“A monstrously evil man” and his phantom pack of hounds

The time.........the mid 1600s

The place........the desolation of Dartmoor, in Devon.

Dartmoor, Devon

When you walk across the wildness of Dartmoor the tangible connection with pre-history, the bleak grimness of sharp winds howling through ancient stones with unsuspected patches of swirling mist can combine to give a dreadful feeling of unimaginable evil.

It is said that evil breeds evil, so it can come as no surprise that a monster actually lived during those times of witchcraft and religious fear. His name was Richard Cabell to whom no crime was too far. His passion for hunting with hounds, he cared not what he caught, rumours that he had sold his soul to the Devil and his cruelty to all those who were in his power were legendary. He was even reputed to have savagely murdered his wife.

Richard Cabell's tomb

But when he passed away in 1677 the legend was born. He was buried in Buckfastleigh churchyard in a tomb where heavy slabs of rock were placed upon his grave to contain his spirit; it was thought that his death was temporary and that his pact with the Devil would allow him to return to revel in even more brutal excesses. And on the night of his burial a phantom pack of hounds raced in from the depths of the moors to howl and bay over his grave. Ever since then he can be seen leading his hounds over the wilderness, the pack howling and shrieking across the desolate landscape...or it might just be the moaning of the wind through the rocks and the intense fear of the moors playing tricks with the imagination. But many swear to have seen him and his ghostly entourage.

Now...fast forward to the early 1900s. The stories of Cabell and  the terrors of Dartmoor had reached the ears of a certain Arthur Conan Doyle who vowed to visit the place and taste the terrors for himself. He spent many days travelling in a coach across the windswept desolation and was particularly attracted to the story of Cabell murdering his wife, having suspected her of infidelity. He beat her savagely before stabbing her to death, whereupon her constant companion, a large and faithful dog leapt upon Cabell and tore his throat out. But the dog was killed in the melee. Since then the ghost of this hound can be seen howling in grief across the moors, destined to search out and haunt all subsequent generations of the Cabell family.

The Hound of the Baskervilles

And so Conan Doyle’s most famous story, “The Hound of the Baskervilles” was born. As an entertaining aside, the coachman who drove Conan Doyle patiently for those days was called Baskerville. He readily gave permission for his name to be used.

For those brave souls who thrive on the paranormal, a visit to Dartmoor in the depths of winter to feel these stories for themselves is a “must do”.

In Association with the Western Gazette 

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The Ghostly Tale of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre

As it’s Saint Valentine’s Day, here at The Official Blog of P J Cadavori we thought a spooky tale about the day was very apt. So we will share the story of one of the darkest days in Chicago that fell on 14th February 1929, and the ghosts still rumoured to haunt the area.

Al Capone

In the 1920’s Chicago was ruled by mobsters, who ran bootleg alcohol and whose gangs fought one another to gain control of the city. You will surely have heard of the infamous Al Capone. He was the leader of the South side, while a man named O'Banion, ruled the North side. After many fights and several near death experiences, George Moran emerged as the new leader on the North side. Both he and Al Capone fought constantly, and after Moran helped kill one of Capone's top men, Capone vowed vengeance would come on February 14.

He planned an elaborate hoax and instructed one of his men to call Moran to sell him a large quantity of illegal whiskey. Moran agreed to the deal, unaware that Capone was behind the plan, and on February 14, Moran’s men patiently awaited the delivery at a warehouse. Moran was late, and by the time he arrived, a police car was sitting outside so he quickly walked away. But in the police car sat five of Capone's armed men and as he walked away, they snuck out of the car armed with machine guns.  

Once inside the warehouse, they forced Moran’s seven men to stand in a line against a wall before firing at them. By the time the real police had arrived, six of the men were already dead. The only man still alive was Frank Gusenberg, but he refused to name the perpetrators and died later that day.

The Chicago Daily News

Capone later claimed that he was haunted by the ghost of Jimmy Clark, one of the men killed in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, when he spent time at the Eastern State Penitentiary. He said the ghost followed him when he came back to Chicago and while staying at the Lexington Hotel, one of his men also saw Clark's ghost.

The building where the massacre occurred was later used for several different businesses. However, it continued to be a favourite tourist spot for visitors and people were known to steal bricks and other pieces of the building, as mementos. Eventually, the building was torn down but the city kept the St. Valentine's Day Massacre wall, and a man salvaged some of the bricks and used them to build part of the nightclub. Once he closed this nightclub in the 1970’s, he decided to sell the bricks and got a nice sum for them at $1,000 a piece. But before long people began returning the bricks to him claiming that the souvenirs were cursed, explaining that they had experienced terrible luck ever since buying them. 

The building where the massacre occurred may be gone now, but there are numerous and frequent claims that

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre wall

ghosts remain. Late at night, some people say they have heard the rapid fire of machine guns and the chilling sounds of men’s screams. And others claim they’ve experienced an intense feeling of terror and a sudden icy coldness, when walking past. Dogs too are known to shy away from the area, fleeing in fear and barking uncontrollably. 

You can visit the reassembled St. Valentine's Day Massacre wall at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas. 

Buy P J Cadavori's Catacombs of the Damned at Winstone’s of Sherborne, Waterstones or Amazon, in paperback and e-book formats. Click on the book covers below to view Catacombs of the Damned at Amazon.

 
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