Mar 31, 2020
Today Karen and Blake discuss "Screaming Skulls" - a surprisingly common yet particularly English kind of haunting. Karen has a new short story based on this legend.
Multiple Examples:
- Bettiscombe manor, Bettiscome, Dorset
- Dickie – Tunstead Farm, Tunstead Milton, Derbyshire
- Skull of St Ambrose Barlow – Wardley Hall, Manchester (1641) - Catholic relic
- Skull of (Katherine) Anne Griffith – Burton Agnes Hall, Yorkshire (1620) “Owd Nance” -
- Skull of Theophilus Broome – Higher Chilton Farm, Chilton Cantelo, Somerset (1670)
- Two skulls – Warbleton Priory ruin, Rushlake Green, Heathfield, East Sussex
- Two skulls - Calgarth Hall, Windermere, Cumbria
Possibly dozens more and many have disappeared over time.
1895 book with a chapter on various Screaming Skulls.
Allegedly, Lord Byron had a skull he used to drink from as a part of occult rituals. It, or a copy of it, was sold at auction in 2017 and was expected to fetch a tidy sum.
Patreon supporters can see attachment (PDFs) for various newspaper stories featuring an assortment of Screaming Skull tales.
F. Marion Crawford's famous short story on the topic.
The 1958 film The Screaming Skull. (streaming on Amazon, higher quality)
The Mystery Science Theater 3000 take on The Screaming Skull.
A nice little "documentary" about The Screaming Skull of Theophilus Broome.