The Worst Ghosts of 2010
An examination of the worst ghost evidence to hit the headlines in the last 12 months
This post was originally published in December 2010.
It’s fair to say that some of the ghost stories that grace the newspapers and news websites often leave some of us staring at our screens with sheer horror. Horrified, not by the latest apparitions to have been caught on camera or film, but by the fact that anyone could have thought what was caught was news worthy. With that in mind, behold…
#5 The Savannah Cemetery Ghost
This video came to my attention in November and it is claimed that a ‘ghost child’ can be seen running through the Colonial Park Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia. The figure is seen running in the distance past some tombstones. We then see an object (which many think is the same figure), shoot up a tree and moments later drop down.
To me, this looks like a child who is obscured briefly by gravestones. As to what it going "“up” the tree - it’s too vague to tell because of the distance between the supposed ghost and the camera, as well as the fact that the person shooting the film didn’t to go towards the object to investigate. However I don’t think it is the child from the beginning of the footage.
It looks like the camera has night vision enabled, too, which drains the footage of proper colour. Suffice to say, jumping to the conclusion that something odd, or something that cannot be explained must be a ghost is a leap of logic.
#4 The Gwyrch Castle Ghost
This photo was taken by Kevin Horkin who claimed he only saw the ghostly figure when he downloaded the photo at home - not while taking it. Adding to the oddness of this tale, he claimed that the spot in which the girl is standing hon the first floor of the castle has no physical floor as it crumbled away years ago.
Weird, right?
Until you see this unrelated photo of a member of the preservation trust at the castle, which clearly shows a floor…
Hmm… interesting. Perhaps Kevin Horkin simply misremembered? However, I’m not so sure that’s the case because a little big of digging revealed Kevin Horkin is the MD of a Psychic Management company called Parallel Management [editor: no longer operating] and, according to their site, ‘[h]is wealth of experience encompasses … artist management, events management, sponsorships, public relations, media relations, marketing and artist liaison.’
It gets even spookier, dear reader, because at the time the photo was taken, Horkin and his team were intending to buy the castle to renovate it so it could be turned into a hotel for their psychic school.
The Lancashire Telegraph reports how:
RIBBLE Valley businessman is bidding to buy a huge castle to open Britain’s first ‘psychic school of excellence’. Clitheroe-based Kevin Horkin has put in an offer of £850,000 to buy the derelict Grade I-listed Gwrych Castle in Abergele, North Wales.
Mr Horkin, who owns psychic management company Parallel, wants to spend ’several millions’ renovating the 19th century castle, installing a hotel and facilities for psychics to connect with the spiritual world.
But hey, I’m sure that’s just a coincidence…
#3 The Wolfe Pub Ghost Video
The Wolfe Pub in Little Dockray, Cumbria used to be a funeral parlour and, according to the landlord, that’s why it is haunted. Which makes sense… possibly.
The 35-second sequence recorded by a CCTV camera shows a supposed apparition that descends through the ceiling of the room. Numerous newspaper articles (like this one) claim the apparition then polishes a table before zooming upwards and going back through the ceiling – momentarily assuming the likeness of a face which is pretty spooky stuff!
Well, I’m sorry to burst your spooky bubble but this is actually a fly on the lens of the CCTV camera. It’s out of focus and bleached by the infrared “night vision” light from the camera. If you watch the video with this in mind you may be able to spot how the fly moves its wings.
There are anecdotes about other things happening in the pub and neighbouring businesses but no CCTV footage of those has been supplied to date. Sometimes though, when a building has a ghost story attached to it and people who live or work there have spooky experiences to share, it’s easy for the mind to think “ghost” when you’re looking at an odd looking fly on your CCTV…
#2 The Pint Glass Poltergeist
The New Inn, Gloucestershire, made the headlines earlier this year when an unattended pint of beer was caught on CCTV sliding off of a table all on its own, which is pretty impressive at first glance.
However, the story gets pretty weird, pretty fast. The video was featured on The BBC News website where Landlord, Mark Cooke, said:
“I’d heard all these stories before we arrived and was pretty sceptical, like most people.But the moving pint was something else. When I saw it on the CCTV it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. You just can’t explain it — the table’s dead steady, the floor’s not uneven, and no-one’s near it.”
I disagree. There are several ways a glass can slide from a table on its own. Those who drink in pubs know that sometimes the pint glass in which your drink is served is wet from overspill at the pump. Sometimes different surfaces in pubs are also wet because they’ve had wet glasses on them and this can cause some movement. This can also happen at home when you’re unloading a dishwasher…
It is also not possible to completely rule out that this is staged in some way. For example, it may just be coincidence but the person sitting at the back of the room, to the right, happens to move their hand just as the glass falls.
It could be a coincidence, but a member of the Gloucester Active Paranormal Society were in the room at the time this happened. They’ve been running ghost events at the pub for a while and charge £25 for a ticket. It would certainly be good advertising for ghostly activity to be caught on camera, right? Or am I just being cynical?
#1 The Dorset County Museum Ghost
This particular ghost caught my eye when it was featured on the BBC News website which reported the ghost hunters believed ‘[t]hey have photos … of “hanging” Judge Jeffreys and local fossil collector Mary Anning in the museum’s main hall.’
Wow. Famous ghosts in the multiple!
Now, the first thing of note is the fact that the photo featured on the BBC website is heavily cropped to only show what it is claimed is an apparition. It’s almost impossible to understand the wider context of the photo. Realistically it could anything at all, from an out of focus light, to a drop of water on a sheet of glass.
However, luckily for us, the photos from the ghost hunters visit to the museum are available in a YouTube montage which provides more insight.
Please note: the video contains loud music:
The ‘ghost’ appears to be an illusion caused by light reflection – the cropped picture used in the news coverage simply didn’t show the source of the reflection – it emphasised something that shouldn’t have been emphasised at all.
The images taken that night at the Dorset County Museum are simply reflections of the camera flash on a glass fronted display case/mirrored surface. You can clearly see this display case illuminated by the flash, to the north position of the “anomaly”.
At the time of this story making headlines, The Dorest County Museum have started charging £300 for paranormal teams to enter the building to conduct ghost hunts to try to find the ghost that was in a photo that is actually just an illusion caused by a light reflection. And that’s why this is the Worst Ghost of 2010!
Every year, I write a summary of the 5 Worst Ghosts to have made the headlines in the previous 12 months. 2010 was the first installment of this series. I am slowly moving the Worst Ghosts Showcase across to The Ghost Geek in the countdown to the end of 2025. Be sure to check back for 2011-2024 as they appear here!