73. A Gaggle Of Ghosts: Part Three London's dark history is littered with tales of eerie mysteries, and not many places harbour such weirdness as Hampton Court Palace, the most haunted royal residence in the capital. Stretching for over sixty acres, this beautiful structure, and its grounds, have been shared with the public since 1838, and many of these visitors I'm sure are very unaware of the spectres which reside within the vast hallways,......

70. The Thamesmead Prowler During the early hours of Saturday 10th August at Goldfinch Road, west Thamesmead, a man awoke and peered around his curtain into the blackness of the night. A small animal startled him in the distance as it scurried around a corner into the gloom, but what shocked him even more was its pursuer. A large black animal seemed to begin to roll on the grass between two trees. "Bloody Hell!......

69. The Phantom Wall Smasher! Well, that's what the press, being The Sun, Daily Mirror and Metropolitan Police newspaper The Job called him in 1977. Following on from last week's feature on bizarre compulsions and spectral assailants, this time we move onto less sinister acts, but something certainly irritating. It took place between the July and September of '77, mainly around Danby Street in Peckham. It was here that some unseen 'wall banger' was......

65. Dracula Woz 'Ere! I've mentioned in two previous posts (episodes 1 and 20) the mystery and controversy of the Highgate Vampire, and now for a foggy yarn of another London blood-sucker! On the 15th and 17th of August 1978, the London Evening News reported on a rather bizarre discovery – the alleged grave of a vampire... well, not just any vampire, but the king of the undead, Count Dracula! Whilst renovations were underway......

63. The Horses Of Death I've often been intrigued by reports of phantom animals, especially horses when they are seen to be leading a carriage through some misty backroad of a night. What perplexes me most is the fact that if inanimate objects have no souls, then why should the coach appear alongside the horses? And, if the horses never died together or with the coach, then why should they appear coupled in the......

62. The Scariest Urban Legend Urban legends are often considered myths, or 'friend of a friend' tales (FOAFtales), which differ from classic mysteries in the sense that they are perceived as exaggerated yarns. London has many such tales from its dark, foggy corners, but there is one such story which has become criminally forgotten, and for me remains one of the capital's most horrifying legends – namely 'The Maniac On The Platform' first discussed......

60. More Than Just A Haunting... In the borough of Lewisham sits Brockley Road. Not exactly known for its supernatural relations or unnerving apparitions, but let me share with you a campfire story to chill even the warmest of hearts... It happened during the 1800s and the experience was written up and posted to a magazine known as the Review Of Reviews edited by a Mr W.T. Stead who would unfortunately perish aboard the......

59. The Monster Of Markham Square I would like to share with you a true tale of utmost horror and of some obscurity. I have never been one for the repetition of dark, sinister yet factual tales and this particular yarn is no exception – but like all classic, yet truly terrifying stories, this too will extinguish the flames of any cosy campfire by the by the sheer chill of its terror. I have......

Exactly what caused last Thursday's explosion in a residential street in South Harrow is still being investigated. Some of the evacuated residents have now been allowed to return to their homes but police forensic experts continue to examine the site of the incident which demolished one house and badly damaged 2 others last Wednesday. Emmad Qureshi, 26, was killed in the explosion. A teenage girl and another man remain in hospital. The intrigue around......

iTunes have announced 10 days of gigs starting next Thursday as part of their iTunes Live series. All the gigs will be available to download from iTunes after the 10 day festival is over. Last year’s festival was a bit later in the year, but all the shows were a significant success - dare we say it, but this year's line up isn't anywhere near as impressive - yes, we have Billy Bragg, Alphabeat and......

10. Scareships Just previous to the First World War, as Germany prepared to release the Zeppelin air ships, a spate of phantom airship sightings took grip on the world. London was just one city in the UK to become besieged by the mysterious aircraft that had no definitive origin. Were they the first UFOs? How did such craft seem to vanish or escape pursuit? Here's a chronicle pertaining to the capital: 9th May 1909......

Not a name usually synonymous with rock 'n' roll (unless you count the fact that the baby rusks of music celebrity offspring are probably bought in the food hall) Harrods opened its 'Born To Rock' guitar exhibition yesterday, which "celebrates the electric guitar - and showcases the impact it’s had on music, culture, fashion and design". It sounds like quite an event, with the exhibition including "the world’s first electric guitar - the ‘Frying Pan’"......

If you didn't catch Primal Scream at The 100 Club last night (did you? how was it?) and you're still itching for some lovely, free music then these are the pick of instore gigs coming up over the next two weeks. You've got a bit of a choice on Monday between two great bands. Fopp Tottenham Court Road offer up the Mystery Jets celebrating the release of a reworked version of Diamonds in the......

