The Frozen Ghost Chicken of Highgate

 The Frozen Ghost Chicken of Highgate

By Cole Herrold

Ghosts appear in a variety of forms but most appear in the stages of their last moments on earth. Interestingly a variety of these apparitions tend to be headless or feature the instruments of their death plunged into them or floating near them. Typically we see this only in cases of human ghosts which make up the majority of spectral reports. Ghost animals however do occur and they usually appear in a form one would expect and are often mistaken for living organisms until they do something such as walking through a wall or vanishing in plain sight. The manner of a ghost animal's death is never usually reflected in the apparition however with almost all rules of the paranormal there are exceptions. I recently covered the apparitions of headless animals that escape the slaughterhouses that ended their lives to haunt the cities and fields nearby. It's interesting that processed animals do make an appearance in haunted locations and that this could extend to even those processed animals that are done so on a minor scale than a slaughterhouse. In Highgate, England there is allegedly a semi-processed ghost chicken that runs around almost completely featherless, flapping its wings, shivering, and noticeably terrified.

The story of the Highgate Ghost Chicken is a surprisingly old one and allegedly intertwined with Sir Francis Bacon. Sir Francis Bacon was a philosopher who wrote several books on religion, and the judicial system, and is considered one of the pioneers of the scientific method. Now one might ask how a man of such esteem would be associated with a spectral chicken and the answer is experimentation. Back in the 1600s food preservation was incredibly difficult and Bacon wondered if there might be some way to preserve food through the cold and ice. It was in March of 1626 that Bacon and his friend Dr. Witherbone were driving around in Bacon’s coach in the frozen snow-covered area of Highgate which would in the future be Pond Square. During this time the area was not as urbanized and several small farms and homes darted the fields. While out in the area, Bacon saw a chicken farm and commanded his coachman to stop and purchase a chicken. Bacon seeing the frozen landscape was struck with curiosity about his theories of meat preservation and decided to conduct an experiment. The coachmen returned with a large chicken and with the sharp blade of a knife proceeded to gut the bird and pluck albeit not entirely the chicken. Bacon then began to open the bird's cavity and fill it with handfuls of snow. Seeing it perfectly stuffed he went and grabbed an old bag and proceeded to put the bird in it and fill up the bag then in snow and then went to the nearby field and buried it into a pile of snow. Upon seeing that it was entirely covered he was pleased. This unknowingly however would be his doom and Bacon would not know the outcome of his experiment. The philosopher at the beginning of the day was not feeling that well and felt nauseous and after performing this experiment he began to feel even worse. Bacon on April 9, 1626, would succumb to Pneumonia which many feel he developed while out in the snow conducting this experiment.

