The place had always borne a reputation for being haunted—it was on that account my parents had got it at so low a rental—and the ghosts seen there (undoubtedly those of Darby and his cat) corresponded in every detail with the phenomena that had so terrified me.
I am aware that many deny the existence of souls in animals—let them do so—but do not let them be too dogmatical, for where Life ends all is mystery.
Still there is an alternative theory to account for the appearance of animal phantoms, which is, I think, quite within the realms of possibility: the black cat I saw, if not the spirit of the one made such hideous use of by the old man, was undoubtedly an elemental—a spirit representative of a popular crime, a vice—Darby’s evil genius—that ever hovered at his heels in his lifetime and is more loth than ever to leave him now that his physical body is dead and his soul earthbound.
HARLEY HOUSE, PORTISHEAD
THE BLACK ANTENNÆ
Technical form of apparitions: Poltergeists (or Elementals)
Source of authenticity: First-hand evidence
Cause of hauntings: Unknown
The following account of a haunted house is taken from the diary of a gentleman—since deceased. The narrator was the owner of the house, and, being a professional man, asked me to give fictitious names, lest the publication of the story should be detrimental both to his practice and to the letting of the place:
“Before I commence my story,” he writes, “I think it expedient to state that both my parents are dead, my father having died many years ago and my mother quite recently. The latter had lived to the very ripe age of ninety, had possessed an unusually strong will, was a most devout Roman Catholic, and took the deepest interest in everything that concerned our welfare. She had two peculiarities: (1) A strange aversion to children; (2) a positive loathing and dread of blackbeetles. The house stands alone, some thirty yards or so from the road, and is well concealed from view by a high brick wall and numerous trees.