BORLEY RECTORY BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS S-Z

(annotated)

Salter, W.H. Zoar: or the Evidence of Psychical Research Concerning Survival. London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1961. Chapter 5, "Haunts and Poltergeists." (Goss describes this as having "natural explanations of poltergeist phenomena: rats, water, wind, etc.")

Scarborough, Sheryl and McCoy, Sharon. Scary Howl of Fame. New York: Sterling, 1995. p. 48 (One sentence under "Runners-Up: Top Five Famous Haunts." Number 2. "The Borley Rectory, England - England's most haunted house is thought to be home to a number of apparitions, including two headless ghosts and a phantom nun." Present tense leads the reader to believe the rectory is still standing.) **

Scott, A.F. Witch, Spirit, Devil. London: White Lion Publishers, 1974. (Goss say Price compares Borley with Ballechin House under "Witchcraft Today" section.)

Singer, Andre and Lynette. Divine Magic. London: Boxtree Ltd. New York: Viewer Books, 1995. pp. 181-82. (Taken from the Discovery Channel/Channel 4 production of the same name. Oversized with large photo of the ruins. (One long paragraph offers a good synopsis except for last sentence: "When it was eventually demolished, investigators excavated the foundations and uncovered the skeleton of a woman in her thirties." Only a portion of a skull and part of a jawbone was found, and they was presumed to be a woman no older than 30.)**

Smith, Mrs. M. Eric. Murder in the Parsonage. Unpublished. 1929. (Fictional novel.)

Smith, Susy. Haunted Houses for the Millions. Los Angeles: Sherbourne Press, 1967. New York: Dell Publishing Co., 1969. pp. 23-26. (Many errors. Incorrectly starts the story by saying the shell of the burned out rectory was "standing and staring at the world," in 1967. It was razed in 1944. Number of Bull children increases from 14 to 17, and number of rooms increases from 24 to 37. "To my knowledge," she writes, "there was never a clergyman named Carlos who lived in the house." Price suggested that nickname for Henry Bull on page eight of his first book.) **

Smyth, Frank. Ghosts and Poltergeists. Part of series, The Supernatural. London: Aldus Books, Ltd., 1975. The Danbury Press. pp. 109-114. Photos of rectory, jawbone, wall writing, nuns burial, floating brick, digging, dog on the scene, temperature reading, church, and tunnel. (Based on Price at Borley. Accurate. Describes SPR Trio, but not Hastings rebuttal. Concludes that Borley "remains one of the most debated of all ghost stories.")**

Somerlott, Robert. Here, Mr. Splitfoot: an Informal Exploration Into Modern Occultism. New York: Viking Press, 1971. Chapter 5, "Poltergeists." pp. 175-92, 222. (Points out that "forthcoming change. . . . is often the force that raises an occult tide." Post-Victorian England going through two World Wars was definitely a country in change. States that "The Reverend Mr. Foyster at Borley was not as well prepared [to conduct an exorcism] as a Roman Catholic priest would have been." While generally providing an excellent synopsis, some details get slightly askew, such as stating Richard Whitehouse was a Catholic clergyman when he arrived, when he actually took his vows after leaving. Confuses the Smith skull and the skull fragments found by Price. Speculates psychokinesis may have been responsible: "The Borley Rectory . . . would appear to be a chain reaction. Stories of a haunting triggered the minds of 'sensitives' such as Mary Pearson; subsequent strange occurrences, the result of PK, cause collective hallucination and everyone soon began to see and hear things." Discusses SPR trio, but not Hastings. Calls Price a "publicity hound.")**

Somerlott, Robert. Modern Occultism. London: Robert Hale, 1972. See Here, Mr. Splitfoot.

Southall, Richard. How to be a ghosthunter. Llewellyn, 2003. ISBN: 0-73870-3125. (One sentence.)

Spencer, John and Anne. The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits. London: Headline Book Publishing PLC, 1992. pp. 25-30. Three pictures; snapshot of rectory on cover and inside, plus church and Price. ("It may be fairer to say that Borley is...the most investigated, publicized haunted house in England," the text begins. Uses present tense, as if rectory still exists. States Ethel Bull, "maintained her story...to the end. As she herself said, What would be the use of an old lady like me, waiting to meet her maker, telling a lot of fairy stories?'" She died in 1961 at the age of 93. Reports Henning sold the rectory to James Turner, who was helping him write Haunted Borley when the final fire started. Actually, Turner lived in the cottage. Turner sold the site in 1951 to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Bacon. Summarizes digging up of older wall in 1954 by Philip Paul. Brings up the SPR trio, but not the Hastings rebuttal. Never mentions Marianne or Foyster!) **

Spencer, John and Anne. The Ghost Handbook. London: Macmillan/Boxtree, 1998. Chapter Two, "Haunted Churches and Priories." p. 44-6. (Not in the index under Borley, but under Harry Bull. "Whether the now destroyed rectory at Borley was actually the most haunted building in England. . . . it can almost certainly take the title of the most written about haunted building in England." Starts with 1974 exploration by Denny Densham of the BBC that produced audio tapes inside the church of a very supernatural nature. During the same year, Ronald Russell took some interesting photos. "Sandwiched between perfectly normal frames we got 'ectoplasmic' stuff in the churchyard, shadows where no shadows should be, and a thin light near the north door." None of these photos have ever been published. The article does refer to a picture of a "veiled bride" that only appears in two publications by Wesley Downes: The Ghosts of Borley and Essex Ghosts and Hauntings Number 1, Spring 1994. "When the film was developed, they were amazed to find that the photo revealed not the chancel door as it exists nowadays, but a wider, higher and more Gothic style doorway, with the interior of the church well lit and an obscure figure of what appeared to be a veiled bride." Recites spotting of nun in the churchyard by Mr. Cole in 1951. Recounts 1946 incident wherein Sunday school student Kathleen Finch, while waiting for teacher Miss Byford, heard footsteps and sounds of a key in the door, but could not find the teacher. Also tells another story from April 21, 1946 when John Durrant and his fiancee heard similar sounds at the door but could see no one. Describes links between Borley and Langenhoe churches made by Graham McEwan in Haunted Churches of England. Recounts story from 1980s of an elderly couple and their daughter who witnessed pebbles falling, but were not hit. No specific date given. Only time another type of phenomena has been seen at Borley - a UFO. Ros Reynolds and her boyfriend apparently saw a UFO in the sky in 1982. It then hovered in the field and she was allegedly abducted by the aliens.)**

Spencer, John and Anne. The Poltergeist Phenomenon. London: Headline, 1996. p. 140 (One sentence in section on writings. "At Borley Rectory, during the investigation by Harry Price, paper was found floating in the air with indecipherable marks on it, and later paper was found on which the name 'Marianne' was written in a childish hand.") **

Spencer, John; Spencer, Anne. The Unexplained: The Ultimate Gateway to the World of the Unknown. Simon & Schuster Ltd, 1997. p. 157. Chapter 'Haunts,' section titled 'England's Most Haunted House.' One photo of Harry, his wife, and her daughter on the lawn. Attached CD has photo, plus narration of the related text. ("In the 1930s, Borley Rectory in the south of England gained notoriety as one of the world's most haunted houses. It was unusual in the respect that there was no association with any dark events of the past: the Rectory had only just been built when the ghostly goings-on began. Apparitiions of a nun and headless men were seen; a phantom coach and horses would drive past outside; doors would lock and unlock themselves; bells would ring and objects would fly through the air. By the mid-1930s, not surprisingly, no one wanted to live at the Rectory, except, that is, for Harry Price. Price was a famous ghost-hunter, and he moved into the house with a team of investigators. He wrote extensively about the strange occurances that went on at Borley Rectory, although suspicion surrounds his version of events. On one occasion, for example, he spoke of a poltergeist throwing stones, only for a reporter to discover that his pockets were full of pebbles. Borley Rectory did not survive long enough for many other investigations to take place. It burnt down a few years later, with the ghostly nun seen at one of the windows at the height of the conflagration.")

