Autumn Ghost Stories, Ghost Hunts and Black Cat Books in Launceston, Cornwall

Early autumn is here, bringing lower temperatures, a little rain and that unmistakable change in the air. It’s my favourite season, and I welcome it. For me, autumn has always been the perfect time for ghost stories, haunted places and tales of the supernatural.

In November, I’ll be heading down to Launceston in Cornwall for a couple of days at Black Cat Books, a brilliant independent bookshop selling new and interesting second-hand books. Emily, who owns the shop, previously worked as the Education Officer at Dartmoor Prison, before the prison temporarily closed because of radon gas.

I’ll be there for ghost hunts and readings of ghost stories, including some of my own. Launceston and the surrounding Cornish landscape have a rich history of strange stories, old buildings and local legends, making Cornwall a wonderful setting for exploring the supernatural.

One of the recent events took place at the White Hart Hotel, where we spent the night investigating a famously haunted bedroom. The room is said to be haunted by a commercial traveller from Worcester who arrived at the hotel in 1849 and died there from cholera.

He was buried in a lead-lined coffin, and a monument was erected to him in the church. According to the story, because he remained confined to his room, the cholera did not spread through the town. The church bells were then rung in celebration.

Stories like this are what make Cornish ghost hunts and haunted history so fascinating. They sit somewhere between local history, folklore and the unexplained, leaving plenty of room for questions about what really happened.

Autumn is the thin time between the living and the dead.

Lots of love,Laurence