28 September 2000 BGS Newsletter Issue 26

Welcome to the twenty-sixth edition of the Borley Ghost Society Newsletter. A very busy month! What could be an historical event happened in June, but we only now learned about the release of We Faked the Ghosts of Borley Rectory by Louis Mayerling. The motion picture An Urban Ghost Story may have a recognizable reference to Borley, and now has a limited US screening. Then, of course, there was the little matter of someone stealing my web site page for page! In the next few days, I will be announcing the first international recognition of the BORLEY GHOST SOCIETY in a major publication.

Wither Louis Mayerling?

Jamas Enright discovered the promised Louis Mayerling expose has been published. We Faked the Ghosts of Borley Rectory is described by Amazon.co.uk as "An expose on the world of psychical research revealing the facts of the infamous hauntings at Borley Rectory in Essex, once claimed to be the 'most haunted house in England'."
All associates of the BORLEY GHOST SOCIETY are encouraged to find a copy of this book. This is simply a must for my own collection. Mayerling told me it would be published posthumously, so I am anxious to hear from anyone who might have any information on his health. Mayerling told me a great deal before cutting off our friendship - with no explanation! The word that jumps out at me from the title is "We." Who is "we?" Mayerling and my mother? It would be fantastic to have someone investigate Mayerling and this book, just to see how reliable it is - where is Trevor Hall when we need him! :)
When I did an Internet search for Mayerling, I found that composer John Jeffreys borrowed from Mayerling for at least one song. "At the other extreme The Poacher's Dog (a dialect poem of Louis Mayerling which Jeffreys has condensed with the poet's permission) is a song of most affecting poignancy." I couldn't find an address for Jeffreys, but it would be fun to learn of his association with Mayerling. Other names to research would include Leslie Caron, Jayne Simmons, Anita Harris, and Barbara Turner, all alleged wives of our elusive author. I could find no other mentions of Louis Mayerling on the Internet.
I wrote the following to Pen Press Publishing, a vanity publisher: "My mother was Marianne Foyster of Borley Rectory. Louis Mayerling told me he was going to write about that famous haunting, but that the book was going to be published posthumously. Has he died? If so, who published the book? I am most interested in obtaining a copy of the book, and might have a market for several copies among members of my BORLEY GHOST SOCIETY. Thank you for your time and consideration." Their reply:

Thank you for your enquiry. We had recently found your site and were about to enquire where we should send a review copy. Louis Mayerling is still very much alive and has published his book under our imprint. Let us know where to send to and once you have perused the book we would be glad to discuss trade discounts with you for any multiple purchases you might wish to make.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards,
Lynn Ashman
Marketing
Pen Press

I'd like a copy, Vince. Were these the guys who produced the astonishing audiotape of noises in the church?
Karen D. Stevens
[I'll get one for you. No, that was Groom-Hollingsworth, et. al. from the 70s. Louis Mayerling was a personal friend of my mother - or so he claimed. He gave me enough material for several chapters in my books, then abruptly cut off our relationship without explanation! I'm writing to him anyway, to congratulate him on the publication.]

That is a bit of an oddity - a book fraudulently claiming he'd Faked the Ghosts of Borley Rectory. Maybe I'm being a bit unkind, especially as his chapters in your book had a distinct ring of truth to certain of the details. Surely Louis Mayerling cannot still be alive? He must be around a hundred. Strange that Mary Pearson (Tatum) used to claim that she faked the ghosts too. There must be a whole gaggle of people who claimed to have faked the hauntings. I've met quite a few! I've ordered a copy.
Andrew Clarke

Flash!!!! Update!!!

