Creepy London ghost stories are very popular among the millions of people who have lived, suffered, and died in London, in addition to the creepy haunted places. You may have a hard time picturing the people who lived on after their deaths. Attic and basement spirits scurry about in old buildings in the capital’s historic district. For any of the following ten reasons, you won’t be able to sleep tonight.
The Murdered Brother:
It would be strange if the Spaniards’ Inn near Hampstead, London, didn’t have a spirit or two. The tavern is frequented by a slew of ghouls, including the legendary highwayman Dick Turpin. Originally, it was opened as a bar by two siblings, Francesco and Juan Porero, who sadly loved the same girl. A fight broke out between the two of them over her, with Juan being killed in the process. The inn is supposed to be haunted by the spirit of a man who was cremated on the grounds.
The Victorian Lovers:
If you’re traveling the historic Greenwich foot tunnel under the Thames at night, you’ll want to keep an eye on your surroundings. It’s not uncommon for people to glimpse what seems to be an arm-in-arm Victorian couple heading towards them before they vanish. Young lovers are said to have perished before the bridge was completed. They’re now wandering the tunnel, relieved that they’ve made it safely through.
Jack the Ripper, one of the Creepy London Ghost Stories:
It should come as no surprise that London’s most renowned serial murderer shows up on this list. In the wake of a wave of brutal killings in London’s East End, the world was stunned and the city’s memory was forever altered. Many people think that the Whitechapel Ripper took his own life in 1988, only a few years after the killings were committed. On New Year’s Eve, Big Ben will ring and a mysterious man will fling himself into the whirling water and go straight for hell.
The Butchered Landlord:
Jack the Ripper’s mythology is particularly associated with the Ten Bells in Spitalfields, a tavern in the area. This may have been the last drink for Annie Chapman, one of his unfortunate victims, before she was assassinated. Mary Kelly, another one of his victims, was discovered slaughtered in the area. The pub’s ghost is an elderly guy.
The Victorian-clad phantom would lie next to anyone sleeping upstairs there in the middle of the night, disturbing those who were awakened by its presence. The figure would vanish as soon as they yelled loud enough. A former landlord who was killed with a hatchet in the 1900s is haunting the building.
The Old Woman:
Highgate Cemetery is a dangerous place to explore on your own. As her flowing grey hair cascades behind her, several people claim to have seen the apparition of an elderly lady sprinting between the gravestones. After killing her kids in a passion, she is said to have gone insane. She now passes eternity searching for them in the graveyards.
The Ghost of Handle’s House:
The specter of a lady haunted the Mayfair home of composer George Frideric Handel while work was being done to build the museum in 2001. The atmosphere would deepen and a tall, slender lady would materialize in front of the horrified staff members. Managers finally brought in exorcists because they were afraid the ghoul would harm the company. When Jimi Hendrix lived close in the late 1960s, he supposedly saw this ghost.
Screams in the Dark:
During World War II, one of the biggest single tragedies to affect civilians occurred at Bethnal Green Station. 170 people were murdered in a crash that occurred during an airstrike when people fled for their lives underground due to the entry being shut. People who have died at the station may be heard screaming and children wailing if you’re unfortunate enough to find yourself alone there. Once the noise reaches its peak, it immediately fades away.
The Highgate Chicken:
Continuing the animal theme on a lighter tone, this specter is all that remains of a bizarre experiment that claimed the life of one of England’s great philosophers. While making his way through the snow to Highgate, Francis Bacon wanted to test the theory that the cold would stop the meat from spoiling. He promptly sourced a chicken from a nearby farmhouse, butchered it, and thrust it into the snow. The shock from the cold made Sir Francis gravely ill and he shortly died from pneumonia.
Henry VIII’s Wives:
In London, it’s impossible to go more than a few steps without running into one of Henry VIII’s wives’ specters. It is said that the Haunted Gallery at Hampton Court is named after a spectral woman called Catherine Howard, which is said to float through the gallery at odd hours. She turns around and yells before she vanishes through a door.
Jane Seymour, another of Henry’s wives, is often seen strolling around Clock Court’s courtyard with a lighted torch in hand. Anne Boleyn’s headless specter may be spotted roaming the hallways of the Tower of London and terrorizing visitors. Find More News Here.
The Black Dog of Newgate:
This monstrosity was formerly an inmate at the infamous Newgate penitentiary. He and his fellow prisoners were starving to death amid a horrific famine in London. He was slain by his peers, who ate his corpse to keep their own lives afloat. The other inmates saw a big black dog roaming the prison shortly after he was killed. One by one, the convicts went insane, and the killer received his comeuppance. There is still a dog that walks about the Old Bailey neighborhood on foggy evenings.
