The Ghost of Easter Past

The town is awash with breathless reports: Jesus Christ has returned. The faithful flock to town in the hope of catching a glimpse of their saviour, and all who have seen him preach agree that this man, bearing all the signs of recent crucifixion, cannot be other than the genuine Son of God.

Possibilities

1 Jesus Vasquez, a carpenter from Silver Springs, Fl., has been imbued with an otherworldly spirit, giving him supernatural endurance and magnetism, at the cost of his sanity. He now believes himself to be the manifestation of Jesus Christ. He preaches based on his recollections from Sunday School and his personal prejudices, and his words are given weight by the spirit which is bound to him. The stigmata were self-inflicted with a nail gun. Analysis of recordings of his teachings shows them to be simplistic and contradictory, but it is almost impossible to remain unconvinced when hearing them from Vasquez himself.

2 Although thousands claim convincingly to have seen Jesus in person, he proves remarkably difficult for the sceptical to track down. It emerges that the faithful have met Jesus, not on this plane, but in waking dreams. A creature of the Dreamlands is seeking to open a way through to the waking world. By calling upon the Christian faithful, who willingly synchronise their dreams and mobilise their mental energies for the promised second coming, it is building considerable power.

3 What we know as “God” is actually the shattered remnants of a Great Old One, forced by its enemies to take on a fragile human form, which was crucified and its essence all but destroyed. Over two millennia, it has regained sufficient psychic energy to manifest again as Jesus. While, to some ways of thinking, it is the second coming, this Jesus represents only the death throes of his “father”. The activity of the shade of an Old One will summon others to feed on it. The world will likely not survive such an occurrence.

© Barbara Robson and Stuart Barrow

Sister Rosetta

Dr. Matthew Devereaux is a well-known psychologist. He also works with a local paranormal research institute, providing specialist knowledge when called for. He believes that paranormal phenomena have rational explanations that can be discovered through scientific means. This does not mean, however, that he believes that the rational explanation is necessarily something that science is already familiar with.

Recently, Dr. Devereaux was investigating supernatural occurrences at a local cemetery. He was the only survivor of his team, and was found clinging to a large vine-covered stone gravestone in the shape of a cross.  He was half hysterical, muttering incoherently and behaving in an alarming manner. He has been sent to his own sanatorium for observation, and his co-workers are unsure if he’ll ever recover. He only says one thing that anyone can make sense of: “Sister Rosetta.”

Possibilities

1 Sister Rosetta is a nun at the church the graveyard is located at. She also isn’t particularly pious or chaste; she’s been using the graveyard to have secret meetings with her multiple lovers, some of whom are quite influential figures.

Dr. Devereaux’s team caught her and one of them (a particularly violent underworld figure) in a compromising position. Being the only one with the presence of mind to hide before he was noticed, Dr. Devereaux watched helplessly as the sister and her lover calmly and systematically murdered all the witnesses.  The doctor is suffering from shock, and will recover in time.

2 The cross that he was found clinging to marks the grave of Rosetta de Mar, who was a nun in the late eighteen hundreds. She was found murdered in the graveyard where she was later buried, and the murderer was never caught.

Research will show that since that time, the graveyard was thought to be haunted by her angry spirit. It was clear that something was attacking people foolish enough to be in the graveyard at night, particularly young men. Unknown to anyone on Dr. Devereaux’s team, a young man, Charles l’Orosi (an employee of the institute), is a direct descendant of Sister Rosetta’s murderer. The enraged spirit attacked what she perceived to be her enemy, killing him. Then she turned on the others who tried to help him. Dr. Devereaux used her gravestone as cover, and thus survived her wrath; but he did not escape unscathed.

3 Sister Rosetta is a gifted psychic employed by the institute and was part of Devereaux’s team. The graveyard was being raided on a regular basis by a pack of Ghouls in search of their next meal. The team interrupted them, and the Ghouls were only too happy to take something a tad fresher. Sister Rosetta became hysterical shortly before the massacre (the result of a premonition), and fled before the ghouls arrived. Currently, she is wandering around the countryside with stress-induced amnesia.

