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Post by ripper on Dec 28, 2020 13:13:00 GMT
For those whose interests encompass fairies, hoaxes, and 'paranormal' panics; Joe Cooper's The Case of the Cottingley Fairies (Pocket, 1990) James Willis cites All Saints Church, Bow Brick Wood as a past fairy stronghold in Mysterious Milton Keynes (JMD Media, 2013) which might explain area's appeal to the Illuminati? The Cottingley case is very interesting. Many were taken in by those photographs, including, of course, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Elsie and Frances maintained that there were fairies at the location where the photographs were taken after their confession of fakery, though they did disagree over the fifth photograph, Elsie said it was also a fake and Frances that it was real. I remember that in the 70s the tale was featured on Blue Peter; I'm thinking early 70s with Val Singleton, John Noakes and Peter Purves. It was way before the confession and at least one of the cousins was interviewed, maybe both. That was the first time I had heard of the Cottingley Fairies.
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Post by Swampirella on Dec 28, 2020 14:02:08 GMT
For those whose interests encompass fairies, hoaxes, and 'paranormal' panics; Joe Cooper's The Case of the Cottingley Fairies (Pocket, 1990) James Willis cites All Saints Church, Bow Brick Wood as a past fairy stronghold in Mysterious Milton Keynes (JMD Media, 2013) which might explain area's appeal to the Illuminati? The Cottingley case is very interesting. Many were taken in by those photographs, including, of course, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Elsie and Frances maintained that there were fairies at the location where the photographs were taken after their confession of fakery, though they did disagree over the fifth photograph, Elsie said it was also a fake and Frances that it was real. I remember that in the 70s the tale was featured on Blue Peter; I'm thinking early 70s with Val Singleton, John Noakes and Peter Purves. It was way before the confession and at least one of the cousins was interviewed, maybe both. That was the first time I had heard of the Cottingley Fairies. Although I've come to believe that fairies might exist, from the first time I saw the photos as a child I thought they were fake. They look like paper cut-outs stuck onto the photos. One partly transparent fairy I might have believed but not these obviously Victorian artistic renderings. For what it's worth, there's a movie about the controversy from 1997 "Fairy Tale: A True Story".
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Post by Dr Strange on Dec 28, 2020 15:31:19 GMT
The question of why supposedly educated and intelligent people were convinced by the photos is just as interesting as (and surely not unconnected to) reports of sightings. The fairies in the photos look exactly like what they are - 2D cut-outs taken from children's books. Why didn't Doyle and others see that? Beliefs can influence perception, even in "intelligent" people.
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Post by ripper on Dec 28, 2020 21:17:24 GMT
The question of why supposedly educated and intelligent people were convinced by the photos is just as interesting as (and surely not unconnected to) reports of sightings. The fairies in the photos look exactly like what they are - 2D cut-outs taken from children's books. Why didn't Doyle and others see that? Beliefs can influence perception, even in "intelligent" people. Despite Conan Doyle's' Holmes being a rationalist, the author himself was more like a true believer. As well as fairies, he attended seances and believed mediums could contact the dead. Conan Doyle's son died during the First World War of Spanish Flu, and it may have been this loss that made him want to believe that he could still be contacted. He had a want and need to believe, and that blinded him into accepting 'evidence' that was highly dubious.
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Post by Dr Strange on Dec 28, 2020 22:08:30 GMT
Doyle even insisted that Houdini used paranormal abilities in his stage shows, despite the fact that Houdini himself always denied it. When he got to know Houdini personally he decided that Houdini must have been using these abilities without realizing it, which just shows how far down the rabbit hole "wanting to believe" can actually take you.
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Post by andydecker on Dec 29, 2020 10:43:52 GMT
The question of why supposedly educated and intelligent people were convinced by the photos is just as interesting as (and surely not unconnected to) reports of sightings. The fairies in the photos look exactly like what they are - 2D cut-outs taken from children's books. Why didn't Doyle and others see that? Beliefs can influence perception, even in "intelligent" people. It is hard to accept that a writer like Doyle who wrote so much about logical and scientific thinking was duped by that. On the other hand, photography surely was taken more at face-value as in our time. And if you want to believe something ...
