Since I was small I have always loved reading 'ghost stories'. I've always found them amusing and interesting; here is a selection of very short stories- all true, might I add.

The Headless Lady
As he was driving near St James?rk in London one morning in 1975, a taxi driver saw a headless woman crossing the road in front of him. When he reported the sighting he was told that he had seen the ghost of an 18th-century woman who had been beheaded by her husband. The murderous husband had thrown his wife?ody into the lake in St James?rk.

Awd Nance
Awd (old) Nance is the name of a skull that refuses to leave Burton Agnes Hall in Yorkshire, northern England. It has been there for over 300 years. Every time someone tries to remove it, terrifying groans are heard throughout the house, together with scratching noises, shuffling and slamming doors.

Death Of A Singer
In 1905 a lady singer, whose career had not been very successful, decided to kill herself. She climbed on to the roof of a theatre in Clapham, London, and started to sing dramatically. Then she fell through the skylight, to her death. She has been seen in the theatre several times since, and her plaintiff song has even been recorded on tape.

Coach Of The Devil
The 17th-century Scottish nobleman, Andrew Skene, was reputed to have dabbled in the occult arts. Everywhere he went he was accompanied by four birds- a crow, a magpie, a jackdaw and a hawk. These birds were said to be fed on the carcasses of dead bodies dug up from Skene churchyard.
One New Year?ve, Skene ordered his coachman to drive across the surface of the Loch of Skene. (He had conjured up a layer of ice so the coach could do so.) He told the coachman that he must not, under any circumstances, look back, but drive across the Loch and head straight for the Hill of Fare on the opposite bank.
They made the journey across the Loch safely, but as they reached the shore on the other side, the coachman could not resist looking behind him. There, sitting next to Andrew Skene, the coachman saw the Devil!
It is said that every 31st December since then, a ghostly coach has been seen racing across the Loch of Skene.

The Dancing Ghost
A most unusual ghost has been reported at Honor Oak Park in Dulwich, south London. Near One-Tree Hill there is a large cemetery, and it is here that the ghost of a young girl appears.
She is said to be in her late teens, and she has long blonde hair. Unlike most ghosts, this young lady appears to be quite content, for she is often seen dancing happily.

Pact With The Devil
According to legend, a girl at Potter Heigham in Norfolk sold her soul to the Devil in the year 1742. She was carried off in a coach by demons, but the coach crashed as it crossed the river. Each year, on 31st May, a phantom coach driven by a skeleton is said to pass over the bridge.

Washing Away The Blood
A lady with a black face and hands and wearing a long white dress haunts Bisham Abbey, near Marlow in Buckinghamshire, England. She always seems to be washing her hands. It is said that this is the ghost of Lady Elizabeth Hoby, the wife of one of Queen Mary?ourtiers, who murdered her son. Even now, her spirit is still trying to wash her baby?lood from her hands.

Accident In Time
In the early 1960s, a car plunged into the Kyle of Lochalsh, Scotland, and its occupants were drowned. The car was identical to a phantom car that had been sighted regularly in the region for over 20 years. After the accident, the ghost vehicle was never seen again.

Bull Of Death
Brothers Zack and Gill Spencer had been rounding up cattle in Brewster Country in Texas, USA. They began to argue over which of them owned one particularly fine looking animal. Zack allowed himself to get carried away. He shot at his brother and killed him. When he realized what he had done, Zack was grief-stricken.
A cowboy asked how the animal should be branded. ?nd him ?derer??ust like me,?id Zack, ? then set him loose, and I hope he haunts the prairies for ever.?ck then buried his brother and shot himself.
From that day in 1890, right through to about 1920, reports of people seeing the bull appeared throughout the land. It was said that everyone who saw it was cursed to become a killer or be killed. It seems that Zack?urse had come true.

Beloved Dog
A small black dog was spotted by a policeman on duty at Didsbury, Manchester, England, in 1957. It was a moonlit night, and he saw the dog quite clearly in the garden of an old house. The dog walked across the lawn and then disappeared behind a tree. When the dog did not emerge from behind the tree, the policeman went to investigate. At the base of the tree was a stone on which was written: ?dy. Died 2nd September, 1913?t was the gravestone of a dog.

