The Ghost Monk
@theghostmonk.bsky.social
Enthusiast of British (mainly) ghostlore, folklore and vintage ghost and weird fiction. Collector of old magazines. Also keen on prehistoric monuments, old churches and suchlike. Am decidedly Q. All scans/photos my own (unless stated). Runs #PhantomsFriday
"In those horrible regions in the vicinity of the Thames, where, amid the dark, narrow and filthy lanes and alleys, the Demon of Disease was supposed to have had his territory, Awe, Terror, and Superstition were alone to be found stalking abroad."
Poe - 'King Pest' (illo Harry Clarke)
#WyrdWednesday
Poe - 'King Pest' (illo Harry Clarke)
#WyrdWednesday
November 12, 2025 at 10:13 AM
"In those horrible regions in the vicinity of the Thames, where, amid the dark, narrow and filthy lanes and alleys, the Demon of Disease was supposed to have had his territory, Awe, Terror, and Superstition were alone to be found stalking abroad."
Poe - 'King Pest' (illo Harry Clarke)
#WyrdWednesday
Poe - 'King Pest' (illo Harry Clarke)
#WyrdWednesday
November 12, 2025 at 8:57 AM
M P Shiel, of 'The Purple Cloud' fame, was raised in the Caribbean and claimed his father had established the uninhabited island of Redonda as his own nation. This made Shiel 'The King of Redonda'. At his death he willed the title to author John Galsworthy who in his turn... and so on
#WyrdWednesday
#WyrdWednesday
November 12, 2025 at 8:40 AM
M P Shiel, of 'The Purple Cloud' fame, was raised in the Caribbean and claimed his father had established the uninhabited island of Redonda as his own nation. This made Shiel 'The King of Redonda'. At his death he willed the title to author John Galsworthy who in his turn... and so on
#WyrdWednesday
#WyrdWednesday
November 11, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Y Gop in #Flintshire, the second-largest prehistoric mound in Europe. Like its much bigger cousin Silbury Hill, it contains no burials but unlike Silbury it may mark their location: in a cave below the mound #Neolithic and Bronze Age skeletons were found, showing 1000s of years of use.
#TombTuesday
#TombTuesday
November 11, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Y Gop in #Flintshire, the second-largest prehistoric mound in Europe. Like its much bigger cousin Silbury Hill, it contains no burials but unlike Silbury it may mark their location: in a cave below the mound #Neolithic and Bronze Age skeletons were found, showing 1000s of years of use.
#TombTuesday
#TombTuesday
A headless ghost. Where? you ask yourself. There - right in the background way behind the people having a nice chat. This 18th engraver had no idea of drama, did he?
#ghost #ghosts #haunting #18thCentury #engravings
#ghost #ghosts #haunting #18thCentury #engravings
November 10, 2025 at 2:45 PM
A headless ghost. Where? you ask yourself. There - right in the background way behind the people having a nice chat. This 18th engraver had no idea of drama, did he?
#ghost #ghosts #haunting #18thCentury #engravings
#ghost #ghosts #haunting #18thCentury #engravings
And since my last post was about a white stag, here is a stunning image called 'The Deer Of King Solomon' by Agostino Arrivabene.
#fantasyart #ItalianArt #ModernArt #contemporary #artsky #stag #symbolism #cosmic
#fantasyart #ItalianArt #ModernArt #contemporary #artsky #stag #symbolism #cosmic
November 10, 2025 at 12:54 PM
And since my last post was about a white stag, here is a stunning image called 'The Deer Of King Solomon' by Agostino Arrivabene.
#fantasyart #ItalianArt #ModernArt #contemporary #artsky #stag #symbolism #cosmic
#fantasyart #ItalianArt #ModernArt #contemporary #artsky #stag #symbolism #cosmic
The Church Of The Stag - Llangar - stands in an isolated spot at the confluence of the rivers Dee and Alwen in North #Wales. #Legend has it that the site was chosen by a dream shared by the founders to build it where they saw a white stag. A medieval mural of the animal can be seen within.
#folklore
#folklore
November 10, 2025 at 9:35 AM
November 9, 2025 at 3:16 PM
My copy of the 1938 Penguin Books edition of 'The Centaur' by Algernon Blackwood. I'm rather pleased to own a 1930s Penguin, especially one by a favourite author.
#BookChatWeekly #PenguinBooks #AlgernonBlackwood #paperbacks #fantasyfiction
#BookChatWeekly #PenguinBooks #AlgernonBlackwood #paperbacks #fantasyfiction
November 9, 2025 at 12:51 PM
My copy of the 1938 Penguin Books edition of 'The Centaur' by Algernon Blackwood. I'm rather pleased to own a 1930s Penguin, especially one by a favourite author.
#BookChatWeekly #PenguinBooks #AlgernonBlackwood #paperbacks #fantasyfiction
#BookChatWeekly #PenguinBooks #AlgernonBlackwood #paperbacks #fantasyfiction
Avebury just after dawn, September 2006.