A little bit after this and as development overtook the area there were suddenly strange disturbances reported in the area of Pond Square in Highgate. Residents in the area soon began reporting that they would see a ghost chicken that would be noticeably terrified and cold running around ofttimes in a circle in the area. The witnesses would describe the bird as being bright white, large, and often devoid of feathers or with a few feathers clinging to its body. Sightings of this bird occurred typically during the winter months with a ton of sightings being documented that occurred in the 1940s. in 1958 reporter Leslie Thomas of the London Evening News extensively covered the ghost bird and its from this that the bird became more of a real phantasm than an urban legend which many animal ghosts tend to be. He managed to talk to some of the locals and eyewitnesses of the ghost and included them in an in-depth article on the haunting. The most prominent witness of the ghost which occurred in December of 1943 by Aircraftman Terence Long is not the most famous but one of the most reliable reports of the ghost. It was in that brutally cold winter that Terence late at night was walking across Pond Square. The area was pitch black and not a light was lit due to the fact that Britain and the rest of the world was still involved in World War II and that the surrounding homes and businesses were blacked out the point of this was to help make a potential targeted air bombing from the enemy forces more difficult. Terrance walking in the pitch black of this time was certainly familiar with the variety of city noises that occurred at night but on this particular occasion, he would hear something he was unfamiliar with. Terrance claimed that as he walked he suddenly heard “hoof beats and then the sudden pulling up of a carriage and a frightened shriek”. This strange cacophony of sounds frightened him and quickened his heart and he stopped in his tracks and peered into the darkness looking for some answer to the sound. As he looked into the darkness he soon however saw a glowing white form begin to approach him. This figure was short and was picking up speed as the man’s heart beat even harder. It was then that he saw in front of him a half-running, half-flying, shivering ghost chicken that was doing this running flying motion in circles. The bird was clucking and had hardly any feathers and the man in an attempt to calm himself down proceeded to close his eyes and take “a deep lungful of the air” whereupon once he exhaled and opened his eyes the bird was gone. The man looked around and realized that the bird was gone and that there was no place it could have vanished to except thin air. The man realizing that what he witnessed was some sort of apparition then decided to run for his life in terror. As he ran into the square Long ran almost headfirst into another figure which startled him as he thought that this too was another of London’s ghosts instead he was greeted by a caped fire-walker. Long proceeded to tell this man of what he had just witnessed and expected him to laugh at him. The fire watcher did not however and seriously said to Long that his sighting was not unique. The fire-walker explained to him that while he had never personally seen the apparition he did say that a month or two prior to his sighting the bird was seen by multiple witnesses. On this occasion a man noticed the bird strutting in the area and decided to capture it and cook it as a way to help his meat ration. The man in front of several other witnesses proceeded to chase the bird in a benny hill style fashion. The bird stayed away from the man and would engage in getting slightly airborne as chickens are able to do but realizing that it was not going to get away from the determined man decided to finish the chase by running headlong into and through a brick wall where in it disappeared altogether. Leslie Thomas in his article would also interview Mrs. John Greenhill who lived in the area of Pond Square. She would state that the ghost bird would frequently appear and perch in the lower branches of the tree opposite of her house and that many members of her family would claim that on moonless nights the bird would appear. She would describe the ghost as a large white plump apparition and that it would always appear in the boughs of the tree.

In 1969 and 1970 sightings of the ghost bird continued to be sighted albeit these sightings were vague at best and sighted during a time in London’s history when the Highgate area was accosted with paranormal investigators, claims, and dubious sightings. This was during the period of the infamous Highgate Vampire incident and so these Ghost chicken sightings some researchers take with a grain of salt. The first which occurred in January 1969 happened when a motorist whose car suddenly broke down on the side of the road in South Grove proceeded to abandon the vehicle and walk into Pond Square. He was searching for a home where there was evidence of someone still being awake and so that he could ask for help without disturbing some sleeping resident. He in the Square saw a house whose downstairs window was full of light and proceeded to walk towards it when his attention was caught by strange movement on the other side of the square. He looked towards a particular wall and was surprised to see a large white bird flapping its wings and running in circles. The man saw the bird and noticed that it seemed hurt and proceeded to walk towards the bird. The man’s first instinct upon seeing this bird as he also noted it was featherless was that this bird was accosted by some cruel youths or some other immoral individual and looked around for the possible perpetrators but could see no one. After looking around and turning to look back at the animal the creature completely vanished from sight.

In February of 1970, the ghost chicken was seen once more. This time the bird was reported by a couple who were returning home from a date. One of the couple had reached their home in the square and was wishing their significant other good night when suddenly they saw a large white bird suddenly drop to the ground near them. The couple watched the bird and noted that it was seemingly naked of feathers and that it proceeded to flap around in a big circle a couple of times before disappearing into the darkness. The couple watched the bird the entire time and said that it made no noise.

Sightings of the Highgate Ghost Chicken seemed to drop off after that and as far as what has been written and reported no one has since reported seeing the ghost chicken. The ghost however does live on as it is perhaps one of the most famous ghosts in the Highgate area and is still mentioned by ghost tours as they travel the area. Yet none of these tours have since claimed to of witnessed, heard, or seen the ghost since the 70s.

