5. The London Underground
It may sound strange, but the London tube system is generally regarded as being one of the most haunted places in the world. By day, the tube is a buzzing hub of busy bodied Humanity, eager to reach the next stop on time (and, where possible, under budget). Tourists, commuters and, of course, native Londoners all congregate in the snakelike network of tunnels underneath the ancient city, a mass of jostling Human traffic, purposeful and driven. However, by night, as long shadows creep around the tunnels and silence blankets the normally busy locations of lonely tracks and empty stations, it is a vastly different story. The underground is so large and runs for such a massive length (over 250 miles) that its construction was bound to cause a few...disruptions. During its initial creation, as well as its multiple renovations and re-fits, the Underground has caused several graveyards to be disturbed and even led to the accidental uncovering of a few medieval mass graves, or plague pits. To make matters worse, people have died on the Underground, a lot of people, as it turns out. There are the phantom footprints that trek the impossibly dark labyrinth of tunnels around Aldgate Station, terrifying the hardboiled tunnel walkers who occasionally encounter them. Then, theres the kindly old gentleman with the Tilley lamp, who got into a conversation with a young employee in the 1980s, before promptly vanishing without a trace. At Bank & Monument, the ghost of Sarah Whitehead has been said to haunt the station ever since she died in 1836. Sarahs brother, Phillip, was a cashier who was hung for forging cheques in 1811. Sarah would return to Bank & Monument every day for the next 25 years, dressed from head to toe in black, hoping in vain to meet her departed brother. When Sarahs melancholic, black-garbed apparition isnt seen, feelings of anxiety or abject despair often overwhelm passengers. At Becontree Station, there exists the ghost of a Woman who wears a white dress, but, somewhat disconcertingly, has no face at all. More than one late night employee at Becontree has seen this faceless wraith and the spirit is thought to be connected to a tragic collision that claimed 10 lives near the station in 1958. An even more horrific experience greets unlucky employees at Bethnal Green, as the sounds of Women and children screaming can be heard in the dead of night on the empty platforms. 173 people, mostly Women and children, were crushed and suffocated during the Blitz in 1943.
Elsewhere, the ghost of actor William Terriss apparently haunts Covent Garden. Terriss was murdered in 1897 and his last words, allegedly, were Ill be back. Since that time, Terriss has remained true to his word, having been spotted in the station several times. In 1955, when an Underground employee questioned a man matching the description of Terriss, the tall, splendidly dressed figure simply disappeared... Terriss disappearing act has been borrowed by at least one other Underground spectre, that of a Woman who fell onto the tracks and was electrocuted at Ickenham Station. Her ghost is seen wearing a red scarf and waving to passengers on the platform, before she disappears, right at the spot where she is said to have died... The famous Bakerloo Line ghost is perhaps the most chilling of all, witnesses report seeing the reflection of someone sitting next to them in the adjoining window, only to notice, with growing horror, that the seat beside them is actually empty! And yes, before you ask, there is also a ghost train. On certain dark, full-blooded nights, it leaves from South Kensington Station and arrives...Well, lets not think too much about that.