Spencer, John and Wells, Tony. Ghostwatching. London: Virgin, 1994. pp. 70-71. Subtitled The ghosthunters' handbook. Photos of floating brick and Harry Price. (Offers methods and equipment suggested for observing and communicating with spirits. Very condensed description of Borley, it refers readers to the works of Price.)**

Steiger, Brad. The Awful Thing In The Attic. "The Vicious Devil of Borley." St. Paul Minnesota: Galde Press, Inc. 1995, pp. 21-28. (The jacket blurb says the author has written more than 100 books on "the strange and unknown." In this book he, "draws upon his forty years as a psychic researcher to select the eeriest, spookiest, scariest true stories from his own investigations and from his extensive files." For some reason, he uses pseudonyms but not throughout: the Smiths become the Browns, Henry Bull becomes Henry Martin, Harry Bull becomes Lionel (!) Martin, Lionel becomes B. Morrison, but Harry Price, Professor Joad and Captain Gregson retain their names(?). Marianne can't change her name due to the wall writing, so she becomes Marianne Morrison. Price was the first to use the Marianne Morrison name in his 1936 Confessions of a Ghost Hunter. Larry Kettelkamp reused Marianne Morrison in his 1969 book Haunted Houses, and may have been first to use the Henry Martin pseudonym for Henry Bull. Steiger also repeats the Kettelkamp error of giving Adelaide's age as 12. Steiger adds fictional dialogue, places the vault under the house instead of under the church, and generally relates the legend with flair.)**

Steiger, Brad. Strange Guests. "The Vicious Devil of Borley." New York: Ace Books, 1966. pp. 68. (Verbatim transcript used later for The Awful Thing in the Attic.)**

Steiger, Brad. The Unknown. "The Phantom Nun of Borley." New York: Popular Library, 1966. pp. 60-62. (Using real names, a summary of the nun's death and subsequent reappearances. Leaves off in 1929 when Price arrives, and the uninitiated reader would think the place is still standing.)**

Stevens, William Oliver. Unbidden Guests. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1945. Mention on inside dust jacket. pp. 22-29, 40, 71-80, 82, 84, 88, 270, 292, 299-300, 302-303, 305. No pictures. (Takes on the daunting task of retelling the original Price version without varying from the original record. Many others mix up the facts while putting the story in their own words. Defines Price as a "frank skeptic," using the then-unique term "ghost-buster." Describes the story as being about "real ghosts." Divides the story into two parts in two different chapters - the silent nun, and the noisy poltergeist(s). In contradiction to most others who never saw the place, Stevens describes the rectory as "no venerable pile, steeped in history and romance, but a common-place dwelling. . . ." The nun was seen so frequently "that she had long been accepted as the familiar reverant of the rectory." Points out that when the sisters saw the nun in 1900, they and Harry were the only family members living at the rectory. Talks about the "stone with the letter B on it," being the possible burial site of Marie Lairre. He wonders if "some day an investigator may think it worth while to dig under it for the bones. . . ." An actual border stone given to Peter Underwood by James Turner is clearly marked H. B. - as in Henry Bull. Recounts sightings of the nun by Edward Cooper, who once saw her walk across a "sort of manhole with a loose metal cover, flush with the ground. No one could walk on that cover without making it clank. But as she stepped on it there was no sound.") **

Strange Stories, Amazing Facts. "England's Most Haunted House." Pleasantville: Reader's Digest Association, Inc. 1976. pp . 410-11. (Beautiful picture of the Rectory, and one of the most famous wall writing. Concise recap. Listed under "poltergeist" in the index.)**

Sullivan, Paul. See Cooper, Quentin.

Sutton, Charles. "Meditations." Inky Way Annual, Book Two, December 1948. p. 125. An annual collection of articles by and for media-types. (Two paragraphs by the reporter who claimed to have found pebbles in Price's pockets. "Many things happened the night I spent in the famous Borley Rectory with Harry Price and one of his colleagues, including one uncomfortable moment when a large pebble hit me on the head. After much noisy 'phenomena' I seized Harry Price and found his pockets full of bricks and pebbles. This was one 'phenomenon' he could not explain, so I rushed to the nearest village to phone the Daily Mail with my story, but after a conference with the lawyer my story was killed. The News Editor said: 'Bad luck, old man, but there were two of them and only one of you." In a May 23, 1956 letter to Michael Coleman, he corrects his observation to, "I found two of his coat-pockets full of stones." Refuted by Price's secretary Lucy Kaye in a letter published in the March 21, 1949 edition of the Society for Psychical Research Journal.) photocopy

Tabori, Paul. The Art of Folly. London: Prentice-Hall, 1961. pp. 183-4. Philadelphia: Chilton Company, 1961. (Biographer and trustee for Harry Price. "Some years after his death, Harry Price, the best-known and most thorough psychical investigator in Britain, was himself accused of fraud. He was a highly articulate and combative man which perhaps explains why no one dared bring such charges againts him while he was alive. But two members of the Society for Psychical research, Mrs. M. Goldney and Dr. Dingwall, subjected to a minute investigation Price's most famous case - the phenomena of Borley rectory, 'the most haunted house in England.' They came to the conclusion that not only were there no phenomena but that Price himself had 'faked' various appearances, poltergeist disorders, etc. They were equally severe on his other famous experience, the 'Rosalie case' in which a small girl 'materialized' in a suburban home. It would take another book to examine all these charges, the reliability of the witnesses, and the soundness of [their] conclusions. Certainly, many non-spiritualists have attacked and questioned the opinions expressed in their report. But the mere fact that such charges could be brought against the man who was the ghost hunter for several decades shows what confusion and trouble dog all occult investigations." Does not mention Trevor Hall as co-author of "Critical Survey," nor fact Robert Hastings published a book-length rebuttal to their charges in 1969, "An Examination of the Borley Report.") **

