9 Creepy-As-Hell London Underground Ghost Stories

Pray you don't run into the screaming woman of King's Cross.

H/T This brilliant documentary: Ghosts on the Underground

1. The electrocuted man

Karen Collett / reddit.com

In 1983, Karen Collett took a photo of her nephew riding the Bakerloo line. When the photo was developed, Karen was shocked to see an image of a man in an electric chair in the window behind the little boy.

The figure was identified as the Madame Tussauds waxwork of Bruno Hauptmann, who was executed for the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby in 1936. No one could explain how his image appeared in the window on the train.

Not long afterwards, Collett accompanied a bereaved friend to visit a medium. She was waiting outside, when the medium came out and said they had a message for her about the photo. A man wanted her to know: "I'm accused of something I didn't do, but I did something else."

2. The screams of Bethnal Green

commons.wikimedia.org

Staff working late at night in Bethnal Green tube station have reported hearing the sound of children crying, followed by people running and screaming.

In 1943, the station was being used as an air raid shelter. One evening, as people ran for shelter after hearing air raid sirens, a woman and child stumbled on the steps, leading to hundreds of people tripping and falling down the stairs on top of each other. A total of 173 people were crushed to death, including 62 children.

3. The white figure of Liverpool Street

In 2000, a man in white overalls was spotted on CCTV at 2am standing on the platform at Liverpool Street, long after the station had closed. The station supervisor Steve Coates went to investigate, but couldn't see anyone there. When he reported back to the line controller who was monitoring the CCTV, the controller said: "But the guy was right next to you. How could you not see him?"

4. The faceless woman of Becontree station

barkinganddagenhampost.co.uk

In 1992 the station supervisor was working a late shift in his office, which was just off the station platform. Suddenly he heard the door rattle, which usually meant a train was about to come in. Shortly afterwards, it rattled again, then again, but no train arrived.

He went out to investigate, and as he was walking along the platform he got a feeling someone was behind him. He turned around and saw a woman with long blonde hair and no face – it was just blank where her features should be.

In 1958, the Dagenham train collision just beyond Becontree station left 10 people dead.

5. Slamming doors on the Kennington Loop

The Kennington Loop is a section of track where empty Northern line trains change direction. One day while waiting in the loop, a driver heard the interconnecting doors slamming far down the train. Then another set slammed, closer this time, then another, with the sound approaching the driver's compartment, carriage by carriage. The driver searched the train to find half the doors were open, but no one was there.

The story goes that a man once died trying to board the train in between the cars at Kennington. He was dragged into the loop and killed.

6. The lady of Aldgate station

'The Great Pit' in Aldgate

Ever since Aldgate station opened in 1876, there have been stories of tube staff hearing mysterious footsteps in the tunnels. Then there was the maintenance worker who is said to have fallen on to the live track and survived. His colleagues reported seeing a pale old woman kneeling at his side stroking his hair on the tracks.

Many people think the hauntings have something to do with the fact that Aldgate station is built on a 17th-century plague pit with over 1,000 bodies buried in it.

7. The looming face at Hyde Park Corner

Two station workers had closed Hyde Park Corner station for the night, shutting down and locking the escalators. At around 2:30am they heard a commotion and went out to find one of the escalators had started up again. They were confused: There was no way for it to start without a key.

When they were back in their office, making tea, the room suddenly became ice cold. One supervisor noticed his colleague had gone completely white and was pressed back against the wall. "Did you see it?" he stuttered. He'd seen a face loom through the door and peer into the room. The station worker left his job there and never returned.

8. The screaming woman of King's Cross

en.wikipedia.org

Since 1988, people have reported seeing a woman wandering the corridors at King's Cross with her arms outstretched, screaming. But when concerned passersby approach her to check she's OK, she disappears. The sighting has been linked to the King's Cross fire of 1987, in which 31 people died.

9. The black nun of Bank

Sarah Whitehead / 67notout.com

Cliff Archibald was in his office checking the CCTV after he'd closed Bank station for the night. At 2am he spotted an old lady standing in a long corridor. He went to find out what was going on, and when he saw the woman she turned and walked away. He ran to catch her, but she turned a corner, and when he reached it she had disappeared.

This wasn't the first sighting of an old woman at Bank. Sarah Whitehead was a nun who was said to have been heartbroken when her brother was executed in 1811. She used to wander the area looking for him, and the story goes that she was buried in a grave where Bank station now stands.