No Rest for the Spirits of Comlongon Castle

 

Boasting a reputation as Scotland’s ‘most important and complete example’ of a 15^th century Medieval Scottish castle, it would be strange if the beautiful Comlongon Castle did not have its resident ghosts. 

Sir Cuthbert Murray built it as a border outpost and its walls – an impressive thirteen feet thick – were certainly designed to keep out unwanted visitors.

'But what about the ghosts?' I hear you cry. I'm coming to that: 

The tragic spirit of Marian Carruthers is said to haunt the castle. She originated from nearby Borthwick Castle but, in 1564, her father arranged a marriage for her. Rather than face a loveless union, she ran away and sought refuge under Sir Charles Murray’s protection at Comlongon. He took her in and, in gratitude she awarded him half her estate. Her father wasn’t to be deterred though and some versions of the story state that he pursued a legal case to force her into the marriage against her will. And it didn't end well.

She fell from the highest window in the castle’s tower – whether by accident or design is not known for sure although there is a theory that Sir Charles was greedy enough to want his share of her estate sooner rather than later and pushed her to her death. Others say she threw herself off the tower rather than acquiesce to her father’s demands.

Whatever the truth of it, her father refused to pay for a proper burial and she was interred in an unmarked grave in the woods nearby – in unconsecrated ground.

On the spot where her body landed, nothing will grow and her ghost walks in the garden on the anniversary of her death – September 25^th – every year. She has also been seen in various locations in the castle itself.

She also appears nearby at an inn and the owners have encountered her on a number of occasions.

But she isn’t the only ghost of Comlongon. 

A small child has been reported in various locations and, as part of the castle was used during the war to house evacuated pre-school age children, could it be one of them? The sound of childish laughter has been heard when there are none present or staying at the castle.

It's certainly an interesting place to lay your head at night. Guests staying in the beautiful 4-poster rooms have reported banging noises, the sound of furniture being dragged across the floor and various other phenomena they could not explain. In the room said to have been used by Marian Carruthers, a honeymoon couple was awakened by noises including what sounded like a heavy bottle (champagne?) being banged against a solid object – maybe furniture or the floor.

There have also been a number of manifestations in the Great Hall, including actual physical sightings, and smells ranging from cigarette smoke to apples.

Whether for a creepy night of supernatural mayhem, a visit to a place of particular historical interest or a special celebration, it seems Comlongon Castle delivers on all fronts. Until a few years ago, the privately owned castle was run as a hotel and top wedding venue, but, sadly, it has now ceased trading. The ongoing costs of renovation and upkeep of such a magnificent building proved too much.

Let’s hope poor Marian finds rest though. She has been wandering there for far too lon

Meanwhile, in 1940, Chanterlands is having its fair share of hauntings too...

“You don’t belong here. None of you do. None but us….”

1940. Fourteen-year-old Pamela Courtney is evacuated to Chanterlands where she will live with her two spinster aunts: Jilly, the eccentric one, who dreams of her days as a star of the silver screen, and Bunny, ever practical and down-to-earth.

But Chanterlands is home to more than just the living and some of them do not rest in peace. There’s the long-dead lonely boy whose room she sleeps in - and that’s only the start.

Pamela discovers the long-neglected attic and, as she sorts through the assorted detritus accumulated over generations of her forebears, more ghosts stir, and an ancient feud reveals just one of the sinister secrets of this once-great house.

But, in the grounds, there is much more danger awaiting Pamela during that summer long ago when war waged all over Europe and the safety her mother had wished for her took a dark and fatal turn.

Coming out on August 18th 2026, available for pre-order at:

ebook: https://mybook.to/GhostsOfChanterlands

 

Hardback: https://mybook.to/GhostsChanterlandsHB

 

Images:

Shutterstock

Nick Wells/Flame Tree Press Studio

The Green Lady of Crathes

 

One thing you could never accuse this ghost of is being shy. She has been seen by a whole host of people, including Queen Victoria when she came to stay at Crathes Castle. And it seems she is active to this day and can be caught on camera 

The building itself is a picturesque Jacobean edifice standing in glorious countryside on the banks of Loch Leys in Aberdeenshire. Building was started here by Alexander Burnett of Leys in 1550, and not completed until 1590 but its most famous inhabitant – known simply as the Green Lady of Crathes – seems to have been haunting the area long before the castle was constructed. According to some traditions, she may have lived in an earlier edifice that stood on the same spot - the stones of which were incorporated into the present structure. 