Tabori, Paul. Harry Price, the Biography of a Ghost Hunter. London: Athenaeum Press, 1950. London: Sphere, 1974. Chapter 12, "The Borley Story." pp. 254-270. Sphere pp. 8, 241-256. Amongst several photos of Price, is the burial of skull fragments at Liston. (Reports that, "Altogether, up to 1939, fourteen people were reported to have seen [the nun] and three saw the ghostly coach and two a headless man or men." Much physical phenomena took place during the fourteen months before Marianne moved in, while the place was vacant. Tabori points out - as have several others - "the pencil scrawls continued to appear on the walls long after Mrs. Foyster had left...All markings were ringed and dated, [during the Harry Price team investigation] so that there could be no mistake about those that had been there before and those which appeared later." Emphasis Tabori! The author outlines what he hoped would be a third volume on Borley by Price, which was never written. The book was to include paranormal events after the fire, including the mysterious breaking of a knitting needle during a 1947 radio broadcast about Borley; organ playing at the church; and at least two long studies of the wall writings. Tabori seems to offer an invitation when he adds, "Harry Price had not started the actual writing of his third book, but most of his material was at hand and it should not be too great a labor to classify and put it into a final form." He then concludes the chapter by saying, "The story is far from ended and perhaps will never be told in its entirety. But it is a riddle well worth tackling." The Introduction of the Sphere edition contains an annecdote by Dennis Wheatley: Kenneth Allsop, the book reviewer of the Daily Mail, took a photographer. . . .when the photographer developed his photos, the figure of a nun could be quite clearly seen on one of them. He took it to Allsop, who took it to his Editor, but the Editor refused to repint it. "Apparently this photograph WAS published by the Daily Mail, so the anecdote isn't completely accurate." - Richard Humphreys. There is an extensive bibliography of articles and books by Harry Price.)**/**

Tabori, Paul. My Occult Diary. 1951. (Unknown.)

Tackaberry, Andrew. Famous Ghosts, Phantoms, and Poltergeists for the millions. Los Angeles: Sherbourne Press Inc., 1966. pp. 13-14. (One paragraph told as fact. The nun appeared "in solid(?) and opaque form.") **

Taylor, Troy. The Ghost Hunter's Guidebook. Revised. Alton, Illinois: Whitechapel Productions Press, 2001. pp. 47-8 56-61, 83, 106. No photos. Floor plans. (Expanded coverage of Price and Borley from his first edition. Balanced and mostly accurate synopsis. Mentions the controversies, but does not let them detract from his recounting of the basics. "Price even leased the house for an extended, round-the-clock, one-year investigation." While Price may have desired full-time investigators, the diary of the lease by Sidney Glanville shows spotty attendance, seldom lasting more than a day or two at a time. There is no indication from the original records that "Bull. . . .built the rectory on a site believed by locals to be haunted.") ** autographed

Teitelbaum, Michael. Ghosts: and real-life ghost hunters. New York: (Franklin Watts) Scholastic. pp. 6, 49, 55 photos of burned out rectory, p. 49. "Key Dates in Ghost-hunting History." ("1937 - A Year in a haunted house. The Borley Rectory is called 'The Most Haunted House in England.' Famous ghost hunter Harry Price decides to investigate it. He doesn't believe the owner's stories about the ghosts they've seen. But then his team of investigators spend a year recording strange events in the house. Price becomes convinced that the house is haunted." The investigators visited from time-to-time for brief periods only.)

Thurston, Herbert. Ghosts and Poltergeists. Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1954. p. v. Chicago: Gateway paperback edtion, 1954. p. viii. Time-Life "Collector's Library of the Unknown," 1992. (Preface by J.H. Crehan says the author evidently considers the investigation of Borley by Price as "unscientific." Crehan points out "it is significant that he did not, to my knowledge, write a single line on the subject of Borley, even when it was at the height of its fame." Thurston was a Jesuit priest who was "a firm believer in the reality of [poltergeists] and in the impossibility of finding any natural explanation of their recorded activities." Crehan describes a letter from Thurston to Lord Charles Hope disclaiming "any special competence about Borley.")**

Trow, Meirion James. Lestrade and The Sign of Nine. Constable, 1992. ("Trow has written a whole series of Sherlock Holmes pastiches involving the adventures of Inspector Sholto Lestrade. In one of them, there are several references to Borley and Amures Sunex, the British Monk said to haunt it. I think the novel was recently re-issued by Gateway." - David Green)

Turner, James. The Fourth Ghost Book. Editor, contributor. London: Barrie & Rockliff, 1965. London: Pan Books Ltd., 1968. pp. 8-10. (Anthology of 23 fictional ghost stories, including "The Guardian" by Turner. Describes purchase and stay at Borley in the introduction. Misplaces his residence in Suffolk, not Essex. After describing the jawbone unearthed by Price, he reports that "mysterious skulls have turned up in rooms in the rectory," when only one skull was found in a cupboard of the library by Mrs. Smith. "In one sense this was the fictional ghost story come to life, for whether the tales of the haunting of the old rectory are true or not, very many people thought them to be true. And these people, raised on the ghost story, came to Borley to see and experience, as they thought, the 'real' thing for themselves. . . . if you have spent a sleepless night in waiting for the Nun to walk, I have an unhappy feeling that, human nature being what it is, you are not going to return home without having seen or heard something." Although the house was purchased in January of 1947, deep snow prevented them from moving in until May. During the five years at Borley, "we were never left alone. Not, I hasten to add, by ghosts." He and his wife never saw the nun. "It is true there was a phantom cat which chased our old white tom about the place. . . . we did hear pistol shots in the kitchen, and crockery being broken where no crockery was, and the like." The couple bought "Borley and its seven acres to make a living at market gardening, not to discover evidence of an after-life." Gives a condensed history of the Borley legend. "In real life the ghost is a rarity. . . . the Society for Psychical Research has proved that all the manifestations at Borley were imaginations, if not downright lies. It attributes the hauntings to underground tunnels, marsh gas, or pure practical jokes.") **

Turner, James. Ghosts in the South West. David and Charles 1973. p. 96. (Brief owner. Bought property from Rev. Henning, and resold it in 1951. Although he does not refer to it by name, Turner refers to Borley in the first paragraph of the chapter dealing with poltergeists. "I lived, for a short while during the last war, in an old rectory, in Essex, infested with poltergeists. Coals were thrown across landings and down stairs; a key was regularly hurled into the hall from an upstairs room. However many times I returned it to its proper door, it would be thrown down again. Another door, although it was always left unlocked, would persistently lock itself again. The worst of the activities of this mischievous spirit was the pulling of the lavatory chain at two o'clock in the morning, though my wife and myself were the only people in the house and safely in bed. It invariably woke us up until, in the end, we took no notice of it." The Turners did not live in the rectory, but in the cottage. The bits and pieces he includes throughout his works seem to be somewhat at odds with his declaration in Rivers of East Anglia that "In the few years I and my wife lived there we had little or no trouble, from anything paranormal." Since he does not recount the same incidents in each book, one has to read all his Borley material to get a complete picture of their stay.) **