Alan Roper was gracious enough to send me a copy of the book - not knowing any of the above.
Without having had the chance to digest every word, a few things jump out at me:
  • Mayerling "borrowed" some photos I sent him - including one of my mother receiving her service award, which he has cropped and laid inside the photo of a church!
  • Allmost all of his Borley photos are NOT original - he "borrowed" every one in his book from another source. (He does reproduce the "Borley Cross," which is very odd, as I was told it was broken up.)
  • Two photos are not of the actual rectory, but of the model commissioned by Peter Underwood. How did Mayerling obtain these extremely rare photographs, especially since the model no longer exists?
  • Mayerling told me all my mother's letters were lost - or burned - and yet he quotes from several of them!
  • Printed by a vanity publisher - Pen Press - one wonders how this was received at "legitimate" publishing houses.
  • How is it that Alan Wesencraft, curator of the Harry Price Library for many years, never ran across any reference to Mayerling?
  • Why didn't Ivan Banks find any reference to Mayerling amongst the papers he thoroughly researched for years at the Harry Price Library?
  • There is far too much here for a simple review. I shall now have to add another complete chapter to The Ghosts That Will Not Die. It will include observations and research from any and all sources, including associates of the BORLEY GHOST SOCIETY.

    Site theft

    When I started this project in 1994, there was only one reference to Borley - on a Dutch site that has since been taken down - and two genealogical sites. Since the development of www.borleyrectoy.com, the Internet has been inundated with copy-cat sites. Jamas Enright was dutifully searching for any information he could find about Borley on the Internet. One such site went a little bit too far, copying my pages verbatim without permission and without accreditation - http://home.wanadoo.nl/the_x_files/borley.htm - This theft was discovered the weekend of September 23, messages were sent to the Internet Service Provider and the author to tear down these pages, and they disappeared first thing the following Monday. Here are some of the comments BORLEY GHOST SOCIETY associates were kind enough to pass along:

    This is terrible --I too have been ripped off. When I complained I was told that the data was secured "Though other sources" But the wording was mine--even original data. It was not photographs so that gives you some leverage I believe. Its just awful what people will do. This is the wild west world of the Internet. Richard Senate

    Sounds like this person has violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1988. If you will look that up on any search engine you should find complete text of the Act. Also, if you go to www.academic.rccd.cc.ca.us/self-study/claimed-copyright.htm, there is a discussion of how the copyright act applies to that particular school and how to file a complaint. Looks like you did exactly the right thing in notifying the host and the violator of your complaint. It must very distressing to see someone ripping off your lifetime's work and I hope the host will close that site. Karen D. Stevens

    As long as you have copyright statements on your site, your are safe. But make sure it includes a reference to the graphics as well. Leon Erasmus

    I have "gone after" at least ten people who have stolen the stories and/or FAQ off my site and cut off the attributions. It happens, unfortunately, because people are either so dumb (or young) that they can't grasp the concepts of plagiarism and copyright, or because they're just jerks who think they can get away with it. obiwan

    This is really without any excuses at all. Henry Bailey

    My own company has retained a barrister for just this sort of thing. He specializes in Internet problems. A.C.

    In my case I received antagonism in return for my polite apologies. J. E.

    The Authors Guild in NYC (www.authorsguild.org) might have some info on your rights of protection. R.E.G.

