M.H.Urban
@mhurban.bsky.social
190 followers 220 following 210 posts
Just another indie author trying to come out of her hard drive. Horror, thriller, dark fantasy... I like them like my coffee: strong and black. No AI, all my mistakes are human-made. https://author.mhurban.com/
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mhurban.bsky.social
Friday Freebies (2/3)
💙📚👀📢📚😱🩸📚
Afraid of the Dark: An All-Genre Giveaway for Stories with Spooky, Creepy, or Gothic Elements
storyoriginapp.com/to/HJj31FS
Spooky Season Giveaway
storyoriginapp.com/to/0SCdhRV
Afraid of the Dark: An All-Genre Giveaway for Stories with Spooky, Creepy, or Gothic Elements
Urban Fantasy | Mystery | Gothic | Ghosts | Horror
storyoriginapp.com
Reposted by M.H.Urban
beesincampanula.bsky.social
#PhantomsFriday
According to legend, Sennen Cove was haunted by a mysterious fog which could suddenly descend on clear days, accompanied by a strange whooping sound. Locals referred to this phenomenon as the ‘Whooper’ and believed it to be a warning not to put to sea due to an impending storm…
A view looking across to Sennen Cove from the road
Reposted by M.H.Urban
folkhorrorrevival.bsky.social
#PhantomsFriday A classic ghost photo taken by Reverend R.W Hardy on the Tulip Staircase in Queen’s House, Greenwich, 1966.

I've usually seen it reproduced in B&W so I didn't realise until comparatively recently it was actually taken in colour.
Photograph of a winding staircase illuminated in a golden glow by lamps on the wall. On the right a wispy shrouded ghostly figure can be seen climbing up the stairs gripping the bannister. Black and white photograph of a winding staircase illuminated by lamps on the wall. On the right a wispy shrouded ghostly figure can be seen climbing up the stairs gripping the bannister.
Reposted by M.H.Urban
theghostmonk.bsky.social
The mysterious slab in Written Stone Lane, #Preston, #Lancashire. A #boggart lived beneath it and attacked a man who foolishly scoffed at its existence. After trying to use it as a gatepost, a farmer was also punished by the spook and rapidly put it back: 'TO LYE FOREVER'
#PhantomsFriday #folklore
My photo of the Written Stone (does it always lie in shadow?). The inscription reads: 'RAUFFE RADCLIFFE LAID THIS STONE TO LYE FOREVER AD 1655'. It's been suggested the stone started life as a prehistoric standing stone. There are a number of tales of ancient stones being moved, only for the mover being forced to return it by invisible forces or recurring bad luck.
Reposted by M.H.Urban
21rosa.bsky.social
An apparition sighted "... standing in the open doorway a woman with white dishevelled hair, clad in mean garments, ragged & dirty. She lifted her hand & shook it at him...From behind the great mirror there glided a second female figure, at the sight of which the first turned & fled" #PhantomsFriday
Carrickfergus born Charlotte Riddell moved to London with her mother, becoming one of the most well regarded & popular writers of ghost stories in the Victorian era. She was the co-owner and editor of the literary journal 'St. James's Magazine' and the first pensioner of the Society of Authors. Her anthology 'Weird Stories' included "The Old House in Vauxhall Walk" from which the quotation in the post is taken 🎨 readily available online eg from the podcast version of the story
Reposted by M.H.Urban
theghostmonk.bsky.social
"There is no ghost there at all; but the worst of all the things that haunt poor mortal man, and that is, in all its nakedness - FEAR! Fear that deafens and darkens and overwhelms. It followed me through the corridor, it fought against me in the room..."
- H G Wells, 'The Red Room'
#PhantomsFriday
Illustration by Lawrence Scarfe. A man runs across a corridor to a flight of stairs, looking back over his shoulder in terror.
Reposted by M.H.Urban
drpaullee.bsky.social
#phantomsfriday

Bealings Bells
katecherrell.bsky.social
Hey you, has October has kicked in and you're still DESPERATE for a historical tale of a phantom bell ringer? Don't worry love, I've got you. Let's head to Bealings and see what strange jingly horrors are in store...

burialsandbeyond.com/2025/10/08/t...
The Bealings Phantom Bell Ringer
Now regarded as the work of a poltergeist – or a perturbed servant – the incidents in Suffolk made newspaper headlines, and eventually became the basis of an entire book…
burialsandbeyond.com
Reposted by M.H.Urban
drpaullee.bsky.social
We're booking a break for my birthday (which falls on Halloween!) - and we're off to a place that we've been to twice before, one of them on my birthday 10 years ago; the very haunted city of Lincoln!