Turner, James. My Life With Borley Rectory. London: The Bodley Head, 1950. (Novelized account of residency interspersed with paragraphs about the Borley Legend. Hall's catalogue calls it, "An imaginative novel written around the author's four-year occupation of the Borley Rectory cottage." Best read after reading Price. Humorous book includes tale of St. Patrick's visit to drive away the devil. Insightful view from a truck driver includes the observation, "Say a bloke gets hold of a house with a so-called ghost in it. Easy enough to fake, I says. And what does he do? Gets hold of some damn fool paper to write it up and there you are, all the world and his wife come flocking out to see the place and before you know where you are, everybody in the kingdom is seeing ghosts in and out of the doors and the gardens." As he is flooded with visitors, Turner points out how they act as if it were public property and people in general had a right to demand whatever they wanted. They expected to have their desires met while destroying gardens and eating fruit off the trees as if it belonged to them. "Now everyone who came to the place took a little bit of brick with them." Although a work of fiction, the author's reactions to the notoriety come through; "One of the things I dislike most about the crowds of people who have come here, the fact that they claim to know more about my home than I do." Lots of thumping, banging, and flying bottles. Peter Underwood explained to Vincent O'Neil 27 August 2002, "This was a fictional satire and not a single word was to be taken as factual as Turner himself told me.") **

Turner, James. Rivers of East Anglia. London: Cassell and Co. Ltd., 1954. pp. 127-8. (Hall's catalogue indicates, "The author briefly describes his experiences as owner of the remnants of Borley Rectory." There is a page and a half about Borley, which is close to the Stour River, as the book is devoted to the history of the rivers in East Anglia. "I bought the [cottage] and grounds with no idea of investigating what was now a very cold scent, and I don't believe either I or my wife gave a second thought to the hauntings while the sale was being negotiated." Turner eloquently describes what it is like to live close to one of the most famous locations in paranormal history. "In the few years I and my wife lived there we had little or no trouble, from anything paranormal. What eventually drove us out were the crowds of sightseers who came at all times of the night and day asking to be shown what was left of the haunted Rectory. Sometimes we would come upon them eating their lunch in the garden. A party of several parsons and their wives just walked in because the gate was open and prepared a picnic in the garden without attempting to discover to whom the place belonged. Parsons, indeed, were the worst offenders. Perhaps because it was called the Rectory they imagined they had some exclusive right of entry. They did not hesitate, even at midnight, to push themselves into the house. Sometimes, at night, torches would flash from the direction of the glebe meadow and 'psychic investigators,' as they called themselves, were obviously about. In the end, when it became almost impossible to go into the garden without a stranger approaching you with the inevitable question, 'Have you seen anything?' we left and moved further along the ridge of high ground of which the hamlet of Borley forms one end." On March 31, 1951 "I signed the agrement to sell the Rectory and moved three miles away.") **

Turner, James. Seven Gardens for Catherine. London: Cassell, 1968. pp 202-203, 224. (First volume of Turner's autobiography. His first mention of Borley details a night he spent there ghost hunting (with no luck). Page 224 describes his purchase of Borley and subsequent move. Publishing information indicates he was editor of The Unlikely Ghosts, which does not include descriptions of Borley.) ** photocopy of pertinent pages Photo by Peter Underwood. Catherine Turner died in 1992, James Turner died in 1975.

Turner, James. Sometimes Into England. London: Cassell and Co. Ltd. 1970. Chapters 1 and 2, appendix. pp. 3-40, 177-78. Photo of cottage and of the author. Second volume of autobiography, following Seven Gardens for Catherine. (Owner of coach-house and upper property, April 1947 - April 1950. The lower half, or "the Bull's kitchen garden," was owned by Tom Gooch. "Tom, like me, did not believe in the ghostly records of Borley Rectory." Purchased from Mr. Russell, it was a, "rather ugly, red-brick cottage, attached to which was what had once been stables with a loft over." It included four acres of orchard. "Although I never saw anything of a ghostly nature in [the] small garden, I did hear voices. . . . they were happy voices. . . . I am inclined, now, to think that they were the noise of aeroplanes. . ." Recounts several paragraphs on the basics of the legend. "When I bought the place I thought all such manifestations were over and done with. As, in fact, they were." Includes valuable insight to what it was like to be part of a public curiosity. "What was left were the people who got the idea that ghosts still roamed about the old ruins. Such people became a great nuisance." Later he wrote, "What we did suffer from. . . all the time we were there at Borley. . . . were the ghost hunters who came without being asked and trampled the garden to bits, stealing the apples and pears and other fruit. Naturally most of them arrived at night. . . ." In June, 1947, the BBC visited for interviews and to watch the digging for treasure belonging to the church. Immediately after the program aired June 29, the "invasion" began. "People were everywhere. It was impossible to keep them out." As difficult as it was to control visitors, Turner hosted a play in the "last days of 1947." It was performed by the "Egoists," an amateur dramatic club from London. Written and directed by Mr. Shepard, it was staged on the nun's walk in hopes she would join in. Turner and a friend "stood at the front gate, armed with hoes, to drive off unwelcome visitors." Period costumes, music, and lighting were all part of the production. "The story of the Waldegraves was unfolded for us in a most expert way but, alas, as a finale, no Nun." Turner includes a lengthy description of efforts to replace the original altar stone. It had been placed into the floor during the reign of King Henry VIII "in order that it might be desecrated by people walking about on it." As Turner and a Mr. Durrant removed the altar in preparation for a remodeled structure, they discovered the tomb of a previous rector, Humphrey Burroughs. With the current rector, Clifford Henning, they cleaned out the dirt above the tomb and created quite a large crowd as they removed several human bones. Digging deeper, they found a vault containing the bones of two bodies, including those of Burroughs. No one apparently went into the tomb (5 by 7 feet) although they thought it contained a tunnel to the old rectory. No tunnel was found leading from the 100 foot deep well, as others have surmised. Turner would have liked to experience phenomena but, "We never, alas, saw any of these marvels. . . . although there were odd noises such as pistol shots, the breaking of crockery when nothing had fallen, and warm spots in beds. . . . that remain unexplained to this day. But such things are not peculiar to Borley Rectory; they happen in most old houses. Indeed, quite three-quarters - if not more - of the stories told about the house have no foundation in fact. These stories, which are pleasant whimsy, tend to grow and grow as different people come to observe, or the look for, the haunted house of the ghost. You do not travel all the way from Leeds and spend the night walking in the lanes and the garden and go back, the next morning, without convincing yourself that you have been privileged to see odd lights, hear odd noises, and smell odd smells." In the appendix, he wrote, "Though, in fact, we saw nothing which could convince us that the ruins of Borley Rectory were still haunted - or had ever been - I am prepared to believe that other people experienced psychic happenings." Dates sometimes confused. Often overlooked, this record by a former owner is quite valuable to the complete story. Appendix is letter from Peter Underwood.) **

Underwood, Peter. The A-Z of British Ghosts. London: Souvenir Press Ltd. 1971. Chancellor Press. 1992. pp. 30-38. ("Earliest" photo of rectory available with entire Bull clan visible. The testimony of Richard Whitehouse "establishes the haunting of Borley Rectory for all time." Captain V.M. Deane told the Ghost Club in 1948 that, "in good light showers of bottles and stones fell amongst observers who saw the phenomena with their own eyes, heard them with their own ears, and handled the objects, thus using three of the five senses." Many other updates from sources not always quoted in other documents. Combines Gazetteer of British Ghosts with Gazetteer of Scottish and Irish Ghosts.)**

Underwood, Peter. Borley Omnibus. See The Ghosts of Borley. (Referred to as a future project in Gazetteer of British Ghosts.)