    Harry Price: the case for the defense

    My mother disliked Harry Price. He didn't think much of her. It may seem odd that I would end up as one of the supporters of Price, but my research continues to show there is much about his work that is very positive - especially when omitting personality. There is a theory that we despise in others what we find weakest in our own character, and perhaps that conflict may have been at work in the relationship between my mother and Price. Both were famous for loving the limelight. Both had a tendency to be expansive and excuse themselves from the details. Both shared a common nemesis in Trevor Hall.
    Whilst very fond of the limelight, the furor over Borley gave my mother quite a conflict. It brought attention not only to her life in the most haunted house in England, it also brought scrutiny of her private life. It was the later probing that drove her to long for privacy. Investigating an alleged haunting is one thing - digging into our private lives was something else again.
    John L. Randall has a wonderful article in the July 2000 issue of the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research. Harry Price: the case for the defence is a very thoughtful exploration into the positive aspects of this psychical research pioneer. My favorite thought from the article is one I repeat whenever I find an audience willing to listen: "I have come across numerous books and articles which cite the famous 'debunking' report on Borley Rectory (Dingwall, Goldney & Hall, 1956), but very few which mention the criticisms of that report by Michael Coleman and Robert Hastings (Coleman, 1956; Hastings, 1969)." Emphasis mine.
    Randall makes many other salient observations in this article. "The growth of so much interest [prior to WWII] within the academic world and among the general public was largely due to the efforts of one man, Harry Price. He undoubtedly put more time, effort and money into psychical research than any other Englishman since the days of the founding fathers of the SPR. His experimental and investigative work was extensive, his reports voluminous and detailed. Yet after his death he was vilified and portrayed by several writers as a liar and a cheat, with the result that much of what he achieved has been rendered null and void. It is my contention that the case against Harry Price has been overstated, and that a serious reappraisal of his work is long overdue. . . . Trevor Hall's Search for Harry Price (1978) bristles with so much spleen that I feel it should be recommended to the compilers of the Guinness Book of Records for the title of The Most Spiteful Book Ever Written! . . . .Harry Price's attitude toward the paranormal was initially that of a hard-baked skeptic, and for all of his life he remained convinced that the majority of mediumistic effects were fraudulent. . . . . however - he felt certain that there were some phenomena which could not be explained in terms of conjuring. . . . Throughout his life he continued to expose fraud whenever he found it. . . . Price's National Laboratory of Psychical Research was formerly opened on 1 January 1926 [and] within a very short time the membership of the Laboratory topped the 800 mark, rivaling that of the SPR. . . . in my opinion, he set new standards in the study of physical mediumship. . . . There is direct evidence of at least two 'dirty tricks' played upon Price by members of the SPR. On October 9th, 1931, W.H. Slater traveled to Borley to try to persuade the Rector, the Revd Lionel Foyster, to sever his links with Price and accept the ministrations of the SPR instead (Banks, p. 92). Since Price had been studying the phenomena of the allegedly haunted rectory since June 1929, this was a clear example of unprofessional conduct. [footnote: "It has been claimed by Salter's defenders that he acted ethically in that he was trying to prevent undue publicity at Borley. However, he had no right to interfere at all - the SPR is not a psychic police force. As for publicity, this had already happened, via the Daily Mirror before Price went near the place."] . . . .Within a few months of his death [29 March 1948] the attacks on his reputation began. Charles Sutton [wrote] in a popular magazine that he had caught Price faking phenomena at Borley. W.H. Salter pressed his SPR colleagues to launch a re-investigation into the case. The result was the publication, in 1956, of the now famous 'Borley Report' (Dingwall, Goldney and Hall, 1956). The 180-page report was essentially a systematic attack on the honesty and integrity of Harry Price; it was, as Renee Haynes put it, 'the case for the prosecution.' Every event was interpreted in such a way as to present Price in the worst possible light, and alternative interpretations were played down or ignored. The Sutton allegations and the Borley Report (which drew heavily upon them) came as severe shocks to Price's widow and to his many friends. The general feeling was one of indignation and dismay. Mrs. Lucie Meeker (nee Kay) who had been Price's secretary, denied that there had been any such incident as that described by Sutton, and added - 'it is my considered conviction that Harry Price never, at any time, faked phenomena. I worked with him in close collaboration for some five years and, indeed, remained friends with him to the day of his death, and I am convinced he was a man of unimpeachable integrity.' (Hastings, p. 83]. . . .Sydney Glanville, his chief collaborator at Borley, described him as 'an outstanding worker' for his psychical research and a friend for whom he had 'a very great regard and respect.' (Tabori, p. 277) Geoffrey H. Motion, a neighbor of Price's who also accompanied him to Borley, was also convinced that he did not fake phenomena. . . . if the authors of the Borley Report were correct, he had perpetrated one of the most impudent frauds in the whole history of psychical research. But many members of the SPR felt uneasy at the obviously biased nature of the Report, and in 1965 a grant of £ 50 was given to Robert J. Hastings towards the expenses involved in a re-examination of the case. The resulting 'Hastings Report' was published in 1969; it uncovered a number of errors in the original evidence, and was widely interpreted by the media as the official exoneration of Harry Price. . . . The Borley Report was badly flawed and very heavily biased, and Hastings believed that the Society should not have published it. . . . Although Hall never met or corresponded with Price, he seems to have conceived an almost fanatical hatred for the famous ghost-hunter. Hall joined the team working on the Borley Report and, according to his own account (Hall, 1965) was responsible for 4 of the 8 chapters it contained. Ivan Banks has surmised, I think correctly, that it was the participation of Hall which gave rise to the uncompromisingly hostile tone of the Borley Report (Banks, p. 207) . . . .The tendentious nature of Hall's writing evoked many criticisms. . . . The motive for Hall's attack on Price [in his biography of Price] is not hard to find; he was clearly annoyed by his failure of the Borley Report to put paid to what he called the 'Borley legend.' Although the Hastings report is not mentioned in Search for Harry Price, it was obviously in the back of Hall's mind, for he devotes no less than four pages to deploring what he calls the 'resurgence of popular belief in Borley.' . . . . the two major accusations made against Price, namely that he practiced deception in regard to Rudi Schneider and at Borley, are almost certainly false. . . . In the case of Borley, the sheer quantity and complexity of the material makes it unreasonable to expect that a popular account could be written without any errors at all. In general, Price seems to have been far more meticulous in his checking and referencing of factual material than many modern writers; but like all of us, he made mistakes. . . . Price's name is inextricably coupled to that of Borley Rectory. This is a pity since some of his best work was done in the early years, before he had even heard of Borley. Even so, the Borley case remains the most fully documented example of a haunting in the annals of psychical research, and Price's accumulation of a vast dossier of eye-witness reports is a major contribution to the study of spontaneous phenomena."