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Post by dem bones on Dec 30, 2020 18:04:11 GMT
John & Anne Spencer - The Encyclopedia of Ghosts & Spirits (Headline, 1992) Introduction; Ghostbusting: The ‘Science’ of Investigating Ghosts
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GHOST REPORTS Ghosts and Visions Associated with Particular Places Ghosts of the Famous Haunted Objects Recordings and Replays Fights and Battles The Wicked and the Cruel Ghosts with a Message Omens of Death Ghosts at Time of Death Ghosts Associated with Transport Phantom Hitchhikers Time Slips . Poltergeists Doubles, Bi-locations, Doppelgangers and Vardogers Ghostly Balls of Light and Ghosts of Marshes and Moors Ghostly Animals
THE PRACTICE OF INVESTIGATING GHOSTS How to Investigate Poltergeists by Maurice Grosse The Ghost-hunter’s Toolbox Philip — The ‘Manufactured’ Ghost What are Ghosthusters Actually Doing? Cross-reference to Sections of Common Interest Bibliography and Recommended Reading Index of Headings, Sub-headings and Cases Index of Names Index of PlacesBlurb: EXTRAORDINARY ACCOUNTS OF GHOSTLY ENTITIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD AND THROUGHOUT HISTORY A dead mother comes back to tell her daughter to hurry home; she is just in time to help deliver her granddaughter and avoid a tragedy. The ghost of a previous occupant of a house disagrees with the new decoration and insists on ‘deciding’ where a picture will hang. Faces appear, fade and reappear on the stone floor of a house built on the site of an old cemetery The ghosts of Anne Boleyn, Abraham Lincoln, Keats, Dylan Thomas and Sir Waller Raleigh at large. The dead crew of a crashed aircraft haunt other planes which have requisitioned recycled parts of the doomed craft AND HUNDREDS OF OTHER GRIPPING PHENOMENA ... Includes potted histories of the whip-wielding monk torso of Barnwell Castle; the phantom cricketer of the Bilborough estate; Lady Beresford and the black velvet ribbon; the phantom nun of Borley Rectory; the victim of premature burial who won't lie down; the Whitechapel poltergeist; the tramp in a long coat; the man in the dressing gown; hitch-hiking haunts; Acker Bilk meets the occupant of the red room, Woburn Abbey; Sax Rohmer and the fan girl; Dave Allen and the screaming skull of Higher Chilton Farm, Yeovil ("He apparently became scared by something that happened while driving home and told Mr. Kerton that he never wanted to visit the house again"), etc. Also, how Toronto-based researchers 'manufactured' a ghost from nothing (and then made it go away again).
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Post by ripper on Dec 31, 2020 13:49:28 GMT
John & Anne Spencer - The Encyclopedia of Ghosts & Spirits (Headline, 1992) Introduction; Ghostbusting: The ‘Science’ of Investigating Ghosts
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GHOST REPORTS Ghosts and Visions Associated with Particular Places Ghosts of the Famous Haunted Objects Recordings and Replays Fights and Battles The Wicked and the Cruel Ghosts with a Message Omens of Death Ghosts at Time of Death Ghosts Associated with Transport Phantom Hitchhikers Time Slips . Poltergeists Doubles, Bi-locations, Doppelgangers and Vardogers Ghostly Balls of Light and Ghosts of Marshes and Moors Ghostly Animals
THE PRACTICE OF INVESTIGATING GHOSTS How to Investigate Poltergeists by Maurice Grosse The Ghost-hunter’s Toolbox Philip — The ‘Manufactured’ Ghost What are Ghosthusters Actually Doing? Cross-reference to Sections of Common Interest Bibliography and Recommended Reading Index of Headings, Sub-headings and Cases Index of Names Index of PlacesBlurb: EXTRAORDINARY ACCOUNTS OF GHOSTLY ENTITIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD AND THROUGHOUT HISTORY A dead mother comes back to tell her daughter to hurry home; she is just in time to help deliver her granddaughter and avoid a tragedy. The ghost of a previous occupant of a house disagrees with the new decoration and insists on ‘deciding’ where a picture will hang. Faces appear, fade and reappear on the stone floor of a house built on the site