Underwood, Peter. Borley Postscript. 2002. ("a new volume on this unique haunting, Borley Postscript will comprise new and previously unpublished material and pictures. It will include the script of a BBC broadcast The Haunted Rectory (1947) with contributions from Harry Price, Ethel Bull, the Hennings, the Coopers, Sidney Glanville and Captain Gregson; the script of my lecture An Illustrated History of the Borley Haunting (presented at the Royal Photographic Society, the Society for Psychical Research, The Ghost Club Society and at Cambridge, Sheffield, Bedford and historic Essex Hall in the Strand). There will, also be the full text of an anonymous letter that so intrigued Harry Price (a new Versailles vision, he called it) together with personal recollections of such actors in the Borley drama as Ethel Bull, Guy L’Estrange, James and Cathy Turner and a visit to Price’s home. Borley Postscript is expected to be published early 2002." Information from the Peter Underwood Newsletter.) ** autographed - Review by Vincent O'Neil

Underwood, Peter. Complete Book of Dowsing and Divining. Rider, 1980

Underwood, Peter. Dictionary of the Supernatural. George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd. 1978. Fontana paperback, 1979. pp. 32-33 (apparition), 66-70, 147 (ghosts), 271 (poltergeist), 275-76 (Price). (Hard to find. Concise synopsis lists several witnesses before and after Price. As always, mentions Marianne objectively: "apparently the nexus of much of the alleged phenomena. . .and often suspected of being consciously or unconsciously responsible for some of the incidents." Hints at later contact with her: "[she] now lives quietly in a small American town.")**paperback

Underwood, Peter. Exorcism, Hale. 1990

Underwood, Peter. Gazetteer of British Ghosts. Norwich, Great Britain: Fletcher & Son Ltd. 1971. New York: Walker Publishing, 1975. pp. 30-38. London: Pan, 1973. pp. 34-43. "Earliest known" photo of rectory with seven sisters. (Delightful ghost hunter who talked to many of the witnesses. Of Borley he writes, "Certainly there exists more evidence for this haunting than for any other alleged haunted house anywhere in the world." Has very extensive Borley collection. Book includes a rare early picture of Borley showing the four Bull sisters on the lawn. Interviewed Richard Whitehouse in 1956 (while presumably still a priest), who convinced Underwood the hauntings were real. Interviewed Guy L'Strange. Says some producers from the BBC heard rappings while visiting the site of the burned-out rectory [see Burgess/Eton]. Wrote, "Marianne, who has lived a strange and unhappy life, now resides in Canada, [sic] where, under pressure, she has told conflicting stories of her life at Borley Rectory..." Of the scores of reports included, Borley is one of the longest. As with most objective analyses of Borley, he includes the many evidences before and after Marianne lived there.) **/**

Underwood, Peter. The Ghost Hunter's Guide. Blanford, 1986. Javelin Books, 1986. pp. 35-36, 89-94, 104-5, 109, 110, 112, 113, 129, 145-6, 196. Slightly different and angled photograph of SE view of rectory. (Discusses John Taylor's BBC assignment to Borley in 1976 when he felt "some slightly strange sensation." Includes copy of the "Haunted House Declaration Form" designed by Price, which he drew up as part of his Borley investigation. It also includes a version of Price's "Blue Book: Instructions for Observers" designed specifically for Borley. "Hardly a week goes by when I do not receive a letter asking me something about Borley or telling me something about this strange case." During a seance at Langenhoe Church, the medium was told it was "Connected to Borley Rectory." Photographer Leonard Sewell - who was a former resident of a house built on rectory property - was present. The sitters were told the "Roman Catholic element not so strong as at Borley." Several rectors in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries held the living for both parishes. "From a historical viewpoint it is a fascinating place, but please do not worry the local people with questions and inquiries; they have had more than enough of the Borley ghosts and understandably they now tend to 'play down'; the whole story. And if you do go to Borley, as every ghost hunter should at least once in his life, you will let me know if you encounter anything unusual at that strange place, won't you?") Blanford**

Underwood, Peter. Ghosts and How to See Them. London: Brockhampton Press, 1996. pp. 27, 73-74, 98. First published in 1993 by Anaya Publishers Ltd. Contains a beautiful "exact and unique" model of the rectory. (Two brief paragraphs describing failure of various cameras near rectory and the church.) **

Underwood, Peter. Guide to Ghosts and Haunted Places. Piatkus, 1996

Underwood, Peter. Hauntings - New Light on the Greatest True Ghost Stories of the World. London: J.M. Dent and Sons, 1977. pp. 14, 32, 154, 213-242. (From his introduction, it is clear Borley is the author's favorite in this list of "Top Ten" haunted places. One footnote reads, "We await with interest Trevor Hall's projected book about Marianne Foyster." Indeed we do! Details visits of many investigations during the 1970s, and recounts other unexplained happenings since Marianne left. Includes a chapter on Amherst, but does not link it with Borley. In the introduction he calls the case of the Borley haunting, "the most famous of all." He concludes, "...of all the celebrated cases of haunting... [Borley] stands alone in the annals of psychical research...")

Underwood, Peter. A HOST OF HAUNTINGS - A Shuddersome Book of Ghosts and Ghostly Adventures London, Leslie Frewin, 1973 'The Remarkable Case of Borley Rectory, pp 90-113. Photos of rectory, cottage, and church. (Much on Marianne. "Her true and uncensored story could be the biography of the century!" Emphasis original. Either because Marianne was embarrassed by her American divorce, or because she told Underwood several untruths, he writes, "This unhappy woman who had previously been married in her teens and left by her husband five months later, sometimes passed off her elderly husband as her father; later she married an American who was killed in an accident. Subsequently she married yet again and is today living alone once more." Underwood was in communication with Marianne in the States. This book lays the groundwork for the then to be published The Ghosts of Borley. Apart from that title - also published in 1973 - there is a great deal of information not published elsewhere, especially up until that time. "In 1949, I obtained a professional graphologist's analysis of the Borley writings and his detailed and considered opinion was that all the 'messages' were by the same hand (with a single exception)." Marianne was out of town or had left Borley when some of the writings appeared. The opening paragraph describes how the SPR report of 1956 was rebutted in 1965, thus resulting in "the first time that the SPR has ever 'reversed its findings' in this way." Underwood describes his visits to the scene and his many interviews with witnesses. "I heard the story [of sighting the nun July 28, 1900] from Ethel's lips on several occasions." He puts a much earlier date to a sighting of the nun by Henry Bull - 1890 - and reports Henry and his wife "did not discuss such matters with their children." He reviews the sightings by Shaw Jeffreys in 1885/86 who was "quite emphatic" that he had seen the nun. Mrs. Smith gave conflicting testimony about her experiences, and told the author she was convinced that Price, "believing that he gave the case too much publicity, wanted it all to stop. She maintained that she could bring rest to him and to her husband by doing what she could to suppress the case." Underwood describes how "Dozens of bottles found their way into the rectory and smashed themselves to pieces in front of [several] witnesses." Underwood has told me he owns one of the materialized bottles, and the envelope with writing on it. He also has a verbatim copy of Glanville's Locked Book. He recounts many stories from people who visited since the fire and experienced unusual phenomena.) **

Underwood, Peter. Nights in Haunted Houses. Headline, 1994.

