Monster hunter chases London's paranormal

His new book Paranormal London suggests that London is teeming with phenomena.

Mr Arnold, 36, said: "Much of the capital is haunted, or has experienced high levels of strangeness.

"I've never seen a ghost. I've seen a black leopard three times and investigated reports of a vampire-like spectre in London's Highgate Cemetery.

"I don't believe in UFOs but I do believe that many paranormal experiences are connected to the human psyche. I've hunted hell hounds around the streets of London, tracked big cats in Sydenham and been shot at and threatened by Satanists. It's a strange job."

The book focuses on sightings of the animal kind with pages dedicated to beasts in our back yard - ghost cats, dogs, lions and tigers roaming the streets of London. There are tales of the Southwark Puma, attacks by Spring Heeled Jack in Blackheath, the horror of Hackney Marshes and Greenwich Ghouls.

Mr Arnold looks at obscure mysteries and sheds light on possible explanations.
He said: "People tend not to believe me when I tell them I am a full time investigative monster hunter, but it's true."

With chapter titles like Strange Feelings at Ealing, The Haunted Tree, Phantom Stone Throwers and Weirder Than A Flying Womble, Paranormal London is all a bit tongue in cheek as well as intriguing and eerie.

Mr Arnold said: "The book came about because I was tired of reading the same old ghost stories tied to London. I am always out in the field researching cases and shedding new light on older cases.

"Most stories in the book were obscure news-paper reports, others were stories I'd heard first hand from witnesses, and a handful of cases were classics I dusted down.

"My favourite London paranormal stories concern the phantom assailants, reports of monsters and strange creatures on the London Underground, and the Highgate vampire scare which took place in the '60s and '70s.

Mr Arnold's fascination with the paranormal began when he was nine and lived near an area in Kent called Blue Bell Hill where there had been a legend of a road apparition.

His father told him stories about the place which terrified him. He collected his first report of a strange creature when he was 10 and the rest is history.

He said: "People don't often realise just how surreal and scary London's folklore is. Ghosts and vampires have become such a commercial mess, but Paranormal London is full of short campfire stories which will have you reaching for the light switch.

"A majority of paranormal phenomena only produces evidence in the form of eye-witnesses, it's unlikely that the world of ghosts, even UFOs will ever be explained or proven. Maybe such mysteries are more related to the human psyche than some other dimension.

"However, in some of the strange creature cases in the book, 'big cats' have been caught - a lynx was found in a back garden in Cricklewood in 2001 - and the so-called "vampire" of Highgate was a malevolent spectre which attacked humans. Despite many witnesses misinterpreting natural phenomena, or performing hoaxes, there are still many cases of genuine paranormal activity.

"People's senses are heightened around Halloween, but I don't believe there is more activity during certain times of the year. However, when the dusk settles, and night draws in, ghost stories are far more atmospheric at this time than in the sunshine."

Follow Neil Arnold's research and monster hunting at beastsoflondon.blogspot.com

Paranormal London is published by The History Press, £9.99