#StandingStoneSunday #standingstone #Neolithic #Avebury #Wiltshire
#StandingStoneSunday #standingstone #Neolithic #Avebury #Wiltshire
November 9, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Avebury just after dawn, September 2006.
#StandingStoneSunday #standingstone #Neolithic #Avebury #Wiltshire
#StandingStoneSunday #standingstone #Neolithic #Avebury #Wiltshire
These striking First World War commemorative windows can be found in the #Victorian Christ Church, Rossett, on the #Wrexham and #Cheshire border. The glass was designed by A J Davies in 1925. I like the fact that they pay tribute to the healers as well as to the fighters.
#StainedGlassSunday
#StainedGlassSunday
November 9, 2025 at 8:44 AM
These striking First World War commemorative windows can be found in the #Victorian Christ Church, Rossett, on the #Wrexham and #Cheshire border. The glass was designed by A J Davies in 1925. I like the fact that they pay tribute to the healers as well as to the fighters.
#StainedGlassSunday
#StainedGlassSunday
"Even as Vikings of old their slaughtered leader
Upon their shoulders, now bear they on
All that remains of Boy, my friend, their leader
An officer who died for them under the dawn."
- Robert Nichols, 'The Burial At Flanders', 1916
#BookWormSat #Remembrance
Upon their shoulders, now bear they on
All that remains of Boy, my friend, their leader
An officer who died for them under the dawn."
- Robert Nichols, 'The Burial At Flanders', 1916
#BookWormSat #Remembrance
November 8, 2025 at 11:47 AM
"Even as Vikings of old their slaughtered leader
Upon their shoulders, now bear they on
All that remains of Boy, my friend, their leader
An officer who died for them under the dawn."
- Robert Nichols, 'The Burial At Flanders', 1916
#BookWormSat #Remembrance
Upon their shoulders, now bear they on
All that remains of Boy, my friend, their leader
An officer who died for them under the dawn."
- Robert Nichols, 'The Burial At Flanders', 1916
#BookWormSat #Remembrance
The ghosts are carousing delightedly at another rich and varied #PhantomsFriday. Thank you to everyone for your contributions. It's goodnight from me. And it's goodnight from him (the one sitting beside me that you cannot see).
November 7, 2025 at 9:57 PM
The ghosts are carousing delightedly at another rich and varied #PhantomsFriday. Thank you to everyone for your contributions. It's goodnight from me. And it's goodnight from him (the one sitting beside me that you cannot see).
I have to say, the Wordsworth imprint is to be congratulated for the series of single author (mainly) weird fiction anthologies they published. Introduced me to a lot of good stuff. Am I missing any?
#PhantomsFriday #BookChatWeekly
#PhantomsFriday #BookChatWeekly
November 7, 2025 at 5:04 PM
I have to say, the Wordsworth imprint is to be congratulated for the series of single author (mainly) weird fiction anthologies they published. Introduced me to a lot of good stuff. Am I missing any?
#PhantomsFriday #BookChatWeekly
#PhantomsFriday #BookChatWeekly
There are many examples of prehistoric barrows and tombs being haunted by men without their heads (see list below). Could they be #ghosts or folk memories of sacrifices linked to some ancient head cult? (It's a doubtful theory but all I could think of for #FolkyFriday !)
#PhantomsFriday #FolkHorror
#PhantomsFriday #FolkHorror
November 7, 2025 at 2:25 PM
There are many examples of prehistoric barrows and tombs being haunted by men without their heads (see list below). Could they be #ghosts or folk memories of sacrifices linked to some ancient head cult? (It's a doubtful theory but all I could think of for #FolkyFriday !)
#PhantomsFriday #FolkHorror
#PhantomsFriday #FolkHorror
In 1909 The Strand Magazine ran an article, 'Crime And The Crystal', seriously stated that apparitions conjured up in crystal balls could solve crimes. This vision allegedly proved that the death of a Miss Mooney was not suicide but that she had been deliberately thrown off a train.
#PhantomsFriday
#PhantomsFriday
November 7, 2025 at 1:10 PM
In 1909 The Strand Magazine ran an article, 'Crime And The Crystal', seriously stated that apparitions conjured up in crystal balls could solve crimes. This vision allegedly proved that the death of a Miss Mooney was not suicide but that she had been deliberately thrown off a train.
#PhantomsFriday
#PhantomsFriday
"Ten minutes more of suspense. Then, again, loud, sudden, violent, the bell rang! We burst into the room. There he was, standing in the middle of the floor, rigid, petrified. He groaned in in a terrible, husky voice, 'Oh my God, I have seen it!' and fell down dead."
- Rhoda Broughton
#PhantomsFriday
- Rhoda Broughton
#PhantomsFriday
November 7, 2025 at 11:50 AM
"Ten minutes more of suspense. Then, again, loud, sudden, violent, the bell rang! We burst into the room. There he was, standing in the middle of the floor, rigid, petrified. He groaned in in a terrible, husky voice, 'Oh my God, I have seen it!' and fell down dead."
- Rhoda Broughton
#PhantomsFriday
- Rhoda Broughton
#PhantomsFriday
In Salisbury Cathedral a member of the staff witnessed a glowing noose float over to the tomb of a medieval saint. Within this tomb had been hidden the body of an 18th century lord, hanged for various outrages, and who therefore should not have been buried in holy ground.