Underwood, Peter. No Common Task: Autobiography of a Ghost Hunter. London: Harrap Limited, 1983. pp. 70-72, 120-121, 143-144, etc. ("Over the years I have contacted and personally interviewed practically everyone who has had anything to do with Borley, and the overall picture is that the Rectory itself, the Rectory site, the cottage, the church, the churchyard and in fact the whole area has been the scene of inexplicable happenings." He hopes the bone fragments will some day be subjected to scientific dating. Heard footsteps on Nun's Walk twice during 1947 overnight stay on the grounds. "I also have in my possession a number of photographs from Haunted Borley, several of which seem to depict a figure or figures where no actual person could in fact be. One, interestingly enough, shows a figure that corresponds with a similar one seen in the same place, more than half a century earlier." He does not publish those pictures, but does include "A rare pictorial representation of the Borley Haunting showing Borley Rectory, the phantom nun and the ghostly coach-and-horses." He considers The Ghosts of Borley the definitive work but admits, "Perhaps the final chapter of the story... has yet to be written." He concludes "...98 percent of reported hauntings have a natural and mundane explanation, but it is the other 2 percent that have interested me...")**

Underwood, Peter. Peter Underwood's Guide to Ghosts and Haunted Places. London: Judy Piatkus Ltd. 1996. pp. 5, 15, 37-8. Photo of church by Stewart Evans. ("When I visited Borley. . . .in 1947, the thought never occurred to me that in the years that followed I would contact and personally interview practically everyone who had ever had anything to do with the most haunted house in England." Recounts visit to the church by John Taylor when electric field detectors were taken and nothing showed up on the machines, but the investigators felt "strange sensations," and a "feeling of strength." Main focus is on the church which he believes might "well be conducive to psychic activity.")**

Underwood, P., Tabori, Paul. The Ghosts of Borley. David and Charles, 1973. (Fascinating presentation of claims and counter-claims. Many interesting photographs. Erroneously gives my name as "Vernon" and says Robert O'Neil was killed "trying to save a child in a road accident." I imagine Marianne gave him the wrong name in order to protect me, and invented the early demise of my father to avoid the embarrassment of the divorce. Mentions a July 5, 1956 letter from Marianne several times, but does not say to whom it was addressed. This was more than two years after his letter requesting permission to print Fifteen Months, so they probably exchanged several letters. Adds many details not published elsewhere, including addresses in Ireland. Mentions that neighbors at Deben Avenue in Martlesham remembered the O'Neils. Indicates Paul Tabori was literary executor of the Harry Price estate. Section on tunnel exploration.)**

Usher, Frank. See Canning, John.

Vaughn-Thomas, Wynford. Trust to Talk. London: Hutchinson, 1980. pp. 226-30. (In discussing Harry Price, writes that for three months "the irrepressibly enthusiastic Harry [was] always ready to drag me around that dangerous corner that divides reality from the dream world." During a visit to the ruins, he writes he was witness to the levitating brick, although his name does not feature in any other record of the event. "In the sinister dusk, with a cold wind sighing in from the wide, level marshlands, we walked among the ruins. Suddenly, a dark object rose in front of me, seemed to pause for a moment in mid-air and then fell at my feet. Harry shouted, 'Did you see that? You're lucky. On your first visit, too! You've seen an instance of spontaneous levitation.' The object was nothing more than an old brick, and it had certainly shot into the air. But where exactly was Harry in the semi-darkness? Oh, unworthy doubt, for I immediately featured in Harry's next book; true only in a footnote but there I stand as an unimpeachable witness to the Case of the Levitated Brick." Although the footnote mentioned cannot be found, and the general flavor of these pages is light, they must have some bearing in reality, as the book is autobiographical. The author was a respected BBC corresondent for the BBC during WWII.) ** photocopy

Verlag, Karl Muller, editor. PHANOMENE - Ratsel dieser Welt - Auáerirdisches. Danziger Straáe 6, 91052 Erlangen, Germany. 408 pages, hardcover. ISBN: 3-86070-680-2. pp. 92-157. Borley: Eine Spukgeschichete - Borley: Die Spannun Steight - Spuk Im Pfarrhaus - Spuk in der Borley-Kirche. (Possibly one other chapter. No individual authors credited. Identical layout to Fact or Fantasy - compelling collection of awe-inspiring tales, which in turn originated as the partwork The Unexplained. ) ** color photocopy

"Waldegrave, Sir Edward." Bio. Unknown source. p. 470-71. ("Politian.") ** photocopy

Wallechinsky, David - Wallace, Irving - Wallace, Amy. The Book of Lists. William Morrow, 1977. New York: Bantam Books, 1978. p. 447, "10 Ghastly Ghosts," by Philip Cunliff-Jones. (Amy Wallace is listed as a psychic. The author makes a critical mistake regarding Price's lease. He "lived there for 10 years." Adds new twists to the "floating brick" photograph: "a brick hovered unassisted in the air for a period of time, and sounds were heard which were thought to be unconnected with the work in progress.") ** Bantam

Waters, Colin. Sexual Hauntings Through the Ages. Chapter 36, "The Phantom Groper of Borley Rectory." New York: Dorset Press, 1994. pp. 135-137. Originally published as Familiar Spirits: Sexual Hauntings Through the Ages. (Unusual tabloid style not copied anywhere else. "...one of the ghosts was known to sexually molest sleepers in one particular bedroom." The fantasy continues: "...the covers of the bed would be lifted and a ghostly hand would caress their legs and genitals." Also incorrectly states that the wall writings told of the nun buried in the cellar. Unfortunately, the author states in the introduction that "only factual cases have been included.")**

West, D.J. Psychical Research Today. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., 1954. p. 123. Hall's catalogue says this page details "One of the early exposures of Borley.")

West, H. Mills. East Anglia Tales of Mystery & Murder. Newbury: Countryside Books, 1996. Chapter Twelve, "The Borley Hauntings." pp. 83-91. One photo, repeated on cover. ("Did the fire that gutted the rectory in 1939 get rid of the ghosties, I wondered." Puts number of rooms at 35 istead of 24, and number of Bull children at 17 instead of 14. Also incorrectly states Smith invited Price. Explains how Price, "with his usual commitment to professional integrity," searched the house. Tells tale of a young maid living with Felix Bull nearby, including incident of a toothglass that flew while Smith and Price were visiting. She allegedly left the scene and became a medium in London. Mistakenly reports Lionel "gave up the diary after several months simply because there was too much . . . to record." Good condensation that ends with a trip the author must have made to the site. A "Friendly Native," talked to him about his visit, and when asked "Is the nun still among the ruins?" the local replied, "No, I keep her in my owd shed. Jest in case some other fule come along askin' silly questions.")**

Whitaker, Terence. England's Ghostly Heritage. London: Robert Hale, 1989. (Mentioned by John and Anne Spencer in The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits as discussing history of site. Two pages.)

