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My Story

Alan Aspinall

Hello everyone my name is Alan, and I am an avid reader of Horror. I am a trained City of London Guide, as well as a seasoned ghost hunter. My love of horror has its origins in my childhood, even back then I loved to listen to my Nan’s ghost stories, and despite being scared stupid by them, like a glutton for punishment, I always found myself coming back for more. When I turned 16 my mum, who was also a huge horror fan, introduced me to the works of James Herbert, I was immediately enthralled by his writing. After reading his book, The Ghosts of Sleath, I knew I wanted to follow in his footsteps and become a writer myself.

One of the things that has aided me in my writing of horror is my belief in the supernatural. I have led many ghost walks around the City of London, and taken part in nearly 20 over night ghost hunts. While its true I have never seen a ghost, I have had more than my fair share of strange experiences during these events. Such as the ghostly groans and phantom footsteps that I heard while investigating the very Haunted Woodchester Mansion, which is hidden away deep in the Cotswolds. There was also the ghostly organ music I heard coming from an apparently empty church, which took place one winter’s night, while I was taking part in a London ghost walk.

While its true that not everyone believes in ghosts, and I’m not here to convince you one way or another. But there was a quote I once heard that said, I don’t believe in ghosts, but I am scared of them. So, while you may not share my belief, I may still be able to coax out some of that intoxicating fear that we all crave from time to time.

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L A Times review of my Old ghost walk, the Wraiths of London.

If you'd rather focus on someone else's tormented soul, check out the Wraiths of London, a 2½-hour ghost walk in central London, which is said to be haunted by the restless dead. Guide Alan Aspinall, a newcomer to the crowded ghost-walk field, takes his passion for stories, combines them with history and spins your head around.

He talks about Amelia Dyer, a "baby farmer" in Victorian England. For a fee, she and others of her trade took the offspring from unwed mothers and found homes for them. True to her name, Dyer didn't place them; she killed them. She was sentenced to death, but before her execution, she told one of the guards, "I'll see you again, sir." He did see her again — in a vision, or so the story goes. As Aspinall unspooled the tale, a street sign came loose and clanged on its metal post as we stood across from Old Bailey, the criminal court where Dyer was tried. Coincidence?

By Catharine Hamm, Los Angeles Times staff writer

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