Spooky tales...

Whatever your view there is no disputing that October 31 is the only night of the year when things that go bump in the night do so a little louder and darkness is welcomed with open arms.

But if you think that ghosts, ghouls, witches and the heeby-jeebies have no place on the Fylde Coast, read on and contemplate The Citizen's most hauntingly spooky local tales.

THE FIRST of our tales takes us to a deserted lane, a crematorium and a grisly unsolved murder more than 70 years ago.

In December 1936, a Layton taxi driver was returning home from a late shift in Blackpool town centre. Making his way home past Carleton Crematorium, on Blackpool Road, he slowed down in amazement as a white shape came into view.

He soon realised that the shape had the outline of a woman and, as he drew closer to the entrance of the crematorium, could make out a green-tinged face glaring back at him.

The spooked cabbie put his foot down all the way home and the next day contacted a local newspaper to see if they could solve the mystery of the ghostly apparition.

After some research, reporters uncovered a violent death of a woman exactly five years previously in 1931.

The woman -- a recent widow -- had been making her way home along Robins Lane from Carleton to Bispham after tending to her husbands grave.

The body of the lonely widow was found in a ditch shortly afterwards. She had been bludgeoned to death.

Since the 1936 sighting there have been no more records of the pallid-faced ghost.

But many late night visitors have remarked upon experiencing a feeling of being watched or followed at the entrance.

BLACKPOOL's Grand Theatre is also not exempt from having a few supernatural encounters.

The Church Street venue even has its. own resident ghost... a very dapper, Victorian gentleman by the name of Charlie.

According to legend Charlie -- so called by the Grand's staff -- threw himself off the upper circle balcony after suffering unrequited love at the hands of a very beautiful visiting Russian ballerina.

As reported in The Citizen (January 16), Charlie is to be found hanging around.

Most recently the poor bewildered spirit must have suffered an after-life deja vu when he began following around members of the Moscow City Ballet who were in town performing the Tchaikovsky classics, Swan Lake and The Nutcracker.

A spokesman was reported as saying "It's obvious to anyone who knows of Charlie that the strange occurrences around the Russian girls were no coincidence."

THE Fylde people are extremely proud of their Victorian-era tramway which has served visitors and residents alike for more than a century.

But some say the familiar rumbling of the coastal system hides a more sinister history in the form of the... Phantom Tram.

According to local legend a transport enthusiast was so upset at that his favourite tram -- the 712 Balloon double decker (circa 1933) -- was going into retirement that he threw himself into the trams path on its last outing in 1962. It is believed that -- on some dark, stormy nights -- an apparition of the tram, along with its ghostly friend, ride the tracks hoping to find more victims to join it on its endless journey.

WORKERS at Fleetwood printing firm -- Hesketh Press (pictured)-- don't scare easily but, on more than one occasion, there have been reports of a presence at their Warren Street offices in the port.

If fact it seems that the site -- which was formerly The Crown Hotel -- is inundated with unearthly beings.

Over the last 50 years there have countless tales from both day and night-time staff of cold pockets of air, strange taps on the shoulder and a constant feeling of being watched.

ONE OF the area's most colourful historical characters provides more than a little 'fact' to the spooky goings on along the Fylde Coast.

Whether you've visited her sinister grave or been regaled with tales of her shape-shifting deviousness, The Fylde Witch has caused goosebumps to raise for almost three hundred years.

What we do know is that Meg Shelton, of Catforth, was buried -- dead or alive -- by torchlight at St Annes Churchyard, Woodplumpton, on May 2, 1705.

She was put into her grave -- nothing more than a narrow underground shaft -- head-first with her feet raised to the sky. A heavy boulder, of around 3ft by 2ft, was then placed over the entrance.

The uncomfortable nature of her final resting place may seem a little excessive to us but, back in the 18th century, old Meg had earned herself a bit of a reputation for protecting herself with the 'dark arts'.

It is claimed that she could physically transform herself into any animal or shape she wished and there are many tales of her using this power to pilfer food and goods from nearby homes and farms.

Apparently Meg also had the power to bring herself back to life and -- after an unfortunate squashing incident between herself, a big barrel and a cottage wall -- dug herself out of a conventional grave three times.

This lead to her petrified neighbours devising her head-first burial in a bid to confuse any future escape attempts.

For a couple of centuries people believed they had seen the end of the Fylde Witch but, in 1933, a young schoolboy was frightened inside the church by "an old woman in funny clothes".

Could Meg have found a way out of her tomb?

FINALLY of the area's oldest stately homes -- Mains Hall -- has also earned a reputation for more than it's fine architecture and rich history.

The former hotel -- which is currently being converted into a private residence and special function medieval banqueting venue -- seems to house a motley crew of ghosts and ghouls. During their 14 year residency at the hall, Roger and Adele Yeoman have heard many varied and spine-chilling tales and experiences. In one a resident awoke in the early hours of the morning to find a child dressed in Victorian clothes sitting on the end of the bed staring at them.

Other customers have also spoken of 'children' running around the place and one visiting clairvoyant remarked on the number of youngsters haunting the hall.

Mains Hall is traditionally home to the ghost of Maria Fitzherbert or The Grey Lady who is often seen floating around the grounds.

Legend has it that Maria was the secret wife of King George IV, but she never recovered from her husband's 'legitimate' marriage to Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon, the woman who was later to marry Henry VIII.