Halloween Haunts on the Coast
20/10/2025
Have you heard the ghost stories surrounding the towns and villages of the Yorkshire Coast? In the spirit of Halloween season, we have curated some of our spookiest local stories.
Whitby Abbey's Resident Ghosts
The eerie ruins of Whitby Abbey are said to be home to not one but two sprits. The first is a young nun named Constance de Beverley, who broke her vows of chastity and as punishment her fellow nuns bricked her up behind the Abbey walls. Today some visitors claim to hear a woman's screams carried in the wind. Some say this is Constance's spirit eternally trying to escape her grisly fate.
The second ghost is the founder of the Abbey, Lady Hilda, who lived in the abbey back in 657. On stormy nights she is said to appear in the high windows on the north side of the ruins gazing longingly out to sea.
The Hauntings of Scarborough's Grand Hotel
The Grand Hotel in Scarborough is a landmark Victorian building built back in 1863 with 365 rooms for each day of the year and 12 floors for each month. Today, poltergeist activity is often reported by guests and organised ghost hunts have taken place in the hotel after dark.
The most common claims are of phantom laughter and period music playing in the ballroom, occasionally accompanied by the spirit of a lady in a red ballgown. Elsewhere, there has been reportings of screams in the long halls and footsteps following guests down corridors.
The Werewolf of the Wolds
Back in the 1960s a lorry driver passing through Staxton Hill near Scarborough reported a terrifying encounter with a hairy, red-eyed creature which tried to smash its way through his windscreen. A similar occurance happened again in 2016 when a local woman described a huge dog, bigger than her car, with a human face in the nearby village of Halsham.
The remote area of the wolds has no known wolf presence since the 15th century when they were hunted to extinction, so is it a werewolf or another monster stalking this quiet countryside road?
The Joker of Scarborough Castle
The spirit most known for haunting Scarborough Castle's remains is that of headless Piers Gaveston, a companion of King Edward II known to have been a nuisance joker in his time at the castle. Piers would hide along the castle walls and push and shove Barons and Earls of his day as they passed by.
In 1312, Piers was captured at the castle whilst it was under siege and executed at Warwick Castle. Legend says his headless spirit returned to Scarborough to haunt the ruins.
Today, numerous guests have reported feelings of being pushed or shoved and hearing unusual laughs whilst exploring the ruins. Others claim to have seen a headless apparition roaming aimlessly about the grounds.