Another – and more widely held – legend states that she was either a servant girl or a ward of the Laird of the present castle, during the late 1500s. Sadly, we have no name for her and she is alleged to have disappeared shortly after giving birth. Given the cited circumstances, we can hazard a guess as to the identity of the baby's father.

 Whatever the truth of her identity may be, this ghost manifests herself in a particular room which, for obvious reasons is known as the Green Lady’s Room, where – dressed in the green robe that gives her its name - she glides serenely across the floor until she stops by the fireplace and lifts up a baby, apparently out of thin air. She then cradles the infant in her arms. In a sinister turn of events, when renovations were carried out on the room during the 1800s, skeletal remains of a young woman and a baby were discovered under the hearthstone. 

The Green Lady never threatens or harms anyone although her sudden appearance is signalled by temperature fluctuations and some visitors have reported feeling a palpable sense of dread on entering her room. However, she has been known to appear to members of the Burnett family, and to them she represents a warning of impending death or other disaster.

In November of 2016 a photograph, taken by Bill Andrew of his family outside the castle, shows a ghostly figure in the doorway behind. Apparently, there has been something of an upsurge in paranormal activity at the castle of late.

The castle does seem to be something of a hive of supernatural activity and the Green Lady isn’t the only spectral presence. Archives record the frightening appearance of a luminous block of ice, moving as if it were a human walking. Not surprisingly these appearances go hand in hand with a sharp and dramatic drop in temperature.

A further ghost – known as the White Lady – turns up from time to time. She is thought to be Alexander Burnett’s young lover, Bertha. Burnett’s mother – Lady Agnes - deemed her unworthy of becoming her son’s wife and poisoned her.

Lady Agnes also haunts the castle and returns on the anniversary of her death.

The castle is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland, having been given to them by the Burnett family in 1951, and is a popular tourist destination. It is famed for its incredible, ornate painted ceilings and magnificent furniture, as well as possessing extensive, beautiful grounds and gardens. Certainly one to put on your list of places to visit this summer.

May all your ghostly encounters be friendly ones.

Meanwhile, step back to 1940 and you'll find some truly restless spirits residing in Chanterlands...

“You don’t belong here. None of you do. None but us….”

1940. Fourteen-year-old Pamela Courtney is evacuated to Chanterlands where she will live with her two spinster aunts: Jilly, the eccentric one, who dreams of her days as a star of the silver screen, and Bunny, ever practical and down-to-earth.

But Chanterlands is home to more than just the living and some of them do not rest in peace. There’s the long-dead lonely boy whose room she sleeps in - and that’s only the start.

Pamela discovers the long-neglected attic and, as she sorts through the assorted detritus accumulated over generations of her forebears, more ghosts stir, and an ancient feud reveals just one of the sinister secrets of this once-great house.

But, in the grounds, there is much more danger awaiting Pamela during that summer long ago when war waged all over Europe and the safety her mother had wished for her took a dark and fatal turn.

Coming out on August 18th 2026, available for pre-order at:

https://mybook.to/GhostsOfChanterlands

Images:

Shutterstock

Nick Wells/Flame Tree Press Studio

Chillingham Chills - and Ghosts of Chanterlands

Grinning skeletons, a radiant blue boy, tragic Lady Mary Grey and a crying baby. These are just four of the manifestations haunting Chillingham Castle in Northumberland, reputed to be THE most haunted castle in England.

With a history dating back to the twelfth century, its walls could tell tales of many a bloody deed committed on its fortified premises. In 1298, Edward I (the 'Hammer of the Scots' was based here, as he prepared do battle with William Wallace ('Braveheart') who, far from being that nice Mel Gibson with the blue face, was in fact a mass murderer, burning the local women and children to death. Since then, it has been the site of many a battle, and numerous unfortunate souls were tortured and murdered here in cruel and imaginative ways I will not go into here!

The castle has been owned by members of the Grey family since 1246 and the present owner - Sir Humphry Wakefield Bt.- has been renovating it for over thirty years. It is a curious place, much of it still derelict, and the atmosphere is one of quiet expectancy. But what of the ghosts?

Poor Lady Mary Grey was deserted by her faithless husband, Ford, Lord Grey of Wark and Chillingham, during the reign of Charles II (17th century). She can still be heard wandering the corridors in an endless search for him. Her dress rustles as she passes.

