“The Woman in Black”
Family flee “Haunted House.”
A Douglas hawker and his family have been driven out of a 15-roomed house in Douglas by what they describe as: Uncanny noises; Loud thumpings in the night; A little old woman in black who walked through locked doors.
The family consists of Mr Isaac Watson, a hawker, his wife and three children, and his mother-in-law, Mrs Miller; and the adult members are convinced that they have been victims of supernatural manifestations at the house, which has been unoccupied for a considerable time. Mr Watson got the house intending to let off rooms.
On the first night the whole family were disturbed by loud thumping, they say, and the second night the noises continued all through the hours of darkness. For the third night the women and children went to bed in one room, and Mr Watson slept in the next room. Mrs Miller and Mrs Watson say this uncanny row was repeated, and they could hear someone counting money.
Mr Watson states that at one o’clock he woke suddenly and saw a little old woman walk through the locked door to the window, where he could see her distinctly. She wore a black cape and bonnet. She turned round, walked past the bed again, and out through the locked door.
As soon as he could move he ran into the next room, and the following day they left the house.
Liverpool Evening Express, 30th July 1942.
“The Ghost Walks”.
Amusing story of a Douglas home.
Mr Isaac Watson, a Douglas hawker, his wife and three children, and his mother-in-law, Mrs Miller, after only four days’ occupation of a house in Douglas, have been driven out by “queer noises” and “a little old woman who walks.” It’s a queer story, believe it or not. The house, a big one, has been empty for a considerable time, but the new tenant got it at a reasonable rent and planned to let off rooms.
Before moving in they cleaned down the house and did decorations both inside and out, but on the first night they moved in their rest was broken by “queer thumping noises”. The next night the thumping started at dark and kept up all night, and no one got any sleep. On the third night, the women and children for safety’s sake slept in one room, and Mr Watson occupied the next one. Again the peculiar noises kept the women awake, but Mr Watson, after locking his door, dropped off to sleep. He states that at about one o’clock he suddenly woke up and saw a little old woman coming from the locked door.
“She was almost five feet high, and had on a black skirt and black cape, and an old-fashioned bonnet. She stood at the window and looked out, her figure being quite clear against the light outside. Then she turned, and I could see her white face and white hair under the bonnet. She then walked back past my bed and through the locked door.”
When Mr Watson recovered he said he went into the room occupied by the women and dropped into a chair.
The next night the queer sounds continued, and in the middle of the night, Mrs Miller said, “We heard an unearthly scream, and the next day we cleared out.”
The family have gone to a cottage in the country.
Isle of Man Times, 1st August 1942.