Londonist has been following the mystery of the strange red line ever since it appeared on the capital's pavements; and last week we updated you on the second instalment of the line's development and asked you for your help in unravelling its meaning. And you did! Andrea (of Velorution fame) was the first to point out that the line seems to mark the boundaries of the WC1 postcode while commenter Elly was good enough to......

Set your alarms, get your diaries out, write a reminder on the back of your hand with a biro, because Alan Moore is on the gogglebox tonight. BBC2's The Culture Show is featuring the bearded warlock and undoubted genius tonight in a 'rare television interview': In a row of terraces in Northampton lives a tall, bearded man called Alan Moore. You might never have heard of him, but he’s an internationally loved writer credited......

Eel Pie Eccentrics Mystery Jets have never been ones to do things in the regular rock'n'roll way, possibly why their Dad plays in the band, and possibly why they've just started an online treasure hunt ahead of their debut album and a small tour in support that takes in the Mean Fiddler on the 9th March. Clue 1. There's no place like home. Ah, that's easy then. Off to find a copy of Dark......

Coming to you a few days early to give you some advanced warning on a few big shows out this Friday and let you know of a few others hanging around. First up and already on sale here are the Teenage Cancer Trust shows at the Royal Albert Hall. A stirling line up for all shapes and sizes is available with only the Cure show sold out at the time of typing. They are:......

Quick note for you to scribble into your Time Lord branded diary: SCI-FI-LONDON 26 - 30 April. This year the festival is partnered up with SFX magazine whose editor, David Bradley, sums up the event quite nicely: "SCI-FI-LONDON is growing in prominence every year, and the SFX team is excited to be working with a festival that not only showcases a varied range of SF films but also boasts the Douglas Adams Memorial Debate......

So what story can it have been that's caused Londonist to pen, possibly it's worst ever headline pun? Ah ha! Must be the news that Gwyneth Martin (nee Paltrow) is having a few problems with some pesky supernatural house guests. So she's taken up Madonna's offer of assistance in arranging for a Kabbalah rabbi to come over and sweep their home clean (in an occult sense you understand, not dabbing at the bannisters with......

The Curzon Soho has warmed the Londonist cockles by putting on this tribute to the film career of The Clash frontman: The UK Premiere and centrepiece of the season, LET’S ROCK AGAIN, was made by Strummer's cinematic collaborator and friend Dick Rude. It captures Joe & The Mescaleros on the road on the last US tour before Joe’s death and is sure to be an emotional experience for fans and friends alike. CHARLIE DON’T......

The NME Shockwaves tour line up was announced today; with tickets on sale tomorrow from 9am for the Brixton show on February 17th. It's a good, solid indie-pop line up: Maximo Park headlining, supported by Arctic Monkeys, We Are Scientists and Mystery Jets; the latter holding a slot that's launched the likes of Coldplay, The Coral, Franz Ferdinand and Kaiser Chiefs. None of the 2006 line up seem to be capable of playing a......

Every minute of receeding daylight heralds the approach of the end of the year list and the NME kicked things off in their paper issue today with their top 25 gigs of the year, as voted for by you, the reader. Well it says that but with categories of Most Pissed (The Duke Spirit in Cheltenham), and Best Costumes (Circulus at the Tapestry Festival which as far as we can tell had only the......

Right, time to catch up on a couple of gigs from last week. The Duke Spirit - The Portland Arms, Cambridge That's right, Cambridge. 45 minutes out of King's Cross lies one of London's quainter suburbs and for this evening at least, home to The Duke Spirit playing to no more than 150 in the back room of the Portland Arms. A tad fewer then than at their Astoria headline show we thinks. Taking......

Some 'in store' appearances you might want to make a note of this week: Tomorrow (Tuesday) at 6pm at the Virgin Megastore. Turin Brakes are playing for the masses. We love 'em. Also tomorrow: Maximo Park (see Monday Music news below) are playing and signing copies of their debut album at HMV, 150 Oxford Street, at 6.00pm. On a more literary bent Borders are hosting Valerie Mason-John, author of Borrowed Bodies at their Charing......

This Friday, 18th March, sees the inaugural session of The Breadcrumb Trail, a club night hosted by The Colonies. The Colonies are one of Londonist's favourite unsigned bands (click here to read the interview we published in January), and this is the perfect opportunity for you lot to find out why. Not only do you get to see this great band for a trifling £3 entry fee, but you also get to see John......

As with the weekly TV review, we're trying to come up with a good title for our regular gig alerts. Londonist loves a good pun. Actually, we like an awful pun, too, so any ideas are welcome. Please do your worst in the comments section. We said in a previous post that we'd try to avoid writing about the obvious bands, so in that spirit here are a couple of reasons why you should......