THE SHADOWS JUST GOT DARKER
Sunday is a terrific night on which to search for ghosts in the old City of London.
The streets are at their moodiest and most deserted, whilst the narrow alleyways and tucked away courtyards are at their nerve-jangling creepiest.
Indeed, so spooky is the City's oldest enclave that we explore on this haunted tour, those who venture into it could be forgiven for mistaking a fleeting shadow, cast by the flickering light of a street lamp, for something far, far more sinister.
LONDON'S DOYEN OF THE DARKNESS
Of course, you might not have the foggiest notion where to hunt out these creepy locations.
Why would you?
But worry not, for Richard Jones - London's Doyen of the Darkness - is at hand to lead you into the streets of haunted London and to take you to the very places where ghosts are known to appear.
As London's longest established ghost walk guide (he's been doing this since 1982) - and as the author of more than 18 books on the paranormal - he is as up to date on hauntings ancient and modern as it is possible to be, and he is, therefore, amply qualified to introduce you to the City's other population, the residents of which are, to say the least, nebulous by nature!
So, why not join him for a chilling journey into the City's shadow world, in the course of which you will seek out the ghosts of London's twilight hours?
THE PERFECT BACK CLOTH
The gathering gloom will provide the ideal backcloth against which to set out on our Dead of the Night ghost walk.
Almost immediately we will encounter a sinister passageway from the shadows of which a hooded figure has been known to watch passersby.
Who, or what, he she or it is has never been established with any degree of certainty; since those who have encountered its sombre stare have seldom possesses the presence of mind to linger long enough to enquire after its business with the living.
So, we'll follow their lead and content ourselves with a brief glimpse into the figure's shadowy domain and then move quickly on to uncover other locations where ghosts are known to lurk.
OLD AND HAUNTED CITY STREETS
Cobblestone streets will abound; narrow alleyways will tempt us to stray from the well lit streets of the modern day City of London and venture into the backstreets where we will find ourselves walking with the dead of the bygone City.
And, as we walk, the ghosts and the hauntings will come thick and fast.
THE GHOSTS THAT YOU WILL ENCOUNTER
- You'll hear of the mummified Londoner whose nebulous shade returns to chill the blood of anybody who encounters him within the hallowed walls of one of the City's oldest churches.
- You'll come face to face with the hideous stone face, the expression of which is contorted into a grimace of pure evil and the eyeless sockets of which have been known to glow a devilish shade of red, much to the consternation of those who encounter the phenomena.
- You'll gaze into the dark recesses of a gloom-laden vault in the depths of which reside the remains of thousands of former residents who found themselves abruptly turfed from their resting places when the District Line ploughed a furrow through this section of London in the late 19th century. Is it any wonder that some of their spirits have chosen to make their displeasure apparent in a very direct and spectral way?
- You'll discover the strange story of the "ghost plane" that appeared in the skies over London in the mid-1930's and about which questions were actually asked in Parliament!
- You'll tremble on the threshold of a sinister court where lurks something so utterly terrifying that fearless police dogs have been known to back away from its malevolent presence, growling and snarling, their distress evidenced by their raised hackles.
- You'll even crane your neck to look up at the soaring, majestic church tower around which swirl tales of black magic rituals, curses and murders.
AND SO MUCH MORE
Lest all the aforementioned chills-in-store should prove insufficient to tempt you out into the twilight, then how about the time-crusted window pane from which a spectral figure has been known to look down on our motley band of ghost hunters and which several past participants have managed to capture, in form at least, on their cameras?
Although we, obviously, cannot guarantee that ghosts will appear, the chance that you might capture one on your camera would make the time spent exploring the haunted streets of London's twilight a genuinely worthwhile investment, don't you agree?
A NIGHT OUT WITH A DIFFERENCE
So, if you are looking for a night time activity that is spooky, entertaining, informative and different, then join acclaimed author and accomplished storyteller Richard Jones, for a twilight ghost walk in which you will make the acquaintance of the dead of the London night.