    I had the opportunity to speak with John Randall on the telephone and found we share many ideas. Randall obtained his degree in chemistry, and was a biology teacher in secondary education prior to his retirement. As he became interested in parapsychology, he "took Hall's work for granted" until he read The Enigma of Borley Rectory by Ivan Banks. Randall examined the record more closely, and did an about face away from the attacks of Hall.
    Among his writings are two books I should like to obtain. Parapsychology and the nature of life was published in 1975, and was translated into several languages. Psychokinesis: a study of paranormal forces through the ages was published in 1982.

    Ghost chasers purchase alleged haunted mansion


    Tuesday, September 05, 2000
    The news is enough to make Rosa Suit's ghost blanch.
    Berkeley Castle, a century-old West Virginia landmark where Suit's restless spirit is said to roam and occasionally engage in mischief, was claimed at auction last week for $360,125 by self-proclaimed ghost chasers.
    The new owners plan to scan around the clock for "paranormal" activity using electromagnetic sensory equipment. They also hope to make money by giving an inside view to spirit-seeking guests willing to spend $250 a night to sleep there.
    "There are a lot of haunted places where you can rent rooms, but nowhere is there a paranormal organization operating a facility where you can also stay," said Joe Holbert, whose investor group beat out 20 other bidders.
    The 12-room mansion in the resort town of Berkeley Springs -- built by wealthy Maryland businessman Samuel Taylor Suit for his young bride -- will be renamed the Berkeley Castle Paranormal Research Center upon completion of the sale.
    Holbert, 50, plans to renovate the sandstone castle two hours from Baltimore and make it the headquarters for a three-member group he heads in Leesburg, Va., called Virginia Science Research.
    The new incarnation for Berkeley Castle should generate the most excitement between its walls since Rosa Suit threw lavish parties around the turn of the century en route to burning through her inheritance.
    --The Baltimore Sun

    Great! It sounds like a reasonable price to pay for a night, if you see a ghost.
    Kathy Rageur

    Dan and I have been working on the same project for the past two months for GLS. We have our sites on a building in New Orleans in the French Quarter for GLS.
    Carol Gist
    GhostLabs Research Society
    [Keep us posted.]