of an old cemetery The ghosts of Anne Boleyn, Abraham Lincoln, Keats, Dylan Thomas and Sir Waller Raleigh at large. The dead crew of a crashed aircraft haunt other planes which have requisitioned recycled parts of the doomed craft AND HUNDREDS OF OTHER GRIPPING PHENOMENA ... Includes potted histories of the whip-wielding monk torso of Barnwell Castle; the phantom cricketer of the Bilborough estate; Lady Beresford and the black velvet ribbon; the phantom nun of Borley Rectory; the victim of premature burial who won't lie down; the Whitechapel poltergeist; the tramp in a long coat; the man in the dressing gown; hitch-hiking haunts; Acker Bilk meets the occupant of the red room, Woburn Abbey; Sax Rohmer and the fan girl; Dave Allen and the screaming skull of Higher Chilton Farm, Yeovil ("He apparently became scared by something that happened while driving home and told Mr. Kerton that he never wanted to visit the house again"), etc. Also, how Toronto-based researchers 'manufactured' a ghost from nothing (and then made it go away again). I think I loaned this one from my local library in the mid 90s. The Spencers, like the Bords, wrote a series of books on the paranormal in the 90s. I also read Their The Poltergeist Phenomenon, again a library loan. Unlike the books authored by the Bords, I don't believe I ever actually owned any of the Spencer's books. Note that several are now available as Kindle ebooks.
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Post by dem bones on Jan 1, 2021 19:06:19 GMT
John & Anne Spencer - The Encyclopedia of the World's Greatest Unsolved Mysteries (Headline/ BCA, 1995) Introduction
Airships of 1896 Alien Abductions Altered States of Consciousness Angels Anomalous Faces Apports Atlantis Auras Automatic Writing Banshee Bermuda Triangle Big Cats Bigfoot and Sasquatch Bi-Locations Black Dog Phenomena Close Encounters Coincidence Contactees Crash Retrievals Crisis Apparitions Crop Circles Crystals Curses and Hexes Déja Vu Dolphin Healing Doubles and Doppelgangers Dowsing Dragons and Lake Monsters Electoplasm Electronic Voice Phenomenon Exorcism Fairies
| Firewalking Flight 19 Flood Myths of the World Flying Dutchman Frog, Fish and Other Falls Ghosts Hexham Heads Incorruptibility Incubus and Succubus Levitation Ley Lines Luck Map Dowsing Marian Visitations Martian Mysteries Mary Celeste Mediumship Men In Black Mothmen Near Death Experiences Noah's Ark Omens Ouija Out of Body Experiences Panic of 1938 Phantom Hitchhikers Phantom Scenery Philadelphia Experiment Poltergeists Possession Premonition Psychic Detectives Psychic, or Spiritual, Healing Psychic Surgery
| Psychokinesis Psychometry Reincarnation Savant Syndrome Shamanism Spectral Armies Spontaneous Equipment Failure Spontaneous Human Combustion Spring-Heeled Jack Stigmata Street Lamp Interference Telepathy Thoughtography Time Slips Toronto Blessing Tunguska Explosion Turin Shroud UFOs Vampires Vehicle Interference Weeping, Bleeding, Moving Statues Werewolves Witchcraft into the Modern Day Yetis Zombies The Value of Science, Scepticism and Commitment
Recommended reading and references Index of Names
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Blurb: Mysteries surround every aspect of our lives. Man has been intrigued by the unknown since the dawn of time. This book is a fascinating and authoritative catalogue of the most enduring and intriguing of the phenomena which, at the present time, defy explanation. From Alien Abductions and Angels, to Werewolves and Zombies, this encyclopedia, compiled by two eminently qualified researchers of the paranormal, examines the latest evidence for over eighty fascinating unsolved mysteries. The mysteries can take many forms: strange things we know do happen such as spontaneous human combustion and stigmata (personally witnessed by the authors), strange things that might happen such as possession and reincarnation, and strange things that happen but have unknown origins, such as UFOs. There are truly more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in many philosophies. To discover those things requires a delicate balance