Whitaker, Terence. Ghosts of Old England. London: Robert Hale, 1987(?).

Whitaker, Terence. Haunted England. London: Dorset Press, 1990. Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1987. Reprint of Ghosts of Old England. pp. 142-45. ("A great deal - too much in fact - has been written about Borley Rectory. Here was a good haunting which was exploited in the most cynical fashion until it became history's most profitable ghost story." Nine mostly accurate paragraphs. Indicates BOTH Henry and Harry would "spend hours sitting in the summerhouse, smoking their pipes and watching for the nun which they claimed to have seen a number of times." (?) The voice that called "Marianne" becomes "disembodied female voices." As with many re-tellings, this one indicates the Foysters "fled," when they actually stayed five years, and only left after Lionel collapsed in the pulpit. Puts contemporary sightings of the nun "usually on 12 or 29 July."(?) Mentions council houses which now occupy the property, so they must have been built prior to 1987.) **

White, Michael. Weird Science. New York: Avon, 1999. p. 123. (Explains away all types of paranormal phenomena, including ghosts, which "have no material form in the physical world." About Borley it says, "In recent times there have been some famous hoaxes. 'The most haunted house in England,' Borley Rectory in Essex, which burned to the ground in 1939, was supposed to be the site of some five thousand paranormal incidents during a period of a few years. It was made famous when the researcher into the paranormal, Harry Price, investigated the building and wrote a best-selling book about it called The Most Haunted House in England, published in 1940. During the 1950s the SPR investigated Price's claims and revealed that they were entirely faked." No mention of Hasting rebuttal. Source for claiming 5000 incidents not cited.) **

Wilson, A.J. The Battle of Borley. Hull, 1980. (Typescript only.)

Who Was Who, 1941-1950. "Harry Price." London: Black and Co. (Short bio. mentions books.) ** photocopy

Williamson, Chet. City of Iron. New York: Avon Books, 1998. Fiction. First part of The Searchers Trilogy. "The basic premise of the series is that three CIA operatives, who, unbeknownst to themselves, are asked by a rogue CIA director to investigate paranormal activities and claims and not to find out the truth, but to debunk them and send him reports regarding these claims. . . .Famous cases, such as the investigation into the Borley Rectory hauntings, are discussed. . . ." - Review by Timothy Binga ("The buildings had sat vacant now for nearly three months, while the tabloid press [referred to them as] 'Melton's Madness - America's Borley Rectory!'" p. 108. "You know, this very well might be America's Borley Rectory, like the Inner Eye said. Because what people tend to forget is that Borley - the most haunted house in England - was a total hoax. Even the Society for Psychical Research said that there wasn't a thing that happened at Borley that couldn't have a rational, non-supernatural explanation. And all the things that couldn't be explained were probably done by Harry Price. He was the ghost hunter who built his reputation on Borley." p. 112. "No, I believe Melton when he said they investigated the light. They just didn't do it the right way. . . Borley Rectory. More so than they think?" p. 119. "The comparison to Borley made me think of the train. That's how I figured out the lights. . . .There were lights in Borley, too. . . .and no one knew ehere they came from, either. It turned out they were the reflections of the headlight of a train that wasn't really visible from inside the room, and not at all from down on the ground. That's why they appeared about the same time every night." p. 184. In The Ghosts of Borley, Peter Underwood wrote about "a strong white light" witnessed by two members of the Ealing Society 20 August 1949: "There were no trains passing at the time nor any traffic on the road past the rectory site." p. 176.) **

Wilson, Colin. Ghost Sightings. New York: Sterling Publishing Company, 1997. p. 96, 135-6, back cover. (Condensation of the essentials. "It is a pity that Price's love of publicity and his blatant showmanship, led to the subsequent 'debunking.' The evidence shows that Borley Rectory was, as he claimed, the most haunted house in England.")**

Wilson, Colin. Ghosts and the Supernatural. Dorling Kindersley, 1998. p. 8, 9, 12-13, 23. (In his Spring and Summer 1998 review for the Ghost Club Society, Robert Snow wrote, "Dorling Kindersley has produced a series of introductory volumes under the collective title of The Unexplained on 'Mysteries of the Universe,' 'Psychic Powers,' 'UFOs and Aliens,' and one by our vice president Colin Wilson on 'Ghosts and the Supernatural.' Richly illustrated in colour throughout its 40 pages, measuring 9 inches by 11 with laminated covers, it is obviously aimed at the younger generation yet it contains some very interesting photographs including one of ghost hunting apparatus and one of Borley Rectory - with purple curtains inserted.. Full of fascinating and little known facts this is a book that deserves the widest possible readership." Includes paragraph on Borley and photo of Rectory with etching of a nun superimposed. Credits a visitor with saying. "I was glad to get away." Sample of wall writing and explanation.) **

Wilson, Colin. THE OCCULT - A History. New York: Random House, 1971. pp. 494-498. New York: Vintage, 1973. pp. 492-96. (In discussion on Price, succinctly reviews Borley history. Outlines charges and countercharges. Reviews confusing claims by Mrs. Smith, who lived at Borley prior to the Foysters. Hall's group apparently "looked through the files of letters written by the Smiths to Price in 1929, [and] discovered that both the Smiths seemed to be convinced that there were ghosts. 'Borley is undoubtedly haunted' said the reverend Smith." Determines the main purpose of the Hall trio "was to discredit Price." States: "Unless someone can produce a book proving that Price was a pathological liar with a craving for publicity, it is necessary to suspend judgement.") **

Wilson, Colin. Poltergeist - a study in destructive haunting. St. Paul, Minnesota: Llewellyn Publications, 1993. pp. 308-318, 392. (Gives credence to Harry Price. "In spite of the 'debunking' that has taken place since his death in 1948, it remains one of the most interesting hauntings of the twentieth century." To take the Hall/Dingwall/Goldney attack at face value "is to ignore the fact that hauntings were common long before Price came on the scene, and have continued since he left. Anyone who feels that the SPR survey proves that Price was a liar should read the long account of Borley in Peter Underwood's Gazetteer of British Ghosts, with Underwood's own first-hand reports from interviews with witnesses." Of Price he concludes, "It would be of no advantage to him to pretend the Borley phenomena were genuine when they were not." Lengthy retelling of the legend supports paranormal nature of events. "Mrs. Smith wrote a letter to the Church Times in 1929 saying she did not believe the house to be haunted, but this seems to have been a belated attempt to stem the flood of sensational publicity." Dismisses idea Lionel "would attempt to fake disturbances based [on the Amherst] experience." Recounts 1951 visit of Andrew Green and the Ealing Psychical Research Society, as described in Our Haunted Kingdom. One member of the Society saw a phantom. Wilson describes Marianne as a "powerful medium," and concludes other investigations may not have been as successful in witnessing phenomena because they did not have a "medium present to provide the energy." Recounts at length the visits of Stephen Jenkins. In September of 1979, a photograph of Jenkins was taken by his wife which later showed "faces among the trees close to the church." On Sunday, August 28, 1977, at 12:52 p.m., Jenkins saw four men "instantaneously" appear, carrying a coffin on the road north of Belchamp Walter Hall. His wife provided a sketch of what she also clearly saw. Jenkins connected this event to Borley, as both were related to the same ley line. Jenkins added, "There seems to be no local legend of a phantom funeral." This is the only drawing in Wilson's classic book, and is used by permission.) **