    I like Bull's haunted house in England!!!
    Jon

    Letters to the Editor

    I understand from my research that you have been researching Borley for a number of years, to the extent of writing several books and that Borley has a family tie for you concerning your Mother. In respect to this I believe that you seek a solution to the occurances at Borley, especially the period when your Mother resided in the area.
    I do not know the over all direction or methodology that your research has taken, but i believe that you have not, as yet, discovered the solution to the paranormal activity that have been reported at Borley.
    During my own research I have discovered that major errors in the research of others has taken place. Specific information relating to one of the major reasons why Borley has and still does exhibit high levels of paranormal activity has been over looked or totally ignored. This seems to occur a great deal in the work relating to the period when Harry Price investigated the area.
    I do not wish to put the work of others down, as personally I respect their work, but the fact remains that errors in their investigation processes have taken place. This, coupled with their own personal bias, has created the continuence of a mystery that could have been laid to rest many years ago.
    My own research began approximately eight years ago. A friend, living in Essex, came to me with a problem concerning some strange events and some disturbing dreams that she had been experiencing since her and her boyfriend had moved to Essex. Since then I have gathered information and analyised every aspect of the occurances at Borley.
    The solution as to why Borley exhibits the broadest spectrum of Paranormal activity was easy to solve. However, the solution to being able to stop it is more difficult.
    To make my point clear, Price was told that the Rectory would be destroyed, he was also told the precise day and by whom it would be destroyed by. However, Price did not understand or comprehend the information which he had in his possession. He could not have stopped what was to take place, but he held the solution in his hands.
    I am at present formatting my research in to book form for I would like to see it laid to rest, once and for all. Borley has been the curse of too many people, disturbing their lives. But, I would like to discuss the matter further with you?
    Yours Faithfully P.J. Neal
    [Thank you for getting in touch with me. I appreciate your observations. The latest book on Borley was written by Louis Mayerling, and he had to publish it himself. Mr. Babbs has a new book with new photos, and has been unable to find a publisher. None of my works have found print. I sell my chapters much like Stephen King - via the Internet. This does not mean your work could not be published - I am only alerting you to the hard road ahead. Unfortunately, I do not have any special inroads to any publisher. If you wish to share your ideas with readers of my web site, or if you want to restrict your research to strictly those associates of the BORLEY GHOST SOCIETY, I will be more than happy to provide you with a forum. Best of luck with your research, and thanks once again for thinking of me.]

    Unfortunately my 4-week-holiday-trip is over. I'm back now and I would like to tell you what I have experienced in Borley. We (my parents, my boyfriend and I arrived in Borley at Thursday, 17th August 2000, 4.00 pm. It was silent, nobody was there - no visitors and none of the inhabitants. We walked around the churchyard hoping to find the doors open but the main entrance and the little wooden door were locked. I took a few photos from the wonderful church and the weather-beaten gravestones. We spent nearly half an hour in Borley and nothing exceptional happened on this day. The weather changed, dark clouds gathered and we decided to return some days later. The following Saturday we returned to Borley late in the evening at 11.00 pm. During the day we visited Hampton Court with its Haunted Gallery, which was very impressive. Arriving in Borley we parked our car outside the village and walked ca. 200 metres back to Borley church. It was a very dark and silent evening and all we did was standing in front of the churchyard fence, looking at the church. Behind us stood the old Stable Cottage and the lights inside the cottage were on. I have to mention that my father doesn't believe in supernatural things (in contrast to my mother!) but suddenly he said rather loud: "Look, there is a light inside the church! How can that be? I thought the church is locked every time!" It really scared me because also my mother claimed that she saw a glare light between the trimmed bushes. I saw nothing and my boyfriend was on the way back to our car (he is a disbeliever like my father, too). My parents wanted to leave the area because of that what they saw and they went back to the car. I stood five minutes there on my own, watching the church windows but I saw nothing unusual. Nevertheless I felt rather cold and uncomfortable. So I followed my parents and we left Borley at 11.50 pm. with a confused feeling. Now as ever I'm sure, there are very strange things going on in Borley and its surroundings.
    Birgit Brenner

