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Screaming skull

Paranormal object

Summary

Paranormal object

FieldValue
nameScreaming skull
imageAttacking skull in The Screaming Skull (01.02.48).jpg
captionShot from the 1958 film The Screaming Skull
GroupingSupernatural
Sub_GroupingObject
FolkloreEnglish folklore
CountryEngland
HabitatHomes
First_Attestedc. 1600s

A screaming skull is a paranormal object, a human skull which per legend speaks, screams, or otherwise haunts its environs. The legend is mostly found in England and other English-speaking regions.

The Bettiscombe screaming skull of Dorset, England, is attested at least as early as 1897 in the book The Haunted Homes and Family Traditions of Great Britain. That book details an alleged visit to Bettiscombe in 1883 by curiosity-seekers to investigate a skull which, according to legend, was of an African slave once owned by the owner of the house. The slave had supposedly died determined to be buried in his homeland, and any attempt to bury his skull elsewhere would cause the skull to scream aloud.

Reported skulls

  • Bettiscombe Manor, Bettiscombe, Dorset
  • Dickie – Tunstead Farm, Tunstead Milton, Derbyshire
  • Skull of St Ambrose Barlow – Wardley Hall, Greater Manchester
  • Skull of Anne Griffith – Burton Agnes Hall, Yorkshire
  • Skull of Theophilus Brome – Higher Chilton Farm, Chilton Cantelo
  • Two skulls – Warbleton Priory ruin, Rushlake Green, Heathfield, East Sussex
  • Two skulls - Calgarth Hall, Windermere, Cumbria
  • Skull of Neville De Beauchamp - St. Andrews

In fiction

  • "The Screaming Skull" (1911) – short story by F. Marion Crawford
  • The Screaming Skull (1958) – American horror film
  • Carrie's War (1973) - novel by Nina Bawden
  • The Great Ghost Rescue (1975) – novel by Eva Ibbotson

References

References

  1. John Henry Ingram. (1897). "The Haunted Homes and Family Traditions of Great Britain". Gibbings & Company, Limited.
  2. "Legend of the Screaming Skull – Bettiscombe Manor".
  3. Ingram, John Henry. (1897). "The Haunted Homes and Family Traditions of Great Britain".
  4. Parkinson, Daniel. (12 September 2008). "Screaming Skulls – An Introduction". Mysterious Britain & Ireland.
  5. Frith, J. B. (John Benjamin). (1905). "Highways and Byways in Derbyshire". Macmillan and Co., limited.
  6. "Legend of the Screaming Skull". Real British Ghosts.
  7. (25 July 2008). "Calgarth Hall". Mysterious Britain & Ireland.
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

english-folklore english-legendary-creatures
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