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 only read of such a spook once before, the book Haunted Britain (1948) by great author Elliot O'Donnell was my introduction. The incident certainly took place previous to the '40s and concerned a gentleman who was staying at Markham Square, Chelsea in order to visit his two sons. On the first night of his stay in a dingy room, only escaping the grip of full darkness by the hue of a lamp, the man awoke with a sudden nightmarish jerk, and found himself face to face with a ghastly creature...
He commented, "It was a dwarfed tubby figure, with a face like a pig, perfectly naked, in a strong light. The whole figure resembled in appearance the scalded body of a pig, but the legs and arms were those of a human being brutalized; male or female, I could not say."
Within fifteen seconds the awful beast vanished, leaving the witness huddled and shaking under his sheets, hypnotized by fear as the sweat dripped profusely from his brow. The occasional bout of slumber provided no respite from the memory of the presence, and only the morning light erased what the witness believed was no nightmare.
Only a picture which had fallen from a connecting door provided any answer. Maybe after hitting the floor in the night it had awoken the sleeping man, but no explanation was forthcoming on the pig-faced humanoid which had mortified the man. No other such haunting was ever reported from the area, and the tale of the pig-faced spectre was long forgotten... until now.
Don't have nightmares...
Photo by *_Abhi_* on flickr.