    Very many thanks for all the BGS newsletters. I enjoy reading them very much. Mr. Babbs now calls [his unpublished book] The Key to Borley Rectory. My own feeling is that if published, it would have a ready sale because many new witnesses have been consulted and there are some photographs never before printed. Also, the relevance of ley lines is noted, and there are other ways in which the book would prove a fine addition to the on-going saga of Borley Rectory.
    Herewith enclosed is an article [above] by John L. Randall for your collection. It is a very fine reply to that villain Hall's attack on Price [In Search of Harry Price]. Hall managed to steal a dozen rare and very valuable books from the Harry Price Library without committing any criminal offense. He promised to bequeath his library of books on conjuring and psychical research to the H.P.L. This was gratefully noted, and we thanked him. He then asked if he could purchase from the H.P.L. about a dozen very valuable duplicates. The librarian at the time said yes, thinking "Well, why not, as they will come back to us after his death." [As curator of the H.P.L.] I agreed, and let Hall have the books at the absurd price of about £ 3 each, thinking they would come back so why should he pay more. Some years later, Hall decided not to give his library to the H.P.L. after all. Then, he sold the 12 books and made thousands of pounds for himself and family, and had done nothing wrong!
    When the books came out on the market, people thought I must have stolen them!!
    Alan Wesencraft

    I have just read and re-read your web site having got in the address from the Fortean Times. I am 26 and for 15 years I have read any I can get my hands on that is remotely Fortean, paranormal or just generally odd. Having read many books about Borley and the Foyster's I find it absolutely fascinating that you found out about your mother's history in such a way. Whatever the skeptics may think, she was part of something big. Did she really never mention any of her past re: Borley to you? How could she have kept it a secret!
    I think your web page is excellent. Now I have found it I very much hope that you update it regularly! Excellent link to Janet and Colin Bord too. They are my favourite "paranormal" writers.
    I have often thought about visiting Borley but after reading your site I think it should just be left as a part of history. I can see why locals wouldn't want tourists and vandals crashing through their quiet village. I live in Brighton in East Sussex, England (which has its own fair share of ghosts and strange goings on).
    One thing I wanted to ask you. From your research do you think that your mother was happy at Borley? I have experienced weird and wonderful goings on at my parents' house when I lived at home which most of my friends find very spooky when I tell them, but it is a very happy house with a happy atmosphere. I was just wondering whether Borley was the same? One other thing I wanted to ask you - do you think that Harry Price's investigations helped at all in finding out the cause of the disturbances, or the publicity he caused was just a hindrance? He sounds like an extremely interesting man but in some books he is made out to be a bit notorious.
    I will be popping into borleyrectory.com from time to time hoping for updates.
    Samantha Stringer
    [Here are some suggestions for the cause of the alleged haunting. As for Price, my mother hated the publicity, as did the Smiths and as do the current residents. From a scientific standpoint, he really opened the doors for parapsychology! When I was growing up, I had blinders on, not realizing what I was looking at. She kept it quiet because of all the adverse publicity. Yes and no to your question about her being happy there. The ghosts did not drive her away, Lionel's ill heath did. My mother was extremely gregarious. The loneliness probably got to her more than anything. It would have been far different if the house had been less remote.]

