The Screaming Skull

No, this is not this one. What you see on the picture is a very normal, silent, not haunted one which you can find in The Golden Fleece Inn in York. The most haunted pub in England, apparently. But it does not have a screaming skull. It does accompany very well my post on the topic of one great scary story of F. Marion Crawford called... The Screaming Skull. With a bit fo research, I found it on PDF at this link. Crawford based his story on an old legend and it is a perfectly scary read for Halloween. Therefore I suggest it for tonight's countdown to Halloween post. Please tell me what you think of it in the comments.

"Des squolettes" (sic)

J'ai pris cette photo au Golden Fleece Inn à York et elle illustre l'anecdote que je vais vous raconter. (Pour ceux qui ne savent pas, il s'appelle Saul Goodfellow). Catégorie: les profs manquent parfois singulièrement d'élocution. Ma prof de musique de secondaire un, nous parlant de la Danse macabre que nous allions étudier durant l'année nous a dit: "Puis vous allez voir, il va y avoir des squolettes pis vous allez aimer ça!" Des squolettes. Pas des squelettes. Des squolettes. Phoque. Même à l'époque, ça m'agaçait, surtout que déjà c'était l'une des pièces musicales que j'adorais et qui était un incontournable de l'Halloween. C'était comme lui manquer de respect. J'y ai repensé en écrivant ce billet. Des squolettes. Ayoye!

Haunted portraits

This is today's countdown to Halloween post. I mentioned before and more importantly in this post the Golden Fleece Inn in York, which has the reputation to be the most haunted pub in England. Or at least it boasts itself to be. We had a pleasant evening there, but we never saw any ghost of any kind.Or, I should say, we did not see any real, supernatural ghost. There were plenty of made up ones, or some strange occurrences that would have fooled the inebriated customer. Such as some portraits in the pub. At first sight, they are black and white pictures of ordinary people, maybe upper middle class from another time, early 20th century or maybe late 19th.

Then you look at the portrait under a different angle, and this is what you see: deformed features, cracked faces, fangs, horns, disgusting grin, devil's eyes. The best or most gruesome face I saw is the one that accompanies this post. I have read a thing or two about haunted portraits, but never imagines they could be like this. One can only be glad this is a mere image and that the abomination on it cannot escape the frame. Or can it? It is cheap parlour tricks, but I think there is inspiration here for a good horror story or two.

Hungry for a Sunday roast

It is maybe too hot today to long for a Sunday Roast, but all the same, I am really in the mood for one. Last time I ate one was a a few months ago, from what I remember it was overcast and not so warm outside. A roast is best enjoyed when it is dreary and miserable outside. Just like it was when I had the one you see on this picture. It was in the Golden Fleece Inn of York. Which I blogged about before, as it is allegedly haunted. My wife and I ate there because I thought it was fitting to eat a Sunday roast with Yorkshire pudding when in Yorkshire. And because of the ghosts, who never showed up, even after a few drinks. All the same, this was the most enjoyable roast beef I had in ages. It was pouring outside and we were in a very dark pub, devouring very hearty food (the veggie version for her) and it was very heart warming. Soon, when the baby comes, we will have to eat in far more often, so at weekends I try to take her out as much as possible. So we might go out to see if we can find something that good tonight, even though it is not the ideal time of year. But hey, it's Sunday, so that is a good enough reason.

A beer from the Copper Dragon

I never judge a book by its cover, or a beer by its label. That said, sometimes the label does not lie. This was the case for the Golden Pippin from the Copper Dragon Brewery, which I drank at the Golden Fleece Inn, allegedly the most haunted pub in York. Not only do they have ghosts, but they have some other interesting critters. For me, a copper dragon is one of dragon races in Dungeons & Dragons. So I had to try a beer from a microbrewery sharing the same name as one of the monsters encountered in our games. Okay so the Golden Pippin is a blonde ale, not something I would usually go for, but it's a dirty blonde, with enough bitterness. I would drink that (in moderation) during a D&Dr game. So the drink will be more fitting to the game than say a cola.

A haunted whiskey bottle

I blogged yesterday about the Golden Fleece Inn, allegedly the most haunted pub in York. I mentioned that I would blog more about it and its ghostly visitors and residents. Tonight here is one, this bottle of whiskey. As you see on the picture, there is a word claiming it is haunted. In brackets and small print, it tells us to ask the staff about it. So curious, I asked one of the barmaids, what was haunting it and she answered: "It's full of spirit." Which I thought was very funny. Enough to make it a great unknown line. I have been wanting to share it for a while. Anyway, so there is at least one true spirit haunting the pub.

The most haunted pub in York

For today's (first?) countdown to Halloween, I will blog about a pub in York, one of the ncie discoveries of our last holidays there: the Golden Fleece Inn. It boasts itself to be the most haunted pub in York. However, like the most haunted castle in England, I didn't see any ghost during our visit, in spite of keeping my eyes and mind wide open and more importantly, in spite of dirnking in the whole evening a rather important quantity of beer. Not that I am a big drinker, but as it was pouring, we were waiting for a taxi that came only very late. By that time, I was suspecting the driver was afraid to stop by. He showed up in the end, but the ghosts were absent

They do make a big deal of the phantoms in this pub. More than the Kingsbridge Inn in Devon, which is another allegedly haunted pub I visited. I guess the people at the Golden Fleece has been doing it for much longer. York, like Devon, has a big part of its tourist industry based on ghost stories and paranormal. We are greeted by this sign at the door of the Golden Fleece and one of York's many ghost walks starts from the pub. They seem quite popular. If it had not been so rainy, we might have gone to one, but when it rains, I'd rather be warm and dry in a cosy English pub drinking real ale than out in the rain. If I am to meet a ghost, friendly or evil, might as well be in a place where the spooky atmosphere does not get in the way of comfort. And the Golden Fleece offers both atmosphere and comfort. I love any old English pub with a bit of history, the ghosts, or at least the ghost stories are a bonus.

So anyway, we saw no real ghosts. Of course, absence of evidence is no evidence of absence. So there might have been some, for all I know they might even have been legions. And there are also a few made up ones, which I spent a good deal of time finding and taking pictures of, to make sure at least they existed and it was not the beer that was making me see things. Until Halloween come, I will show a few of them in another post. But let me introduce you to the main one and the officious mascot of the Golden Fleece: Saul Goodfellow, the pub's most (shall we say) permanent punter. He has his own blog, his own Twitter account, his own YouTube account and he is prominently featured on their Facebook page. He is thus a very modern ghost, whatever his age might be. And a face and overall demeanor that gives you both a pleasant chill and a chuckle. He is a good fellow all right.