Reserved For A Ghost
A chair is reserved at the Busby Stoop Inn at Sandhutton, just south of Northallerton, north Yorkshire. It is reserved for the ghost of Tom Busby.
Tom Busby was hanged in 1702, for killing his father-in-law. The gallows, on which Tom Busby was hanged, stood at the crossroads opposite the inn, and Tom Busby?host has often been seen with the hangman?oose tied around his neck!

Time Of Death
Pope Paul VI was presented with an alarm clock in 1923. It served him faithfully for 55 years, waking him promptly at 6 o?ck every morning. On Sunday 6th August 1978, the alarm clock rang, apparently of its own accord; at 9:40 p.m.-it was the very moment that the Pope died.

Message In A Bottle
In 1882, one of the crew of the Brazilian gunboat Araguary fished a bottle out of the sea. In it was a message: ?ard the schooner Sea Hero. The crew has mutinied, killing the captain and flinging the first mate overboard. I am the second mate and have been spared to navigate the ship. They are forcing me to head for the Amazon River, 28* long. 22* lat. making 2 ??ots. Rush help.?t;br>The letter was undated, but as they were not far from the spot the captain of the Araguary decided to investigate. When they reached the position given, they spotted the Sea Hero. A warning shot was fired and the gunboat captain ordered the vessel to come alongside. A boarding party went aboard the Sea Hero, arrested the mutineers and rescued the second mate.
The second mate was pleased to be rescued but could not understand how the gunboat captain knew of the mutiny. The captain explained how they had found the bottle but the mate denied sending any message.
At the court trial the mystery deepened. The Sea Hero had been named after a novel by John Parminton, written 16 years earlier. As a publicity stunt, the author had put 5000 bottles, with messages, into the sea. It was one of these that the Araguary picked up- 16 years later!

Predicting The Future
Nostradamus was a 16th-century Frenchman who could apparently predict the future. In his writings, he foresaw the Great Fire of London in 1666, the rise and fall of Hitler, the Second World War, and the rise of General Franco in Spain in the 1930s.
As well as foreseeing these major events in history, he predicted the work of scientist Louis Pasteur, who developed the process for pasteurising milk, and the abdication of King Edward VIII from the British throne.
Nostradamus even predicted his own death in 1566. Before he died, he went to an engraver and asked him to engrave a date on a small metal plate, and instructed him that it should be placed in his coffin. In 1700 it was decided to move the coffin from the grave, where it had laid for 134 years, to a more prominent site. Before it was lowered into the earth, the coffin was opened. Inside, the metal plate was found, bearing the date 1700.

Dream Of Death
In 1779, Lord Thomas Lyttleton dreamt that he was to die in three days?me at midnight. It upset him so much that the following morning he told all his friends. They tried to reassure him that everything would be all right, but he could not get the dream out of his mind. During the following days he suffered bouts of depression as the fatal hour neared.
On the third evening, he invited some guests to dinner in an attempt to forget about the dream. As midnight approached he became more and more depressed. Eventually he could take no more, and retired to his bedroom to await death.
He lay on his bed and watched the clock tick away his final seconds. As the clock struck midnight Lord Lyttleton wondered how he was to die- but nothing happened! A few minutes later one of his guests looked into the room to see how he was and was surprised to find the Lord in the highest of spirits.?e beaten death,? cried ?l be down to join you shortly.?lt;br>When the butler entered the room a little later, he found his Lordship lying on the bed gasping for breath. The butler rushed downstairs for help, but it was too late. Lord Lyttleton was dead. ?l,?id one of the guests, looking at the bedroom clock, ? dream was almost right, but the time was slightly wrong. It?ow half past twelve.?t;br>? sir. It is not,?id the butler. ?ause his Lordship was so worried, I took the liberty of altering all the household clocks earlier today.?e dream was true- Lyttletton died on the stroke of midnight.