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theghostmonk.bsky.social
The Ghost Monk
@theghostmonk.bsky.social
1.4K followers 460 following 2.4K posts
Enthusiast of British (mainly) ghostlore, folklore and vintage ghost and weird fiction. Collector of old magazines. Also keen on prehistoric monuments, old churches and suchlike. Am decidedly Q. All scans/photos my own (unless stated). Runs #PhantomsFriday
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theghostmonk.bsky.social
Absolutely wonderful. @folkhorrorrevival.bsky.social, what say you? There's something about the little boy standing at the top of the soon-to-be bonfire as the giant dummy topples over that I find weirdly eerie. Clearly, they "did it beautifully".
#FolkHorror
anniebrassey.bsky.social Annie Brassey @anniebrassey.bsky.social · 10h
"Pevensey Historical Pageant. Episode 1. A Tale of the Coming of the Romans. Circa B.C. 54." The Druids Sacrifice. July 1908.
#WyrdWednesday #Pevensey #Druids #1900s
November 26, 2025 at 1:04 PM
theghostmonk.bsky.social
You know how it is when you're not sure what to post and you end up posting a picture of a Vampire Elephant? Well, that.

(Victor Biegas painted a whole series of himself being molested by grotesque (mainly female) monsters but this is the weirdest. The man had issues).
#Vampire #Elephant #artsky
November 26, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Reposted by The Ghost Monk
anniebrassey.bsky.social
"Introduction Of Christianity Into Britain: Christian Missionaries Interrupting A Human Sacrifice." By J. E. Christie. In The Exhibition Of The Royal Society." The Illustrated London News 1.6.1878. #WyrdWednesday #Art #1870s
November 26, 2025 at 9:00 AM
theghostmonk.bsky.social
The reason why the tiny and ubiquitous wren (Britain's commonest bird) should have been considered King Of The Birds has always eluded me. Left alone on all other days, on Boxing Day boys would hunt it down and then give out its feathers to households in a sacrificial protection rite.
#WyrdWednesday
A photo of a wren in my garden.
November 26, 2025 at 9:09 AM
theghostmonk.bsky.social
Was King William II's death while hunting in the New Forest, #Hampshire, an accident, murder - or was it a pre-Christian god-king human sacrifice made to ensure fertility to the land and future prosperity to the people, as has been suggested? (But by whom I've forgotten - Murray?).
#WyrdWednesday
An illustration or woodcut showing a man collapsing against a tree in a forest with an arrow protruding from his chest. In the background we can see a stag heading out of frame to the left and the small figure of a bowman who may have been aiming for the deer - or not.
November 26, 2025 at 7:43 AM
theghostmonk.bsky.social
For #WordlessWednesday.
A narrow path bordered by dark brown bracken has beside it a fragment of a wooden fence which leads the eye towards limestone cliffs and an autumnal wood.
November 26, 2025 at 7:27 AM
Reposted by The Ghost Monk
elilewislycett.bsky.social
At Vale Royal Abbey today, I was reminded of how local lore has lingered here for 700 years. I gave a talk on it last year and an elderly lady came up to me at the end and asked if I ever walked in the woods where the abbot was murdered in the 1330s. There, she said, 'the birds never sing'.
November 23, 2025 at 1:21 PM
theghostmonk.bsky.social
Some stories in the old magazines are surprisingly gruesome. A Bernard Hodgson's short-short story, 'Flies', about miners - who we understand are also murderers - being engulfed by a colossal swarm of flesh-eating insects is especially horrid. (Pearson's, 1906).
#horror #horrorstory #BookChatWeekly
An illustration showing a man barging into a wooden hut, flailing his arms in the midst of a cloud of flying insects. Another man is against the wall, fending off the flies and another has been woken by the commotion. The caption reads: "In a moment he was black with flies - eyes, ears, nose, and mouth were full of the restless insects."
November 25, 2025 at 10:09 AM
theghostmonk.bsky.social
I'm having a bathroom fitted, which is noisy chaos, so I've been hiding in the sitting room re-watching #Quatermass And The Pit, with headphones on. I'm sure many have already noticed this but when the missile's glowing, the roundels inside look just like the Tardis interior.
#DrWho #DoctorWho
November 24, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Reposted by The Ghost Monk
coffinboffin.bsky.social
WIDDERSHINS means moving counter clockwise; this inversion of the natural order was associated with the devil and witchcraft. In this image Witches delight in flying widdershins around North Berwick church with their broomsticks #FolkloreSunday
November 23, 2025 at 4:51 PM
theghostmonk.bsky.social
Hijacked by another Monday morning.
(Roland Topor).
The four fingers and thumbs of a hand been humanised with faces and arms. The thumb is pointing two guns at the fingers which are holding up their hands in surrender.
November 24, 2025 at 8:28 AM
theghostmonk.bsky.social
Hideously tinted but rather charming picture entitled 'The Fairy Circle'. It was reproduced in an edition of 'Pall Mall Magazine' in 1907 and is by Elsie Gregory.
#fairy #fairies #faerie #folklore
A little girl in red and a smaller boy wearing green shorts watch tiny winged figures, coloured a pale pink, dancing in a circle. The fairies are in a field the other side of a brook.
November 23, 2025 at 1:06 PM
theghostmonk.bsky.social
Unusual stained glass in St Chad's Church, Farndon, in #Cheshire, both for its date and subject matter. It was commissioned in about 1660 by #Royalist squire William Barnston to celebrate his success defending the city of Chester from #Parliamentarian forces in 1643-5.
#StainedGlassSunday #CivilWar
November 23, 2025 at 10:34 AM
theghostmonk.bsky.social
The Avenue at Avebury, early morning, September 2006.
#StandingStoneSunday #Neolithic #megalith #Wiltshire
November 23, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Reposted by The Ghost Monk
dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social
THREAD.