between not accepting each and every wild and wonderful idea but also being open to ideas that come from a changing, advancing, dynamic world. I think I loaned this one from my local library in the mid 90s. The Spencers, like the Bords, wrote a series of books on the paranormal in the 90s. I also read Their The Poltergeist Phenomenon, again a library loan. Unlike the books authored by the Bords, I don't believe I ever actually owned any of the Spencer's books. Note that several are now available as Kindle ebooks. A companion volume. Not sure I'd read Ghosts & Spirits before, but I well remember this one for scuppering the popular belief that Orson Welles' War of the Worlds broadcast had Americans "panicking in the streets." Something else I learnt from Mysteries ... is that Clacton is a hotbed of incubus succubus activity. Cases in point, a woman who fended off a spectral rapist with a crucifix, and the vicar of Langenhoe Church who woke "to find himself in the cold embrace of a naked female spectre. Then there is the 1963 Mothman sighting in Sandling Park, Kent, which may have been a scarecrow (think it's been suggested elsewhere that the teenage witnesses had experimented with scopolamine). If the kindle editions are cheap, think you may enjoy both of these, Rip.
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Post by ripper on Jan 2, 2021 16:25:15 GMT
Sounds interesting Dem. The Kindle books I can find are:
Encyclopedia of the World's Mystical and Sacred Sites
Mysteries and Magic
Encyclopedia of the World's Greatest Mysteries
Alien Contact
Will you Survive After Death?
Powers of the Mind
They are all currently priced at £2.60 or just under, or free to read for anyone with a Kindle Unlimited subscription.
I've read that some think at least some of the 'Owlman' sightings were someone dressed up to scare the witnesses. Jonathan Downes of the Centre for Fortean Zoology wrote a book dedicated to Owlman and his/her ilk, though I have not read it.
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Post by dem bones on Jan 28, 2021 19:41:06 GMT
Peter Hough - Supernatural Britain: A Guide to Britain's Most Haunted Places (Piatkus, 1995) Tony Stone Images Blurb: Britain has a reputation as a ‘haunted isle’. This fascinating travel guide will enable you to visit the country’s major supernatural locations - and maybe experience strange happenings yourself. Whether you want to turn detective and carry out your own investigations, soak up the atmosphere, or simply enjoy a spine-chilling read in the safety of your own armchair, Supernatural Britain provides a wealth of intriguing stories and background information.
Read about: UFO encounters on Ilkley Moor in Yorkshire witchcraft in Lancashire’s Pendle Forest magical happenings in Glastonbury, Somerset hauntings at the Tower of London sea monsters in Barmouth, Wales the dark secret of Glamis Castle in Scotland and much, much more.
Peter Hough is a highly-respected investigator and researcher into the paranormal. He lectures widely and has taken part in many television and radio broadcasts. He is the author of several books including The Afterlife, The Complete Book of UFOs and Strange but True?, all written with Jenny Randles and published by Piatkus. A gathering of A-listers - The Borley Nun, the Mawnan Owlman, Loch Ness Monster, the Beasts of Barmouth, the Monster of Glamis, Cowled Monk of Netley Abbey, gory ghosts of the Bloody Tower, & Co., - so reader spared soul-crushing "actually, we're rather fond of our friendly little spook" let downs. Author also provides directions so you can launch own investigation if inclined. Should imagine book will appeal to fans of Marc Alexander's Haunted Houses You May Visit. Mr. Hough's source for the Do Several Wankyr's Walk in H**hg*te? nonsense is Basil Copper's madly entertaining/laughably ill-researched The Vampire: In Legend, Fact & Art.
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Post by helrunar on Feb 19, 2021 15:32:39 GMT
Posted today on social media (on an M. R. James fan group) by a guy named Tony Brazil--for all I know, that's his real name...
