The Haunting of Hannah Hall

Anyone who has taken Forteana 101 knows that if a sinister old lady knocks on your door, only to be unceremoniously sent packing, don’t be surprised if you start experiencing some sort of supernatural annoyance.  A sterling example of this rule occurred in the village of Little Tew, England, during the years 1838-1839.

Our little cautionary tale centered around a servant girl named Hannah Bench, a “modest, quiet, and unassuming young woman” of about 20.  One day, an old woman presented herself at Hannah’s door, asking to tell her fortune.  Hannah scolded the woman for being an obvious impostor--who could possibly see anyone’s future?--and told the stranger to go on her way.  The old woman indignantly replied that she did indeed know Hannah’s future.  The girl would be married in three months, and although she did not give the gentleman’s name, she provided a detailed description of him.  Hannah called her a liar, and slammed the door in the visitor’s face.

Soon after this encounter, Hannah saw a very ugly creature resembling a newt clinging to her dress, which so alarmed her that she went into a violent fit.  Thereafter, she had so many such convulsions that she was unable to continue her duties, and went to live with relatives.  Fortunately, this change of scene led to an immediate improvement in her health, and within three months, as the old woman had predicted, she was married to a blacksmith named Thomas Hall.

Unfortunately, this marriage marked the start of a whole new set of troubles for Hannah.  “Unearthly sounds”--scratching noises, moans, whistles--began to be heard throughout her house, which so terrified her that her fits returned, which often left her unconscious for hours.  Others heard these eerie sounds, but Hannah was the only one to be physically affected by them.

This supernatural persecution got bolder.  Hannah’s bottle of medicine was frequently thrown to the floor by an unseen force.  Cups holding this medicine would be dashed out of her hand and smashed into pieces on the floor.  A friend of Hannah’s offered to keep the medicine in her own house, so Hannah could take the prescribed doses unmolested.

Hannah began to feel invisible hands tugging at her dress, which would sometimes untie her apron and hurl it across the house.  “It” would remove her wedding ring and hide it, and place the front door key in bizarre places.  The windows of her cottage would mysteriously shatter.

Before long, the weird happenings became the talk of the village.  One woman scoffed, insisting that Hannah, for whatever reason, must be faking the phenomena, and she would prove it.  When she went to Hannah’s cottage, she was told that the bedroom window had just been smashed.  When the woman went upstairs to investigate, a…something lifted her off the floor towards the ceiling, and then, after a moment, set her back down.  The woman was so unnerved that she immediately returned home, where it took several days in bed for her to recover from the experience.  One hopes she gave Hannah an apology.

The “ghost” began to speak.  Unfortunately, it was a highly impolite voice, uttering “very vulgar language.”  Hannah and her friends, deciding that this really was the last straw, resolved to hold a prayer meeting in her cottage, hoping that this would drive away the rude visitor.

It did not go well.  Whenever anyone would begin to pray, the ghostly voice would shout “Amen!” in a sarcastic fashion.  When the voice was asked who it was, and why it was bothering them, the only reply was a fiendish chuckle.  On a later occasion, the voice was more amenable to answering questions.  It claimed to be the spirit of a certain deceased person.  It gave this person’s name, and some details of his history.  However, all these details proved to be false, proving that they were dealing with “a lying, mischievous, and malicious spirit.”  The voice was fond of shouting at visitors, “You’re a fool!  You’re a fool!”

The spirit continued to throw poor Hannah into fits.  At other times, this invisible force would throw pans, stools, and even hatchets at her.  One day, Hannah’s infant child was dashed from her lap into the fire, but fortunately, the baby was rescued unhurt.

Mystery Blood even made an appearance in our story.  One day, the voice was heard emanating from Hannah’s pillow.  Someone who happened to be in the room stabbed the pillow with a fork, after which, “blood or something like it” seeped out.  Most curiously, while there was blood on top of the pillowcase and on the sheet under the pillow, there was no blood inside the pillow itself.

On one occasion, Hannah was complaining to a friend about her wedding ring being removed from her finger.  She feared that this time, it was lost for good.  The ghostly voice informed her that it was in a handkerchief that was on the table.  And so it was.

As Hannah feared being alone in the house while her husband was at work, her mother came to stay for a time.  While she was there, the house door key again disappeared.  While the women were vainly searching for it, one of them snapped, “Depend on it, that thing has got it hid somewhere.”  A shrill voice replied, “It’s in the pail of water, it’s in the pail of water!”  Seeing that a pail of water was nearby, Hannah’s mother fished around in it, but found nothing.

“Drat that lying thing; it is not here!” the old woman exclaimed.  

“It’s in the pail of water!” the shrill voice insisted.

Hannah’s mother examined the pail again, and this time the key was there.  The two women then heard a mocking laugh.

Hannah and her husband were almost constantly exhausted.  At night, their ghostly guest would appear by their bed, crowing and chirping in a very unnerving manner, and would sometimes lift them from the bed and gently lay them back down.  Such occurrences did not promote a restful sleep.  Hearing of these troubles, a neighbor, “T,” and another young man, “Tom,” volunteered to sleep in their room.  On the first night, Tom was also lifted from the bed, but this time, was rudely dropped to the ground.  The voice was then heard to say, “Cheer up, cheer up, cheer up!”

Tom was not cheered.

On another night, a rushing sound suddenly came through the room, and something fell heavily on the bed between “T” and Tom.  T grasped hold of it, only to find that he was holding on to a pound of rushlights.

Finally, the local minister, Edgar Hewlett, (who later published a pamphlet about the “ghost”) came to pray with Hannah.  When the now all-too-familiar voice lectured him, “You’re a fool, you’re a fool!”  Hewlett retorted, “Who are you?  I defy you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the name of Jesus I bid you depart and trouble this woman no more.”

His words were met with total silence.  After some minutes of this unusual peace, Hannah said, “I do think that he is driven away.”

Happily, she proved to be correct.  Whatever the malicious spirit tormenting Hannah may have been, it was never heard from again.