Whilst producing a horror movie based on the strange happenings at the house itself, Bil saw the property was up for sale. After completing the movie, I discovered that the actual house, where all these incredible events allegedly happened, was for sale and it was…er, cheap – so I bought it,” he said.

Although the stories and illustrations presented within are as chilling as I remember, the book frequently adopts a laudable stance of objective distance, and is filled with reminders for young readers to form their own judgements. A Study in Destructive Haunting, which documents the alleged poltergeist activity experienced by the Pritchard family at 30 East Drive, Pontefract, West Yorkshire between 1966 and 1969. This was the beginning of several years of incredible, inexplicable events; green foam appearing from taps and toilet even after the water was turned off, the tea dispenser being activated resulting in all the dried tea cascading onto the work surface, lights being turned off and on, plants leaping out of their pots and landing on the stairs, cupboards shaking violently, photographs being slashed with a sharp knife and an endless list of levitating and thrown objects – including a solid oak sideboard. We were treated to an after-dinner screening of this fascinating piece of film-making, preceded by a few words from its director – who explained the influence of the Usborne Ghosts book on his lifelong interest in the supernatural – and a specially-filmed introduction from star Reece Shearsmith.

I still don’t believe there is an afterlife, as I need more proof than a torch turning on and off, but these ghost tours are a great form of entertainment. The Emancipator is a reimagining of the first abolitionist newspaper in the United States with a focus on explaining and identifying solutions to structural racism. I wanted to be my dad’s friend, to tell him I was sorry that he had lost a cousin who had introduced him to new ways of looking at the world. I was looking through the pictures and listening to videos to see if I could hear anything, then I saw the top of the stairs and thought 'that didn't look right'. When I discovered – via Usborne’s Anna Howorth, and bookseller Tamsin Rosewell – that the Ghosts book was being given a 2019 reissue following a concerted fan campaign, I immediately pitched an accompanying feature to the Fortean Times.

According to Jean Pritchard's sister-in-law Renee Holden, alleged supernatural disturbances by a poltergeist given the nickname "Fred" included "throwing things around, freezing rooms down, creating water puddles and making noises". If it exists out there in the “wilds of literary motifs”, then Raucher has found it ,harnessed it, and clothed it well with the pages of his book.They really do seem to show the face of something other-worldly, something that conforms uncannily to our mental image of a demon. Jean, Joe, Phillip (15) and Diane (12) Pritchard moved into Number 30 East Drive, Pontefract in August 1966. The 29-year-old has since revealed images shot through a full-length mirror which she believes contains a ghostly face that could be the dreaded Black Monk at the top of the stairs. On closer examination we discovered that it was a velvet waistcoat and a stomacher with paper patterns wrapped around them. Start a conversation that would build upon this little pool, this little island of knowing that they had extracted.