This is perhaps one of the best ghost stories I’ve ever heard. Its got the classic tragic and yet historical backstory of the apparition, there’s been documented accounts and interviews by witnesses, and the appearance of the ghost is both comical and unique. Yet while I have a fondness for this case what are we to make of it. The story of Bacon and the Chicken can be traced to Prickett’s History and Antiquities of Highgate and so there is a historical origin to the story. The addition of a ghost in writing first appears in the article by Thomas in 58’. With sightings primarily occurring in the 40s and 50s with witnesses. It's from this that it would seem something did occur yet just what we can only speculate.

One's first thoughts about this is that this could be a hoax or some urban legend yet interestingly if this was to be the case one has to wonder why the story of a ghost chicken would pull people during times of war or even for that matter at all. There’s no logical reason for a story of a ghost chicken to exist let alone to remember some obscure experiment Bacon did some 300 years prior unless it was done by some sort of animal activist to show the cruelties of animal processing which while not impossible is unlikely. Also if this was a hoax or urban legend why wouldn’t you use Bacon as the ghost he’s a famous historical figure that one could then confabulate some story where the ghost returns to see the results of the experiment but will never know the answer or something similar. It’s a very niche story that makes the hoax angle unlikely plus there are multiple decades of witnesses to take into account.

The next possibility is that people could be seeing an escaped chicken and that it had taken up residence in the area of the square. The fact that this bird was seen hanging out in low branches and behaving in ways very much like a traditional chicken in most cases seems to indicate that what people were seeing was nothing more than a very living animal. This can be added to when one looks at the sighting in 70’ or Long’s sighting where the bird did not vanish in front of the witnesses or was seen to do so it could be just that the animal got out of view. Now there are problems with this namely looking at images of the location there’s not much that could obscure one's view outside of the buildings themselves so it's not like the bird had bushes to hide in or deep forested areas. So again, unless the bird is hopping fences and walls or doing more Spring Heeled Jack-like maneuvers this is unlikely at least for most sightings. Another possibility though too, is a misidentified known species with some sort of mange. England is home to a variety of large birds such as the Cormont, the Canadian Goose, the common Crane, Grey Heron, Gannet, and the Whooper Swan. All of these birds are aquatic or semiaquatic in nature and while there’s no direct water source in the area of Pond Square at least that I can see on a map view of the location a visiting bird with such a disease could be mistaken for a featherless chicken at night.

Now with all that said there is the chance that what witnesses were seeing was indeed the spectral form of a ghost chicken. As at least with one specific sighting we can rule out misidentification.. at least of a living bird. This sighting while told four individuals back was claimed to have been witnessed by multiple individuals and was fresh enough at the time of Long’s sighting to at least entertain the idea of it being legitimate based on the reaction of the firewatcher in Long’s testimony. In this case, the fact that the apparition did pass through a wall to avoid being captured is something that totally puts this being a misidentified animal as an impossibility. Living organisms do not pass through solid objects and if this was a living organism with that ability it would be a Fortean phenomenon in its own right. Yet the fact that people for at least three decades reported consistently during the winter months encounters with this ghost that match in description seems to imply that this is a reoccurring haunting.

Some might point more towards a misidentification or misinterpretation of this case as the ghost seemingly stopped manifesting after 1970 if not before. Yet something that I feel needs to be re-brought up and which is something that we see over and over, especially in animal ghost cases is that over time the phenomenon seems to dispel and ultimately stops appearing. Some state that this is due to the stone tape hypothesis which basically states that ghosts are like recordings contained in the very stones and environment and that after a while they suddenly stop manifesting as though the tape is erased or worn. Sometimes apparitions will seem to lose their form becoming wispier as time goes on or people will notice that the apparitions lose their color from when they first started manifesting to how they appear now. For example, a red dress on a ghost in the 1700s is by the late 1800 to 1900s grey in color and then by the 2000s, the ghost is completely white and wispy. With animal ghosts there is a ton of examples of this occurring rather quickly or that the phenomenon suddenly just stops for no reason with no signs of slowing. Perhaps that is the case here as there is inclination to believe that the apparition of the chicken was common and existed well before the sightings of 43’ and the time between that and 70’ and only after that did the apparition suddenly dissipate. However, with as with a lot of this research, this is mere speculation.