Some years ago a friend and I experienced an episode of what many call, life imitating art, or in our case , Jamesian fiction. It brought nervous smiles to our surprised, but happy faces. I thought I would share it with you. One of my favourite James stories is, “The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral” As you know it is partly told in the strange diary entries of the archdeacon of Barchester, Rev John Haynes. Monty must have been aware that many 18th and 19th clergymen kept diaries. James Woodforde 1759-1803. William Pelham Burn, 1893-1901 and William Risley 1835-1848 are just a few. These diaries record the daily workings of the parish and the mundane life of the clergy, with no hint of ghosts and haunted houses. However, there are exceptions. My Friend and colleague, Paul Adams and I had the privilege to know and work with the doyen of British, ghost hunters, Peter Underwood. When Peter died a few years back he left us his archive of 50 years of his psychical research. It came in many boxes and consisted of photos, books, newspaper cuttings, reports, letters, postcards, and accounts; there was also a diary. It was the diary of Rev Earnest Merryweather , Rector of the remote marshland village of Langenhoe on the Essex Marshes. Soon after arriving in 1937 he began to experience paranormal phenomena in his church. This included apparitions, footsteps. voices and the sound of medieval plainchant coming from the empty church. Merryweather recorded the incidents in his diary which lasted over 20 years. The Rector retired in 1959 and presented the diary to Peter Underwood. Langenhoe church was demolished in 1962. Fifty years later the diary came to us, and I can recall Paul pulling it from the box and blowing off the dust. Realising what it was it sent a shiver through us. All it needed was Dr Black to be on hand to add it to his catalogue. I have visited Langenhoe, and it is indeed a strange place. The churchyard looks like something out of Hammer horror film. If you get the chance I recommend going there. There are no published books on the Langenhoe haunting, but now I feel inspired to put pen to paper.
Here endeth, etc
cheers, Hel
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Post by helrunar on Feb 19, 2021 16:35:44 GMT
Another one from a different group; Tamara Kauffman is speaking.
My ghost story: I rented a two-story house; there were three rooms upstairs, that I didn't use for much more than storage as the downstairs was more than enough room for me, and despite good windows/light I never felt really comfortable up there. Most of the time, if I went up there for any reason, it was all I could do to resist the urge to run back down the stairs. My uncle, a big, blustery ex-Marine, had relocated to my city and was looking for a place to live, so naturally I showed him the upstairs; he liked it fine. He painted and put carpeting in, had a nice set-up and we made good roommates. After a few months, we were sitting around the kitchen table one night, and after pouring a shot of Wild Turkey to bolster his courage, he asked me if anything "weird" had ever happened to me in the house. I said not really, though I'd gotten some odd territorial feelings; he proceeds to tell me that someone or something is tucking him in at night, and picking up clothes from the floor, tidying up in general: I told him that it sure wasn't me, and confessed that the upstairs kinda gave me the willies. Turns out, I was the first person outside the owner's family to ever live in the house, first time it had ever been rented in over fifty years. The last family to live there were two maiden aunts, who lived out their lives there. I can only figure that they resented me somewhat, but were very happy to have a man to look after!
H.
