The Most Dangerous Haunted Graveyard in the World

President Barack Obama.

Virginia, we are counting on you.

Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress

to raid the next election and wield unchecked power

for two more years.

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And Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help

someone customize and save on car insurance

with Liberty Mutual.

Even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.

Hey everyone, check out this guy and his bird.

What is this, your first date?

Oh, no.

We help people customize and save on car insurance

with Liberty Mutual together.

We're married.

Ah!

Need a human, him to a bird.

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league anyways.

Only pay for what you need at Liberty Mutual.com.

President Barack Obama.

Virginia, we are counting on you.

Republicans want to steal enough seats

in Congress to raid the next election

and wield unchecked power for two more years.

But you can stop them by voting yes by April 21st.

Help put our elections back on a level playing field

and let voters decide not politicians.

Vote yes by April 21st.

Paid for by Virginians for fair elections.

There are hauntings that whisper dear listener,

the kind that make themselves known

through subtle disturbances,

footsteps and empty rooms,

doors that creak open just a little too slowly,

the faint sense that you are not alone,

even when every logical part of your mind insists that you are.

And then there are hauntings that do not whisper at all,

hauntings that do not ask for your attention

but instead demand it,

that escalate without warning,

that move from strange to aggressive

in a way that leaves no room for doubt

that something is happening,

something that does not care

whether you believe in it or not.

Tonight's story is not about a voice in the walls

or a playful entity with a personality,

but about something far more direct,

something that did not want to communicate,

did not want to entertain,

but instead seemed to want control.

We travel now to a modest home in Pontifract,

a place that looks like any other house on any other street,

the kind of place you could walk past

without a second glance,

never realizing that for a brief period of time,

it became the center of one of the most violent

and well-documented hauntings in modern history.

In 1966, the Pritchard family moved into 30 East Drive,

expecting nothing more than a fresh start,

a normal life in a normal home,

the kind of quiet domestic routine

that makes up most of our days

without ever becoming remarkable.

At first, nothing seemed unusual,

and if anything felt off,

it was subtle enough to ignore

the kind of small inconsistencies

that can be explained away without much effort.

But very quickly, the house began to change

and the shift was not gradual

in the way hauntings are often described,

but instead abrupt,

as if something had been waiting

for the house to be occupied again

and wasted no time making itself known.

It began with knocking sounds that echoed through the walls,

sharp and deliberate,

not random noises but patterns that felt intentional,

as though something unseen

was testing its ability to interact with the physical world.

The knocking turned into movement,

and the movement turned into chaos,

as objects began to shift on their own,

small items at first,

things that could almost be dismissed

as accidents or misremembered placement,

until the activity escalated to a point

where denial was no longer possible.

Cabinets opened violently,

furniture shifted without warning,

and objects were thrown across rooms

with a force that suggested not just presence,

but intention.

This was not the quiet lingering

of a spirit tied to memory.

This was something active,

something aware,

something that seemed to be experimenting

with how far it could push its influence

over the environment,

and the people within it,

and then, dear listener,

it became personal.

The focus of the activity centered on the teenage daughter,

Diane Pritchard,

and what had been a disturbing situation

quickly became something far more dangerous,

as the entity began to interact with her directly

in ways that went beyond anything

that could be easily explained or dismissed.

Witnesses reported seeing her physically dragged across rooms

by unseen forces,

lifted from her bed,

and pulled up the staircase

while struggling against something no one else could see.

Bruises appeared on her body,

marks that seemed to form in real time,

as if invisible hands were gripping her

with enough force to leave evidence behind.

These were not vague claims or secondhand stories,

but events witnessed by multiple people,

including neighbors and police officers

who were called to the house

as the situation escalated

beyond the family's ability to manage or understand.

The entity became known as

the Black Monk,

a name tied to local history

that suggested the land may once have been associated

with a monastery,

though whether this connection was real

or simply an attempt to explain

the unexplainable remains unclear.

What is clear is that whatever was present in that house

did not behave like a traditional haunting,

did not follow a predictable pattern,

and did not show any signs

of fading quietly into the background.