This case has easily grown into one of my favorites as who does not love the maniacal behavior of chickens and geese. Sure there is an underlying fear of anything with wings that have been ancestrally passed down to us after our ancestors experienced the colossal titans the Teratorns and our place in the food chain because of them. The same can be said today with Harpy Eagles and their predation on children. Yet chickens have become comical jesters of their ancestors and something that rarely strikes fear outside of salmonella so for people to be terrified of an apparition that appears or is a ghost chicken it is to me at least hysterical and a fun addition to a menagerie of specters that make up the Necronomicon Ex Mortis of ghost cases.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Ghost Animal

Location: Pond Square, Highgate, London, England, United Kingdom

Sighted: Post-1626-Pre 1943, October-November 1943, December 1943, January 1969, February 1970

Works Cited:

Haunted England: The Penguin Book of Ghosts By Jennifer Westwood

Haunted Highgate By Della Farrant

Haunted London By Peter Underwood

Haunted Pet Stories: Tales Of Ghostly Cats, Spooky Dogs, And Demonic Bunnies By Mary Beth Crain 

True Ghost Facts And Hauntings Real Tales About Places And Things By Granger T Barr

The Masturbating Ghost Chimp of Athelhampton

 The Masturbating Ghost Chimp of Athelhampton

By Cole Herrold

Before I even start diving into this case, yes, you read that correctly. In the stately Athelhampton Manor, there is indeed, allegedly, the ghost of a chimpanzee that even after death is subject to self-indulgence although most sources tend to euphemize or totally ignore this behavior. Athelhampton Hall located in Dorchester, Dorset, England was built in 1485 by Sir William Martyn and has had a rich history which ultimately led it to being one of the most haunted locations in England and some would argue the world at least as far as homes go. The home housed the Martyn family for four generations until 1891 when it was sold to Alfred Cart de Lafontaine and then sold in 1957 to Robert Victor Cooke whose family had owned the property until 2019 when it changed hands to Giles Keating who made the grounds open to the public.

Now back to the Ape. The Ape which would appear on Martyn’s Crest sitting on a tree stump, and included in his  estate’s motto which was ‘He who looks at Martyn’s ape, Martyn’s ape will look at him’ was a creature kept as a family pet. The animal was allowed to wander freely through the halls, and it was this freeness which ultimately ended his life. This however gets into the more folkloric aspect of the tale. The Martyns were Catholic during the Tudor times which led into a religious turning of hands and in so to be faithfully Catholic led to a variety of problems. During this time one of their daughters in love with someone outside the catholic faith and wanting to marry this individual and seeing the denial from her family as this was forbidden proceeded to hide in a secret room behind some paneling in the Great Chamber however in her haste she did not notice the silent slinking form of the ape also entering the room. This is where the story enters two versions in one version this disheartened daughter proceeded to slit her throat in front of the started ape in the other she merely waited for a period of time still not seeing the ape in the hidden room and leaving the room with the ape behind ultimately trapping it. Another legend states that the Martyn Ape had entered the room accidentally when the house was under construction of the room and that the oblivious construction crew proceeded to in Edgar Allan Poe’s Cask of Amontillado fashion, wall the ape up. The outcome however in either version is the same the poor animal became trapped inside the secret room and became trapped therein to suffer the slow and terrible death by starvation. The family had heard the strange sound of scratching on the walls for some time, but none could place the sound and they soon stopped and then the smell came. They tracked the smell to the area of the secret chamber and upon opening it found the rotting mummy-like remains of the animal.

While this tragic end to the animal seemed to be just that to Martyn and his family it would not be the case. Soon reports of the apparition would arise and it would both mimic the estate motto and re-enact its final moments with a sexual twist. The ghost of the animal is said to do a variety of actions the most active of which is when it is claimed to swing from the Great Chambers rafters where it masturbates or “scratches itself” as it moves. Its also said to occasionally stay still and masturbate in front of any who enter the chamber whereupon it fulfills the motto specifically about it looking at whoever looks at him. Yet most of experience the ape when stationary state that it does make eye-to-eye contact as it indulges itself. Outside of this the ghost at night seems to return the hidden room that ended its life and proceeds to instead of “scratching” itself scratches the paneling as a constant reminder of the past.

