A woman running through a wood to escape a storm is caught by an invisible, skeletal hand
By Richard Holland
I’ve managed to add another elusive title to my ever-growing collection of books on matters supernatural, The Grey Ghost Book by Jessie Adelaide Middleton, first published in 1912. Alongside numerous well-known ghost stories, The Grey Ghost Book has, like many books of its time, a selection of unique accounts told personally to the author but with names and, more annoyingly, locations suppressed.
In the case of some authors this coyness over provenance inspires suspicion but I am encouraged to think better of Middleton. She has spent some time in researching her stories and the result of this research is that she debunks one or two famous accounts, including those of Berkeley Square and the ‘hidden letter’ of Bishop Wilberforce. I could have chosen any number of these ‘personal’ tales (and will probably choose one or two more in the near future), but have picked out one featuring a phenomenon that particularly interests me: physical contact with a ghost. In this case, we do know the correspondent: a Mrs A E Hollins, of Newmarket, Cambridge. The location of her eerie experience has been withheld, however:
‘A friend and I had been spending the evening with Lady W, at her stately home in H—shire. It was a summer night – very hot and as we started for home big drops of rain began to fall, preluding a thunderstorm. It was late – very near midnight. We were walking to the cottage we had hired for our holiday, which was approached by the park. I was alarmed by the threatening storm, and suggested that we should take a near cut through a small copse, the gate of which I had noticed open earlier in the evening.
‘My friend agreed, and we entered the copse, walking as quickly as possible. We soon regretted our decision, for the ground was overgrown with brambles and tall undergrowth, that made progress very difficult. At length my friend started on in advance, to clear the way. I followed breathlessly, and was so hot that I took of my cloak and walked fast in my evening gown.
‘We had nearly reached the end of the copse when I was terrified by the grip of an icy hand upon my left shoulder, which, of course, was bare. I cannot describe the sensation of that hand. It seemed to be all bone, and its iciness was unearthly. I stood still, paralysed with terror. I dare not move, and I dare not look round. I was appalled at what I might see.
‘My friend had gone on in advance, thinking that I was following close behind. I could not speak; my tongue seemed glued to my throat. At last I made a little gurgling, choking noise, which most miraculously reached her. She came back, and realised at once that something was wrong with me. I took her arm, and absolutely wrenched myself away from the grip of that awful hand.
‘When I got home I nearly fainted, and it was some time before I could lucidly speak of the terrible experience. My husband, to whom I told the story, ridiculed the whole idea, but could find no explanation for the livid outlines of bony fingers clearly imprinted on my left shoulder. These remained for days, but finally faded away.
‘A little later I asked Lady W if the park was haunted. She resented my question, and was annoyed at any idea that might make the house notorious. But when U spoke of the copse she became very serious. He was astonished that the side gate was open. It was always kept locked, and the whole place was unused, which accounted or its wild condition. It afterwards transpired that a servant had found a key that would fit the gate, and had used the seclusion of the plantation to meet her sweetheart. It was she who had forgotten to lock it that particular evening.
‘Lady W went on to say that the copse was reputed to be haunted by a very malignant ghost, the spirit of an exceedingly wicked ancestor. The family feared it, and the place was avoided as an evil spot. Only near relations knew of the supposed apparition. The secret was jealously guarded for the sake of family honour. I had become cognisant of it in the most convincing and unpleasant manner possible, and have avoided the copse, with a sense of horror, ever since.’
[SOURCE: The Grey Ghost Book by J A Middleton, 1915 edition pp 303-5]