Instead, it seemed to grow stronger,

more aggressive,

more willing to interact physically

with its environment and the people within it,

as if it were learning, adapting,

becoming more confident in its ability to exert control.

Investigators, journalists, and skeptics

all came to the house,

each expecting to find a rational explanation,

a hoax, a misunderstanding,

something that could be broken down

and understood within the framework of known behavior.

And yet, many left without that explanation,

having witnessed events that did not align

with any simple theory,

objects moved in front of them,

sounds echoed through the house

with no identifiable source,

and the sheer consistency of the reports

from different witnesses

made it difficult to dismiss the case

as fabrication or exaggeration.

Even those who remained skeptical

were forced to acknowledge

that something was happening,

something that did not fit neatly

into any category that could be easily explained away.

And perhaps the most unsettling part of this story

is not just the violence of the activity,

but the way it seemed to target,

to choose, to focus its attention

with a level of specificity

that suggests something more than random energy

or residual haunting.

This was not a replay of past events,

or an echo of something that had once been,

but something present,

something active,

something that appeared to be aware of the people around it,

and capable of interacting with them

in ways that were both deliberate

and deeply unsettling.

Over time, the activity began to subside,

as these cases often do,

fading gradually until the house returned

to something resembling normality,

though the memory of what had occurred there

never truly left,

lingering in the accounts of those who experienced it,

and the questions that remain unanswered to this day.

And now, dear listener,

before you start wondering whether the things in your home

are moving just a little too deliberately,

it is time for a word from tonight's sponsor,

who insists that what you are about to hear

is entirely unrelated

to any violent supernatural activity

and should not be taken as evidence

that they are aware of something we are not.

This episode is brought to you by Stairsafe Home Solutions,

the only company that guarantees your staircase

will remain completely free of invisible forces

attempting to drag you upward against your will,

featuring reinforced railings,

anti-poltergeist grip technology,

and a proprietary system that loudly announces no thank you,

whenever any unexplained force is detected

in your immediate vicinity,

because nothing diffuses a tense supernatural situation,

quite like firm but polite boundaries delivered at maximum volume,

Stairsafe Home Solutions,

because if something is going to pull you up the stairs,

it should at least have the decency to use the handrail.

As the years passed and the house grew quiet once more,

the story of the black monk of Pontifract

remained one of the most disturbing

and well-documented cases of violent haunting

in modern history,

not because it offered answers,

but because it refused to provide them.

There was no clear resolution,

no definitive explanation,

no moment where everything made sense,

and the fear could be neatly contained

within a logical framework.

Instead, there was only the record of what had happened,

the testimony of those who had witnessed it,

and the lingering question of what exactly

had taken place within those walls

during that brief but intense period of time.

So tonight, dear listener,

as you move through your home,

as you climb your stairs

and pass through the familiar spaces that feel safe,

simply because they are yours,

take a moment to consider how much of that safety

depends on the assumption

that nothing unseen is sharing that space with you.

Because most of the time,

that assumption is correct.

Most of the time, the world behaves

the way we expect it to,

predictable, stable, explainable.

But in the rare moments when it does not,

when something pushes back,

when something interacts in a way that cannot be ignored

or dismissed,

the question is no longer whether you believe in hauntings,

but whether something has decided to make itself known

to you specifically.

Until next time, dear listener,

keep your lights low, your footing steady,

and if you ever feel something behind you on the stairs,

something that doesn't quite belong,

something that seems just a little too close,

it might be best not to turn around.

President Barack Obama.

Virginia, we are counting on you.

Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress

to raid the next election

and wield unchecked power for two more years,

but you can stop them by voting yes by April 21st.

Help put our elections back on a level playing field

and let voters decide not politicians.

Vote yes by April 21st.

Paid for by Virginians for fair elections.

And Doug,

there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone

customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual,

even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.

Hey everyone, check out this guy and his bird.

What is this your first date?

No, we help people customize and save on car insurance

with Liberty Mutual together.

