didn't have elsewhere. I scoffed a bit at some of the selections, too (but that was probably jealousy at not having the opportunity myself!)

The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 1d

There are seven stones in all but without a step ladder, I only managed two (and this third which I took separately). There are seven in total but apparently there was an eighth that was really tall. It pleases me that a ghostly White Lady haunts the 'Parc' (which is an odd usage of this word, BTW)

An other pillar stone, chisel-shaped with lichen upon it. Sadly, it is not composed of the famous Bluestone of the Preseli Hills in the same county (which would have been ace).

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