#PhantomsFriday #Wiltshire
#PhantomsFriday #Wiltshire
November 7, 2025 at 10:37 AM
In Salisbury Cathedral a member of the staff witnessed a glowing noose float over to the tomb of a medieval saint. Within this tomb had been hidden the body of an 18th century lord, hanged for various outrages, and who therefore should not have been buried in holy ground.
#PhantomsFriday #Wiltshire
#PhantomsFriday #Wiltshire
There at a table sat the three guests with halters round their necks, trolling the old Dutch freebooter's glee:
'For three merry lads be we
And three merry lads be we;
I on the land, and thou on the sand,
And Jack on the gallows-tree.'
- Washington Irving, 'Guests From Gibbet Island'
#PhantomsFriday
'For three merry lads be we
And three merry lads be we;
I on the land, and thou on the sand,
And Jack on the gallows-tree.'
- Washington Irving, 'Guests From Gibbet Island'
#PhantomsFriday
November 7, 2025 at 9:39 AM
There at a table sat the three guests with halters round their necks, trolling the old Dutch freebooter's glee:
'For three merry lads be we
And three merry lads be we;
I on the land, and thou on the sand,
And Jack on the gallows-tree.'
- Washington Irving, 'Guests From Gibbet Island'
#PhantomsFriday
'For three merry lads be we
And three merry lads be we;
I on the land, and thou on the sand,
And Jack on the gallows-tree.'
- Washington Irving, 'Guests From Gibbet Island'
#PhantomsFriday
#PhantomsFriday again of course tomorrow, a week after a splendid Hallowe'en Friday. Follow along on @phantomsfriday.bsky.social or better still, use the hashtag for your own #ghost posts: words, pictures, popular culture, #folklore and #legend & #haunted sites ancient or modern - anything ghostly!
November 6, 2025 at 3:05 PM
#PhantomsFriday again of course tomorrow, a week after a splendid Hallowe'en Friday. Follow along on @phantomsfriday.bsky.social or better still, use the hashtag for your own #ghost posts: words, pictures, popular culture, #folklore and #legend & #haunted sites ancient or modern - anything ghostly!
Penguin Books are always a joy. Here are my 1960 editions of 'Quatermass II' and 'Quatermass And The Pit' teleplays. Both absolute classics, but I don't need to tell anyone that. The cover designs are by Nigel Kneale's brother Bryan. The first had a plain cover.
#PenguinBooks #BookChatWeekly #scifi
#PenguinBooks #BookChatWeekly #scifi
November 6, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Penguin Books are always a joy. Here are my 1960 editions of 'Quatermass II' and 'Quatermass And The Pit' teleplays. Both absolute classics, but I don't need to tell anyone that. The cover designs are by Nigel Kneale's brother Bryan. The first had a plain cover.
#PenguinBooks #BookChatWeekly #scifi
#PenguinBooks #BookChatWeekly #scifi
Mawnan Church and Woods in #Cornwall, scene of the mysterious 'Owlman' sightings in the 1970s: a #Fortean and #cryptozoology favourite. In 1993 I found it an atmospheric location with its ancient granite church. The wood wasn't as spooky as expected but it will have grown a lot thicker in 30 years!
November 6, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Mawnan Church and Woods in #Cornwall, scene of the mysterious 'Owlman' sightings in the 1970s: a #Fortean and #cryptozoology favourite. In 1993 I found it an atmospheric location with its ancient granite church. The wood wasn't as spooky as expected but it will have grown a lot thicker in 30 years!
Dead silence. Then steps are heard. Enter a hideous idol. It is blind and gropes its way. It gropes its way to the ruby and picks it up and screws it into the socket in the forehead. Sniggers still weeps softly, the rest stare in horror.]
- 'A Night At An Inn', Lord Dunsany
#LordDunsany #horror
- 'A Night At An Inn', Lord Dunsany
#LordDunsany #horror
November 5, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Dead silence. Then steps are heard. Enter a hideous idol. It is blind and gropes its way. It gropes its way to the ruby and picks it up and screws it into the socket in the forehead. Sniggers still weeps softly, the rest stare in horror.]
- 'A Night At An Inn', Lord Dunsany
#LordDunsany #horror
- 'A Night At An Inn', Lord Dunsany
#LordDunsany #horror
One night a Mr Harry was making his way down the valley of the Ebwy Fawr, South #Wales, when a spectral fire leapt up in his path. He tried to dodge past it but a huge Hell Hound appeared on the other side, growling at him. He had no choice but to turn around and trudge back up again.
#WyrdWednesday
#WyrdWednesday
November 5, 2025 at 11:54 AM
One night a Mr Harry was making his way down the valley of the Ebwy Fawr, South #Wales, when a spectral fire leapt up in his path. He tried to dodge past it but a huge Hell Hound appeared on the other side, growling at him. He had no choice but to turn around and trudge back up again.
#WyrdWednesday
#WyrdWednesday