The sound of screaming prisoners and the sight of medieval monks are just some of the spine-tingling tales that can be found in a new guide to the city’s haunted heritage.
In his latest book, entitled Haunted St Albans, paranormal historian Paul Adams takes the reader on a journey of the city’s scariest spots and retells chilling first-hand accounts of ghostly goings-on.
One story claims a resident saw a figure of a cyclist which disappeared before her eyes on five separate occasions when she was driving down Sandpit Lane in the 1950s.
While other tales include sightings of an apparition of an unknown woman and the mysterious movement of bedsteads at the Lower Red Lion Inn on Fishpool Street, and a bartender who believes he witnessed a procession of robed figures emerging from the cellar at Ye Olde Fighting Cocks in Abbey Mill Lane.
The 47-year-old said: “Some of them [recollections] do lack dates and names which gives a lot of sceptical people ammunition to rubbish it but I was hoping it would encourage people to come out with more of their own stories.
“I think everybody knows somebody who has had a supernatural incident.”
Paul, who lives in Luton, researched the book using resources in the Museum of St Albans and was assisted by the Herts Advertiser which published an appeal for readers to share their frightening encounters with the author.
The dad-of-four added: “There is a lot of history in the book so it is aimed at people interested in the history of St Albans, ghost hunting groups or people who are generally interested in digging below the surface.”
His attraction to all things paranormal started at a young age while watching Hammer horror films late at night with his father and since then he has written six other books on the topic including Haunted Luton and Dunstable.
Paul is reluctant to call himself a ghost hunter as he “doesn’t run around in the dark” and has never seen a ghost but he has experienced several unexplained incidents and visited many allegedly haunted locations. For more information visit www.pauladamsauthor.co.uk
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