The Flaybrick Clown Ghost

Female Pierrot Clowns
Source

Clowns are scary. Even those without coulrophobia can admit that clowns, especially ones popping up when and where they obviously don't belong, are at the very least, unnerving. But what happens when those creepy clowns are...ghosts?

It all started on Thursday, June 3, 1937. Mourners were gathered at the Flaybrick Cemetery in Birkenhead, England. They were there to lay to rest Charles Fry, a pilot who was killed a few days earlier at the start of the London to I.O.M. air race. However, before the coffin was lowered into the plot, a lady in attendance noticed that the wrong grave had been opened. The grave was that of Fry's uncle, not the family plot in which he was supposed to be interred. 

With the mistake caught, grave diggers got busy opening the correct grave. Many of the mourners decided to call it a day, but a handful waited the two hours it took to remedy the mistake and pay their last respects to the deceased. This much of the story is true. It was even noted in several local papers. What those same papers failed to include was the horrific scene that was said to take place during that two hour wait. 

A woman showed up, dressed as a Pierrot clown. She laughed and joked and even mocked the undertaker's mistake. The remaining mourners couldn't believe that this obvious lunatic would act so disrespectfully at a burial ceremony, and tried to chase her away. Oddly, she disappeared and then reappeared behind tombstones in another section of the cemetery. Before leaving she even threw urns and flowers at the mourners. 

One of the gravediggers, an older man, addressed the mourners. What they witnessed wasn't an insane, living woman. What they had witnessed was a ghost, and he had seen her before, back in 1910 dressed in the same costume. 

The legend of the Flaybrick Ghost Clown would not be put to rest with Mr. Fry that summer day in 1937. She would be seen at least twice more in the 1990's. In the summer of 1995, a group of teenagers stuck over the cemetery wall late one night to play hide-and-seek. A fourteen year old girl was hiding behind a large, marble cross when she saw a shadow approaching. The shadow belonged to a woman, about 5'7'' wearing a white silk clown suit with pink pom poms and matching cap. Her face was caked thick with white makeup.

The clown lady swore at the girl to stay away from her grave. Understandably, the girl tried to take off running, but tripped and fell. It was then that she felt a gloved hand around her throat. She got loose and was able to run off and flee the cemetery with her friends following behind.

The following year, a news reporter and photographer were driving past the cemetery in order to cover a story about a local dam that was leaking. Over the top of the high cemetery wall leapt a woman dressed as a clown, running directly in front of their vehicle. The driver avoided hitting the woman, but nearly crashed in the process, as the clown easily leapt back over the 6 foot tall cemetery wall. Seeing the accident, an older gentleman came over and told the news crew that they had just witnessed the Flaybrick Clown Woman. No, she wasn't insane; she was dead. 

Sometimes seen playing a guitar or ukelele, the clown is always dressed the same in her old-fashioned Pierrot clown garb. Locals and researchers alike have tried to identify the clown lady, but to no avail. The legend of the Flaybrick Clown remains unsolved. At best, she's a rather rude ghost who will interrupt a funeral with jokes, laughter, and unsolicited ukelele music. At worst, she's a menace to society, causing car crashes and throttling teenagers.   Whichever version of her behavior you get, you have to admit that it's creepy AF. 

Sources and Further Reading:

Flaybrick Memorial Gardens Website

The Clown Ghost of Flaybrick YouTube (BouncyClown)

Burials and Beyond

Haunted Wirrel with Tom Slemen (Wirrel Globe, 07 March 2018)

Liverpool Echo
3 June 1937

Book Review for Haunted Leicester

Title: Haunted Leceister
Author: Andrew James Wright
Published 2005 by Tempus Publishing
Amazon Purchase Information

I am such a lucky girl!  My boyfriend, Aaron, does a podcast with his friend called Amigos!  Amigos! is dedicated to the old Amiga system and its games, and has developed quite an impressive following over the relatively short time they've been doing this.  Much of the fan base and the website staff live in Europe, so I'm often given the opportunity to share in some of the goodies that are sent in to the show.  I've tried lotions from Australia, various candies from at least 4 different countries, and now...I've been gifted a totally awesome book from the UK!  Aaron sometimes mentions what I do on the show, so one of his awesome connections sent me a copy of Andrew James Wright's Haunted Lecicester and I couldn't be happier.

Haunted Leicester is a slim, 95 page volume jammed with the spooky goings-on of Leicester and surrounding areas.  I've never been to Leicester, but after reading this book, I feel like I've walked its supernatural streets and visited some of its most haunted inns, pubs, churches, and homes in person.  I'm always fascinated by the history of the UK---people live in, work in, and regularly visit buildings that are hundreds of years old, while here in West Virginia, we're lucky if we have access to places that date back before the Civil War.  No wonder that England has such a rich, full history of ghost lore!

