Last Monday's "True Ghosts of History" bonus at the end of our doomed post HERE was indeed (as Brian Barnes pointed out), based on a a very well documented haunting that took place in the 1830's, though the actual origins of The Brown Lady, aka The Grim Lady story itself goes as far back as the sixteen and seventeen hundreds. (CLICK HERE for more information from the eerie Wikipedia entry.) And alas, the great King Ward version you saw last week was just one of three filler comic book adaptations uniquely rendered over the years and telling the terrifyin' tale of poor Dorothy Walpole's wandering apparition. Our first version below is from DC's "Tales of the Haunted and the Damned!" a then new series of true stories (concerning cursed castles, haunted houses, and macabre mansions) and originally appeared, in this case, in the Feb. 1974 issue of Ghosts #23. Also included below-- the infamous "real" photo of damned Dorothy descending the 'ol staircase of Raynham Hall, --and finally, another illustrated version, this time as a one-page quickie from the April 1953 issue of Adventures into Darkness #9, though this scan was actually already posted at THOIA way back in 2010 HERE!
8 comments:
A ghost that's frightened off by a flintlock ball isn't much of a ghost.
*sigh
It's interesting how each story pushes the historical record a little further, while all concentrate almost completely on Marryat's part of the story. I guess his "kill first and ask questions later" rootin' tootin' shootin' style sells comics. I do like how he reacts in the seventies version best, though. The real Captain Marryat didn't come off quite so contrite about trying to gun down someone he suspected of being alive and well. If Frederick didn't believe the place was already haunted when he got there, he was clearly determined to make damn sure it was haunted by the time he left.
For my money, the Red Cavalier is the coolest ghost in this story. So suave and well-dressed. I like to think that's him in every panel where the specter wears a powdered wig and a colonial coat. He's so badass he has an entire breed of spaniel named after him.
The fist tale captured the mood of a haunted house, spectral transparent figures either interacting with the living or oblivious to their surroundings.
The second tale is a great one pager, leaving the reader to wonder who or what was fired upon by Captain Maryatt.
As far as the ghost photographed on the stairs is concerned, it, much like photos of UFO's and Bigfoot, are accepted as fact by believers and fakes by doubters.
For ghost stories in general, C B Colby, the author of "Strangely Enough" and "World's Best "True" Ghost Stories" put it best- "May there always be at least one more!"
Colby definitely knew how to make things entertaining (though I say that about most paranormal writers).
Yeah, as Mr. Cavin points out, none of these stories are very accurate, and that's just me going off the wikipedia page which I'm going to trust a bit more.
Also, nobody gets the staircase right and the photo was pretty well known by then. The previous and the first on this post make it spiral, and there's not even a staircase on the second version in this post!
That said there's a lot to love, especially on the first one. The black + white ghosts, especially the lady with the rubber-y teeth is a terrifying little image, and like others, I adore the Red Cavalier, though I thick a lecherous ghost is probably not as favorable upon the poor women he rambles his boney teeth upon. Still, what a great image. The room, the woman in stark terror and the sound fx ... and the light red coloring of our masher ... man that's a great horror comic panel.
BTW one of the theories on that photo is it is a super-imposed Virgin Mary statue and once you hear that it's hard not to see it.
Concerning The Red Cavalier, I am just wondering out loud if Brian will dig up a red sports jacket and a white wig in order to do a reenactment of The Red Cavalier's romantic antics. Must see TV, or a youtube short.
People usually make fun of the BELIEVERS, but Captain Maryatt is proof of how tricky it is for someone like a paranormal DEBUNKER to carry a gun! Of course, he takes that a step farther - instead of shooting at what he thinks is a ghost after all, he just shoots!
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