Steve Hatherley
The fact that the Church-Peverill family are not afraid of ghosts should not strike the casual guest as strange; Peverill Manor is one of the most haunted houses in England. Indeed, it is only casual guests that should fear these normally benign spectres.
The most famous of the ghosts are the twins, appearing only at night in the West Gallery. Killed in the early seventeenth century by their drunken father, they returned a year later in terrible revenge. Since then they have appeared several times, but each time the witness had died a most terrible death. The West Gallery is shunned by night.
There are many other ghosts. The crying wall, the laughing maid, and Monty and Michael all appear inside the Manor. The haunted copse, the moondial, the horseman, and the ash tree appear in the extensive grounds. There are others, and not all have names.
The curse of the Church-Peverills hangs heavy in one room, where the Lord of the Manor died horribly after being cursed by a witch. He died in agony in his bed. The room is kept as if he had never died, although laden with dust and gloom.
1 After the curse had struck, the witch's grave was exhumed and found to be empty. Her corpse was never found and is still buried near the house. Her presence is disturbing the other ghosts, when she is returned to her true grave they will fade away, at peace.
2 Peverill Manor is built upon a ritual serpent people grave. Residual magic in the reptilian corpses is mistaken for ghosts.
3 Psychic emanations from a demon trapped below the Manor are picked up by those above and turned into ghosts. The Church-Peverills do not fear the ghosts so the ones they create are benign. Others, less relaxed, create terrible creatures to haunt them from their own nightmares.
Copyright (c) 1990 Steve Hatherley
Steve Hatherley is the creator of Tales of Terror, and has written for both Chaosium and Pagan Publishing. He also has a number of other websites, including www.great-murder-mystery-games.com and www.mylowerbackpain.com.
Steve lives in Yorkshire, England.
Click here to see Steve's other Tales of Terror.