Furnace fires that burn to inferno heat and sweat that could drown a thousand cut rats will bring

the unholy feelings and rages to any Black Country Mon, and was it any wonder that through

the industrial revolution that many a weird and wicked thing surfaced to darken these black

hills far and wide.

From Witches and Warlocks to monstrous murders and apparitions, the Black Country has

seen its fair share spooky affairs from the past 200 years…

We begin with a tale of four mischievous boys during the second world war.

Stourbridge was the home of these little rascals poaching in the nearby Hagley Woods where

they came across the human remains of a woman buried inside a hollowed tree trunk.

She had be their roughly six months when police had been investigating, and also discovered

the skeleton had one of its severed hands  buried close the the tree. Clothing and jewellery were also still intact.

Many locals believe it was a witch’s sacrifice for the occult. Some believe that it was a cover up

of foul play, while some still consider there to be more of a supernatural ending to the poor woman’s  soul.

Whatever happened to the woman or her remains will probably remain unsolved and we will still always ask the question “WHO PUT BELLA IN THE WYCH ELM?”

Read More About This Story Here

From the dark coldness of the woods to the warm cosiness of a hotel next, or you are led to

believe  as we see what goes bump in the night at the Station Hotel in Dudley.

During its hay day at the turn of the 20th century, Dudley was a hive of activity with folk cramming into the opera house and bedding down for the night at its prestigious Station Hotel. Even when the opera house burned down in the 1930’s this didn’t stop Hollywood A listers of its time heading

for  the Station Hotel for its comforts and cushioned mattress’.

Throughout its life, the  hotel  has had strange happenings  all  through its history. Believed to have had a young woman who worked at the hotel murdered by the manager many years previous is where the ghostly tales have sprung from.

Lights flashing on and off, doors opening by themselves and the errie chill as if there is someone in the room with you.

The hotel also bring its regular hauls of paranormal investigators to try and debunk the ghoulish behaviour and many have been convinced that there is something haunting the hotel.

I myself have had an experience at the hotel where the main room lights went out all by themselves, leaving the venue in gothic darkness.  Whether you are a firm believer or the biggest of sceptics there is something to be said of the Station Hotel itself.

Go and spend the night….. I dare you!

Lastly on this post we come to a case of murder in the mines.

Old Hill has had many mines back in its industrial history and none so dark and vile as of “The Black Wagon Pit” and the unsolved murder of Samuel Bowater.

At reaching a retiring age, Bowater began a night watchman shift on the pit which he had worked for many a year both man and boy.

It was at this new job where he met his untimely demise on a winter morn of 1878.

Police investigations found that Bowater was a keen gambler, too keen for a lot of his co workers who it was thought  had conned them out of a lot money and its widely regarded that its one of these men that committed the gruesome crime. As proceeding continued, all men were tight lipped during investigations which eventually led to no conviction, and even to this day the crime remains unsolved.

Read more Black Country Ghost stories in this book by Andrew Homer HERE