© Megan McKnight

Word from On High

The 21st Day Redemptionist Church is a large and popular religious organization. Led by the charismatic “Dr. James”, the Church’s radio ministry and large tent revivals have attracted national media attention. The revivals are especially popular, featuring the usual speaking in tongues, faith healing, and testimonials, as well as singing and prayer. Dr. James (who claims to have a doctorate in divinity) then concludes his tent revivals with what he calls his “Two Minutes of Meditation on the Word” where he and the flock share two minutes of silence to, ostensibly, meditate on the word of God.

Dr. James’ sermons have taken a different tone of late and his followers have been becoming more insular. The Doctor’s sermons have become more apocalyptic and full of fire and brimstone then they used to be and his revivals have become angry affairs, full of shouting about doomsday and disparaging of those who have not accepted The Word. Popular opinion has turned against the 21st Day’ers because of this, which has only added fuel to the already smoldering Redemptionist pyre.

Possibilities

1 Dr. James is a two-bit hustler with a criminal record. He is dodging the law and ripping off his followers. The doomsday bit is an attempt on his part to bolster flagging attendance and bring in some additional revenue. His whole goal is to accumulate enough money to leave the country for South America, a goal he is close to realizing. He has one small problem: his Armageddon sermons have particularly inflamed Walter Simms, one of the good doctor’s long-time followers. Simms suffers from occasional psychotic breaks and during his next episode he will decide to leave for heaven a little early, taking his beloved spiritual adviser with him.

2 Dr. James has slipped off of the edge of sanity. He believes that the last days are coming and that he and his followers need to make a bold move to proclaim their devotion to God. During his next sermon at the 21st, the parishioners may notice some odd odors inside the tent.

The whole structure will have a strong chemical smell. This is because the good doctor and his right-hand man, Walter Simms, have doused the entire structure, as well as the ground underneath the plastic tarps on the floor, with a powerful chemical accelerant. People entering the tent may notice the ground feels a bit muddy, though it didn’t rain the night before. Walter will stand at the back of the tent, closing and tying the flaps after the last attendee enters.

The sermon will be particularly inspired, espousing the congregation to exultations of love and devotion to God. Then, during the final two-minute meditation, Dr. James will signal Simms. They will then push the candleholders near them into the highly flammable tent walls. the interior of the tent will become a riot of flames and flailing, panicked bodies. People caught inside will only have seconds to get out before being crushed in the press of bodies, overcome by fumes, or burned alive.

3 Dr. James has fallen under the influence of a diabolic avatar of Nyarlathotep masquerading as Walter Simms, an unemployed auto worker. The Outer God has been slowly turning the 21st Day Redemptionists to the worship of the Old Ones. Simms’ sway over Dr. James isn’t complete and if he can be removed from his position of influence for at least two weeks the doctor will regain his senses. Simms is pushing the Doctor toward more and more violent and angry sermons. His end goal is known only to him. Perhaps he wishes to start another cult, to push this church to a violent Waco-style end, or to lead the Doctor into performing abhorrent ceremonies that will summon an elder power?

© Matt Cowger

Grave Tidings

The investigators are begged to come to a small, isolated, backwater town by a native of the area, who relates an intriguing tale of dark forces.

He explains that for the last year a ghostly gravedigger has haunted his town. The gravedigger’s presence is mainly known by the freshly dug graves which are discovered in the town graveyard every few months. However, on two occasions, residents of the town have seen some manner of ghostly apparition working through the night in the graveyard. Neither resident stayed long enough to take a close look.

Whenever a new grave appears in the graveyard, someone dies in the town within a week. Thus, the ominous appearance of a new grave terrifies the townsfolk. One person at a time, the town is being destroyed.

The investigators won’t be told the townspeople’s unfortunate reaction to these occult events. At first, they remained within their houses whenever a new grave appeared, each hoping to hide from fate. However, recently, things have taken a more violent turn. The last few times a new grave appeared, the townsfolk began to murder each other, in order to ensure that the grave has an occupant.

The night that the investigators arrive in town, a new grave appears, forcing the investigators to deal with murderous townspeople as well as the force at the centre of the mystery.

Possibilities

1 The ghostly gravedigger is truly a restless spirit. In life, he was Robert Took, who was the mortician for the town half-a-century ago. However, he did not respect his job, or the clients that he cared for, and thus he frequently buried several people in the same grave, to save time, and often omitted gravestones and coffins because it seemed financially sound to do so. After he died, Took’s wrongdoing gnawed away at him, and so he has returned to do a proper job, digging a new grave whenever someone is destined to die.

