The Paranormal Database

Theatre Royal, Brighton.

Sarah Bernhardt

Location: Brighton - Theatre Royal
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: August 1982
Further Comments: This nineteenth century French actress has a habit of walking down corridors, pushing people out of the way if they step in front of her. The wall into which she disappears is reportedly a bricked up doorway where her dressing room once stood. The site is also reputed to be haunted by a doorman and the former owner Ellen Nye, who manifests as a grey lady.

Black Skull

Location: Brighton - Toronto Terrace
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A resident here reported waking at 3am to find a small skull levitating in front of her - it was so black that it stood out from the darkness of the unlit bedroom.

Unease

Location: Brighton - Unnamed flat in Kempton area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1999
Further Comments: A couple reported moving from their flat after a six month period, during which they experienced dread, anxiety and the presence of something evil.

Blind Beggar

Location: Brighton - Victoria Gardens
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s
Further Comments: The figure of a man in rags with empty eye sockets has been seen shuffling around this neighbourhood.

Volks Tavern in Brighton.

Blonde Woman

Location: Brighton - Volks Tavern, Madeira Drive
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Seen dancing within this tavern, the blonde woman was speculated to once have haunted the ruined West Pier.

The Wahoo Bar in Brighton.

Mr Webster

Location: Brighton - Wahoo Bar, West Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: Mr Webster, nicknamed Claude, hanged himself in 1903, when the building was a hotel. His ghost, wearing chef garb, was reportedly seen by members of staff in the late twentieth century.

Christine Holford

Location: Brighton - Blue Gardenia Club
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: April 1963
Further Comments: Club owner Harvey Holford was found guilty of manslaughter after shooting and killing his wife. Shortly after Holford's conviction, lights in the building would turn themselves on and off and kitchen utensils moved themselves around the room. The poltergeist was said to have left after a medium visited the club, although there are other reports that it may have lingered longer.

The Brighton Dome Theatre.

White Lady

Location: Brighton - Brighton Dome (theatre), New Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century?
Further Comments: Seen by actors as they rehearse, the phantom lady is described as wearing a long white dress with bouffant hair. A soldier dressed in a red tunic, the sound of disembodied footsteps and the rattling of chains also haunt the building.

The Brighton Rocks pub, formally known as the Battle of Waterloo.

Coach Driver

Location: Brighton - Brighton Rocks public house (formerly Battle of Waterloo), Rock Place
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1996, 2000s
Further Comments: This figure, complete with cloak, was seen in the 1990s drifting around the front door and the gentlemen's toilets. He was said to be the driver of a local mayor who was murdered by a highwayman shortly after leaving the pub. More recently, cupboards held shut by bricks have flung themselves open, heavy filing cabinets have fallen over, and a dog is either terrified of nothing or plays with something invisible.

Brighton's Town Hall.

Henry Solomon

Location: Brighton - Brighton Town Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century?
Further Comments: Solomon (the first Chief Constable of Brighton) was killed around the middle of the eighteenth century, after being hit around the head with a red hot poker during the attempted escape of a prisoner in the cells. The former officer's ghost reportedly haunts the basement, while the upper parts of the building are haunted by a monk; a remnant from when a monastery stood on the site.

Flashing Lights

Location: Brighton - Bugel Inn, St Martins Street
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1965
Further Comments: This public house was once plunged into chaos by a poltergeist - it played with door locks, moved furniture around, and would flick the lights on and off at speed.

The Bugle Inn in Brighton.

Charlie

Location: Brighton - Bugle Inn, St Martins Street
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1965
Further Comments: Locals christened this entity 'Charlie', and blamed him for moving furnishings, flicking lights on and off, locking and unlocking doors, and generating other minor mischief.

The Caroline of Brunswick pub in Brighton.

Name Calling

Location: Brighton - Caroline Of Brunswick public house, Ditchling Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twenty-first century
Further Comments: An unknown phantom in this pub reputedly calls out to staff using their first name.

Screams

Location: Brighton - Clayton tunnel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Since a tragic train crash in 1862, there have been reports of screams, cries, and the sound of crunching metal emanating from this tunnel.

Crying

Location: Brighton - Commercial site, Lewes Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twenty-first century
Further Comments: Several strange events were reported in this building, including the sounds of children crying, a woman in black being spotted, items moving on their own accord, and chattering emerging from empty rooms.

Brighton's Corn Exchange.

Flushing

Location: Brighton - Corn Exchange
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Twentieth century?
Further Comments: This poltergeist practical joker was reported to flush toilets while they were in use. The entity was also reported to break glasses in the bar when no one was close by.

The Cricketers Inn in Brighton.

Pale Man

Location: Brighton - Cricketers Inn
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: Bottles and glasses would fall off shelves, doors were heard to slam shut, and footsteps were heard climbing the stairs. On several occasions a pale man wearing a long black cloak was spotted by one manager. In addition, the grey nun which haunts the Lanes has been seen just outside the inn.

Dr Brighton's Bar, unsurprisingly in Brighton.

Misty Figure

Location: Brighton - Dr Brighton's (bar)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: When this building was a hotel, it was said to be haunted by a misty male figure who would sit in the chair in one room.

Druid's Head pub, Brighton.

Hooded Figure

Location: Brighton - Druid's Head public house, Market Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s (figure), 31 October 2015 (picture frame)
Further Comments: Always seen from the corner of one's eye, a good description of this spirit was never forthcoming (although it may be the ghost of a smuggler who died after tripping on the staircase in the basement). However, another ghost in the building moves slightly slower - a woman in a red dress has been seen on one occasion in the vicinity of the main bar. In 2015 a picture frame flew off a pillar and struck a visitor on the back; no one was injured and the frame did not break.

The Duke of York's Cinema in Brighton.

Tim

Location: Brighton - Duke of York's Cinema, Preston Circus
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Tim was a brewery worker crushed to death on this site. After the cinema took over the site, staff have felt Tim's presence watching them, and the smell of brewing beer fills the air.

The Dyke Tavern in Brighton.

Woman in Grey

Location: Brighton - Dyke Tavern, Dyke Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1996
Further Comments: A worker spotted a woman dressed in a grey dress standing by the fireplace in the empty bar. The figure also had a grey face. She faded away.

Snaking Lights

Location: Burgess Hill - London Road area
Type: UFO
Date / Time: September 1995, 08 July 2017
Further Comments: A married couple, along with other witnesses, observed five circular lights in the sky. The lights were different colours and 'snaked' for a few minutes before all turning white and shooting off in different directions. Twenty-two years later a witness heard a 'TV white noise' sound emerging from the sky which lasted around 20 minutes.

Boomerang

Location: Burgess Hill - Royal George Road
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 1994 or 1995
Further Comments: While outside, a male witness heard aircraft engines and looked to the sky. He watched a 737 appear briefly in the gap of the clouds, closely followed by another craft which was twice the size of the recognisable airplane. The latter craft was boomerang shaped with squared wing tips and dark grey or black in colour. After disappearing into the clouds, the witness did not see either craft again.

Last Home

Location: Burpham - Harrow Hill
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The last fairies in England are said to have resided here, until chased away in the 1900's by archaeologists.

Rudyard Kipling

Location: Burwash - Bateman's house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: The ghost of Kipling reportedly haunts his study. His fleeting shade was also seen standing by flowers in the garden.