Local ghost stories to send a shiver down your spine - often dating back hundreds of years

Here the Weekend team shines a spotlight on the fascination with ghost stories and shares their own views on all things supernatural.

They have become a much-loved part of our folklore and our region has plenty of spooky tales to capture the imagination of Halloween fans.

Whether it’s a murder victim feeling bitter about how their life was brutally ended or a lovelorn spirit trying to communicate with the living, there are countless reports of phantoms making themselves known.

From creepy houses to ‘haunted’ hotels, there’s plenty to fuel or curiosity and fascination.

One of the most well-known story in our area is connected, as many are, to a tragic event.

It unfolded at the Magpie House at the bottom of Cartway in Bridgnorth in the 1600s siblings.

Charlotte and William were playing a game of hide and seek when they were inadvertently locked in the cellar of the house, which is close to the River Severn.

It took a turn for the worse when the swollen river suddenly burst its banks and flooded the cellar.

Trapped with no means of escape, the two unfortunate children sadly drowned.

Their grief-stricken parents erected two marble images of the children in the gardens but they never recovered from the loss.

There have been reports of The Black Lady walking nearby, either heard softly whimpering in sadness, or laughing gently in remembrance of happier times.

Dudley Castle is known for the Grey Lady, who is believed to be the ghost of a woman named Dorothy Beaumont.

She lived at the castle and gave birth to a daughter who died.

She herself asked to be buried beside her daughter and for her husband to attend her funeral. Her requests were not carried out and she is reputed to still roam the grounds of the castle.

Another much-reported ghost at Dudley Castle is that of a Civil War drummer boy. He was killed during a skirmish by a single bullet from one of the most inaccurate firearms invented, the 17th Century musket.

The historic site has such a reputation that it was visited by the Most Haunted Live team in 2002 who spent the night there hunting for ghosts.

Shrewsbury is another town believed to have many ghosts. One of the directors of the 1984 ‘A Christmas Carol’ was staying at he Prince Rupert and apparently saw a figure disappear through a wall.

‘Bloudie Jack’ is a 12th century ghoul that is reputed to haunt Shrewsbury Castle.

This sinister character was captured for the murder of several young women and hanged, drawn and quartered for his crimes.

Over the years, many witnesses claim to have seen his ghost in the castle grounds,

Shrewsbury railway station also has its own story following a tragedy in 1887.

The roof collapsed over platform 3, crushing a local councillor and his carriage. A shadowy figure is said to have been seen haunting the entrance to Castle Street from this platform.

According to the UK Haunted Locations Database, compiled by paranormal researcher Paul Lee, a young girl wearing Victorian clothing has reportedly been seen running across the road and away from Himley Hall, on the Dudley-South Staffordshire border.

Over the years, there have also been reports of the ghost of soldier lurking around the grounds. King Charles I stayed a the hall in 1645, before the Battle of Naseby.”

Shortly after the army set up base, a mutiny broke out, and the leader was court-martialled, hanged and buried at the site.

One of Staffordshire’s popular ‘haunts’ is Ancient High House in Stafford. There have been stories about the heavy oak doors on the top floor of the building opening and closing by themselves.

Once, when this happened, a female member of staff on duty noticed a tall, dark silhouette in the doorway. On further investigation, she discovered she was the only person on that floor.

In the Victorian room on the second floor people have been startled by sightings of an elderly woman sitting in the rocking chair and a young girl in Victorian dress standing in the middle of the room.

Here our Weekend writers discuss their own experiences and share their thoughts on one of life’s biggest mysteries - do ghosts really exist?

Heather Large recalls a scary house from her childhood

The idea of ghosts sends shivers down my spine but at the same time I’m incredibly curious whenever I hear of someone experiencing something they can’t explain.

I don’t know anyone who has witnessed a ghostly sighting - or maybe I have and they haven’t admitted to it - but I remember staying in a house in Norfolk when I was about 13 that was apparently haunted.

As an avid reader, it didn’t take me long to find the guest book after we arrived at the former vicarage for a weekend stay.

Previous visitors had made quite a number remarks about having not met the ‘ghost’ during their time in the cottage and to watch out for ghostly goings-on

It was an old property full of dark corners and I suddenly felt uneasy. The more I read, the more frightened I began to feel.

Looking back, I’m sure the comments were just a joke aimed at future guests but at the time I was convinced the phantom was going to make an appearance during our holiday.

I delayed going to bed as long as possible on that first night because my bedroom was the furthest away from the living room where my parents and grandparents were relaxing.

I don’t think a slept a wink, I was too afraid as I lay there listening to every odd noise and creak the old house made during the early hours.

