The Paranormal Database

Examining folkloric, paranormal & cryptozoological locations in the UK and beyond

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Brighton Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana

Tapper

Location: Brighton - Hanningtons department store (no longer operating), North Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: A phantom was said to have developed a habit of tapping customers on the shoulder when they visited the perfume department.

Monk

Location: Brighton - Harlequin Bar, Providence Place
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom monk is said to have been spotted on the first floor, while a ghostly girl lurks in a passage which leads to the toilets. An exorcism is reputed to have taken place many years ago which rid the site of the entities.


The Heist nightclub, Brighton.

Tall Man

Location: Brighton - Heist (club), West Street (no longer operating)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s?
Further Comments: It is claimed that several ghosts haunt this building, including a tall man with a handlebar moustache, a small child, and another figure who walks behind a stained glass window at the rear of the venue.


Brighton's Hippodrome Theatre.

Vesta Tilley

Location: Brighton - Hippodrome Theatre, Middle Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Said to wear a long black dress (and occasionally a grey one), the ghost of Tilley haunts the area which was once the theatre's bar.

Hoard

Location: Brighton - Hollingbury Hillfort
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local legend says that treasure is (or was) concealed in this area, though the details are vague.


Brighton's Horse and Groom pub.

Fred

Location: Brighton - Horse and Groom public house, Islingword Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: A former customer, the ghost of Fred was said to take up residence in his favourite chair. A glass of beer was also seen to move unaided across a shelf before falling on the floor.


Location of the shop 'John Beal and Son' before it closed, in Brighton.

Dark Cowled Figure

Location: Brighton - John Beal and Son (no longer trading), East Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950
Further Comments: This figure, most likely to be a monk, appears after dark and is said to lack a face.

Cheetah

Location: Brighton - Junction of Mill Road and Dyke Road
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 23 December 1982, 22:00h
Further Comments: Driving home, Douglas Owen encountered a large cat resembling a cheetah lying on a grassy bank. After watching it for a short while, the cat ran off towards nearby houses.


Brighton's Upper Rock Gardens.

Naked Woman

Location: Brighton - Junk Shop, Upper Rock Gardens (no longer exists)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950s
Further Comments: This naked, disfigured female phantom was said to have been murdered in the building's basement by her insane husband. A private house in the same area is home to the benign presence of an elderly woman.


The King & Queen Pub in Brighton.

Shouting

Location: Brighton - King & Queen Public House, Marlborough Place
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s-2000s
Further Comments: Windows have been known to open themselves and shouting has been heard coming from an empty bar.


Kipling Gardens in Brighton.

Eric

Location: Brighton - Kipling Gardens, Rottingdean
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: The child of a visiting American ghost hunter claimed to have seen a phantom man named Eric in the public convenience close to here.

Sounds

Location: Brighton - Lanes End House, Prince Albert Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s onwards
Further Comments: A maintenance man refused to work on the top floor after dark having heard strange sounds which followed him around. Footsteps would also be heard in the basement and the reception area is reputed to have a strange feeling at night.

Scratches

Location: Brighton - Lord Nelson public house, Trafalgar Street
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: October 2015
Further Comments: Glasses are said to have been seen flying off shelves, while one customer developed red scratches on his arm. A previous landlord had had the pub exorcised.


Brighton's Lover's Walk.

Celia Holloway

Location: Brighton - Lover's Walk
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Celia Holloway was murdered by her husband John, who moved her body using a wheelbarrow and buried the remains along Lover's Walk. He was caught and executed, although Celia is said to still appear along the lane.


The Mariner pub, in Brighton.

Moving Crates

Location: Brighton - Mariner public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: The sound of beer crates being kicked in the cellar has been reported, while the doors leading down to the level open and close unaided.


The Brighton pub and theatre Marlborough Tavern.

Pale Woman

Location: Brighton - Marlborough Tavern (theatre), Princes Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2007
Further Comments: The phantom woman observed in this tavern is thought to be the murdered wife of a former landlord - he tried to kill her by pushing the woman down the stairs, and when that failed, left her in the cellar mortally wounded. When last seen, the woman was floating across the stage area.


The Mash Tun pub in Brighton.

Martha

Location: Brighton - Mash Tun public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century onwards
Further Comments: This pub is said to be haunted by the landlady who managed the site during the First World War. Her footsteps have been reported from the building, and a former landlord watched several articles of clothing being thrown down the staircase by an unseen force. Glasses have been observed moving across a table and falling to the floor.


Meeting House Lane, Brighton.

Monk

Location: Brighton - Meeting House Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Killed for having a love affair with a local lass, this medieval monk has been observed vanishing though a brick wall.


Brighton's Metropole Hotel.

Swinging Beads

Location: Brighton - Metropole Hotel
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Late twentieth century (?) and 2000
Further Comments: A cleaner and the night manager watched glass beads hanging from wall lamps swing for no apparent reason. The sound of a baby crying has also been reported on occasion, although no infant can be found when the sounds are investigated. In 2000, a member of staff encountered an old man in the building and engaged him in conversation; he later the old man discovered had died years previously.

Older Man

Location: Brighton - Montague House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid 1980s (or mid 1990s)
Further Comments: An older man was seen by several witnesses as he materialised in a chair.


Moulsecoomb Rail Station in Brighton.

Heavy Breathing

Location: Brighton - Moulsecoomb Rail Station
Type: Other
Date / Time: Animal in 1986, phantom train in 2013
Further Comments: Two women reported hearing animal grunts, snarls, and feeling the breath of an animal close to their faces, although nothing could be seen. A phantom steam train was also heard at the station, and older man who vanished suddenly. It is said some locals have voiced concern about using the station after dark.

Elderly Man

Location: Brighton - NHS site (exact location withheld)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: A ghostly older man was said to occasionally manifest sitting in a chair at this site.


Brighton's Nightingale Theatre.

Emily Coalthorpe

Location: Brighton - Nightingale Theatre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Fourteen year old Emily died here in the late nineteenth century when this building was an hotel. Her ghost is supposed to haunt a staircase.


Nile Street in Brighton.

Hooded Man

Location: Brighton - Nile Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Thought to be a monk from the small chapel of St Bartholomew which stood here before being destroyed in 1514, a hooded figure is reputed to haunt the street.

Footsteps

Location: Brighton - Northern Lights (no longer open)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: Disembodied footsteps were once heard in the bar by the former owners.

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