Took is not malicious, but his presence has affected the town itself. He only digs a grave when he senses that a death is to occur, but recently his digging graves has become the impetus for those deaths.

If Robert Took’s wrongs can be undone, he will finally be able to rest. This will require finding out about Took, perhaps by consulting records or speaking with the ghost itself, and then repairing them. This will likely result in the grisly task of digging up most of the graveyard, and reburying the corpses properly.

2 The ghostly gravedigger is a spirit, but it has been purposefully raised by a group of malicious cultists. A group naming itself the Black Circle operates out of an abandoned house near to the graveyard. When they began to worship the Black Man, they found a need for sacrifices. They raised the spirit of a dead mortician, and whenever they needed a sacrifice for the Black Man, they would dig a fresh grave, and then make sure that someone died before week’s end.

So far, the cultist’s plan has gone perfectly. Several people have seen the ghostly gravedigger, and thus added credence to the existence of a genuine supernatural phenomena. The recent, murderous actions of the townspeople have pleased the cultists immensely, for the townspeople are now doing half their work for them.

If the cultists are dealt with, the ghostly gravedigger returns to his just rest, for it is only their necromantic rituals which tie him to this world.

3 The ghostly gravedigger is a holographic projection placed by the mi-go. Last year, the unearthly insects discovered an immensely valuable vein of minerals beneath the town. Unfortunately, its location made it impossible for the mi-go to mine it in secret. They were afraid to destroy the town because they knew that such an action would not go unnoticed, and that they would be driven away before they could mine more than the smallest fraction of the minerals.

So, the mi-go began a campaign of terror to force the humans to abandon the town. Every few months, they would dig a grave, and then ensure that there was a body to fill it within the next week. Twice, they used alien holographic techniques to allow townspeople to see the ghostly gravedigger. They understood the superstitious mindset of the townspeople well, and very soon, the legends of the ghostly gravedigger had taken on a life of their own.

If the mi-go can be driven away, the appearances of the apparition will end, and, perhaps, the town will return to normal.

© Shannon Appel

The Wall of Bones

Unique in England, the carefully-stacked wall of bones, almost 7ft high by 5ft wide, divides the cavernous crypt into two aisles, stretching into the gloom. To either side, shelves full of human skulls cram the walls from floor to vaulted roof. Records of the crypt can be traced back for centuries, but there is some confusion over the origin of its contents. Some say that the bones came from the numerous battlefields around the area, others are of the opinion that the bones were exhumed from a plague-pit.

The guardian of the crypt is an elderly monk; he is slightly hunched and slow in his mannerisms, his face hidden by a heavy cowled robe. He rarely speaks but instead nods and points to items of interest. The public who pay to see the bones think it`s all part of the act. Indeed, his eccentricity adds to the popularity of the crypt as a gruesome tourist attraction. There is an elaborately carved chair near the bones - for a small fee people are allowed to sit in the chair and pose for their holiday photos.

Possibilities

1 An eroded, easily missed sigil carved on the keystone of the arched entrance may be recognised as a representation of Anubis, Egyptian protector of the dead. In the shadows at the back of the crypt there is a door bearing the same sigil. It leads into one of the oldest ghoul colonies in England, established beneath a barrow built when the Phoenicians first reached England's South coast. The guardian is a changeling, appointed to watch over the gateway. The wall of bones has been slowly growing over the years and all cemeteries within a day's march have been robbed of bodies. Tourists are a minor disadvantage of such a palatial entrance-hall.

2 During a group tour of the crypt, the guardian shows unusual interest in one of the visitors, although he still hides his face and does not speak. He eventually backs off, and they leave no wiser. Over the next few days, the visitor becomes the focus of poltergeist activity - subtle at first, but with increasing intensity. During this time the guardian may be seen in the vicinity - but disappears if anyone approaches him.

The bones were recovered from a mass grave for Medieval plague victims. In the 17th century the bones were moved from the plague-pit to the crypt. However, the souls of the dead, angry at their inhuman treatment after death, have manifested as the guardian to point out their fate to the living. The guardian's interest arises because the visitor was wearing an item of jewellery, a family heirloom that the guardian recognises.

