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.
 Shot from the 1958 film The Screaming Skull | |
| Grouping | Supernatural |
|---|---|
| Sub grouping | Object |
| Folklore | English folklore |
| First attested | c. 1600s[citation needed] |
| Country | England |
| Habitat | Homes |
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.[1]
Reported skulls
edit- Bettiscombe Manor, Bettiscombe, Dorset[2][3]
- Dickie – Tunstead Farm, Tunstead Milton, Derbyshire[4][5]
- Skull of St Ambrose Barlow – Wardley Hall,[4] Greater Manchester
- Skull of Anne Griffith – Burton Agnes Hall, Yorkshire[4]
- Skull of Thephilus Brome? – Higher Chilton Farm, Chilton Cantelo[4]
- Two skulls – Warbleton Priory ruin, Rushlake Green, Heathfield, East Sussex[6]
- Two skulls - Calgarth Hall, Windermere, Cumbria[7]
- Skull of Neville De Beauchamp - St. Andrews
In fiction
edit- "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
edit- ^ John Henry Ingram (1897). The Haunted Homes and Family Traditions of Great Britain. Gibbings & Company, Limited. p. 342.
- ^ "Legend of the Screaming Skull – Bettiscombe Manor". Retrieved 19 May 2011.
- ^ Ingram, John Henry (1897). "Bettiscombe House". The Haunted Homes and Family Traditions of Great Britain. pp. 341–344.
- ^ a b c d Parkinson, Daniel (12 September 2008). "Screaming Skulls – An Introduction". Mysterious Britain & Ireland. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
- ^ Frith, J. B. (John Benjamin) (1905). "Dick O' Tunstead". Highways and Byways in Derbyshire. Macmillan and Co., limited. p. 182.
- ^ "Legend of the Screaming Skull". Real British Ghosts. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
- ^ "Calgarth Hall". Mysterious Britain & Ireland. 25 July 2008. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
External links
edit- Gay, Marcus V. "Screaming Skulls". Occultopedia.com. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
- In Search of Screaming Skulls – directions to main locations
- William Andres (1877). Skull Superstitions. Hull.