This story was picked up by the Sun in 2015 and ran an article on the case entitled “the Ghost of a Masturbating Ape Haunts the Hallways of a Grand Country Estate in Dorset” the article on the site is now defunct yet the Express has since reprinted the article and with it the thoughts on one would-be ghost hunter to the location who said the following “One tourist who visited recently, 41-year-old dad-of-three John Morrison, of Derby, said "We heard that the monkey which haunts the house loves to scratch his privates while swinging around…"We didn't see him, which is a shame, because it would have been a real sight. Apparently he's not terrifying - quite friendly is what we heard" added John, a printer, who visited with wife Helene, 38, and their children while on their summer holidays in Dorset”.

Now it is important to note that Athelhampton Hall is not just the haunt of this Ghost ape but also that of a pair of spectral duelists, a grey lady, a phantom black monk, and a phantom cooper so paranormal phenomenon is not subjected to one specific type or form. Its all of these various apparitions that have led the house to being considered one of the most haunted homes in England as well as the veracity of the sightings. Typically, in haunted locations, there is this mass collection of apparitions reported and usually what we see is that one of the entities amongst the group is an animal of some sort. In many locations spectral horses are reported with riders, ghost pigs are fairly common, yet the most famous types typically tend to be ghost dogs, cats, or horses ridden or otherwise. The existence therefore of reported ghost ape or ghost monkey as some reports state are not impossible or even uncommon as Elliott O’Donnell described a case involving a ghost baboon and cat in a haunted location. However, he was quick to also hypothesize that this may have been the ghost of a human and horse as in ghost lore there is a ton of cases of ghost animals which witnesses and folklorists claim are the souls of transmogrified humans. Some famous examples being the Fiery Turkey of Kampa, The Roaring Bull of Bagbury, and The Leper Tiger.

Tying Cryptozoology to cases that seem to be entirely spectral in origin seem to be an impossibility yet interestingly in Nick Redfern’s book Three Men Seeking Monsters he does just that. The ghost Chimp of Athelhampton as well as the Ghost Ape of Marwood yet another ape ghost from England are all stories generated to explain sightings of a bigfoot-like cryptid known as the Man-Monkey said to roam in England. Redfern states that these shadowy ape-like figures were easier to explain away as ghosts than some flesh and blood local fauna or some supernaturally empowered mixed between the two, however, and while I do not want to outright dismiss this possibility with such cases as the Marwood ape. A bigfoot-like creature that regularly masturbates inside the Grand Chamber of an estate is a stretch unless it is some spectral or egregoric entity which again is a whole new animal and not the simple deluge into the hypothesis that is proposed in his book.  The same goes for if this is some interdimensional or spectral version of a sasquatch to what point would this creature need to masturbate or even appear in a building when in most cases these entities are the alternatives of what humans are/ are interested in. There are those cases of Sasquatch peering in cabins/ trailers or even entering in, but those cases end with them either wrecking the cabin or leaving prompted or unprompted. None of which typically vanish or decide to masturbate. Plus, I think there’s something off-putting in general to explain every phenomenon or every seemingly ape or human-like phenomena into a bigfoot-like camp and not its own unique phenomenon. 

Alternative explanations to the masturbating chimp seems to be an impossibility. Outside that is of either a hoax or a legend. I’ve never come across a first-person account of someone saying they seen the ape as opposed to say the Highgate ghost Chicken or other animal ghost cases reported by Elliott O’Donnell. It's from this that it's hard to garner a rating on this phenomenon. People do want and expect to witness this entity yet so far no one has seemingly in the modern century come forward and claimed a sighting. To me, this would garner an immediate place into the urban legend category but as with all legends perhaps there is something to it or that there’s something to animal ghosts that causes them to manifest less than other types of ghosts. Its come to my attention while researching the phenomenon that animal ghosts usually have a few major documented accounts and then suddenly they drop off the earth as though that was enough for them to manifest or that their mission was completed or whatever else would cause an apparition to appear. Experts or those familiar with ghost animal lore seemingly have no effect in manifestation rate and so further sightings if they occur are rare and seemingly not an example of the Egregoric creation something commonly associated with hauntings.

