TALES of spooky sightings and ghostly goings-on have long been told to chill the blood as the midnight hour approaches.
And those who love stories of things that go bump in the night might be shocked to learn that Clayton-le-Moors' Dunkenhalgh Hotel has a supernatural saga of its own.
The story has been brought to light by horror writer Jason Karl, who has included it in his new book Haunted Places of Lancashire.
Jason, who lives in Lancashire, said: "I have often been asked by colleagues from the South whether folklore and tales of strange happenings are more common in the North.
"There are still corners of this county that appear to have been untouched by the constant onslaught of technological progress.
"It is in these quiet and haunted places that I have been able to unearth a wonderful selection of true tales of the beyond."
A whole section of the book is devoted to the tragic story of the Dunkenhalgh ghost, a French governess named Lucette who lived in the 18th century.
In the 1770s, the hall was owned by the Petre family and legend has it that Lucette cared for their children.
One Christmas she was introduced to a young man and they fell madly in love. He promised to return in the New Year to marry her but he never did.
Lucette was by this time pregnant with his child and the older servants at the house treated her cruelly, leading her to drown herself in desperation in the River Hyndburn.
It is said her mournful ghost still walks the passages and grounds of the hotel, looking for her lost love.
Some say her lover also died soon afterwards, killed in a duel by Lucette's brother who had been sent over from France to avenge her death.
Deb Marshman, of Countryside Books, which is publishing Haunted Places of Lancashire said: "Few of us are rash enough to say categorically that we do not believe in ghosts or the supernatutral.
"Jason describes so many apparitions, phantoms, ghosts and hauntings that even hardened sceptics will pause for thought.
"He has travelled Lancashire widely, often in the company of respected mediums Veronica Charles or Angela Borrows in an effort to verify the known tales and to seek previously unknown stories of local ghosts and hauntings."
- Haunted Places of Lancashire is priced at £7.99 and is available from all local book sellers.
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we can confirm that during our paranormal investigation at the Dunkenhalgh hotel in November 2005, the WE INVESTIGATE, Paranormal team did infact make contact with Lucette, who confirmed the above information without our prior knowledge. Most intriguing!!!!!!!!! Andy & Vicky, WE INVESTIGATE TEAM.
i was reading in the observer not too long ago and there was a man stating that the ghost of lucette does not exist and that there was no haunting there so i took it upon myself to visit the dunkenhalgh hotel in clayton le moors and visit the hotel's bar area where i got talking to a bar maid about the haunting and she explained to me that she had been a bar maid there for many years and has never seen anything paranormal in all the years she has worked there. it would be great if someone could offer actual proof that the haunting is real and not just made up. i am very interested in the paranormal and used to be a skeptic untill i moved into the house i live in now and from what i have seen and heard here made me a 100% believer but no actual proof has been brought foreward to a haunting at the dunkenhalgh hotel as of yet which remains to be seen. most people say they have seen lucette and other say it is just a myth to get custom to the hotel.
hello my name is shane and i have just read your article below about you confirming that you have made contact with lucette at the dunkenhalgh hotel in clayton le moors. can you please tell me what you discovered as this would be very interesting because i am interested in anything paranormal. thank you very much.