The definitive list of the absolute best interdimensional portals I have photographed on walks in the British countryside.

1. Gateway To The Land Of Leaping Dogs.
I took this photo on the Teign Estuary in Devon in spring 2022. I thought I was just taking a photo of an attractive hole in an old tree. It was only when I got home and looked through my camera roll that I saw the leaping dog, who I'd caught perfectly framed, mid-leap, totally by chance. I remembered the dog immediately, because of what an annoying twat it had been.
November 17, 2025 at 8:17 AM
theghostmonk.bsky.social
"It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside."
- Arthur Conan Doyle, 'The Copper Beeches'
#BookWormSat #SherlockHolmes
An illustration by Sidney Paget from the June 1892 edition of The Strand Magazine, showing Doctor Watson, left, and Sherlock Holmes, right, in a railway carriage. The illustration is from 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery', however, not 'The Copper Beeches'. It is also one of the few illustrations of Holmes wearing the famous deerstalker hat.
November 22, 2025 at 11:54 AM
theghostmonk.bsky.social
"It is a beauteous evening, calm and free,
The holy time is quiet as a Nun
Breathless with adoration;"

- Wordsworth
#BookWormSat #poetry #RomanticPoets #poetrysky
November 22, 2025 at 11:01 AM
theghostmonk.bsky.social
Another spooktacular #PhantomsFriday yesterday. The Ghost Monk humbly thanks you.

(Painting of St Francis In His Tomb by de Zurbaran)
A monk in a brown habit with a peaked cowl gazes down at an inverted skull he holds in his hands.
November 22, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Reposted by The Ghost Monk
markseifert.bleedingcool.com
One of the more interesting #phantomsfriday news items I've run across, this from Illustrated Police News (of Boston), Sept. 10, 1874.