Several places that especially sparked my interest were the Wygston's House, or Costume Museum, where a ghostly young boy by the name of Jonathan likes to cause a bit of mischief, and the Fish Market, where a man accidentally slipped back into another time while perusing the modern market.

All of the stories were really interesting, though, and the book was well-written. There was an appropriate amount of history added to enhance the stories, but not so much that it bogged down the casual reader.  This is a definite must-read if you plan on visiting the Leicester area, if you're an Anglophile, or if you just appreciate a good, old-fashioned collection of regional ghost tales.

I'd like to extend a very big, heart-felt THANKS to Chris Foulds for sending me this book!  It has become an appreciated part of my international ghost stories library. 

Eleanor Cooper's Ghost

On January 28, 2012, Stuart Cheveralls and his partner Natalie visited London's Dominion Theater. They were there to see the We Will Rock You show, and after settling into their seats to wait for the show to start, Stuart used his iPhone 4 to snap a quick selfie of himself and Natalie.

While going over the pictures the next day, Stuart noticed that he and Natalie weren't alone! At the time of the photo, the couple was sitting at the end of a row of seats. The two seats directly behind them were unoccupied---they'd be filled later on by two men who arrived late to the show. But what showed up in the photo was definitely not an empty seat, nor was it a dude arriving late to the show!

What Stuart saw made the hair on his arms stand up. What showed up directly between him and Natalie was the ghostly pale image of a young girl! Intrigued, Stuart began doing some research on the theater, and found that it had a haunted reputation.

The Dominion Theater was built atop the site of the old Meux Brewery. On October 17, 1814, tragedy struck when a vat of beer burst. Over 3500 barrels of liquid were released, collapsing a wall and part of the roof, and reigning terror among the nearby citizens.  One of those citizens was a 14 year old girl named Eleanor Cooper who was a servant of Richard Hawes.

According to the British Library's Untold Lives Blog, "Richard Hawes gave evidence at the coroner’s inquest held on Wednesday19 October that he was in the tap room of the Tavistock Arms at 5.30pm on the previous Monday when he heard a crash. The back part of his house was beaten in and everything in his cellar destroyed. Beer was pouring into his pub and across the street. Eleanor Cooper was in the yard washing pots and her body was dug out from the ruins nearly three hours later. She was found standing by the water butt."

In total, 8 people lost their lives, many of them children. It's no wonder that staff and visitors to the Dominion Theater have reported the phantom sounds of a giggling child and the apparition of a brew-master! But the big question is...

Does this photo really show a ghost and if so, is it the ghost of Eleanor Cooper? Although Stuart claims that there was no trickery involved, many people don't agree. What about you? Do you think this is the real deal, or not?


Source:
Matthew Tucker: 'Theatre Ghost Picture Is Real' Insists Photographer Stuart Cheveralls - Are You Convinced?  (HuffPost, 31 October 2012)

Book Review for Ghosts: A Natural History

Title--Ghosts: A Natural History: 500 Years of Searching for Proof
Author--Roger Clarke
Published--by St. Martin's Press, October 2014
Amazon Purchase Information

If I could only use one word to describe this book it would be: British. Very, very British. That makes sense, though, since it was written by a British author who follows the advice of 'write what you know.' The book starts out with the author's own experiences with a potential haunting, and then goes into an excellent and critical look at some of England's most famous paranormal cases and paranormal researchers.

The term, 'British,' however, doesn't just describe the subject matter. The tone of this book is very 'British' as well, and quite honestly, it took me awhile to really get used to the dry, subtle humor, some of the more obscure references, and general tone of the book, which was very sophisticated and academic. That doesn't mean this book wasn't EXCELLENT, though, because it was! Anyone with an interest in paranormal research will likely be familiar with the majority of topics discussed in the book, such as the Borley Rectory haunting, the Brown Lady of Raynam Hall photo, and the spooky goings-on at Cock Lane. But, whatever you THINK you knew to be facts about these cases, Clarke challenges with his in-depth research. Clarke manages to uncover and present to the reader details about famous paranormal subjects and incidents that other books tend to leave out. I've definitely had MY perception about a few cases changed, but better yet, I've been inspired to do a lot more digging of my own.

Overall, I would HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who is passionate about the paranormal. It makes a great addition to any investigator's library and definitely should be required reading for anyone serious about the study of the unknown. I do, however, believe that this is a book better suited to someone who already has a good working knowledge of British ghost history. While Clarke does a VERY thorough job describing each topic, much of the writing comes across as if he is taking for granted that the reader isn't a complete novice to the field. And, while it is a very objective and fair book that represents the facts of each case with very little personal analysis, it might be better suited to a reader who is open to the more skeptical side of paranormal research, because not everything is what it seems....

