The Black Monk of Pontefract: Something Dragged Her Up the Stairs

A fine white powder was falling through the air, but it wasn’t coming from the ceiling. Phillip Pritchard and his grandmother watched it settle over the furniture, unable to work out where it was coming from.

Soon, water was appearing on the kitchen floor. Every time someone mopped it up, more seemed to arrive.

It was August 1966, and the Pritchard family had no idea what was happening inside their home in Pontefract, England. Over the next few years, they would report flying objects, a frightening hooded figure, and something that seemed determined to hurt their teenage daughter.

The Trouble at Number 30

The Pritchards lived at 30 East Drive, a modest semi-detached house on the Chequerfield Estate in West Yorkshire. From the outside, it looked like any other family home in the neighbourhood.

Joe and Jean Pritchard were away on holiday when the trouble started. Their son Phillip was staying with his grandmother, Sarah Scholes, when they noticed the strange powder falling in the living room.

They called Phillip’s aunt, Marie Kelly, to help clean up. But when she went into the kitchen, she found water spreading across the floor. She couldn’t find a leak, and the puddles kept returning.

Things got stranger when green foam reportedly began coming from the taps. Plants were pulled from their pots, cupboards shook, and the contents of a tea dispenser spilled across the kitchen.

One evening, Phillip and his grandmother heard a loud crash. When they went to investigate, they found that a wedding photograph had been damaged. Someone, or something, had slashed the picture.

By the time Joe and Jean came home, their relatives had plenty to tell them. And it wasn’t long before the parents began experiencing strange things themselves.

The Family Gives It a Name

For a while, the house settled down. But when the activity returned, it was worse than before.

Doors slammed without warning. Lights switched themselves on and off, and heavy knocking sounds echoed through the rooms. Objects slid across tables or fell from shelves, sometimes while people were standing nearby.

The family started calling the unseen presence Fred. Giving it an ordinary name seemed to make the whole thing a little less frightening, even though nobody knew what was causing the trouble.

Fred didn’t always behave like a friendly visitor.

According to the family’s accounts, a heavy clock was thrown down the stairs, furniture moved without anyone touching it, and bedrooms were left looking as though somebody had gone through everything.

Neighbours and relatives started visiting to see what was happening. Some left with their own stories of strange noises and objects flying across rooms.

A local clergyman was also called in. He initially suggested that some of the sounds might be caused by the house settling, but during his visit, he reportedly watched a candlestick move from a shelf and fall to the floor.

The family tried having the property blessed. During one religious gathering, witnesses claimed that a pair of large fur gloves began moving as though invisible hands were wearing them, keeping time with the singing.

Some of the incidents were strange enough to make the family laugh afterward. But that changed when the disturbances began focusing on Diane.

Something Went After Diane

Diane Pritchard was a teenager when she began experiencing some of the most frightening incidents in the house.

Objects reportedly moved around her, and loud crashes interrupted ordinary family life. Sometimes the activity seemed to start whenever she entered a room.

In one account, a piece of furniture and a sewing machine moved toward the staircase, leaving Diane trapped. On other occasions, bedding was pulled away from her, and objects flew across the room.

But the worst incident happened on the stairs.

According to the family, Diane’s hair suddenly stood straight up from her head. Moments later, something grabbed her and dragged her up the staircase.

She struggled to get free, but nobody could see what was holding her. When the force finally released her, marks resembling fingers were reportedly visible around her throat.

Diane was terrified. Her parents had already spent years dealing with unexplained noises and moving furniture, but now they believed something inside the house was attacking their daughter.

They couldn’t predict when the next incident would happen. An ordinary evening could turn frightening in seconds, and there was nowhere inside the house that felt completely safe.

By this point, the family had also started seeing something they could put a face to, although its appearance was frightening enough without being able to see what was under the hood.

The Figure in the Black Robe

The Pritchards described seeing a dark figure dressed in what looked like a monk’s robe. Its face was hidden beneath a hood, making it difficult to tell whether there was a face there at all.

Joe and Jean reportedly encountered the figure in their bedroom. A neighbour also described seeing a tall, dark-robed presence that disappeared before she could get a proper look at it.

People began calling it the Black Monk of Pontefract.

Stories soon circulated about a monk who had been executed centuries earlier, possibly near the remains of a medieval priory. Some believed his spirit had returned and was responsible for everything happening at East Drive.

Nobody could establish who the figure was supposed to be, but the name stuck.

The family continued reporting knocks, moving objects, and frightening encounters. There were also accounts of the activity becoming more intense whenever someone challenged the unseen presence.

Despite everything, the Pritchards refused to abandon their home. Jean was determined not to let whatever was happening drive the family away.

Eventually, the worst of the disturbances began to fade.

The House Becomes a Horror Story

Years later, paranormal researcher and author Colin Wilson spoke with members of the Pritchard family. Their experiences became part of his 1981 book Poltergeist! A Study in Destructive Haunting.

The case had attracted attention while the disturbances were happening, but Wilson’s book introduced the story to many more readers.

It also stayed with filmmaker Pat Holden, who had family connections to people involved in the original events. He grew up hearing stories about what happened at East Drive and eventually turned them into the 2012 horror film When the Lights Went Out.

Holden changed names and rearranged some incidents for the film, but the family’s experiences were the inspiration behind it.

The real house later became a destination for paranormal investigators and visitors who wanted to spend a night inside one of Britain’s most notorious haunted properties.

Over the years, guests have reported their own encounters, including unexplained noises, moving objects, and sightings of dark figures.