13-year-old John Nolan of New Martinsville, West Virginia, was plagued by an angry, stone-throwing phantom only he could initially see. More details in alt text.
An engraving from Illustrated Police News (of Boston), Sept. 10, 1874 shows two men with rifles and a frightened boy confronting a glowing, ghostly figure in a thicket of bushes at night. The apparition appears as a tall, bearded old man with long, flowing hair, emerging from dense undergrowth and lifting one arm two throw a stone. Stones and debris lie scattered around the men’s feet, and a small cabin stands in the distance. The scene conveys fear and surprise as the armed search party reacts to the supernatural ghost that has been tormenting a local boy. The article recounts a reported ghost near New Martinsville, West Virginia. John Nolan, a thirteen-year-old boy, begins experiencing strange phenomena in early spring. While he first only sees the phantom near him around his house, the matter soon progresses as the phantom hurls stones at him no matter where he stands, inside the house, in the yard, or in the nearby fields. Only the boy can see his attacker, an old gray-haired man who repeatedly appears and vanishes. As the disturbances intensify, neighbors become alarmed and organize an armed party, thinking this the work of some mortal attacker. But stones rain down on them as well, seemingly from nowhere. Eventually the men see the ghostly figure themselves, an elderly man in blue trousers and a loose shirt, with long white hair. The apparition repeatedly eludes the party, disappearing behind bushes and reappearing elsewhere. Their guns prove useless, as bullets either miss or the figure vanishes. For two days the men pursue the ghost without success. A strange smoke later rises from bushes “from whence the stones came,” adding to the mystery. After multiple failed attempts to corner the spectral old man, the community abandons the investigation. The article concludes that while the events sound incredible, the story was vouched for “by citizens well known in the neighborhood,” leaving the haunting unresolved and the ghost’s identity unknown.
November 21, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Reposted by The Ghost Monk
whatters2.bsky.social
The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral
M.R.James

#phantomsfriday

🎨Les Edwards
November 21, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Reposted by The Ghost Monk
mhurban.bsky.social
Parador de Cardona
In Cardona Castle, about 100 km from Barcelona, there is a four-star parador with wonderful views and unbeatable surroundings. It is a place to stay and relax—except in room 712 (1/3)
#PhantomsFriday #FolkyFriday #folklore #horror #ghosts #ParanormalSky #HorrorWriter
November 21, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Reposted by The Ghost Monk
drpaullee.bsky.social
Testwood House near Southampton has a pair of terrifying phantoms
even though the basic story of a servant murdered by another employee after embarking on an affair is something of a cliche in ghost circles!

#phantomsfriday #ghosts #hauntings

Ghost Map Info: www.paullee.com/ghosts/ghost...
November 21, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Reposted by The Ghost Monk
missscarlett2024.bsky.social
The Round School House in Bibai City, Hokkaido, Japan (1906) was an elementary school from the 1940s-70s. Stories about the nearby woods include lights, shadows
blood curdling screams & demonic sounds.There are stories of people going to the ruins and never
returning. #PhantomsFriday #FolkyFriday
November 21, 2025 at 3:32 PM
theghostmonk.bsky.social
I love this! Apologies to everyone for my absence for much longer than expected. Some urgent tea drinking was consumed as a balm to a minor crisis.
missscarlett2024.bsky.social missscarlett2024.bsky.social @missscarlett2024.bsky.social · 5d
(From Muncie Press, 1882) It's a matter of opinion! 😆#ghosts #PhantomsFriday
November 21, 2025 at 9:24 PM
theghostmonk.bsky.social
Unfortunately, something's just come up, so I shall be an invisible presence on #PhantomsFriday for a while. But I promise to repost like mad when I'm back! Meanwhile, you can just follow the feed using the hashtag and clicking 'Latest'. But then, as Nigel Molesworth had it: 'Any fule kno that.'
theghostmonk.bsky.social The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · Apr 7
Sir Goddard Oxenbridge, a former lord of ancient Brede Place in #Sussex, is said to have been a cannibal with a taste for eating babies. Eventually, the local children had the courage to gang up and overpower him - and then sawed him in half! Kids, eh?
#legend #folklore #horror #tradition #FolkTale
November 21, 2025 at 3:02 PM