The Paranormal Database

The ruined Brighton Pier.

Victorians

Location: Brighton - Pier
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: January, early 2000s, around 23:00h
Further Comments: While walking along the seafront, two sisters watched Victorian figures walking around and listened to the sound of music and laughter. The seafront was lit up as if daytime, and a young man and a boy walked out to sea along a rope bridge. As the sisters walked away, they realised the scene they had watched was impossible, and turning back they saw only the darkness over the sea. One sister later discovered that there was a chain bridge on the spot which led to the pier, but it was destroyed in 1896.

Piano

Location: Brighton - Planet (club)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: A former member of staff reported that they and other staff have heard a piano being played when the club is quiet and no one else is around.

The Plough Inn in Brighton.

Footsteps

Location: Brighton - Plough Inn, Vicarage Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1977-1991
Further Comments: The former manager of this inn claimed he heard footsteps at night, sometimes moving slowly, other times running. Each time he investigated, no one would be found.

Crusader

Location: Brighton - Port Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The hall was once thought to be haunted by a crusader.

Preston Circle Fire Station, Brighton.

Strangeness

Location: Brighton - Preston Circle Fire Station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Little is known about the ghost said to haunt this fire station, although it may be connected to the next door cinema's ghost 'Tim'.

Preston Manor in Brighton.

Lady Ellen Stamford

Location: Brighton - Preston Manor
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mostly unknown, ledger in December 2015
Further Comments: This white figure, believed to be a former owner of the building, was seen by a group of witnesses as she walked through a wall on the outside of the building. Other supernatural visitors to the building include disembodied hands seen on bedposts and a doorknob, strange noises emerging from a cupboard, and a grey lady who would descend the main staircase before vanishing. In December 2015, a 1915 shop ledger was donated to the manor, after the book's former owners declared it to be haunted.

Faceless Nun

Location: Brighton - Preston Park
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s (tall man), nun unknown
Further Comments: Part of the park was said to be haunted by a nun with no face. Her story and date of last sighting are unknown. A tall spectral man with a loud ticking pocket watch was observed by a group of teenagers who were sitting in the park on a summer's evening.

The Prestonville Arms pub in Brighton.

Box Mover

Location: Brighton - Prestonville Arms public house, Hamilton Road
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This presence has been known to move heavy boxes and crates around in the cellar without ever making a sound.

Misty Figure

Location: Brighton - Prince Arthur public house (now Brighton Beer Dispensary)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: A misty figure, possibly female, is said to have occasionally been seen out of the corner of the eye. Disembodied footsteps were also reported, and objects moved by unseen hands.

Slim Lady

Location: Brighton - Private flat (exact location withheld)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: November 2008
Further Comments: After signing a six month tenancy agreement, the occupier spent very little time in this flat. They reported feeling drained of energy every time they entered, and on one occasion, awoke and spotted a slim blonde woman in her 20s, wearing jeans and a tight top, standing by the door. The occupier screamed and the figure vanished.

A private flat in Brighton's Sussex Square.

Footfalls in the Hallway

Location: Brighton - Private flat in Sussex Square
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2007
Further Comments: This flat was home to an entity which turned lights and taps on and off. Footsteps were also heard along the hallway and in the bedroom.

Brighton's Albert Road.

Small Figure

Location: Brighton - Private flat, Albert Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000
Further Comments: A small white figure was seen by one witness as it climbed into a recently emptied cupboard. Encounters with the presence continued for several months until the occupiers moved out.

Duke Street in Brighton.

Misty Figure

Location: Brighton - Private flat, Duke Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: A high number of spooky happenings occurred on this site, including a misty figure in a long coat being spotted looking out of a window, loud running footsteps being heard, something invisible that brushed past witnesses, and a presence which upset dogs.

Meeting House Lane in Brighton.

Victorian Woman

Location: Brighton - Private flat, Meeting House Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An unmarried mother killed herself out of shame (or the pressures placed upon her by an intolerant society) by leaping from the staircase, breaking her neck. The female figure in a Victorian dress is thought to be her.

Rugby Place in Brighton.

Victorian Woman

Location: Brighton - Private flat, Rugby Place
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: This phantom Victorian woman is said to wear a dress with puffed shoulders and a white pinafore and bonnet. A ghostly child, around ten years old, is also said to haunt the location.

Tidy Street in Brighton.

Piano

Location: Brighton - Private flat, Tidy Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: A friend of the owner was awoken to see the owner's deceased husband standing over the bed. The site was also home to phantom piano music and poltergeist activity in a bedroom.

Wykeham Terrace in Brighton.

Mummy

Location: Brighton - Private flat, Wykeham Terrace, Dyke Road
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1973
Further Comments: An ill woman at home sat down and was shocked to see a phantom mummy, complete with old bandages, appear in front of her. The woman felt the mummy had a calming aura and the entity told her she would soon recover from her illness (which she did).

Ditchling Road in Brighton.

Nocturnal Nigel

Location: Brighton - Private house along Ditchling Road
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: August 2003 onwards
Further Comments: A couple who moved into this property in 2003 reported an entity that turns on the radio and water taps, and groans when discussed.

Sulphur

Location: Brighton - Private house, Woodingdean
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1977
Further Comments: The smell of sulphur would follow one of the occupants and the disembodied sounds of heavy breathing could periodically be heard. The house was exorcised after the family moved away.

Brighton's Regency Square.

Maid in Brighton

Location: Brighton - Private Residence in Regency Square
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2006
Further Comments: A ghostly servant or maid was seen running into the kitchen of this residence during the early hours of the morning. One of the current occupants is awoken during the night by constant nudging.

Brighton's Black Lion Lane.

Sheet Removal

Location: Brighton - Private residence, Black Lion Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1995-1997
Further Comments: In what could be explained by sleep paralysis, it was reported that in one room of this property, bed sheets were whipped off one person's bed. A few months later and in the same room, another witness heard footsteps and felt someone climb into bed - the witness leapt out and turned on the light, but nothing was there. Author Robert Marks has recently written that the location is still haunted, and that an old sea captain sits in a living room chair.

Brighton's Devonshire Place.

Old Lady

Location: Brighton - Private residence, Devonshire Place
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: It was reported that a child who would talk to an old lady in her bedroom found out many years later that the woman was not a friend of her mothers, like she had assumed, but was most likely the ghost of a previous occupant.

Footsteps

Location: Brighton - Private residence, Kemptown
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Early 1990s
Further Comments: While living at this property, the family experienced doors which opened and closed unaided, the sound of footsteps after dark, and pictures which inexplicably fell from walls.

Montpelier Road in Brighton.

Footsteps in the Attic

Location: Brighton - Private residence, Montpelier Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: An occupant of this residence would hear footsteps moving around the empty attic room on this site. On one occasion, three people heard a strange voice with an asexual timbre call out to one of the witnesses by name.

Stone Street in Brighton.

Booted Footsteps

Location: Brighton - Private residence, Stone Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2008-2009
Further Comments: After moving into this property, the occupiers soon encountered a door which would bust open every night without reason. Booted footsteps would be heard ascending the staircase, the smell of cigarette smoke would fill the air and men's voices heard coming from the empty living room.