The guest book also mentioned that the house has a priest hole but we never found that during our stay either.

When I was a bit older, I became less scared and more fascinated by supernatural tales. During family holidays, I would seek out ghost stories from that area.

For example, while on a trip to British Columbia in Canada, I bought a book of ghost stories written by a local author.

The vast majority were collected from people who had experienced and seen things they couldn’t explain within the past 50 years.

The more I read, the more plausible it all seemed. Now I’m older, I know that there is no scientific evidence that ghosts are real. But I still wonder why there are so many stories.

Dan Morris joined a paranormal investigation

I’ve long been fascinated by the idea of spirits, spectres and apparitions with ‘unfinished business’.

However, I’ve always been what those in the game call an ‘open-minded sceptic’. This essentially means that I’m more than open to the notion of ghosts being real if someone can truly back this up, but as it stands, I doubt their existence.

This has not changed, but last year my mind was, shall we say, opened a little further than it had been.

Invited by a local group, my friend and I joined a paranormal investigation of an old wharf site in Shropshire.

Others in attendance were firmly in the ‘believer’ camp, and I respected this; curious as to what the evening would unfold and what they would make of it.

I’ll give the organisers this – they’d chosen their location well. Disused canalside warehouses are very much the stuff of Scooby Doo, and the place was creepy enough without intentionally killing all lights and speaking in hushed tones – which of course they did.

I’ll not lie, when stood in a dark circle encouraging any lost souls to come forward, the hairs on the back of my neck were a’tingling.

When they were asked to make their presence audibly known with a double-knock, said hairs were positively on fire.

And when said double-knock came, I grabbed my friend’s hand and nearly broke it clean off.

There were of course many explanations for the sound other than a communication from the dead: it was windy outside; old industrial buildings creek; there could have been birds, bats or belligerent passers-by with stones. But the timing did make me wonder.

The evening yielded no concrete evidence that anyone from the great beyond had tried to reach us. But there were a few similar instances that night that got my pulse up a bit.

I remain a sceptic. But I have to say, since then I sleep with the duvet drawn a little tighter.

Matt Panter would run for the hills if he saw a ghost

Ghosts. I don’t think I’ve seen one.

I once thought I spotted a neighbour’s cat sitting in my back garden, which would be fine but for the fact it was a few weeks after he’d passed away.

It might have been the second of his nine lives but the mystery was quickly solved as I soon found out it was simply a new cat in the neighbourhood.

It just so happened they looked similar and this new arrival liked sitting in the same spot as the sadly deceased one.

Talking of felines, I’m generally a scaredy cat.

So, if I did spot a real ghost, I’d be out of the door faster than Usain Bolt.

That’s unless the ghost was Casper, of course, or Nearly Headless Nick in Harry Potter or The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man in Ghostbusters.

They would be the limit of my bravery threshold.

That said, although I’m sure it would be terrifying to see a ghoulish apparition, knowing there are ghosts might not be such a bad thing.

Their presence would point to some kind of afterlife, at least.

Although, if you ended up stuck on earth as a ghost, you’d want to be somewhere nice.

As a long-suffering Baggies fan, I’d probably end up at Villa Park or Molineux during a period of success for our rivals.

But, as I say, I’m yet to experience any sightings of a ghost, certainly not within my home.

And, as a National Trust member, I’ve not even caught a glimpse of a shadow at any of the large, historic homes I’ve visited.

So the jury is out and if there are any ghosts out there reading this, I’d prefer it if you paid a visit to other members of the Weekend team.

Andy Richardson says there’s no such thing as ghosts

I know, I know. Sometimes, there are things that go bump in the night. And, almost always, those ‘things’ are mini earthquakes somewhere in Wales that send ripples far beyond.

Because the idea that there are ghosts and ghouls, that houses are haunted and castles are full of spookys, is for the birds.

And those are real, live birds, with feathers and squawks, and not some imaginary birds called Hippogrifth or Unicorn or Dodo.

I’ll digress briefly – and, in 200 words, it’ll have to be brief. My dad once took me to a theatre, where there was a hypnotist.

The hypnotist asked 15 people to get on stage. The susceptible stayed – and ended up eating onions, which they imagined were apples, much to the audience’s delight.

My dad, in contrast, was the first to be asked to leave. There was, the hypnotist deduced, no chance of getting him to believe an onion was an apple.

I’m cut from the same cloth. We’re here. Then we’re carbon. Simples. Darwin had it down.

And so did The Four Horsemen of the Apocalpyse: Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett. So, to the question at hand: Ghosts and ghouls? Spoiler alert: They don’t exist.