HF Holidays top 10 terrifying destinations

Halloween is here and with the witching hour upon us we’ve put together our top 10 spooky stories and scary sightings from our HF Holidays UK country house destinations.

Given Cornwall’s plentiful supply of (supposedly) haunted inns, it takes something seriously dark to stand out. The Bucket of Blood in St. Ives was once a popular haunt for smugglers and earned its name after the bloodied body of an unfortunate customs and excise inspector was found shoved into a nearby well. Since then, locals have reported strange happenings and ghostly figures lurking around the bar. Cornish pubs aren’t the only places you’ll find spirits, though. Down in Falmouth, there’s Pendennis Castle where the halls regularly rattle to the sound of long-gone Royalist soldiers that suffered at the hands of a siege in 1646. 

During the day, people come to the impossibly pretty Cotswolds town of Bourton-on-the-Water for its chocolate-box cottages and charming old-fashioned tearooms. But by night, it’s prone to the occasional visit from a headless horseman looking to be reunited with his lost appendage. There’s also a royally good ghost story at nearby Sudeley Castle. The only one of Henry VIII’s six wives to outlive him, Catherine Parr passed away here in 1548, but is often seen strolling the corridors and the palace gardens. If you spot a tall lady in green, you might be in the presence of 16th century royalty.

Though it’s the Beast of Bodmin Moor that gets all the press in this part of the world, the Beast of Exmoor is equally fearsome. When the sea mist rolls in from the Bristol Channel, the brooding plains of Exmoor can look like one of England’s most unforgiving landscapes – a fitting home for the huge panther-like cat that’s been sighted several times roaming the lonely moors and is partial to savaging livestock in the dead of night.

Packed with battle-worn castles, ancient megalithic monuments, and WWII relics, the Isle of Wight is a perfect setting for the paranormal. Carisbrook Castle stands as strong and sturdy as it did in its 17th century heyday when it held King Charles I prior to his execution in 1649. Now and again, a shadowy apparition is spotted on the same bowling green where the royal passed time in the days leading up to his death. Alongside the ill-fated monarch, there’s a nameless ‘grey lady’ and a spectral pack of hounds said to roam the grounds, too. 

Packed with battle-worn castles, ancient megalithic monuments, and WWII relics, the Isle of Wight is a perfect setting for the paranormal. Carisbrook Castle stands as strong and sturdy as it did in its 17th century heyday when it held King Charles I prior to his execution in 1649. Now and again, a shadowy apparition is spotted on the same bowling green where the royal passed time in the days leading up to his death. Alongside the ill-fated monarch, there’s a nameless ‘grey lady’ and a spectral pack of hounds said to roam the grounds, too. 

It’s a good thing Yorkshire is known as God’s country; you might need some divine protection, particularly in Whitby. This famous North Yorkshire resort is not only the inspiration and setting for Bram Stoker’s Gothic novel, Dracula, but also a playground for paranormal activity. The hauntingly beautiful ruins of Whitby Abbey are frequented by the spirit of Constance de Beverly – a nun punished for breaking her vow of chastity by being bricked up in the walls, alive. Elsewhere there’s Grape Lane, where a regular resident is the ghost of a baker’s daughter burned in a tragic accident. And then there’s the barghest, a demonic black dog that prowls the streets at night looking for souls to snatch. With credentials like that, it’s no wonder the seaside town hosts the twice-yearly Whitby Goth Weekend. 

Northumberland’s certainly not short of a spooky story or two. Nether Grange, our HF Holidays country house in Alnmouth, is just a stroll away from the Schooner Hotel – a contender for the title of most haunted building in Britain. Popular with paranormal investigators, ghostly goings on include furniture moved by an unseen hand and unexplainable grey mists floating through rooms. Further up the coast lies Lindisfarne, also known as Holy Island. With a name like that you’d think the place would be well protected against spooks and spirits, but it seems St. Aidan – the 7th century founder of Lindisfarne Priory – has decided to stick around. Be on the lookout for a brown-robed monk carrying a staff. 

One of the Peak District’s prime ghoul-spotting locations is Eyam. The little village in the heart of the Peak District National Park became famous following its battle against the Great Plague in 1665. Self-isolating long before self-isolating became common parlance, the villagers sealed themselves off from the outside world, hoping to be saved from the Black Death. Though there was some success in stopping the spread of disease to surrounding villages, Eyam suffered terribly and at one point recorded up to five deaths a day – a higher mortality rate than London. You can get the warts-and-all history on this real-life Village of the Damned with a visit to Eyam’s plague cottages and museum. 

Scotland has a history that’s longer and bloodier than all eight series of Game of Thrones. And there are few more horrific episodes in Scotland’s past than the Glencoe massacre. In February 1692, during the Jacobite Uprising, government soldiers slaughtered over 30 members of Clan Macdonald for failing to pledge allegiance to new monarchs, William of Orange, and Mary II. Nowadays, people claim to hear screams coming from the scene of the massacre when walking across the glens – particularly around the anniversary of the event.

Wales is a roughhewn region steeped in proud mining history and sadly, a fair share of tragic mining disasters, too. After an explosion at Port Talbot’s Morfa Colliery claimed the lives of 89 miners in 1890, there were reports of strange noises, deep below the earth, and shadowy figures standing at the end of mineshafts. A belief that these unnerving sights and sounds were a warning of another impending tragedy left many of the men too terrified to work and Morfa earned the nickname ‘The Pit of Ghosts’. You can find out exactly what life was like for the tough Welsh miners – and what it might have taken to terrify them – at the Big Pit National Coal Museum in Blaenavon.