3 The bones are from a Medieval plague pit. However, the 18th century chair is something far more sinister. A few people who take the seat are later dogged by nightmares and hallucinations. They believe that they have the plague, and are covered with open sores and boils that drive them to distraction. Eventually, the hallucinations draw them back to the crypt where they disappear.

The guardian is a soul-eater, draining the souls of people who sit in his chair. He projects images of the plague drawn from the bones to drag his victims back to the crypt. He must strap his victims into the chair overnight to feed properly, which he does once each lunar month. Those who succumb are never found - the soul-eater sucks them dry and places their bones with the rest.

Inspired by the crypt of St. Leonard's Church, Hythe, Kent

© Helen Rich

Preacher Man

Seemingly from nowhere, a preacher shows up in town, easily noticeable on the street with his filthy black cassock and white collar, living off the charity of passers-by.

Nobody knows where he came from but one day he just started showing up on street corners preaching about the end of the world. It has also been noted that the priest seems to have some obvious mental problems and some very odd ideas about Christianity.

Possibilities

1 Benjamin Corwin used to be a priest until he turned to the worship of the Outer Gods. Becoming a cultist, Corwin decided to try and enlighten the public about the Cthulhu Mythos by simply telling people about it on the street. Corwin has a mystical ability which allows him to plant the seed for mind control in anybody who passes by and makes eye contact with him.

2 The priest was once Benjamin Corwin, an investigator of the supernatural. Corwin became an investigator after one of his practitioners asked for help (which lead to discovering that the next-door neighbour was sacrificing children in his attic to something awful). Since then Corwin has been investigating the occult wherever he can find it.

It was on his last outing that he encountered something so horrific it shattered his sanity and reduced him to a homeless, rambling derelict. In his mad ravings, clues to his final investigation can be discerned by a careful listener.

3 One night the homeless priest is murdered and left dead on the street. It is not long after that more priests start turning up dead, and it appears a serial murderer of holy men is operating in the area.

© Paul Hebron

The Old Church

Possibilities

1 The floor of the church is the roof of a very old crypt. The crypt is full of the remains of bodies, all well preserved in the cool, dry environment. All the bodies show signs of being bled to death.

But one of the bodies is not yet dead, and after such a long sleep it is very thirsty.

2 Further information comes to light in original translations of the Bible. The place is very unholy indeed, devil worship was actively carried out and only after the place was cleansed was the church built. A ward against evil (similar in design to similar wards found on Neolithic megaliths) has been carved upon one of the flagstones, but it has been removed by the University for study.

Without the ward, it is only a matter of time before evil returns.

3 Removing the flagstones reveals a narrow, unpleasant tunnel. Entering the tunnel reveals a complex of narrow, winding passages. Although clearly ancient, the tunnels are structurally sound and are relatively safe to explore.

When mapped, they form a strange twisting complex of no obvious design. And despite clearly having been constructed long before the modern city above, they loop around foundations, sewers, pipelines, and other modern contrivances as if the original builders knew to avoid them.

They, and their builders, are a complete mystery.

© Steve Hatherley

The Manacles

Taken from G Hall’s Myths and Legends in Cornwall (1921), this is the only recorded copy of this legend. The Manacles derive their name from ‘maen eglos’ which means ‘stone church’ in Cornish.

Just around from Manacle Point (on the nearby coast) is Porthoustock. The cliffs there are carved into grotesque shapes by extensive blasting.

Possibilities

1 The legend is partially correct and a great demon known only as the kirix is imprisoned beneath the sea bed.

2 The legend is a complete fabrication, but there was evil present at one time. Upon the Manacles an ancient, squat temple dedicated to a dark god, can be found. This is the stone church and it was abandoned centuries ago and can be found by anyone who explores the Manacles.

3 The stone church is a deep one temple, with their hybrids quarrying away at Porthoustock to free a star-spawn of Cthulhu trapped there. They are still a long way from freeing the vast beast.

© Steve Hatherley

The Old Straight Track

Watkins’ The Old Straight Track was first published in 1925.

While ley lines are now commonly known about, they were a new theory in 1925, and someone in 1925 might want to follow them up as a way of identifying mystical or occult locations. Besides, a newspaper might pay handsomely for proof of other lines not mentioned in The Old Straight Track.

By careful use of a map, a compass, ruler and pencil one may eventually conclude that the small village of Todberry in Dorset is the meeting point of three such lines.