1/2

#lincoln #phantomsfriday #ghosts #hauntings #halloween #halloween2025 #31DaysOfHalloween
Reposted by M.H.Urban
theghostmonk.bsky.social
In the Margam Stones Museum, South #Wales, can be found the Bodvoc Stone, which commemorates a Dark Age king. #Legend stated that (when in situ), a fabulous treasure was buried beneath the stone but that this was guarded by the fierce ghost of King Bodvoc himself.
#PhantomsFriday #folklore
The Bodvoc Stone, an upright pale sandstone pillar with writing crudely carved on it. I won't type out the full inscription because it was said reading the words would bring a fatal curse down upon you!
Reposted by M.H.Urban
markseifert.bleedingcool.com
National Police Gazette, v2 #14. Dec. 12, 1846.

The exploits of real-life bandit John A. Murrell inspired sensationalized accounts, myth, and fiction. This account claims that initiation into his "mystic clan" included an encounter with a spectral skeleton guarding his liar. #phantomsfriday
Front page of the National Police Gazette, Vol. 2, No. 14, published in New York on Saturday, December 12, 1846. The masthead title is printed in bold black letters across the top, with the price listed as “Four Cents a Number.” Below the masthead, the main illustration depicts a dramatic scene captioned “The Robbers’ Awful Oath.” A skeletal figure holding an arrow, rises from behind a coffin, confronting a terrified man recoiling in fear with arms raised. The image accompanies the feature article in the “Lives of the Felons” series, this installment titled “John A. Murrell, the Great Western Land Pirate.” The text columns below and beside the illustration recount Murrell’s life and crimes, describing the initiation rites and oaths of his robber gang in lurid detail.
Reposted by M.H.Urban
signemaene.com
A Flemish folktale says people never went near the dunes at night because it was haunted. A man decided to risk it anyway and was knocked over by a ghost who appeared as a headless horse. It stomped on him so badly that he was lucky to live to tell the tale.

🎨Jaroslav Panuska
#PhantomsFriday
Artwork of a white headless horse running in the night. Grass, dark cloudy background.
Reposted by M.H.Urban
anniebrassey.bsky.social
"Serious Result Of A Prank.
It appears that the boy, possibly smitten with the prevailing craze for the supernatural, was impersonating a #ghost on Monday evening, being more or less appropriately garbed in a sack, which covered him from head to feet."
#Bexhill Chronicle 10.1.1920. #PhantomsFriday
Newspaper cutting from the Bexhill Chronicle 10.1.1920.
Reposted by M.H.Urban
tlrose.bsky.social
Ghosts on a Tree by F. Sedlacek
One of my favorite spooky paintings for #PhantomsFriday 🖤
A spooky painting of a bare tree filled with white-faced ghosts wearing tattered, black shrouds.

The background is a gray, hazy sky with a barely visible sun.
Reposted by M.H.Urban
drpaullee.bsky.social
This excellent documentary also has a mention of the Bell Inn and its ghosts. Since then, room 10 has been renumbered 29.

#phantomsfriday
gavinfoxauthor.bsky.social
Day 9 of my 31 days of ghost documentaries for #Halloween this year, and it's an episode from a series that I fondly remember from back in the day. A real classic for #GhostSky and #ParanormalSky to enjoy as the sun sets low on the horizon tonight.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuAa...
Ghost Hunters at Work - TV documentary, 1996
YouTube video by Slate-writer
www.youtube.com
Reposted by M.H.Urban
markseifert.bleedingcool.com
The "Pepper's Ghost" illusion inspired one of the most infamous back-pages ads in American publishing history, and one that remained popular enough to appear for a century+. As a kid, I was always curious about what this was. #PhantomsFriday
markseifert.bleedingcool.com
Lakeside Library, December 1878.

