The Paranormal Database

Fire Breather

Location: Crockerton (Wiltshire) - Unnamed road in the area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This ghostly hound was said to be able to blow fire from its nose.

Cliff paths around Cromer, Norfolk.

Shuck

Location: Cromer (Norfolk) - Cliff Paths
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Many people have reported seeing the black shuck in this area of Norfolk, with the local populace claiming the creature is the ghost of a dog whose master drowned just off the Cromer coast.

Off the coast of Cromer, Norfolk.

Black Retriever Drowning Child

Location: Cromer (Norfolk) - Off the coast of Cromer
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local child befriended a 'stray' black dog and took the creature swimming in the ocean - while out over deep water the dog changed into a human and tried to drown the youngster. Another version of the tale states the dog does not transform, by merely barks and growls, preventing the child from swimming back to land. In both versions, the child is saved by the intervention of sailors.

Black Hound

Location: Cwmbran (Gwent) - The Chapel, St Dials
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local legend says that this area was home to a large black dog which hunted souls. A local minister faced the hound and banished it after smacking the creature between the eyes with a bible. The story found renewed interest in 2022 after the chapel sold at auctions for fifty-three thousand pounds.

White cat (public domain).

Changing Entity

Location: Darlington (Durham) - Glassensikes (stream or river) and Harewood Hill area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The large black dog once said to haunt this area could also take the form of a flaming headless man, a headless woman, a white cat, or a rabbit.

Dewer

Location: Dartmoor (Devon) - Dewerstone Woods
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A Wisht huntsman, Dewer would chase people up the highest crag in the area and leave them to fall to their deaths - if the drop did not kill them, the unfortunates would be consumed by hell hounds waiting at the bottom.

Large Black Hound

Location: Dartmoor (Devon) - General area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Said to have inspired the famous 'Hound of the Baskervilles', several phantoms are held to blame for this creature (including Drake (for his dealings with the devil) and Richard Cabell (a man so evil that he now hunts children with his devil dogs!)).

Yeth Hounds

Location: Dartmoor (Devon) - General area of the River Tavy
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: These variants of the shuck, complete with hunters on horseback, have been heard running in this area after dark. Part of the Tavy is also said to be haunted by the ghost of Sir John Fitz, whose body was found in the river.

Wish Pack

Location: Dartmoor (Devon) - Marchant's Cross
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Led by Drake, this pack of hounds patrol the area.

Wish Hounds

Location: Dartmoor (Devon) - Wistman's Wood, one mile north of Two Bridges
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Large black dogs are rumoured to hunt in this area of the moors - they once killed the son of a farmer. In the same area, a procession of white clad figures could be seen walking through the wood, following the path of what was once a well-used funeral route.

Black Dog

Location: Dean Combe (Devon) - Area near waterfall
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghost of a local weaver metamorphosed into a great black dog when the village vicar threw consecrated earth into his face - the hound was then taken to a pool by the waterfall and instructed to only harass people once it had emptied the water using a small, cracked shell.

Huge Hound

Location: Deane Water Bottom (Wiltshire) - General area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: 2008
Further Comments: The phantom black dog that haunted this area was believed by some to be a former murderer, or the Devil. The dog was said to have been banished in 1931, after a local Reverend buried some bones in the churchyard which had been discovered in a cottage, although it has been seen since, most recently in 2008 by a witness who described it as having an abnormally shiny coat and a spiked collar.

Weaver

Location: Deanscombe (Devon) - Pool in the area (houndpool?)
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Said to briefly appear at midday and midnight (reoccurring)
Further Comments: A weaver returned to continue work after he died, refusing to leave until a vicar convinced the weaver he was dead. The weaver transformed into a hound and was taken to a pool of water by the vicar, who issued the dog with a broken shell and told the creature he could only leave when the pool was emptied.

White Spotted Dog

Location: Diamor (County Meath) - Moat
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A secret room in the moat was said to contain nine kegs of gold protected by a large black dog with a white spot. The only way to escape with the gold was to stab the dog three times with a dagger to the white spot.

Dog with Long Shaggy Coat

Location: Ditchingham (Norfolk) - Halfway between Ditchingham and the Maltings
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: 1938
Further Comments: While returning home late one night, a male witness saw a large black dog walking along the same path towards him. He stepped into the middle of the road to let it pass, only to see it disappear once close to him.

A dirt path on the Downs between Ditchling and Westmeston.

Wish Hounds

Location: Ditchling (Sussex) - Road between town & Westmeston, and nearby downs
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The local shucks, known as wish hounds, reportedly stalk these roads. One of them is said to be headless.

Pack of Hounds

Location: Doneraile (County Cork) - General area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The lands around Doneraile are home to a phantom pack of hounds, sometimes heard but not seen and at other times observed in silence. On one occasion, a witness spotted a rider leading the pack, leading to speculation that a former lord of the manor had not yet realised he should have passed over.

Black Dog

Location: Donhead St Mary (Wiltshire) - Watery Lane
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: 1950s
Further Comments: The hound that haunted this road was not thought to be harmful, though the locals were said to be afraid of travelling here at night.

Hound

Location: Donohill (County Tipperary) - Road outside rectory
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A black dog haunted this stretch of road, although there have been no sightings for at least one hundred years.

Black Hound

Location: Down St Mary (Devon) - General area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This dark hound reportedly patrols the village from dusk until dawn.

Pack of Hounds

Location: Droylsden (Greater Manchester) - General area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A hunting pack of black dogs are reported to chase the unwary in this area of Lancashire.

Black Dog

Location: Drumcliff (aka Drumcliffe) (County Clare) - Exact location not known
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Once thought to haunt this area, the phantom black hound would appear to be mostly forgotten about.

A ghostly black dog in the snow.

Lord Norbury

Location: Dublin (County Dublin) - Cabra district
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Winter (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The otherworldly black hound which stalks the area is said to be the ghost of Lord Norbury, a harsh judge renowned for his overuse of the hangman's noose.

Devil in Disguise

Location: Dublin (County Dublin) - Grand canal near Harcourt Bridge (aka Rialto Bridge)
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The devil would take the form of a black dog and stalk the area around the bridge.

Chained Hound

Location: Dublin (County Dublin) - Pussy's Leap, Templeogue area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Early / mid twentieth century
Further Comments: The large black canine which walked his area created the sound of jangling chains with each step it took.