ghooooooooosts!

Last night, in honor of Halloween, William and I went on a "Ghost of the West End" walk, subtitled "Apparations, Alleyways and Ale."  It was a rather pleasant evening, not too chilly and no rain at all (downright paradisiacal for London this time of year!), and we wandered all around the theater district and into St. James' Park.  Our guide was an enthusiastic woman who was very fond of "atmosphere" - every little street we went down, it seemed, was "the most atmospheric in all of London!"

The spookiest ghost we heard about, by far, was the ghost of Sellis, the Duke of Cumberland's manservant, who died a grisly death in St. James' Palace.  As luck (or strategic vandalism by the walk guides, who knows?) would have it, the two streetlamps across the street from the palace weren't working, so we were standing in nearly pitch-black darkness, staring at the silhouette of the palace, as this woman told the story... the Duke of Cumberland called for help late one night, screaming that he was murdered, and guards rushed in to find him covered in blood.  After a good deal of panic they discovered that his wounds were only superficial, and he said he had woken up to find a blade stabbing him repeatedly, and as he raised his hands to ward it off, the attack suddenly stopped.  After his wounds were treated, he said, "But where's my manservant, Sellis?"

The guards rushed in to Sellis' room, and as they approached the door they heard a strange gurgling noise.  (Now you have to imagine William going "oooooOOOOoooOOOO!" in your ear to get the full effect.  He did this at every remotely spooky moment.  And sometimes just crossing the street.)

They came in to find him on his bed, throat slit - nearly decapitated, in fact - blood gurgling up from his throat.  Dramatic pause.

The official story was that Sellis had tried to kill the Duke, but halfway through his conscience kicked in and instead he went back to his room and committed suicide.

The unofficial story was that the Duke had impregnated Sellis' teenage daughter, and that the poor girl had committed suicide.  When Sellis confronted the Duke, the Duke killed his servant, and then stabbed himself a few times to make it look like it was the other way around.  Or did the Duke sleep with Sellis' wife?  Or did Sellis catch the Duke in flagrante delict delicto of the homosexual variety?  Those are all rather different explanations, but at any rate,  most people supposed there had been some sort of a coverup.

And now - so they say - the ghost of Sellis walks the corridors of St. James' Palace after dark, his arrival always signaled by a gurgling noise and the sickly sweet smell of fresh human blood...

oooooOOOooooOOOOoooOOO!

William's favorite ghost was the ghost of William Terriss, a hugely popular actor who was brutally killed by a jealous competitor.  While there's supposedly an always-cold spot where he was stabbed (40 times! seems excessive), his actual ghost is spotted standing on the platform at Covent Garden tube stop, but never boarding a train.  The tube stop wasn't there in his life, but the story has it that his favorite bakery stood on the spot where the platform is now, and his ghost is actually just waiting for some buns before rehearsal.

My favorite ghost lives in the basement of Samuel Pepys' house, No 14 Buckingham St.  Pepys is supposed to haunt there, too, but that's pretty boring.  But a few painters also lived there in later years, and supposedly there's a pretty young woman in a blue dressing gown who runs laughing down the hallway and vanishes into the drawing room - ready to pose as a nude model for a painting.

Happy Halloweeen!