The Paranormal Database

Unlucky Place to Drink

Location: WC2 - Fleece Inn Tavern (demolished 1820, thought to have stood on Catherine Street), Covent Garden
Type: Other
Date / Time: Pre-1820
Further Comments: After a string of murders on the property, the site gained a reputation of being unlucky until it was demolished.

Billie Carleton

Location: WC2 - Former BBC HQ, Savoy Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Carleton died in the former home of the BBC just after their 1918 Victory broadcast, and even now the presence is said to remain.

Grey Woman

Location: WC2 - Fortune Theatre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s onwards
Further Comments: Home to the stage play The Woman in Black, the theatre is ironically also haunted by a grey lady spotted in a lower box. Two shadowy figures have also been observed standing to the right of the stage.

Nell Gwynne

Location: WC2 - Gargoyle Club, 69 Dean Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Another haunting blamed on Nell Gwynne, this building is said to have been her home. The ghost is said to resemble a grey shadow, accompanied by an overpowering smell of flowers. A duel is also thought to be re-enacted on the roof, between the Captain of the Guards and a group of men sent by King Charles II to kill him.

Garrick Theatre, London.

Arthur Bourchier

Location: WC2 - Garrick Theatre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Known for his dislike of critics, Bourchier now haunts the rear of the theatre, often appearing just after a performance, or making his presence known by tapping people on their backs.

Lucky Nun

Location: WC2 - General area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: If seen, this phantom nun is said to signify a long and lucky life. While working as a porter at the rail station, a young Bob Hoskins saw her... and look what has happened to his career since!

General area of The Strand, London.

Baroness Bunett-Coutts

Location: WC2 - General area of The Strand
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1940s
Further Comments: This ghostly old lady has been seen walking along the roads in The Strand, dressed in Edwardian clothing.

Whistling

Location: WC2 - Halfway 2 Heaven public house (was the Golden Cross), Duncannon Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2013
Further Comments: Whistling and other noises have been reported in this 300 year old pub after it has closed.

Egyptian Princess

Location: WC2 - Holborn tube station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown, late twentieth century?
Further Comments: An Egyptian Princess was said to haunt the British Museum underground station, but when it closed in 1933, her ghostly screams could still be heard emerging from the tunnels at Holborn.

Short Pipe Smoker

Location: WC2 - Howard Hotel, Temple Place
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 06 November 2004, 05:30h
Further Comments: A witness awoke to find a man standing at the end of the bed, looking towards the window. The entity was old with a short stature, with long curly hair and what looked like a long stem pipe in his mouth. After a few seconds the ghost disappeared, like dust motes.

James Street, London.

Mohun

Location: WC2 - James Street
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: 1647
Further Comments: Attacked and murdered on the way to fight a duel in the countryside, Mr Mohun was seen at the time of his death by a close female friend; his solid looking form walked into her room and then left via the same door, which was locked.

Lord Mohun

Location: WC2 - James' Street
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: 1642
Further Comments: Lord Mohun appeared to a lady walking along this street at the moment he was killed in a duel at Chelsea Fields.

Jenny's Murder

Location: WC2 - Jenny's Hole, Adelphi
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Jenny was a prostitute, murdered in 1875 in this area. Her murder can now be heard; screams echo around the area, the sounds of struggle before the air falls deadly silent. Occasionally, a rag covered body is also said to materialise.

Bag Mover

Location: WC2 - Lamb and Flag public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: This pub poltergeist is blamed for moving client's belongings around the establishment.

Non Smoker

Location: WC2 - Lemon Tree public house, Bedfordbury
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Broken ashtrays and glasses are often said to be caused by this pub poltergeist.

Lyceum Theatre, London.

Severed Head in Lap

Location: WC2 - Lyceum Theatre
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1880s
Further Comments: A married couple in a box looked down into the stalls and could see, much to their horror, a woman with a severed head resting in her lap. They later recognised the head in a painting of a family which once lived on the site of the theatre. The ghosts of Ellen Terry and William Terriss are also said to haunt the theatre.

Usherette

Location: WC2 - Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1972
Further Comments: This figure, seen walking along the aisles of the theatre, was killed by a bomb dropped by a zeppelin in the First World War.

Manager in Brown Suit

Location: WC2 - Metropolitan Music Hall, Edgware Road (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Killed in the trenches during the First World War, the manager came back to his beloved theatre, and watched the first performances of new shows to ensure they were up to scratch.

The National Gallery, London.

Figure Walking

Location: WC2 - National Gallery, gallery 16
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 25 September 1999
Further Comments: Picked up by CCTV cameras, a dark figure has been observed walking around the gallery at night. Gallery 42 is also said to be haunted; it is believed that a plague pit exists underneath.

Anna Pavlova

Location: WC2 - Palace Theatre, Cambridge Circus
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The debate as to whether the ghostly ballerina to be found here is really Pavlova is still in motion. The building's other entity, Ivor Novello, died in 1951 but still watches performances from the back of the dress circle. Two seats are left unfilled during performances for the ghosts, although during the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child run, the seats were sold as normal.

Fading Lady

Location: WC2 - Peacock Theatre (was Royalty Theatre), Dean Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Lady circa 1934, Dolphin from 1980s onwards?
Further Comments: A woman clothed in an outfit dating from the Queen Anne period is reported to descend the staircase here, slowly fading before she reaches the bottom. A short scream is said to signify her complete disappearance. The female ghost has not recently manifested and appears to have been replaced by the sound of a phantom dolphin which, during life, was kept in a small tank under the stage in the 1930s.

Cleaner

Location: WC2 - Prince Charles Cinema, Leicester Place
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s onwards
Further Comments: The ghost which is said to haunt this cinema is said to clear dirty areas and tweak the volume on films.

Young Girl

Location: WC2 - Savoy Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom girl is reputed to haunt the fifth floor of the hotel. The same entity is also connected to a mysterious lift which does not really exist.

Somerset House, London.

Horatio Nelson

Location: WC2 - Somerset House, Strand
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Spring (Nelson) (reoccurring), 1972 (woman)
Further Comments: The ghostly figure of Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson was said to manifest at Somerset House during Spring months. The entity would stride with purpose across the courtyard, heading towards his former office, but always vanished soon after being spotted. A wispy female ghost has also been spotted on site, drifting along a corridor.

Running Man

Location: WC2 - Staircase leading to a flat along Shaftesbury Avenue
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Possibly early twentieth century
Further Comments: While accompanying a woman he recently met back to her flat, a young man was stunned when a gentleman ran past him in the opposite direction, with a look of horror on his face. The young man turned to see where the man was going, but he had vanished with no obvious place that he could have gone. The young man was shocked and headed home, leaving the woman on the staircase. The young man later found out the flat had a bad reputation and men would be lured there and robbed.