Fortean Times

Fortean Times chronicles the stranger side of life, delivering a heady mix of weird world news, up-to-date reports and features on every aspect of the unexplained: myths, monsters, ghosts and UFOs rub shoulders with ancient wonders and future science, while expert columnists bring you the latest on everything from cryptozoology to conspiracy theory. Open-minded, well informed and maintaining a healthy sense of humour, Fortean Times is the only place to go for a sensible look at our mad planet – it will change the way you see the world.

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INTRODUCTION • Ghost hunter, author and writer of the Fortean Times ‘Ghostwatch’ column

Fortean Times

WOMEN IN WHITE THE MYSTERY OF PHANTOM LADIES • In updating Andrew Green’s classic 1977 book, ALAN MURDIE found that female spectres are as widespread, and difficult to identify, as ever, turning up in reports from all over the world – but what might they actually be?

Thoughts on PHANTOM LADIES from our ghost expert ALAN MURDIE

SCRATCHING FANNY • In early 1762, a ghost story unfolded in London involving a teenage girl, a drunken parish clerk, a horde of nosy aristocrats and intellectuals, and an accusation of murder. The story of ‘scratching fanny’ was the media sensation of its day, writes SARAH BAKEWELL, attracting a nightly crowd to rival those that flocked to the Covent Garden theatres.

Thoughts on THE COCK LANE GHOST from our ghost expert ALAN MURDIE

UNEASY RIDERS • ROB GANDY investigates some of the unusual cases in which motorcyclists, rather than drivers, have encountered road ghosts and phantom hitchhikers in that liminal zone between hauntings, local folklore and urban legend.

ON YOUR BIKE! • ROAD GHOST STORIES AND URBAN LEGENDS INVOLVING MOTORCYCLES

Thoughts on MOTORCYLE ROAD GHOSTS from our ghost expert ALAN MURDIE

THE SPECTRE OF THE FERRY BOAT INN THE MAKING OF A MODERN GHOST STORY • ROBERT HALLIDAY pops into one of Cambridgeshire’s most historic inns for a pint and a spot of ghost-hunting – but is this classic pub haunting, supposedly dating all the way back to the 11th century, really all it’s cracked up to be?

Thoughts on THE FERRYBOAT INN SPECTRE from our ghost expert ALAN MURDIE

HEOL FANOG WHAT LIES BENEATH? • The remote Welsh farmhouse of Heol Fanog might be considered the most haunted house in Britain thanks to its exposure in The Witch Farm, a recent Radio 4 podcast series. But could there be rational explanations for the terrifying phenomena that plagued the Rich family? Psychologist DR CIARÁN O’KEEFFE takes a sceptical look at the case.

Thoughts on THE WELSH WITCH FARM from our ghost expert ALAN MURDIE

HEOL FANOG A TIMELINE OF ANOMALOUS EXPERIENCES

PHONE CALLS FROM THE DEAD • Parapsychologist D Scott Rogo collected cases of apparent ‘phone calls from the dead’ in his 1979 book of the same name, but THEO PAIJMANS discovers that stories of telephone messages from beyond the grave are as old as the technology itself – and they show no sign of stopping in the age of the mobile phone.

RENOVATION HAUNTINGS • In spite of a plethora of television programmes offering house makeovers or advising us to undertake major home improvements, DR PETER A McCUE advises that even modest DIY projects can sometimes unleash ghostly phenomena…

Thoughts on RENOVATION HAUNTINGS from our ghost expert ALAN MURDIE

THE BELL WITCH: AN AMERICAN HAUNTING • If there’s one piece of supernatural lore that everyone in the US has heard of, then it’s probably Tennessee’s celebrated ‘Bell Witch’, but endless retellings have made the case a difficult one to assess. ROGER CLARKE goes in search of the spook-stalked pioneer home and its very American haunting…

STATE OF THE SPECTRAL NATION • DR PAUL LEE shares the results of...