By visiting the village, and carefully working out angles with a compass the exact point of intersection can be found. It is in St Mary’s churchyard, and a stone cross has been erected at the exact point. The cross may look Christian, but closer examination reveals that carved into it is something altogether different – a protective ward.

The rest of the ward is formed by several old stones forming an circle. All are hidden; built into the church, hidden in the graveyard, used in the wall, toppled in a field, submerged in the stream.

Possibilities

1 The stone circle is protection against an ancient demon which will return should it be tampered with. A legend of strangers coming to disturb ‘He That Sleeps’ is handed down by word of mouth and strangers are closely watched.

2 The circle is an ancient place of worship, but has no other significance.

3 An ancient sorcerer is trying to remove the ward so that he may reawaken ‘He That Sleeps.’ The sorcerer has had little success so far...

© Steve Hatherley

Ghostwatch

St Crispin’s church in Church Stenton, in the Vale of York, is one of the most haunted churchyards in England. Dozens of sightings of a lone spectral figure stalking the starlit graveyard have been reported over the decades. Superstition has it that the last person buried is responsible for watching over and protecting St Crispin’s churchyard, and it is this figure that can is seen stalking the lonely churchyard by night.

The superstition originates from the trial and execution in 1644 of Maggie Green. Maggie Green was accused, tried and executed by legendary Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins and at her trial she cursed the community, the church and specifically the priest who turned her in to Hopkins.

Maggie Green was then buried face-down in an unmarked grave outside the churchyard. It's exact location is no longer known.

Once Hopkins had left the villagers, called upon noted alchemist Hector Speight to protect them from the curse. Speight used powerful magics to ensure that the last person buried would watch over the churchyard and keep Church Stenton safe from Maggie Green’s curse.

Possibilities

1     The southern corner of St Crispin’s churchyard is set aside for the Whitstable family plot. The Whitstables are minor aristocrats and can trace their history in Church Stenton back to the fifteenth century.

In 1650, six years after Maggie Green was executed, Sir Horace Whistable’s daughter died. Sightings of the spectral watcher had already been reported, and Sir Horace quickly reached the conclusion that while it was acceptable for a commoner to watch over St Crispin’s churchyard, it was quite unacceptable behaviour for a member of the aristocracy. So he contracted the family solicitor, Silas Nettle, to ensure that whenever a Whitstable was buried in St Crispin’s churchyard, the service and burial would take place in the morning. And in the afternoon, a second burial would take place – that of someone lower born.

The contract has been in place ever since.

Whenever there is a Whitstable burial in their family plot, their solicitors (now Creep and Nettle Solicitors, based in York) arrange for a second burial that same day. Usually their contacts in the hospitals and funeral parlours of Yorkshire ensures that no laws are broken. Sometimes, however, their contacts fail them – and then they resort to murder.

2     In 1706, as he lay on his deathbed, John Chobham made the Church Stenton community leaders an offer that they found it hard to refuse. In return for an annual fee (to be paid to his family and amounting to 10% of each year’s burial costs), he offered to be the ghost-watch. Forever. The agreement was made and papers drawn up.

Following each funeral, Chobham’s body is exhumed and then re-buried in a new plot - thus ensuring that he continues the ghost-watch and relieves the parishioners of Church Stenton from that particular burden. This continues to this day – and Chobham’s descendants are amongst the wealthiest in Church Stenton.

3     Church Stenton has started experiencing a series of troubles. The village pond has suddenly turned stagnant, killing the fish. A dog has gone missing. A barn has burned down. There have been a spate of mechanical and electrical failures. The church roof has developed a leak. So far, while these incidents are annoying, none of them have caused injury. So far.

The incidents are the result of Maggie Green’s slow return to power. A few weeks before the incidents started, the body of the last person buried in the churchyard was exhumed by the authorities following the re-opening of a murder investigation. The body will be kept until the case is closed.

However, removing the body also meant removing the spectral watcher and without her ghostly jailer, Maggie’s power has slowly built unchecked. Her strength is now growing rapidly, and it will not be long before she is able to dig herself out of her unmarked grave. Until then, Maggie is vulnerable and another burial at the church (or the return of the exhumed body) will create another spectral watcher and check her recent growth.

© Steve Hatherley