The earliest version I've seen of the infamous "Dancing Skeleton" ad that would appear in the back pages of comic books and magazines for a century. The "Prof. Pepper" reference makes it clear this was inspired by the "Pepper's Ghost" effect.
A small add in an 1878 issue of Lakeside Library.  The illustration is of a dancing skeleton.
Reposted by M.H.Urban
theghostmonk.bsky.social
According to a book published in 1864, one Captain Morgan took lodgings in an 18th C London house. He was woken by a sound of furious flapping, made by a spook 'in the shape of an immense black bird, with outstretched wings and with red eyes flashing as it were with fire'. [1/2
#PhantomsFriday
Reposted by M.H.Urban
Reposted by M.H.Urban
21rosa.bsky.social
A repost of some original #art by the very talented @jescomics.com
for #PhantomsFriday
#inktober
jescomics.com
Day 9 of #inktober !
A #ghost enjoying some "Heavy" #rain
#animation #2danimation #inktober2025 #framebyframe #drawing #art #sentimental
Reposted by M.H.Urban
threeravenspod.bsky.social
Hello, lovely friends! Did you hear our Bonus Episode from yesterday, all about Voodoo? 🖤

Papa Legba certainly seems excited about it...

Hope you're enjoying our Haunting Season generally, and speak to you tomorrow on Local Legends, for which we have interviewed Susan Owens!

#PhantomsFriday
Reposted by M.H.Urban
21rosa.bsky.social
Had a brilliant @scarredforlife.bsky.social experience in Stockton last month so would highly recommend this event in #Whitby with @bobfischer.bsky.social 🎃🏚️👻

#folklore #folksong #folkhorror #hauntology #Halloween #PhantomsFriday #storytelling #art #film #poetry #seventies #eighties
bobfischer.bsky.social
Anyone free on actual Halloween night? Come to Whitby, I'll guide you gently through memories of 1970s/80s Halloweens ("The sky is blue, the grass is green") and there'll be music, dressing up, sweets etc. I might even do the "Witches of Halloween" song from 'Words and Pictures'. A fiver. A FIVER!
Reposted by M.H.Urban
theghostmonk.bsky.social
"For over all there hung a cloud of fear,
A sense of mystery the spirit daunted,
And said, as plain as whisper in the ear,
This place is haunted."

- Thomas Hood
#PhantomsFriday #31DaysOfHalloween #ghosts #hauntings #poetrysky #Victorian
A spooky old mansion seen on the other side of a lake fringed with trees. The illustration dates from an 1893 edition of 'The Letters Of Charles Dickens'.
Reposted by M.H.Urban
theghostmonk.bsky.social
A haunted location in #Cumbria. Ideal for #PhantomsFriday
laurette1.bsky.social
Some more photos of supposedly one of the most haunted buildings in the UK.
Below are 4 photos of Muncaster Castle with some of the ghostly tales in ALT text.
#PalacesandGardens
#Myth&Legend
#31DaysofHalloween
#Spooktober
#Creepy
#AltText
#Castles
#HistoricBuildings
#Photography
Muncaster Castle is situated on the western side of the Lake District. It is near to Ravenglass where I recently  posted a photo of a sunset. 
What a beautiful place to book a night in the Coach House…..or so I thought! This was the area near the coach house where bats “hung out” and flew round our heads. At night the castle is very atmospheric.There have been many strange occurrences which have not been able to be explained by science. The most haunted room is supposed to be the Tapestry Room, a small bedroom. When I booked the night in the Coach House I knew nothing about the following but soon found out on a tour of the castle. 
1.Tom Skelton/Tom Fool was a jester. He was also a spiteful person who if someone asked him directions and he didn’t like the look of them he directed them to  quicksand! He died around 1600. A lot of strange happenings and paranormal activities are attributed to him.
2.The White Lady is often seen wandering the castle gardens and roads. Mary Bragg was a housekeeper at Ravenglass. She was murdered on her way to meet her lover, a footman at the castle.
3. There have been many reports of babies crying and soft singing in the Tapestry Room which used to be a nursery. 
If you want you can spend a night there. 🦇
Did I experience anything strange there?
Well the castle grounds were certainly eerie at night and the bats added to the ghostly atmosphere and that’s all I’m prepared to say.😱 So why not go there and see for yourself.