Halloween is upon us, and seeing as we live in a historically gruesome city riddled with ghosts, ghouls and gangsters, we thought we’d brush up on our somewhat violent past and share it with the rest of you spook-savvy specimens. You’ll be amazed as to what lies just around the corner…
1. A woman (Joyce Carol Vincent) was found dead in her London apartment in 2011, 3 years after her death. The TV was still running and a mountain of mail had piled up behind the front door.
2. ‘Bleeding Heart Yard’ in Farringdon gets its name because in January 1626, the mutilated body of Lady Elizabeth Hatton was found murdered and her limbs strewn across the floor…but her heart was still pumping blood.
3. Notorious Kray twins Ronnie and Reggie are renowned for their violent antics, but the time they stabbed Jack McVitie to death so brutally that his liver came out and they had to flush it down the toilet probably wins.
4. A jar of moles sits in The Grant Museum. Sickeningly spooky, ey.
5. The last executions (hangings) were in 1964 – a measly 51 years ago!!
6. There are tiny statues of two mice tucking into some cheese on the side of a building in Philpot Lane. Not gruesome yet? They were in fact put there in memorial for two builders that died falling from scaffolding after a fight broke out after half of one’s cheese sandwich went missing…the real culprits? Mice.
7. This torture chair on show in the Wellcome Collection.
8. The ghosts of Hampton Court Palace are famous. In 2003, CCTV cameras at the palace reported strange sightings…the alleyway doors at Hampton Court burst open in the middle of the night.
9. A few years ago, an electrician working at Aldgate made what should have been a fatal slip, sending 22,000 volts through his body. He was knocked unconscious, bruising his forehead – but somehow was otherwise unharmed. Unknown to him, his colleagues had been watching him just before it happened, and had seen a half-transparent figure of an old woman was stroking his hair…
Featured Image Credit: Experience Map