Wilson, Colin. Mammoth Book of the Supernatural. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers Inc., 1991. Also published in Great Britain. pp. 3, 233-240. (Author explains how The Most Haunted House in England was one of the first books he read on spiritualism. Refers doubters to Underwood's Gazetteer of British Ghosts. States that Price had "no advantage...to pretend the Borley phenomena were genuine when they were not." Confirms that L'Strange was a justice of the peace. Points out "that not all people can see ghosts," which explains why many focus on Marianne's supposed psychic ability. Wilson says, "The reason the subsequent investigation [after Marianne left] was so unsuccessful was that there was no medium present to provide the energy." Recounts 1977 sighting of phantom funeral. Very concise synopsis of Borley.)**

Wilson, Colin & Damon & Rowan. The Giant Book of Mysteries. London: Parragon 1995. Sydney: The Book Company, 1995. pp. 216-26. Unique photo from southeast gate. Combines chapters from five Magpie books: Strange but True, True Ghost Stories, Weird News Stories, Strange Tales and Weird Mysteries, Cults & Fanatics. (One of the most accurate condensations for an article of this length. Borley is told within the context of defending Harry Price. While admitting Price was not perfect, the authors point out, "It would be of no advantage to him to pretend the Borley phenomena were genuine when they were not. His reputation was based on his skepticism as much as on his support of the reality of psychic phenomena. Possibly - like most of us - he was capable of stretching a fact when it appealed to his romanticism, but in the case of Borley, there was no need to stretch the facts. The haunting of Borley does not rest of Price's evidence alone; there are dozens of other witnesses, such as Guy L'Strange - or Dom Richard Whitehouse. . . . who witnessed just as many incredible occurrences. . . . If Price invented the ghosts of Borley, he must have been in collusion with a remarkable number of people." In responding to the Hall/Dingwall/Goldney attack of 1956, the Wilsons write: "Their overall conclusion is to. . . .regard the haunting of Borley as a fairy story. But this is to ignore the fact that stores of hauntings were common long before Price came on the scene, and have continued since he left it. Anyone who feels that the SPR survey proves that Price was a liar should read the long account of Borley in Peter Underwood's Gazetteer of British Ghosts, with Underwood's own firsthand reports from interviews with witnesses." The only questionable sentence that appears in this narrative is the generally held view that "In 1935, the Foysters decided they had had enough, and moved." They only moved because Lionel collapsed in the pulpit, but this fact is not generally available to the public nor to other writers - it is explained in Marianne's previously unpublished notes. Another controversial paragraph refers to the widely held view that Marianne was psychic - something I never witnessed, but which she could have possessed. If she was psychic - particularly while at Borley - the Wilson finding is extremely interesting: "Marianne Foyster was a far more powerful medium who changed the character of the haunting into poltergeist activity. . . .The reason that the subsequent investigation of Borley during Price's tenancy was so unsuccessful was that there was no medium present to provide the energy.") **

Wood, Robert. The Widow of Borley. London: Duckworth, 1992. (Prints the same picture used by Hall showing Marianne with a baby. Here, the child is identified. Intense attack on character of Price and Marianne. Review by Joan Smith)**

Woodruff, Maurice. Probing the Unknown. New York: Cowles Book Company, 1971, pp. 177-79. No photos. (The author claims to have visited twice, but still makes several mistakes. The rectory "was built in the fourteenth century." It was built in 1863. A monestary may have been built on the site about 1362. It was "pulled down within the last twenty years." After the 1939 fire, the remains were leveled in 1944. By his math, it would have been torn down in 1951. "There was always a nun in attendance." Never. "At least three of these nuns lost their lives in the house." None. "It was decided to pull down the rectory becuase it had fallen into a state of bad repair." The fire gutted it. "Every time anybody has tried to build on that land since then a situation has occurred to prevent it. No one has yet been able to complete a building." At least three cottages have been built, and none of the residents have reported anything paranormal. Three weeks after his mother died, he drove past and was "surprised it had burned down." But he just said it had been razed. Concludes with the remarkable idea that his mother's unhappiness "made this (the fire) come about.") **

Woog, Adam. Poltergeists. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc. 1995. Part of "Great Mysteries: Opposing Viewpoints," series. pp. 24, 42-48, 64. Very good photo from southeast gate, and after the fire. Also one of Price at a different location. ("One of the more common violent actions attributed to poltergeists is fire setting. On occasion this has resulted in entire houses burning down, as was the famous case of Borley Rectory in England." How common is fire setting? Uses present tense in some case, as if rectory was still standing. "England's Borley Rectory is perhaps the most famous site of poltergeist activity in the world. It was researched with all the tools investigators had at thier disposal, yet remains a mystery." Wording gives the wrong impression Price "moved in with a team," when various members actually only visited from time to time. Mentions the 1956 article by Dingwall/Goldney/Hall without mentioning rebuttal by Hastings in 1969.) **

The World's Strangest Mysteries. New York: Gallery Books, 1987. An imprint of W.H. Smith Publishers. First published in 1987 by Octopus Books, Limited, London. pp. 329-30, 359- 61. Photo from southeast gate, and of digging after the fire. (No author or editorial credits given. Probably an omnibus of previously published articles in various formats. Borley discussed as parts of two separate chapters dealing with "Ghost and Ghouls," and "Favourite Haunts." By condensing the history, the facts get twisted, such as making it appear that "Twenty people saw a nun on the lawn" simultaneously instead of en toto.)

Young, B.A. "Two approaches to the supernatural." Book reviews. Punch. 18 July 1962. p. 103. Includes review of The Spiritualists by Trevor Hall, Duckworth Publishing. ("Threvor H. Hall is one of the three officers of the Society by whom the case of Borley Rectory . . . and its dubious imresario Harry Price was systematically reduced to ruins. He nw casts an equally cold eye on Sir William Crookes and . . . Florence Cook")

Young, Caroline. The Usborne Book of the Haunted World. London: Usborne Publishing, 1995. EDC Publications, 1996. p. 6. (Oversized children's book. Short, but good synopsis. Mistakenly concludes, "Even though only ruins of Borley rectory remain today. . .")**

Young, Caroline. Ghosts (Usborne Hotshots). London: Usborne Publishing, 1996. Tulsa: EDC publishing, 1996. p. 8. (Tiny children's book with many drawings including a map, the nun and the coach on the page devoted to Borley. Mistakenly places site in Suffolk, not Essex. Most blatant mistake is saying "Borley Rectory is a ruin today, but you can still visit it. . .") **

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