The Paranormal Database

Slapping

Location: Manchester - Private house, Baguley area
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2006 - 2010
Further Comments: One person felt a firm slap on their left shoulder while in the dining room, and a year later another witness received a slap while making a bed. Other people felt a force pressing down on them and one lady claimed to have been pushed over while passing through the kitchen. The activity ceased soon after.

Child

Location: Manchester - Private residence in Moston
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950s
Further Comments: Just after a couple had moved in, footsteps could be heard on the staircase and a child's voice heard just outside a door asking to come in. The sounds stopped after the couple laid a new carpet.

Running Bath

Location: Manchester - Private residence, Charlton
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990
Further Comments: Four students quickly moved out of this property after experiencing a high number of strange occurrences, including electrical items being switched on and off, the sound of running water in the bathroom (when the taps were off), slamming doors and the manifestation of a tall monk-like figure.

Old Man and Friends

Location: Manchester - Private residence, Chester Road, Buckley
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1968
Further Comments: An exorcism was reported to be a success after a family reported several presences in their home, including an old man, a phantom horseman, and several entities which manifested at the foot of the staircase.

Molly

Location: Manchester - Private residence, Elsham Gardens, Gorton
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2004-2008
Further Comments: A former occupier of this property reported that her son had a female 'friend' named Molly who would wait in his room when they went out. She herself had seen a dark, tall shadow on the landing. Neighbours also told her that the previous occupiers had moved out after encountering the ghost of a young boy.

Chatting

Location: Manchester - Private residence, Greenmount, Bury
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s-1990s
Further Comments: Voices of two people chatting (and shouting) at each other could be heard in this property. It was also reported that small objects would move unaided and that footsteps could be heard moving around upstairs.

Talker

Location: Manchester - Private residence, Newall Road, Wythenshawe
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa March 2000
Further Comments: This house was haunted by a male ghost which would make its presence known by talking to the occupiers. A male witness was unnerved when a voice whispered his name into his ear when there was not one else in the property.

Child

Location: Manchester - Private residence, St Annes Road, Prestwich
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2005-2007
Further Comments: A previous owner of this property claimed that a little boy haunted the attic. A neighbour also reported seeing the figure in the garden and kitchen. Mild poltergeist activity also took place, with the kettle, radio and lights switching themselves on.

Faking ghosts is as old as time.

Tall Cloaked Figure

Location: Manchester - Rocky Lane, Morton, and Folly Lane and Worsley Road, Swinton
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: January 1883
Further Comments: A six foot (1.8 metre) tall figure wearing a fur cloak took to haunting this area over the first two weeks of 1883. The press considered the entity nothing more than someone dressed up; on one occasion the 'ghost' ran off when faced with a man welding a walking stick.

Jacobite armed with Dagger

Location: Manchester - Rover's Return trinket shop
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This former soldier has been seen loitering at the foot of a bed on the property, weapon in hand.

Nurses and Friends

Location: Manchester - Ryecroft Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2010s
Further Comments: A few ghost hunts have taken place at the hall, with perceived entities including nurses, children, soldiers and the Seventh Earl of Stamford.

James Heyward

Location: Manchester - Same Yet Inn, Prestwich
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: Heyward was robbed and murdered nearby in 1843; his bearded ghost occasionally seen in the pub was blamed when a fire broke out in the bistro in 1994.

Samuel

Location: Manchester - Samuel Alexander Building, University of Manchester
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2008-2012
Further Comments: The ghost of Australian-born, British philosopher Samuel Alexander was said to have been spotted by teaching staff in the hall which bears his name.

Shakespeare Hotel, Manchester.

Girl on Fire

Location: Manchester - Shakespeare Hotel, Fountain Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s?
Further Comments: Reportedly built on the site where SHC had killed a young maid, the hotel is now home to the ghostly girl. She has been seen standing at the top of a flight of stairs, once appearing to be on fire.

Darting Lights

Location: Manchester - Skies above Bury
Type: UFO
Date / Time: Late 1990s
Further Comments: Several circular bright lights were observed by a man walking his dog in the night sky. The balls were all different sizes and travelled very fast in a zigzag motion, creating no sound. The man was left shaken after watching the display but did not contact the authorities fearing they would think he was mad.

Does an executioner haunt this prison?

Man in Dark Suit

Location: Manchester - Strangeways Prison, condemned cell, B Wing
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: This phantom man wearing a dark suit and carrying a briefcase has been reported by staff. If followed, he vanishes near the condemned cell. Some have named him as John Ellis, a former executioner who committed suicide in 1932.

Victorian Woman

Location: Manchester - The Angel public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: October / November 2009
Further Comments: It is said that the owners of the pub experienced mild poltergeist occurrences until the site was blessed by a priest. However, shortly after the blessing, a group of Australian tourists took a picture in the building - a girl dressed in Victorian clothing was visible.

The Palace Theatre, Manchester.

Grey Lady

Location: Manchester - The Palace Theatre, Oxford Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: A cleaner who died in the building, this figure has been seen drifting around in a grey mist, and seen once in the ladies' toilet, sitting in a corner before vanishing.

Grey Lady

Location: Manchester - Trafford Park Hotel (as of 2020, not operating)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990
Further Comments: Traditionally the haunt of a grey lady (in this instance, a maid who had fallen or jumped to her death in the 1900s), the phantom which made its presence known in 1990 could be heard laughing and causing the air to crackle.

Francis Downes

Location: Manchester - Wardley Hall
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This building is reported to have had a skull bricked up within its walls, to prevent it from accidentally being removed and condemning the house's occupiers to misfortune or death. The macabre relic is thought to belong to Edward Barlow, a Catholic executed by Protestants in 1640.

Footsteps

Location: Manchester - Waste ground close to West Avenue and Bridport Avenue, above Moston Brook
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Summer 1982
Further Comments: While walking across knee-high grass, this witness could hear footsteps following him, even though no one else could be seen.

Green Dorothy

Location: Manchester - Worsley Old Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The lime-coloured ghost of this woman is said to re-enact her last moments - falling down the staircase, breaking her neck on the final step. Another story says Sir Richard Brereton once haunted the site; his ghost was banished, but he returns once a year in the form of a swallow.

Emily

Location: Manchester - Yang Sing Hotel (closed 2009)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 2008
Further Comments: The hotel put out a call to help identify a ghost that staff nicknamed 'Emily', a young girl that had manifested and sang to guests in two different rooms. Staff had also heard the singing but not seen the ghost.

Playful Barking

Location: Manchester - Highfield country park, Levenshulme
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2021
Further Comments: A dog graveyard, once owned by a farmer and now hidden away in the park, is reputedly home to playful barking which can be heard after dark. Stories say that the haunting sounds began after a local resident buried their dog within the park.

Paddy

Location: Manchester - House at corner of Spath Road and Holme Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1957
Further Comments: Seen in the garden of this house, this small black dog's grave is only a few metres away from the spot it haunts.