Its from this that if reports of the ghost chimp are accurate that I am led to believe that what was seen was a genuine ghost and that due to environmental constraints or that its mission was achieved that it now either no longer haunts the location or has no need to appear as common as it did previously. The legend of this apparition lives on as many classic British ghosts which have been rehashed over the years and like them we have no new sightings and while I do not dismiss Egregores or Tulpas its safe to say that the Athelhampton Ghost is not one of those especially since it shines above the other apparitions said to haunt the location. Yet all of this has yet to be tested perhaps the ghost will return and some brighter minds will decipher whether we are seeing some specter from the past or some manifestation created from seemingly the most intelligent forces on this planet. All of which is currently to be debated and if so one has to wonder if this is the result who has the dirtier mind.

Species/Potential Species: Ghost Primate/Paranormal Entity

Location: Athelhampton Hall, Dorset, England, United Kingdom

Sighted: Unspecified/Modern Times

Works Cited:

A Ghost Hunter's Handbook By Peter Underwood

Three Men Seeking Monsters: Six Weeks in Pursuit of Werewolves, Lake Monsters, Giant Cats, Ghostly Devil Dogs, and Ape-Men By Nick Redfern

Haunted Pet Stories: Tales Of Ghostly Cats, Spooky Dogs, And Demonic Bunnies By Mary Beth Crain

“The Ghosts of Athelhampton” Athelhampton. https://www.athelhampton.com/copy-of-history. Accessed 2/25/2023.

“THE GHOSTS OF ATHELHAMPTON HOUSE” Haunted Rooms. https://www.hauntedrooms.co.uk/athelhampton-house Accessed 2/25/2023

“SPANK the Monkey Does Just That While Haunting English Estate” 95.7 The Hog Rocks. July 23, 2019. https://www.957thehog.com/spank-the-monkey-does-just-that-while-haunting-english-estate/. Accessed 2/25/2023

“Ghost of rude masterbating monkey shocks visitors to stately home in Dorset” Express. August 5, 2016. https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/696974/Ghost-rude-monkey-shocks-visitors-stately-home-Dorset. Accessed 2/25/2023. 

Staffordshire Trolls of Slitting Mill

 The Staffordshire Trolls of Slitting Mill

By Cole Herrold

As a researcher I've always been fascinated with cases that seem to echo accounts that happened years ago. Whether the account is an identical sasquatch type entity or a series of lights that seem identical to others across the globe its consistent accounts from geographically different locations that really help assert my belief that these accounts are genuine. Of all the seemingly geographically similar phenomenon there’s one in particular that really piqued my interest since the entities in question are of a bizarre place in the paranormal spectrum. Faeries and their ilk have reports that are found all over the world yet most paranormal and fortean researchers seemingly have no idea with what to do with these claims. Some can be pegged in the hairy hominid file under proto-pygmies, or aquatic apes, others can be interconnected with the UFO and extraterrestrial phenomenon, and yet other accounts seem to be of something that can only be defined as magical.

In Staffordshire, England an account occurred where several eyewitnesses encountered the more rugged and loathsome form of faerie known colloquially as trolls. Troll sightings are not unheard of in fortean circles even though they are considerably rarer than encounters with merfolk and the flying faerie variety or leprechaun type yet the most interesting thing to me is that this encounter happened in an urban area whereas other troll sightings tend to take place in the Scandinavian wilderness.

