Screaming skull explained

Screaming skull
Grouping:	Supernatural
Sub Grouping:	Object
Folklore:	English folklore
Country:	England
Habitat:	Homes
First Attested:	c. 1600s

A screaming skull is a paranormal object, a human skull which per legend speaks, screams, or otherwise haunts its environs. The legend is most found in England and other English-speaking regions.

The Bettiscombe screaming skull of Dorset, England, is attested at least as early as 1897 in the book The Haunted Homes and Family Traditions of Great Britain. That book details an alleged visit to Bettiscombe in 1883 by curiosity-seekers to investigate a skull which, according to legend, was of an African slave once owned by the owner of the house. The slave had supposedly died determined to be buried in his homeland, and any attempt to bury his skull elsewhere would cause the skull to scream aloud.^[1]

Known skulls

• Bettiscombe Manor, Bettiscombe, Dorset^{[2] [3]}
• Dickie – Tunstead Farm, Tunstead Milton, Derbyshire^{[4] [5]}
• Skull of St Ambrose Barlow – Wardley Hall,^[4] Greater Manchester
• Skull of Anne Griffith – Burton Agnes Hall, Yorkshire^[4]
• Skull of Thephilus Brome? – Higher Chilton Farm, Chilton Cantelo^[4]
• Two skulls – Warbleton Priory ruin, Rushlake Green, Heathfield, East Sussex^[6]
• Two skulls - Calgarth Hall, Windermere, Cumbria^[7]

In fiction

• "The Screaming Skull" (1911) – short story by F. Marion Crawford
• The Screaming Skull (1958) – American horror film
• Carrie's War (1973) - novel by Nina Bawden
• The Great Ghost Rescue (1975) – novel by Eva Ibbotson

External links

• Web site: Screaming Skulls. Gay. Marcus V. Occultopedia.com. 19 May 2011.
• In Search of Screaming Skulls – directions to main locations
• Book: Skull Superstitions. 1877. William Andres. Hull.

Notes and References

1. Book: John Henry Ingram. The Haunted Homes and Family Traditions of Great Britain. 1897. Gibbings & Company, Limited. 342.
2. Web site: Legend of the Screaming Skull – Bettiscombe Manor. 19 May 2011.
3. Book: Ingram, John Henry. John Henry Ingram

   . John Henry Ingram. The Haunted Homes and Family Traditions of Great Britain. 1897. 341–344. Bettiscombe House.

4. Web site: Screaming Skulls – An Introduction. Parkinson. Daniel. Mysterious Britain & Ireland. 12 September 2008 . 19 May 2011.
5. Book: Frith, J. B. (John Benjamin). Highways and Byways in Derbyshire. 1905. Macmillan and Co., limited. 182. Dick O' Tunstead.
6. Web site: Legend of the Screaming Skull. Real British Ghosts. 29 March 2013.
7. Web site: Calgarth Hall. Mysterious Britain & Ireland. 25 July 2008 . 6 September 2019.