It's that time of year where our minds turn to all things creepy and peculiar. Halloween is just around the corner and families might be taking part in a number of traditions, from pumpkin carving, to hosting a costume party or going trick-or-treating.
Telling scary stories is also part of the fun - and did you know there are some spine-chilling stories about Manchester's very own hauntings? Mancunians are rightly proud of the long history of their fine city and region - but there is a darker and altogether more troubling history to the area.
From hell hounds and haunted statues to chilling roadside apparitions and screaming skulls, Greater Manchester has some pretty disturbing Manchester myths, legends and ghosts. They might just make you see your streets in an altogether different light.
Read more: Giant inflatable monsters have taken over Manchester - here's where to see them this Halloween
These eight chilling tales are sure to get you into the Halloween spirit - s o, dive in if you dare...
Stockport's phantom hitch-hikers
The tale of a ghostly figure of a woman attempting to catch a ride near Mersey Square on Wellington Road South has intrigued paranormal experts. The story, which features in a book called Supernatural Stockport by Martin Hills, says that on one occasion a biker picked up the woman and gave her a lift home to Hazel Grove.
But when he dropped her off she simply... vanished into thin air. The biker decided to knock on the door and a couple answered.
They said their daughter had died in a crash on Wellington Road years prior. And according to hauntedisland.co.uk, in 1974 Brian Mohan was driving his cab on the A6 through Great Moor when an elderly woman suddenly appeared sitting on the back seat.
She was 'expressionless, dressed in black with a white blouse and black bow.' The driver then pulled over and turned to ask the woman how she got in his cab, only to find she had disappeared.
The Boggart of Boggart Hole Clough
Boggart Hole Clough, the beautiful urban park in Blackley, has a dark and troubling urban legend attached to it. The 190 acres of ancient woodland is said to be haunted by a boggart.
What is a boggart, you ask? It's a mischievous spirit that typically occupies fields and marshes, but can also be found indoors. Though mostly known as a mischief-making creature that has the ability to turn milk sour, make objects disappear and make dogs go lame, they also have a darker side.
Boggarts are also often blamed for the abduction of children. A fictional example of a Boggart would be the malevolent spirit haunting the family in the chilling horror film The Babadook.
It is said that in previous times the Boggart of Boggart Hole Clough was so active that a farmer and his family were driven from their home - only to return when they realised the creature would simply follow them.
The curse of the Black Shuck
The ghostly 'hell hound' has been part of folklore across the UK for centuries. Appearing either headless or with fierce, flaming eyes, the huge sinister beast is said to be an omen of death and just a single glimpse could bring about a fatal curse.
Those who heard his howl were warned to shut their eyes. And it seems Manchester was not immune to the curse as the Black Shuck has often been seen prowling the city streets.
There have been reported sightings of the beast near to Manchester Cathedral with one in 1825 stating it jumped up at a tradesman outside the church. But there's no need to panic nowadays; apparently the phantom creature was finally exorcised under the bridge crossing the Irwell.
The screaming skull of Wardley Hall
Wardley Hall, the early medieval manor house in the Wardley area of Worsley, is one of the few buildings in the north west to have had a mention in the Domesday Book. Before it was occupied by the Roman Catholic Bishops of Salford it had a chequered and chilling history and was known for 200 years as 'Skull House'.
The story goes that the house had a cursed skull which refused to remain buried and that when thrown into the moat caused terrible raging storms. The grisly relic is believed to have been the skull of Father Ambrose Barlow, who was hung, drawn and quartered in 1641.
According to legend it is indestructible and would wreak terrible havoc if anyone attempted to remove it from the house. The skull has in recent times been removed from the house without any resulting paranormal effects.
Final destination, Manchester Airport
There have been a number of reported ghostly goings-on at Manchester Airport over the years. Documents dating back to the 1970s show a string of strange encounters concentrated in an area which is now Terminal Three's departure gates.
The most common account is of a ghostly male figure, dressed as an airman, wandering around the gates before disappearing. One letter, written in 1971 by a former airport worker, reveals how he had encountered an ‘old man’ whom he believed was the ghost of a night watchman who was killed there years earlier.
Staff have also reported often hearing slamming doors but when they investigate they find rooms empty and lights off. Another worker claims to have seen a person wearing a pilot’s hat walking into the toilets at night, and hearing the doors shut.
When the worker went into the toilet to investigate there was nobody there – and the motion-sensitive lights hadn’t come on.
What lies beneath...
Much of this list so far has focused on the visible, the above ground and in clear view. But what lies beneath is also unsettling...
Lying just below the surface of Manchester is a network of underground tunnels. Subterranean passageways stretch under large parts of Manchester city centre hiding within them all manner of memories of a long-lost time.
These tunnels include the remnants of a tube station that never was, a communications bunker, air raid shelters, canals and even shops. There are also underground river and canal tunnels such as the Manchester and Salford Junction Canal Tunnel underneath the Great Northern which joins the Rochdale Canal and River Irwell.
You can read about some of the history deep beneath Manchester and check out some of the strangely unsettling pictures here.
Mystery of the 'haunted' spinning statue
It's not all about things that bump in the night. An ancient Egyptian statue spooked museum bosses when it mysteriously started to spin round in a locked display case. The 10-inch tall relic, which dates back to 1800 BC, was found in a mummy’s tomb and has been at the Manchester Museum for 80 years
And in 2013 curators were left baffled after they kept finding it facing the wrong way. Experts decided to monitor the room on time-lapse video and were astonished to see it clearly show the statuette spinning 180 degrees – with nobody going near it.
Egyptologist Mr Price, 29, said: “I noticed one day that it had turned around. I thought it was strange because it is in a case and I am the only one who has a key. In Ancient Egypt they believed that if the mummy is destroyed then the statuette can act as an alternative vessel for the spirit. Maybe that is what is causing the movement.”
But what could be the reason behind the spinning? Demonic possession? A mummy's curse? Magic? Nothing that exciting unfortunately. The riddle has been solved and you can read the very 21st Century explanation here.
The grave-robber Old Kanky (Canky)
You'll have heard of Burke and Hare the Edinburgh grave-robbers turned murderers, but were you aware of Greater Manchester's very own 'resurrection-man?' In Middleton there is a passageway called “Kanky’s Ginnel” that runs from the River Irk to the churchyard at St Leonard’s.
According to local legend it was used by a local grave-robber named Kanky to transport bodies down to the river and onwards into Manchester to sell. It is unclear whether Kanky (also written as Canky) actually existed as no one has ever been able to find anything other than apocryphal evidence of his dark doings.
According to some, Kanky, who by all accounts was a hoot at parties, would watch as grieving relatives buried their dead and then by cover of darkness would dig up the body.
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