    As a child in the 50s I was told by a family that on visiting the church they heard the organ playing so decided a service was on. They walked round the side of the church & saw the organ through a window & no body was playing it but the keys were going up & down on their own. On the way out down the path one of the party stopped on the grass at the side to tie up his shoe lace & while pausing he saw the grass in front of him flatten like a footprint even though nobody was walking on that area.
    Cwhitlo1

    I looked at the photos showing images, and on one of them - the one where the white figure is between the tree and hedges - I couldn't really see that one at first, but I could see another person in it. If you stare near the middle of picture it is like misty but in the mist a face of a little girl shows up. I was wondering if you can see it as well?
    Dollybean

    I bet there is not one cemetery any where that is not used as entertainment by teenagers. I have been to one myself as a teenager as a "lets see who we can scare" night. At the time it was a rundown over- grown Jewish cemetery in a small town in Mississippi. (We never knew that a group of Jews had ever lived in the area.) It has since been cleaned up and cared for. I have some beautiful pictures I took there. I was surprised that there was not a better turnout for the 100th anniversary. I guess all of us who are interested, are not close enough to visit. But then again. The place where all the "sightings" were is basically gone now. There might be a house sitting exactly where she is supposed to walk. I am glad for all the renewed interest. It was also an interesting text from "A Resident" about the geology of the land. I want to go back and read that one again, slower.
    Kathy Rageur

    I'd just turned five when we joined my father in the UK after his USAF unit had been moved from central Washington state some six months earlier in Aug 1951. Whoever gave us the key to the church then in 1953 explained that the Rectory had burned down years earlier. The three of us, my mother and father and I, then spent only maybe 10-15 minutes inside the church. The main source of internal illumination seemed to be the sunlight streaming in from the west (tower) end of the building. The unexpected Waldegrave item was the most stunning with the Elizabethan frill collar. On the way back home we stopped at what I've now determined was Long Melford. In comparison, that looked like a huge cathedral (into which several Borley churches could fit). Also, unlike Borley, it seemed to be well flooded with light (mostly natural). Some sort of maintenance was being done there as areas were roped off. The final church stop on that day was Lavenham, smaller than Long Melford, but with an impressive tower in the late-afternoon sun. We got some literature there as well, unlike at the prior two places.
    In fact, I didn't find out any historical details about Borley until c. April 1970 when, of all things, a travel guide was come across in the undergraduate library of UT Austin where it mentioned some dates and a few details of the Waldegrave family monument(s) in it. Then it was another 25+ years before I came across your fine Web Site! I didn't bother to note the Travel Guide name in 1970. I was just so giddy in having stumbled onto ANY Borley information! It may have been a Fodor edition, but I'm not sure. Whatever, it was skimpy compared to what your site now has on it.
    I'd just then done a term paper for a UK History elective course (Britain to 1485) dealing with the Abbey at Bury St. Edmunds. I'd used one of those massive Victoria History volumes for Suffolk as a source. I decided to take a peek in the Essex one for Borley and had come up with nothing!
    Pat Dyer
    [It would be great to have that reference in my Bibliography. It's probably lost by now - maybe they have a web site?]

    We had another manifestation of Borley silliness on the television last week when Harry Price's car, a Rolls-Royce, was featured in a car program. (It has now been done up to concourse condition-the car, not Harry). It launched straight into a completely uncritical account of the hauntings, pasted in, I think, from a prevoius program. Complete with 'Sleepy-Hollow'-style footage of the nun, and burning rectory etc. sigh. Strangely, there was nothing of the rest of Harry Price's career.
    I'm preparing a little paper on the Bull's Borley testimony. Called 'Bullsheet'. Should fire things up on the site, particularly if one takes into account the witness of the Foyster cousins. Nothing new, just collating things together.
    In the Dorothy L Sayers society, we built up a large collection of 'sidelights', which were on a specific subject, and which were issued on an occasional basis. It might be fun to do the same thing on your site. My father [had been] secretary/president etc. for many years. The whole point of a 'sidelight' is that it is a short article that can be easily written, printed and distributed. It encourages contributions, as 'producing a sidelight' is less intimidating than a more weighty contribution. We found that 'sidelights' stimulated others to write them. Once one had achieved critical mass with around twenty, they just kept coming.
    Andrew Clarke

