It seems to us that any creepy stories associated with spirits or evil spirits always take place somewhere in dark houses on the outskirts of the city. But 50 Berkeley Square is in one of London's most exclusive neighborhoods. It is impossible to live there for almost 200 years, and not because of a leaking roof or faulty sewage system.
Not so long ago, the "cream of society" lived in these places: lords, ladies, dukes and other British elite. And today only very wealthy Londoners can afford an apartment in Mayfair. Who would have thought that in a solid brick building, not much different from those in the neighborhood, evil forces live. At least that's what the locals think.
In the beginning there was a house
The story begins in 1740, with an architect named William Kent, who designed the four-story brick building that politicians George Canning and Winston Churchill lived in at various times.
But the most memorable owner of the house was not they, but a man named Thomas Mayer, or simply - Mr. Myers. He was a Member of Parliament and resided in the house in 1859.
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Ghosts at home
Surely what old house in London would be without a ghost? This one is definitely not. Legends vary, but one version repeats itself from legend to legend. In particular, they say that the room in the attic was occupied by the spirit of a young woman who once committed suicide within these walls. As if she had been raped by her own uncle, after which she threw herself out of the window. This ghost is so creepy that it scares those who see it to death. It appears in the form of a brown fog, through which the white silhouette of a woman appears.
Since 1859 (according to other versions - since 1885), Thomas Myers, a member of Parliament, settled there. He was rejected by his beloved, after which he locked himself in the house, slowly losing his mind. He lived there for at least ten years, never went outside and brought himself to such a neglected state that he lost everything that he had, including his sanity.
However, not much is known about him. In her autobiography, published in 1906, Lady Dorothy Neville, a distant relative of Mr. Myers, claimed that there were no ghosts in the house, but her ancestor did go mad. He spent the whole day in the house, being awake mostly at night: he walked along the corridors, made strange sounds and turned on the light. Many mistook Mr. Myers' activity as a poltergeist. "The whole story is complete nonsense," Lady Neville wrote.
But not everyone can agree with her. Otherwise why so many people could not spend the night within the walls of this house?
One drunk student
Luck loves the desperate. But not at this time. A 20-year-old student, Sir Robert Warboys was young, hot and brave. Once, sitting with friends in the Holborn tavern in 1840, he boasted that nothing and no one in this world would be able to scare him, and all stories about spirits were just inventions of cowards. Probably, a dispute broke out, as a result of which the friends made a bet. To prove his courage, Warboys had to go and spend the night alone at the famous 50 Berkeley Square.
God only knows how the tipsy students managed to persuade the landlord to let them in for the night. Either Warboys had money and connections, so that the young sir's quirks were treated with understanding, or the landlord was curious himself how the matter would end.
However, the landlord set two conditions. First: Warboys will take a pistol with him. Second: at the slightest sign of something strange, he will pull on the cord that connected his room to the guest room. A bell hung at the end of the cord so that the landlord would know exactly when to run to the youngster to the rescue.
The landlord ran upstairs, threw open the guest bedroom door, but it was too late. He found his guest huddled in a corner - already dead. The barrel of his pistol was still smoking, and the bullet lodged in the wall. Horror froze on the unfortunate man's face.
Two drunken sailors
Nearly fifty years later, two drunken sailors, Robert Martin and Edward Blanden of HMS Penelope, risked repeating Warboys' challenge. Their ship was docked in London, and the sailors on the shore decided to relax. Drunk, they burst into the then empty house number 50, barely climbed to the second floor (the condition of the first floor left much to be desired) and collapsed to sleep.
Blunden was a little more sober than his friend, and immediately felt that there was "something else" in the room besides them. Martin blamed everything on the musty air and suggested simply opening the window to freshen up the room a little. Both soon fell asleep, but an hour later Blunden woke up - it was about midnight. The grinding of door hinges caught his attention. Looking closer, Blunden was horrified to find something gray creeping through the room's wide-open door, blocking the only escape route. Martin had also woken up by that time. Blunden suddenly found a rifle propped against the wall next to the window.
Throwing his comrade, Martin ran - he rolled head over heels down to the first floor, found the policeman and literally dragged him into the house. But the room was empty. Blunden was found dead, according to various versions, dismembered in the basement or falling out of the window. His expression was reminiscent of what Warboys's student had once had.
Lord Littleton's well-aimed shot
And if these two cases raise doubts (all participants in the events - except for the gray "something" - were seriously stressed), then the story that happened in 1872, 15 years before the events with the sailors, does not raise doubts about the rationality of its participant.
Lord Littleton, a British aristocrat, lived in a house we already knew, even in the same room. One day he saw something that he could not define. He was just getting ready for bed when a mysterious creature crept into his room. Without panic and keeping a cold mind, Littleton took the gun and fired one well-aimed shot. Littleton claimed to have shot the creature and even saw it fall, but - no trace was found.
Littleton said that it looked like a "sticky liquid", when it moved, it made strange sounds and somewhat remotely resembled an octopus.
Some believe that it was the creature that was the octopus. As if it somehow entered the house through underground channels. The version, of course, is shaky.
The end of the horror
Octopus or not, but after the Maggs Brothers company acquired the house in the 30s of the last century and an antique shop opened in the house, all the terrible phenomena immediately stopped.
Maybe real skeptics have settled in the house. Or maybe it was that the very room was locked, the owners forbade it to be used for any purpose, it was not even possible to arrange a warehouse in it.