Episode 339 - The Black Monk of Pontefract: a Poltergeist Haunting

Two Girls One Ghost

Sony Music

True Crime, Society & Culture, Religion & Spirituality, Spirituality, Places & Travel

4.7 • 8.8K Ratings

🗓️ 14 September 2025

⏱️ 88 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Welcome to Britain’s most haunted house — 30 East Drive in Pontefract — where a seemingly ordinary family home turned into a prison of nightmares. What started with mysterious puddles, floating dust clouds, and furniture that moved on its own quickly escalated into full-blown poltergeist chaos. Known by the Pritchard family as Fred, the Black Monk of Pontefract wasn’t just mischievous — it was terrifying, violent, and maybe even hungry (yes, this spirit snacked on sandwiches). From eggs exploding mid-air to priests fleeing after failed exorcisms, the Pritchard family lived through a haunting so wild it inspired an actual horror film. But in between the chills, there are moments so bizarre they’re almost funny — like disembodied fur gloves conducting a hymn sing-along. Still, the poltergeist’s obsession with teenage Diane, culminating in a nightmarish attempt to drag her away, proved this was no harmless prankster. Links to photos and video mentioned: 30 East Drive Recent Happenings Untaken photo Shadow in corridor video - appears at 21:43 Book Mentioned: Poltergeist: A Classic Study in Destructive Hauntings by Colin Wilson Watch the video version here. Have ghost stories of your own? E-mail them to us at [email protected] New Episodes are released every Thursday and Sunday at 12am PST/3am EST (the witching hour, of course). Corinne and Sabrina hand select a couple of paranormal encounters from our inbox to read in each episode, from demons, to cryptids, to aliens, to creepy kids... the list goes on and on. If you have a story of your own that you'd like us to share on an upcoming episode, we invite you to email them to us! If you enjoy our show, please consider joining our Patreon, rating and reviewing on iTunes & Spotify and following us on social media! Youtube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Discord. Edited by Jaimi Ryan and produced by Emma Leventer and Jaimi Ryan, original music by Arms Akimbo! Disclaimer: the use of white sage and smudging is a closed practice. If you’re looking to cleanse your space, here are some great alternatives! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Dan Jones, I'm a medieval historian and host of the podcast This Is History,
0:04.8	a dynasty to die for.
0:07.6	Every so often, there are reminders that we're not that far away from the medieval world.
0:14.2	Bless you. See, a relic of the black death on our lips. In the Middle Ages, people really did
0:20.3	believe in an interventionist
0:22.1	omniscient god, from peasants, even to kings, like Henry V, England's greatest warrior king.
0:29.9	In November, I'll be giving a talk on his life at London's Southwark Cathedral. And thanks to my
0:36.2	friends at the Church's Conservation Trust, you've got a discount on tickets.
0:40.9	Head to visitchurches.org.uk slash t-I-H, that's all lowercase and one word, for a 20% discount.
0:49.8	And if you're one of This Is History's royal favour favorites, head to our Patreon for an even bigger discount.
0:55.3	Sign up at patreon.com forward slash This Is History.
0:58.6	I'd love to see you at the talk.
1:00.3	A boy goes missing from a bus stop in Queensland, Australia.
1:04.2	His disappearance made national headlines and launched the largest search for a missing child in Australia's history.
1:10.2	There were over 700 persons of interest.
1:14.6	It was absolutely enormous.
1:16.6	Now, for the first time, his parents share with the global audience their journey
1:21.6	to uncover what happened to their son.
1:23.6	We'd said right from the start, who's ever responsible had picked on the wrong family.
1:28.4	So we just made it our life's work.
1:30.7	We're going to hunt you down.
1:32.3	And if not for the parents, the case might still be unsolved.
	...

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