The Ghosts of Borley

Book excerpt: 'The Ghosts of Borley' (1973) was the first complete record of the unique Borley Rectory hauntings, detailing all the evidence known about this notorious haunted house from the early days of the Rev. H. D. E. Bull who built Borley Rectory in 1863, through the incumbencies of the Rev. Harry Bull, the Rev. Guy Eric Smith and the Rev. Lionel Foyster, to the investigations by Harry Price and other members of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR).Reports of apparently paranormal activity - including appearances of the famous phantom nun - were still being received from the now desolate site of the rectory, its immediate vicinity and the church just across the road where many of the people who figure in the story now lie buried. Underwood studied and investigated the Borley case for thirty years, personally meeting and interviewing practically everyone connected with it.Originally intended for publication in the 1950s, Underwood's 'Borley manuscript was shelved due to the release in 1956 of the 'The Haunting of Borley Rectory' (also known as the 'Borley Report'), which was severely critical of Price's investigation. However following the publication of 'An Examination of the 'Borley Report'' (1969), a defence of Price by Robert J. Hastings, the foundations were set for Underwood's 'Borley Dossier' to finally be released a few years later.Tabori was literary executor to the Harry Price estate with access to all relevant material. Underwood then took over as executor, and in recognition for his work was presented with the famous Great Bell of Borley that hung in the courtyard from 1863 to 1943 and at Price's home from 1943 to 1973.This is a classic account of a mystery that over the decades has continued to fascinate anyone with serious interest in psychical research, 'ghost hunting' and the paranormal in general.