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Leeds General Infirmary Ghost Hoax

It isn't even Halloween season, yet there seems to be an explosion of people trying to pass off photos that have been digitally altered with the help of any number of ghost cam applications as the real deal.  Several times a day I find myself posting screen shots of different app menus trying to show people that the 'ghost' is nothing more than a prank.

One of the more prolific photos being shared all over social media was featured recently on a British news website, The Mirror.  The article claims that Andrew Milburn, a 21 year old employee of Leeds General Infirmary sent a Snapchat photo to his girlfriend.  The photo was taken at the hospital's Clarendon wing, which is the children's ward, and Milburn claims that he didn't realize the photo contained what appears to be the ghostly image of a young girl until later.

Even after numerous people wrote in, proving that the image is from a ghost app, Milburn maintains that he did not alter his photo or is otherwise trying to hoax anyone.  However, it is clear to MOST people that the image is indeed a ghost app.  As you can see from the photo below, the image used is in the first small box.  It has been transposed in the photo, but is clearly the same image of a young girl in a white dress posed at an angle.  I say MOST people realize this because unfortunately, even when presented with the evidence, there have been numerous instances of people still claiming that this photo is indeed proof of an afterlife.

It seems that even complete strangers cannot accept the fact that these types of photographs aren't 'real' because admitting that they are hoaxed somehow invalidates their own experiences.  I really hope that more people start realizing that just because a particular photo (or video, or EVP, etc.) isn't proof of life after death, it doesn't mean that what they experienced wasn't real.  In fact, its my opinion that blindly believing in and accepting shoddy evidence is a drastic insult to more unexplained claims.

I also hope that by continuing to share these ghost app photos and informational resources that more people will become familiar with them and stop being so easily fooled!  Anyone claiming to be a paranormal investigator or researcher needs to study these ghost apps and become familiar with the many images...many of which are used over and over again.  There are some great resources and databases, which I've listed below:

Ghost App Ghosts
There's a (Ghost) App For That
Bust That Ghost

England's Mysterious Road

Portsmouth Rd.

I just finished the book, This Baffling World No. 2, by John Godwin.  First published in 1969 and covering topics from ESP studies to the Moving Coffins of Barbados, this book was actually a little dry for me...it seemed like I was already familiar with most of the information contained therein...and it was dated to boot.  But, I was able to find a few little gems in there, one being a very mysterious incident that happened on an English road.

Between 1951 and 1955 a 2 mile stretch of road between Cobham and Esher in Surrey was dubbed the "Mystery Mile" when motorist after motorist reported being shot at by an invisible sniper while traveling that section of the highway.  It was apparent that SOMETHING was attacking these cars---each one contained holes in the windshield ranging in size from a normal bullet hole to about the size of a fist.  However, there were some problems with the alleged sniper theory.

For one, when police investigated the incidents, they found no where in the large, open expanses of field where a sniper could have hidden.  And while there was definitely an entrance hole in the cars' windshields (the only part of the cars ever affected) no exit holes and no bullets were ever found.

Reports continued to pour in, both day and night and unmarked police vehicles began patrolling the area, two of which became victims themselves of this unknown sniper.  In 1952 a London insurance agent named William Decker put into words what he and so many others were experiencing.  Decker saw a bright flash of light, then heard the windshield breaking, shattering glass all over his lap.

Again, no projectiles were ever found and local radio personalities and journalists filled the public's perception with stories of tiny meteorites, mad scientists with ray guns, and Russians with invisible bullets.  However, the reports eventually tapered off, ceasing altogether by 1955.  No explanation was ever given aside from claims that an overeager journalist turned a normal rate of windshield damage for any given road into something mysterious...and the matter was dropped. In fact, a recent Google search has provided no information on this event, despite claims that it was in all the papers at the time.  I did find something interesting about the road, though.

According to the map, there really are only two significant roads stretching directly between Cobham and Esher.  The most direct route is by Portsmouth Rd (A307).  However, A307 juts directly off A3, where in recent history, another mystery has cropped up!

One Sunday night in December of 2002, the Surrey police received a call about a car crash occurring near the town of Guildford.  The witness reported seeing the car leaving the road.  When police investigated, they did find the wreckage of a maroon Astra in a ditch, covered in foliage.  However, it was discovered the crash had actually happened 5 months earlier, and the skeletal remains of the young driver were still interred. Despite widespread public opinion that the witness saw a ghostly replay of the accident, police officials maintained the official stance that the wreck simply wasn't reported because the car was obscured by leaves and debris, and that it was spotted due to the winter season lessening the amount of foliage.