Haunted Places: An A to Z of Fictional Ghost Stories Inspired by Real Haunted Locations in Kent, England

By Natasha Duncan-Drake

26 short stories inspired by an A to Z of Haunted Places in Kent, England.

Did you know there is a passage in Canterbury haunted by the tortured soul of a woman who murdered her master and was condemned to be buried under its heavy flag stones? Or how about the playful poltergeist in the Theatre Royal, Chatham?

These and more have inspired new, fictional ghostly tales to tingle the spines of all lovers of the spooky and unnatural. Lost sailors, abandoned women, and ghastly phantoms all grace these pages ready to set the hairs on the back of every neck standing up.

Make sure to read this book with all the lights on.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wittegen Press
• Release date: Oct 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9781912583690

Natasha Duncan-Drake

Natasha is a British author with Wittegen Press and has been publishing genre fiction since 2011. Her work includes everything from horror to young adult fantasy and she has never met a genre she didn’t like. A prolific producer of short stories and novels alike, Natasha currently has over twenty five titles in her back catalogue with further releases always imminent.Natasha has been writing since she was a young girl ever since she read The Hobbit at Primary School. She is a big fan of science fiction, fantasy and horror in all their forms and is a big advocate of fanfiction as a great tool for writers to polish their skills in a welcoming and supportive community.Before establishing Wittegen Press with her twin sister, Sophie Duncan, Natasha was a database and systems consultant. She combines these skills with her writing to create and manage her career in the bold new eBook market.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

Beautiful Haunted Kent

As I went down to Dymchurch Wall,

I heard the South sing o'er the land

I saw the yellow sunlight fall

On knolls where Norman churches stand.

—John Davidson (about Romney Marsh)

KENT IS A STUNNING, VARIED PLACE, where I was lucky enough to grow up and now live with my husband and two cats. It is a place that has rolling hills, flat plains and is called by many 'The Garden of England'.

Kent is also a very haunted area. With history stretching back over thousands of years, Kent is bound to have a few previous residents still hanging around. From the most haunted village in England, Pluckley, to castles full of ghosts, Kent has it all. The stories in this book are fictional tales inspired by places in this beautiful county that have spooky anecdotes to their names. Some are villages, some hotels, pubs, or historic buildings, and others are byways and highways.

The tales range from micro fiction to short stories, with humour, sadness, and scares to suit any mood. There is one story for each letter of the alphabet, and I will admit now, for a couple I had to cheat a smidge. Did you know there is only one community in Kent that even has the letter Z in its name? Neither did I until I researched for these stories.

When I was young, I lived in a tiny village just on the edge of Romney Marsh before my family moved to a village near Canterbury. These days my husband and I live one village along from my second childhood home. In all these places there is atmosphere, and most of us have bumped into a ghost or two at some point. Having lived in two haunted houses, I love a spooky tale to tingle the spine, but only when I'm not alone.

Thank you so much for picking up my book, I hope you enjoy the stories within as much as I enjoyed creating them. Happy reading and may the spooks be with you.

A-ABBOTS FIRESIDE

Apparition

Elham is a small village about 12 miles from Canterbury, full of beautiful historic buildings. It was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Alham and has archaeological evidence dating back to the Bronze age.

This spooky tale is inspired by the haunting at The Abbott's Fireside Pub-Restaurant, Elham-they are said to have two resident spooks, a man with a sword and a Cistercian monk.

MOLLY WASN'T SURE WHO WAS MOST SHOCKED, her or the semi-transparent man waving a sword at his reflection in the full-length mirror beside the door. He looked like he had seen a ghost, which was hilarious considering that he seemed to be the genuine article.

Fear warred with amusement as the two emotions clashed in her brain. Not a totally new experience for Molly.

Um, hi, she said, since the man hadn't just upped and vanished.

Of course, she'd heard about the ghosts, everyone working at the restaurant had, but she'd not given it a second thought. Every English pub had a ghost story or two to impress the punters and there'd been no signs these ones were real. Molly had only been working there for a couple of weeks. She'd lucked out when the previous lunchtime supervisor had gone on maternity leave just as she’d moved in with her aunt for a break from trying her hardest to be an actress in London. With her line of work, Molly had a lot of experience in the hospitality sector, the realm of many yet-to-make-it actors.

You are not afraid? the spectre said, sounding utterly perplexed.

Well, to be honest, Molly replied, I am a little, but you looked more startled than me, so I didn't want to make it any worse.

The ghost lifted both eyebrows.

I'm Molly, Molly decided she couldn't just leave it at that.

For a second, she was pretty sure the ghost had no idea how to respond to that.

Robert, he finally replied. Pleased to make your acquaintance.

Molly smiled. This ghost didn't seem so bad, not like some she had come across.

Nice to meet you too. Were you practicing your fencing just now? Sorry to have interrupted.

If only I could, Robert said mournfully, but, alas, I have no sparing partners.

The monk not into that sort of thing? Molly asked.

The other rumoured ghost was a fully robed monk. She figured if one was real, both probably were. To her amusement, Robert rolled his eyes.

The pious brother would never lower himself to such earthly matters, was the scathing response.

It did not sound as if the two spirits were friends.

That's a shame, Molly sympathised. Well, I don't know how to fence, and I guess it wouldn't work too well with us being on different planes of existence, but I'm happy to chat while I get ready for opening.

Really? Robert sounded pleasantly surprised.

Don't see why not, Molly said, doing her best to ignore how the chill in the air grew at Robert's excitement.

Miss Molly, Robert said, you are a breath of fresh air.

Thank you, she said.

A small part of her was curled up, clutching its legs, rocking and gibbering, but she was doing her very best to shush it. She couldn't really help the instinctive reaction, it was just the way things worked between the living and the dead, but Robert seemed nice.

So, she said as she walked to the small bar to start setting up, how come you're stuck here.

Ah, my story is a sad one, Robert said, following her.

It made all the hairs on the back of her arms stand up as he did, so she tried to ignore that as well.

I killed a man in a duel inside this establishment, Robert said, sitting himself down on a barstool as Molly went about her business. "It was a fair fight, but, to my detriment, my opponent turned out to be the son of the local squire. On his urging a mob of locals assaulted me, strung a noose out of an upstairs window and stretched my neck for me in