Two witnesses known as Elaine and Barry a married couple in their late twenties who had a home near Staffordshire were returning home with their two children one late December night after a Christmas party in Peckridge. They had gotten into Staffordshire when Barry started to notice that the car was starting to act up. The engine seemed to sputter soon ultimately cut out as they coasted down the road to a safe spot. Barry being the dutiful father and certainly cursing his luck exited the warm automobile and worked his way to the front of the car. Barry popped the hood open and soon began to examine the vehicle’s motor “even though I’m mainly useless at mechanical stuff” as he would later say. Even though he was not an expert on car repair he had some points to look for and proceeded to check the cars wires, radiator, and fuses and none appeared to be loose or overheated. So, Barry simply shaking his head was at a loss for what the car’s ailment might be. He looked down the road as he shut the hood of the car and began to assert how far they were from the home and figuring that they were only half a mile or so and so began to plan accordingly he would later describe his plan thusly: “We had a picnic blanket in the boot (trunk) of the car and I got it out. I got back into the car, and I said to Elaine something like ‘lets cover you up and the kids with the blanket’. They were in the back sleeping and (were) only four and six at the time. So, I said to (Elaine) ‘you stay with them, and I’ll run back home and get your car, pick the three of you up, and then we’ll leave my car here, and we can get someone out from a garage to look at it tomorrow”.

Elaine now nestled in the warm trunk blanket was agreeing to her husband’s decision and was beginning to wait till her husband returned but as he was just about to turn around and head up the frozen winter road she saw something run by exceptionally quick in front of the car. Seeing this bizarre figure startled her enough for her to uncurl a loud scream. Yet soon this singular figure would be followed by several other dark figures that seemed to of stepped from the furthest realms of imagination. Elaine would describe the scene “I just about saw it at the last second, and then another one followed it, and then a third one. The best way I can describe them to you is like a hairy troll or something like that. We had some moonlight, and they were like little men, but with hunchbacks and big, hooked noses and not a stitch on them at all. Not a stitch, at all; just hair all over them. I’d say they were all four-feet-tallish, and when the third one crossed by us, you could see them at the edge of the trees – wary, or something, anyway.”

The events that followed are anyone’s guess for the family seemed to have a period of time that appeared fuzzy to say the least. The family seemed to blank out as though their memory was spliced by some cosmic editor as the figures they encountered seemed to seemingly disappear and their car suddenly revved back to life. The family confused by what had just occurred but more determined than ever to simply get home led the family to stop any would be investigation and instead continue the half of a mile drive back to their house. In the safety on comfort of their home however they felt uncomfortable about the events, and they seemed to be missing some time from when they sighted the creatures and when their car returned to life. These memories however would return in time as what happened at the car once they seen the diminutive denizens would happen in flashes. Barry would later say “We both know from memory that they came forwards, towards us, very slowly to us, and I’ve thought since that they were interested in us or wanted to know who we were. They came very slowly, and it was a bit like we were being hunted, to me. Elaine was hysterical; and with the kids with us, I wasn’t far-off, either”. “But that’s all we remember. The next its all gone, nothing. Neither of us remembers seeing them go, and the next thing it was about two o’clock and the car started fine, then. It felt like something had happened to us, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on, you know, what I mean? But the memory thing is the biggest problem, even now, what was it? I did have a dream later about them surrounding the car, but that’s it really. But they were there, and we did see them, right up by the Stone House”.

Barry and Elaine now in their mid-60’s to this day feel uneasy about their loss of memory but is certain that their encounter did happen stating “I know, and we know, that we both saw them. The kids don’t remember a thing, thankfully. They were horrible little things. All that hair: Trolls, Goblins, something, but they were there, and they were real”. Barry and Elaine later would state that they never had any paranormal encounter before or after, but they were certain the encounter happened.

This case is extremely interesting, and I wish I had more details on it, I would love for an eyewitness sketch or some one on one discussion with Barry and Elaine on some of the other details with this case, but unfortunately I don’t think that will come into fruition. With this case it has so many hallmarks to other cases that its difficult to point to specifically one category for these creatures. I guess to begin with we could look at these creatures from the realm of cryptozoology as these could be a kind of hairy hominid. These creature’s height is realistic for an organism to remain hidden now a days as opposed to the 6-9ft tall Bigfoot reports that are also said to have occurred in England and Ireland. From this it could be plausible that the creatures seen are some offshoot of hominid evolution especially since there’s a phenomenon called Island dwarfism which caused organisms that are typically large on other continents to be smaller on islands to help deal with competition of resources. There’s a very good chance that this is a possibility.