The radiant Blue Boy was frequently reported in one of the bedrooms. At the stroke of midnight, the agonising cries and moans of a child in pain were heard and, as these died down, a bright halo of light would form close to the old four-poster bed. If anyone was sleeping there at the time, they would see a young boy, dressed in blue, surrounded by the light, approaching them. Curiously, in the wall of that room were found the bones of a young boy, along with some fragments of a dress. A blue dress.

Lady Leonora Tankerville, who documented the castle's ghosts in 1925, recalled having strange experiences of her own, including a manifestation of a nun praying on the battlements, accompanied, a few paces behind, by two young men dressed in clothes from the time of King Henry VIII. She also experienced a visitation by the ghost of a young officer who, so far as she knew, was actually alive at that time. Only later did she discover that he had died at the very time she had seen him appear in her room. Lady Leonora was also responsible for the discovery of the skeletons of a man and a boy who had been walled up in her bedroom. Indeed, there seems to have been a fair amount of walling up of people in this castle!

If you are brave enough, you can actually stay at the castle, and many who have done so have reported strange events. Some have even left before morning, too scared to sleep! 

But if you do stay, think twice before taking the complimentary shower gel or shower cap home. In one of the rooms, letters and returned items are displayed (including a door knob removed 'by accident'). Reading these letters, you will see that the guests returned the items because no good came to them while they possessed them. Above the display is a portrait of a woman, reputedly a witch, who is said to take a pretty dim view of such thieves. She has a tendency to haunt them... and not in a friendly way.

Take it from me, once you visit Chillingham Castle, you will never frget it. There's something in the atmosphere...

There's more than a hint of something in the atmosphere at Chanterlands too, as you will see:

“You don’t belong here. None of you do. None but us...”

1940. Fourteen-year-old Pamela Courtney is evacuated to Chanterlands where she will live with her two spinster aunts: Jilly, the eccentric one, who dreams of her days as a star of the silver screen, and Bunny, ever practical and down-to-earth.

But Chanterlands is home to more than just the living and some of them do not rest in peace. There’s the long-dead lonely boy whose room she sleeps in - and that’s only the start.

Pamela discovers the long-neglected attic and, as she sorts through the assorted detritus accumulated over generations of her forebears, more ghosts stir, and an ancient feud reveals just one of the sinister secrets of this once-great house.

But, in the grounds, there is much more danger awaiting Pamela during that summer long ago when war waged all over Europe and the safety her mother had wished for her took a dark and fatal turn.

Coming out on August 18th 2026, available for pre-order at:

https://mybook.to/GhostsOfChanterlands

Images:

Shutterstock

Nick Wells/Flame Tree Press Studio

House of Unquiet Spirits - Matilda's Retreat

 

What reviewers are saying:

‘Classic haunted house tale with enough gothic tropes and atmosphere to keep you gripped to the end.’ - Hannah’s Bookshelf, North Manchester FM Radio

'Matilda’s Retreat is a wonderfully chilling tale of a house that has witnessed too much, and with recent renovations, its history has begun bleeding into the present. Horror fans of slow(ish)-burn horror, haunted house elements, and intensely atmospheric fiction will fall right into the pages of this one!' - Erica Robyn Reads

'Full of all the things I love in a good horror story.’ Kayleigh Dobbs, Happy Goat Horror

'‘This is a horror story that knows it wants the reader not to relax into the story and (to) feel a sense of fear.' - Runalongtheshelves

'Matilda's Retreat is an enjoyable dose of the gothic horrors and supernatural dreads that Cavendish has made her career from....with two seemingly separate storylines that nevertheless draw together in a tidy but unexpected fashion.' - Considering Stories

‘If you have ever wondered what ghosts feel like...read this book.’ – Lady_J_Reads

 

Out Now 

in paperback and ebook

from Crossroad Press.

Matilda's Retreat

The house kept its secrets – until someone disturbed it

Alone and isolated on a windswept moor, the centuries’ old building had seen its fair share of owners and more than its quota of dark legends when Lynn Schofield and her husband visited their friends there. From the moment they cross the threshold, it’s clear there is something very wrong here. Behind the walls is a house unlike any other and the horrors it has witnessed are embedded in its very fabric, ready and waiting for the next victim.

Decades later, another couple own the now ruinous house. For Diana, her initial reluctance to move in soon takes a leap forward when she sees something that shouldn’t be there. But as major renovations proceed – and the library starts to reveal its secrets – her mounting fears prove to be only the beginning of her nightmare.

Soon, she will discover the legends of Matilda’s Retreat are not consigned to the annals of history, as her life changes forever.

Online Buy Links

Images:

Crossroad Press

Shutterstock