We're married.

Meet a human, him to a bird.

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league anyways.

Only pay for what you need at Liberty Mutual.com.

President Barack Obama.

Virginia, we are counting on you.

Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress

to raid the next election

and wield unchecked power for two more years.

But you can stop them by voting yes by April 21st.

Help put our elections back on a level playing field

and let voters decide not politicians.

Vote yes by April 21st.

Paid for by Virginians for fair elections.

And Doug.

There's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone

customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual,

even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.

Hey everyone, check out this guy and his bird.

What is this your first date?

No, we help people customize and save on car insurance

with Liberty Mutual together.

We're married.

Meet a human, him to a bird.

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league anyways.

Only pay for what you need at Liberty Mutual.com.

Liberty Liberty Liberty Liberty Liberty Liberty.

President Barack Obama.

Virginia, we are counting on you.

Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress

to raid the next election

and wield unchecked power for two more years.

But you can stop them by voting yes by April 21st.

Help put our elections back on a level playing field

and let voters decide not politicians.

Vote yes by April 21st.

Paid for by Virginians for fair elections.

And Doug.

There's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone

customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual,

even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.

Hey everyone, check out this guy and his bird.

What is this your first date?

Oh, no.

We help people customize and save on car insurance

with Liberty Mutual together.

We're married.

Meet a human, him to a bird.

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league anyways.

Only pay for what you need at Liberty Mutual.com.

Liberty Liberty Liberty Liberty Liberty Liberty Liberty.

And Doug.

There's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone

customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual,

even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.

Hey everyone, check out this guy and his bird.

What is this your first date?

Oh, no.

We help people customize and save on car insurance

with Liberty Mutual together.

And Doug.

There's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone

customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual,

together.

We're married.

Meet a human, him to a bird.

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league anyways.

Only pay for what you need at Liberty Mutual.com.

Liberty Liberty Liberty Liberty Liberty Liberty Liberty.

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My name's Mackenzie and I started to go fund me

for the adoptive mother of a nonverbal autistic child.

The mother had lost her job because she wasn't able

to find adequate care for this autistic child.

So she really needed some help with living expenses,

paying some back bills.

So I launched a go fund me to help support them during this crisis.

And we raised about $10,000 within just a couple of months.

I think that the surprising thing was by telling a clear story

and just like really being very clear about what we needed.

We had some really generous donations from people

who were really moved by the situation

that this family was struggling with.

GoFundMe is the world's number one fundraising platform

trusted by over 200 million people.

Start your GoFundMe today at GoFundMe.com.

That's GoFundMe.com. GoFundMe.com.

This podcast is supported by GoFundMe.

My name's Mackenzie and I started to go fund me

for the adoptive mother of a nonverbal autistic child.

The mother had lost her job because she wasn't able

to find adequate care for this autistic child.

So she really needed some help with living expenses,

paying some back bills.

So I launched a go fund me to help support them during this crisis.

And we raised about $10,000 within just a couple of months.

I think that the surprising thing was by telling a clear story

and just like really being very clear about what we needed.

We had some really generous donations from people

who were really moved by the situation

that this family was struggling with.

GoFundMe is the world's number one fundraising platform

trusted by over 200 million people.

Start your GoFundMe today at GoFundMe.com.

That's GoFundMe.com. GoFundMe.com.

This podcast is supported by GoFundMe.

History says the mystery was solved.

History is very confident about that.

Welcome to Unsolved-ish, a strange history podcast

where we examine crimes, disasters and scientific weirdness

that were wrapped up with the historical equivalent of

met probably vanished ships, Victorian murderers,

glowing lights, scientists keep siding.

If the explanation feels rushed, overly tidy

or suspiciously convenient,

we're already recording an episode about it.

No shouting, no wild theories.

Just a calm voice asking,

are we sure about this?

Unsolved-ish, a brand new podcast

brought to you by Strange History Studios

because history loves closure,

even when it didn't earn it.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Unsolved-ish, a strange history podcast.