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Post by Swampirella on Feb 19, 2021 19:54:23 GMT
Posted today on social media (on an M. R. James fan group) by a guy named Tony Brazil--for all I know, that's his real name... Some years ago a friend and I experienced an episode of what many call, life imitating art, or in our case , Jamesian fiction. It brought nervous smiles to our surprised, but happy faces. I thought I would share it with you. One of my favourite James stories is, “The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral” As you know it is partly told in the strange diary entries of the archdeacon of Barchester, Rev John Haynes. Monty must have been aware that many 18th and 19th clergymen kept diaries. James Woodforde 1759-1803. William Pelham Burn, 1893-1901 and William Risley 1835-1848 are just a few. These diaries record the daily workings of the parish and the mundane life of the clergy, with no hint of ghosts and haunted houses. However, there are exceptions. My Friend and colleague, Paul Adams and I had the privilege to know and work with the doyen of British, ghost hunters, Peter Underwood. When Peter died a few years back he left us his archive of 50 years of his psychical research. It came in many boxes and consisted of photos, books, newspaper cuttings, reports, letters, postcards, and accounts; there was also a diary. It was the diary of Rev Earnest Merryweather , Rector of the remote marshland village of Langenhoe on the Essex Marshes. Soon after arriving in 1937 he began to experience paranormal phenomena in his church. This included apparitions, footsteps. voices and the sound of medieval plainchant coming from the empty church. Merryweather recorded the incidents in his diary which lasted over 20 years. The Rector retired in 1959 and presented the diary to Peter Underwood. Langenhoe church was demolished in 1962. Fifty years later the diary came to us, and I can recall Paul pulling it from the box and blowing off the dust. Realising what it was it sent a shiver through us. All it needed was Dr Black to be on hand to add it to his catalogue. I have visited Langenhoe, and it is indeed a strange place. The churchyard looks like something out of Hammer horror film. If you get the chance I recommend going there. There are no published books on the Langenhoe haunting, but now I feel inspired to put pen to paper.Here endeth, etc cheers, Hel How interesting, Steve! I've read about the Langenhoe haunting in several books; I personally would be happy to read a whole book about the topic. Paul Adams has written some excellent true ghost books & works or did work with an Eddie Brazil. The late Tony Broughall was a well-respected "ghost hunter" & I have a good book by a "Nick Brazil" relating to ghost encounters. But so far haven't heard of any "Tony Brazil"s....
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Post by dem bones on Feb 20, 2021 7:10:42 GMT
J. A. Brooks - Ghosts and Witches of the Cotswolds (Jarrold, 1986) Foreword
The Seven Whistlers The Midnight Hags Snowshill - A Lonely Village of the Hills Two Tales of Berkeley A Place for Ghosts and Witches The Worcestershire Wizard The Prodigious Noises of War The Murder of Charles Walton The Cheltenham Ghost The Rollright Stones The Campden Wonder The Most Haunted Village The Ghosts of Warwick and the East Around Stratford Worcester and the North West Gloucester and the South West The Centre and the South
Bibliography IndexAuthor of the superb Ghosts of London, Railway Ghosts, Supernatural Steam, & Co., sprinkles spooky dust over green and frequently supernaturally unpleasant South West England. See also Paul Finch's Terror Tales of the Cotswolds. Snowshill - A Lonely Village of the Hills: "A strange man who enjoyed dressing up and startling visitors to the house by using its numerous secret doors and passageways to confront them unexpectedly." Charles Wade's tenure at Snowshill Manor, which he bought shortly after WWII, having fallen in love with the crumbling property on sight as his ideal spooky residence. Rumours of Wade's witchery persist, though Mr. Brooks rather gleefully rubbishes Peter Underwood's fanciful "was he a vampire?" speculation. Two Tales of Berkeley: The medieval witch carried off by the Devil on an enormous black horse; the monstrous frog in the well, and the dungeon of Berkley Castle which infamously hosted the torture-murder of Edward II (author spares us the gory details). "To my mind there are few places in England with a more sinister aura." The Most Haunted Village: Prestbury is one to avoid if you prefer your phantoms bloody and malevolent, as, much to our huge disappointment, the place seems to act as some kind of magnet for benign and friendly spirits. The single, commendable exception is a presence at Cleve Corner, though there is some dispute as to whether he is the ghost of a a burglar who murdered a bride on her wedding night, or said bride's groom, who butchered her for her dowry. The Prodigious Noises of War: Sworn testimonies of those who witnessed the ghost armies reassemble at Edgehill Christmas 1642 for a reenactment of the Civil war's bloodiest conflict. This was repeated over subsequent winters, though apparently peace has long been declared. The Murder of Charles Walton: Famously unsolved slaying of aged farm labourer and alleged witch, done to death with pitchfork and billhook in a ditch on Meon Hill, Valentines Day, 1945. Despite the efforts of Fabian of the Yard and his successors, the culprit(s) escaped scot free.
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