MARC WEST commemorates Halloween by taking part in a Ghost Trail, looking at the dark side of Oxford’s history with the aptly named Bill Spectre

AS THE clocks fall back and the nights draw steadily in, we’re plunged once again into the deep darkness of another long winter.

Summer’s transition into the following seasons has long been thought of as a time when the passageway between the dead and the living worlds is at its most fluid – an opportunity for creatures of the night to roam freely amongst us.

As such, whilst a new batch of freshers join the dance macabre along Cowley Road on this cold autumnal night, across town a gathering of lost souls lurk beneath Castle Mound awaiting to be led by a mysterious Victorian undertaker around the moonlit alleyways of our most edifying city.

But, the hidden histories we’re about to encounter aren’t studied in the Bodleian. Lifting the lid on this seat of learning, these silent whispers of Old Oxford are brought startlingly back to life by the curiously named Bill Spectre – whose theatrical tales of hangings, poisonings and blood-curdling murders are of the sort that’ll keep you wide awake at night.

Strolling the backstreets after dark on a spirit-seeking foray is enough to put even the most sceptical on edge – as we examine the nightmares that lie beneath the dreaming spires. Those well-trod quaint cobbled tourist trails of the day take on a more sinister side when the moon is high in the night sky.

The very fabric of ancient monuments like Oxford Castle – a place of punishment and death for a thousand years – have absorbed the suffering contained within their walls. In fact, I swear I felt the distinctive two taps on my shoulder of former inmate Mary Blandy – the infamous poisoner who was hanged on this very spot on Easter Monday in 1752.

However, for me, it’s the gruesome goings-on of 1832 as recalled by Reverend Churton that will haunt me every time I walk down Brasenose Lane at the strike of the Midnight hour. That December eve, the undergraduate members of the college’s notorious Hell Fire Club were indulging in a blasphemous black mass when the ultimate villain is said to have made an appearance and taken the life of a young Edward Trafford. Passing by outside, the senior Fellow swore he bumped into the cloaked figure of Beelzebub lurking in the shadows. And, to his dying day, he stood by his words – although it is known he had consumed a few glasses of college port over supper. So, was it the Devil…or the drink?

What is for sure, is that this (black) magical evening led by an award-winning master story teller – and illustrated with props and illusions – will lift the spirits of young and old alike. Intrepid ghost hunters can meet every Friday and Saturday evening at 6.30pm outside Oxford Castle Unlocked. For all details, visit ghosttrail.org.