Welcome to the nineteenth edition of the Borley Ghost Society Newsletter. As you peruse the web pages after the great computer shakedown, please let me know of any errors you find. Many pages have runtogethersentences, for example.
I've posted all the surviving correspondence between myself and Robert Wood. One day, I hope he gets in touch again.

While he was at it, Jamas also found a newspaper article from May of 1999 by Terry Grimley, another newspaper article by Randall Floyd describing the rectory as "one of the most beautiful houses in England," an American book review of The Ghosts of Borley, and a reference to Trevor Hall's dossier on Borley. There are supposeduly only four copies of these notes, but no indication as to their whereabouts. Jamas also located a fascinating reference to Glanville's Locked Book. The data base of the Australian Library indicates there are only two copies of this book in the world. My research has discovered the copy Trevor Hall possessed was sold to an unknown American for a small fee, but where is the other copy? It would, of course, be excellent to have actual copies of these items for my archives, if anyone should be lucky enough to locate them!

Liston is a tiny village on the Rodbridge road just going by Borley. It is rather difficult to describe but if you locate Hennings grave, (near the far gate), and stand with your back to this, one corner of the church will be on your left. It is just here, on a bare patch of land that the supposed bones of the great Borley Nun are buried.
Do you think that [your books] will be published in book form and not just on the Internet?
Joseph Olding
[My plans are to release them on CD-ROM as soon as I can raise enough money for a new computer.]

I think it's time to tell you my opinion of the Borley Church tape you sent to me. It's so fantastic. Whenever I hear the sounds it really sends shivers up my whole body. I am sure there exists something in the area. When I spent some hours in Borley in August 1999, especially in the churchyard, I heard a great bang coming from inside the church as I stood in front of the porch. I was so frightened because I knew that the church was locked up. So nobody could be in the church. It was nearly the same noise I heard on the tape. Well, I'm not gullible and I'm not sensation-seeking but I could swear that this area is not normal. My greatest wish is to return to Borley this summer. Next month is my birthday and yesterday I said to my boyfriend: "Please, don't buy anything. I only wish that you drive me to Borley again!"
Cheers,
Birgit Brenner

My family lived in Twinstead, Sudbury in the 60's. Our parents had a couple of friends who looked after an estate close by to the rectory. The friends were B. and G. P------. B. still lives in the area.
We were told that one evening B. and G. were expecting visitors up from London to stay the weekend. Their visitor arrived quite late, apologising for being late by explaining that they had been lost several times. During the initial conversations about their zigs and zags, the friend commented that a fabulous looking party was going on down the road!! It appeared that everyone was in fancy dress (ball gowns), and after B. quizzed him, (B. knowing that there were virtually no houses along the narrow lanes they would have traveled), came to the conclusion that the only possible building that could have been in the place detailed was Borley!! His guests were absolutely dumbfounded when told that the building had burned to the ground decades before!
My sister and I only remember being told about the nun who met her gruesome death there - she seems to be the main focus of the local legend, not the other poor unfortunates!
I hope this helps. It appears that no one else has mentioned an actual manifestation of the house in its glory so I thought this might interest you.
Regards
Susan Clarke (Mrs.)

This item will be of some interest to you.
John Robert Colombo
Britain Is a Spooked Out Nation?
LONDON (Reuters) - More than four out of 10 Britons believe in ghosts, according to a survey released by breakfast television station GMTV Monday. The NOP survey questioned 1,000 people by telephone between March 10-14. Forty-two percent believed in ghosts and almost half of this group said they had seen or felt the presence of a ghost. Those who believed in ghosts tended to be in the younger age categories -- 46 percent in the 15-34 group and 47 percent in the 35-54 group.

I hope you don't mind me e-mailing you, its just I have lived in Borley for 15 years and I have never seen a ghost. I live in an extremely old house and even though people say it is a spooky house I have never seen anything. My brother has apparently seen a white sheet go past his bedroom but that is about all! I know the people who live in the old Rectory and I find it a really spooky place. If you want to ask me any questions please feel free. Thanks for your time
Yours,
Naomi
[It is really good to hear from you. I get questions ALL THE TIME asking if the current residents have experienced anything! Just where do you live in relation to the church, Borley Place, etc. I look forward to corresponding with you.]
I would like not to know anything else.
Thank you

It was fun to finally land a copy of a children's book I first saw in England during my 1997 trip. The Supernatural by Jon Day only has one paragraph about Borley, but it has the delightful sketch seen here. Unfortunately, it makes it sound like the ruins - and resident ghosts - are still available for viewing.

Richard Cavendish has a two page spread on Price and Borley in The World of Ghosts and the Supernatural. "Price was in little doubt that Marianne was secretly responsible for much of this." He concludes, "A review of the Borley material convicted him of being careless, but found no proof of fraud."

Quite often the reviews in the Bibliography seem negative. That is not intentional. It is simply my attempt to set the record straight when various writers swerve. There isn't room to indicate for each accurate record, "this author did a good job in paragraphs 54 and 99." Nor would it be advisable to repeat authentic sections which have been related elsewhere. An example of this difficulty appears in my review of The Authentic Shudder by Warren Armstrong. Generally speaking, Armstrong has an excellent chapter on Borley. It is surely well-written. It does, however, have a few inaccuracies. Historically, second and third generation writers perpetuate mistakes made by non-original authors, so it is necessary to make the corrections whenever possible. That does not mean the entire work being reviewed is unacceptable. Armstrong touches my heart when he recalls, "I was born in a haunted cottage [in the Chiltern Hills at Caversham Heights, Oxfordshire]. It was not [our ghost] who forced us to look for another house; we were driven to it through sheer despair over the endless stream of sightseers who plagued us every summer weekend and holiday."

Jamas Enright found a short reference to Borley in The Paranormal Source Book by Jenny Randles. She describes Price's investigation as "rather dated in its approach and may be flawed as well."
Jamas then located a book review by Carlos Alvarado which echoes one of my favorite sentiments exactly. He points out that in his Dizionario del Paramormale, Massimo Polidoro "mentions the critique by Hall, Dingwall and Goldney, but conveniently omits any mention of Robert Hasting's counter-critique, or of the subsequent debate."
Alvarado also wrote a review of The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits by our own Rosemary Ellen Guiley. He indicates her coverage is "particularly strong on well-known cases, as seen in entries such as Ballechin House, Borley Rectory...."
In a copy of the Skeptical Inquirer, Jamas found an article by Richard Wiseman and Clive Jeffreys tabling the bias in favor of paranormal events in a handful of children's books. As with the previous article, the authors bring up critiques against Price and Borley, without mentioning any rebuttal. One is reminded that the term skepticism is defined as "an attitude of doubt or a disposition to incredulity either in general or toward a particular object - the doctrine that true knowledge or knowledge in a particular area is uncertain - the method of suspended judgement." It does NOT say, "attack everything and do not allow for opposing viewpoints!"
Finally, Jamas located a review by George Eberhardt for Ghosts and How to See Them by our associate Peter Underwood. Borley is mentioned in passing.

Birgit Brenner was kind enough to send me a 20 by 30 inch enlargement of the Church. It is a duplicate of one she describes as "my favourite one and it hangs in my livingroom." Thank you very much, Brigit!

David Vee is an avid ghost hunter and a musician. His father is related to one of my all-time heros, Bobby Vee!