    Bibliography updates

    Joseph Olding was searching the Internet for "Trevor Hall," and found several offerings - including this unpublished manuscript - at ABEbooks.com. There may be more, as the search engine found 779 possible titles!
  • THE HARRY PRICE LIBRARY Not published, 1977, 8vo., spiral-bound, plastic- covered. (ii), 20, (2) pages. This item is the author's corrected galley proofs of an essay on the library of the famous psychical expert, paper manufacturer, and book collector Henry Price that was intended for "The Book Collector, " but never published. The author has cut and trimmed the proofs and pasted them onto twenty unused diary pages. Included is a two-page typescript introduction written by Hall in which he explains that the piece was intended to appear in "The Book Collector" in 1976 "but a back-log of earlier contributions prevented publication at the intended date." General Duckworth and Co. then commissioned him to write "Search for Harry Price" for publication in late 1977, and it was arranged that this piece should appear in the Autumn 1977 issue of "The Book Collector." Unfortunately, "The Book Collector" was in the process of parting company with its printers, the Shenval Press, who had set the type for the piece. "As a result, the type is to be dispersed and the essay will not be published." Price had a deep interest in magic and occult and held in his library (now held at the University of London) 4376 books and 5343 pamphlets on the subjects. From Hall's book Search for Harry Price we learn that it was his friend and co-author Percy Muir (chairman of the editorial board of The Book Collector) who first suggested that Hall submit an essay on Price's library and that it was Hall's research for some introductory biographical paragraphs that led him to a deeper investigation of Price's fraudulent life and times. Although material that appears in this essay was utilized in the chapter on Price's library in Search for Harry Price, it does, in the author's words, "constitute a printed but unpublished example of my work. It is reasonable to suppose that no other copy exists." With the author's autograph signature, dated February 1st, 1977 after the introduction, and bookplate on recto of last leaf. With Grenville Cook's catalogue and notes from the library of Hall and a signed letter from Marion Hancock. Bookseller Inventory # 59617 Price: US$ 450.00

    • Our devoted researcher Jamas Enright has refined the latest Terrance Dicks entry - The Transylvanian Incident.

    Jamas also added the following items to the Bibliography:

  • A terrific list of additions to the list of Internet web sites that discuss Borley, or mention it in passing.
  • In TRUE MYSTERY STORIES by Terry Deary. "Find out how one woman checked into a Parisian hotel, and then disappeared, why a flight of planes never returned and if the ghosts of Borley rectory can ever rest in peace."
  • The End of Borley Rectory, East Anglian Magazine.December, 1946. Includes a conclusion I've not been able to verify describing the nun as "a charming lady who came to be accepted by the Rev. Harry Bull and his wife as one of the family."

    • Associate activities

    Associate Chris Jones has told me his picture An Urban Ghost Story opens this weekend on one screen in Kentucky "to get a feel for the audience." It will be fascinating to watch this movie to see if any Borley themes come through. Jones directed the film for Living Spirit Pictures Limited, and used the Borley Legend as background material. It was produced by Ealing Film Studios, London. Associates who have seen the film - in any theater - are encouraged to send a review.

    Associate profiles

    If you would like a profile page made especially for you, just tell me a little about yourself and attach a JPG photo to an e-mail.

    Tips

    If you see a news article, magazine, or web site about Borley, or with an interesting take on ghosts and the paranormal, drop me a line and I'll pass it along. No, UFOs, please.

    Special discounts

    Make sure you visit the latest additions at www.ghostbooks.com You will want to visit it often for the newest updates. This page changes rapidly - almost daily! As a member of the BORLEY GHOST SOCIETY, you are entitled to a 10 percent discount on all titles.

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