The Norwegian Film Troll Hunter dealt with the idea of Trolls being biological creatures as yet undiscovered by mainstream science

The next possibility is that these creatures are extraterrestrials. There have been several sightings of creatures similar in appearance that have been seen in connection to UFOs. The most famous is the rash of hairy dwarf sightings or as we here at the New World Explorer’s Society call them Space Morlocks. These creatures are about the same height and the first sighting which eyewitnesses Jose Ponce and Gustavo Gonzalez experienced on a road near Caracas in Venezuela is eerily similar to what Barry and Elaine had witnessed. Now the big difference between the two is that in the Caracas case the two witnesses saw a large oval shaped object hovering in the middle of the road and when one went to investigate happened to run into one of the hairy entities. While similar these entities feature wise are also different in the Venezuela case the entities were essentially featureless aside from a pair of glowing eyes set in a round head whereas the trolls had hooked noses and other human like features. The Caracas aliens also wore loin cloths as opposed to the nude trolls and these space entities also wielded “wand-technology” (cylindrical shaped machinery that emits light) whereas the troll case featured no reference to any kind of machinery or tool use. Also, there was no confirmed UFO sighting in the area that these entities assumedly would travel on so that is also another issue with this hypothesis.

Sketch of the Hairy Dwarf from the Caracas case

To me the most obvious answer to these creatures seems to be the most absurd and that is that they are faeries in the truest sense of the word. Faeries are a variety of creatures that are deeply connected with both nature and historical sites. These entities have many of the same elements associated with extraterrestrial encounters including time loss and in some cases memory loss. These entities are not fond of being sited in fact there are several accounts of faeries scaring people away, chasing them, causing great emotional distress, or in more aggressive cases like the typical Scandinavian Troll or Kelpie eating those they encounter. These entities are interconnected with green places and that seems to be the one consistent element to all reports as faeries are found in areas with high concentrations of trees, grass, flowers, what the exact connection to this is, is cannot only be speculated but the most common belief is that they are the avatars of nature if this is the case it would make sense as to why these creatures were seen in England even though it is a decidedly more urban area than most of the other reports out there.

With that said there is very little modern research on the phenomenon. There’s tons of accounts that can be found in old books and some modern day podcasts feature some eyewitnesses but other than that there’s no “Faerie Quest” or some other research oriented study of the phenomenon. The last big one was the Fairy Investigation Society which for more information definitely read Seeing Fairies by Marjorie T. Johnson. So, it’s difficult to speak with any certainty that these entities really do belong in their own category and not in the trinity of paranormal (Cryptozoology, Ufology, and spirit research/Demonology).

With this case its resonated with me for some time when I first came across it in the Monster Book by Nick Redfern and it is perhaps to me one of the most interesting ostensibly fae encounter. These creatures are entirely unique only in that they seem ancient as though they have leapt from a John Bauer painting yet the thing that haunts me is their motives. In a sinister take on their sighting one has to mention the phenomenon of changelings how trolls and other faeries will kidnap human offspring and swap them with their own and it is very eerie that Barry and Elaine’s children were asleep in the car and the couple had memory problems afterwards. Perhaps their children were given the old switcheroo and now their real children are down in the faerie kingdom somewhere. I do not know and this is just a hypothetical based on legends but it is important to say about that time loss for who knows what really happened during that time maybe they were given a tour of the land or the great Seelie courts or perhaps nothing happened at all and the Trolls used the time loss as a kind of blanket for them to get away but its all speculation and something that we will never more than likefully know the answer to.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Hominid/ Mammal

Location: Slitting Mill, Staffordshire, England

Sighted: December 1975

Works Cited:

Beasts of Britain By Andrew M. L. McGrath

The Monster Book: Creatures, Beasts, and Fiends of Nature By Nick Redfern

Combing, Beach “Trolls in Staffordshire (in the 1970s!)”. Beachcombing’s Bizarre History Blog.  June 13, 2012. https://www.strangehistory.net/2012/06/13/trolls-in-staffordshire-in-the-1970s/. Accessed October 12, 2021.