A recent news article that caught the eye of Evesham writers involves Tesco, more specifically, the supermarket chain’s recent decision to add 10p to the price of a Bag for Life. People on Reddit reportedly called the move a “disgrace”.
Tesco defended the price hike by noting that their Bags for Life are 100% recyclable and can be exchanged for free if the worst happens and shoppers’ eternal shopping companion passes on too early.
Speaking of which, Worcestershire seems to have a peculiar need for shopping bags in the afterlife, with a haunted shopping centre just to the north of Evesham.
Haunted Places
Halloween has been re-buried for another year, taking with it a brief bout of excitement that won’t return until Christmas. Still, there’s plenty of spooky excitement left, as the year turns toward winter.
Ironically, the festive season is a productive time of year for horror writers. Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) usually gets an airing on TV, while Krampus (2015) and Terrifier 3 (2024) add a bit more red to Santa’s outfit. Similarly, casino operators have a stock of scary slots all year round – but don’t let go of Halloween just yet. Games like The Grim Reaper, 3 Skulls of Voodoo, and Zombie School Megaways are unlikely to disappear on the first day of November at UK casino operators. They may have seasonal themes, but the core mechanics are timeless, as is the case with many Halloween traditions that aren’t necessarily specific to just one day, week or month of the year.
Real-life spectres aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but Evesham’s braver residents might find entertainment at one of the local area’s haunted places.
The UK Haunted Locations Database lists three locations in Evesham. These are the Abbey Gatehouse, where a disembodied bell peels on Christmas Eve and the Royal Oak on Vine Street. A poltergeist likes rearranging furniture (and ringing the phone) at the latter site. The spirit of a woman and a former landlord have been sighted inside Merstow Green’s The Trumpet Inn in recent years.
Hooded Robes
Worcestershire’s haunted shopping centre is the Kingfisher in Redditch, opened in 1976. A large location on the Ringway, the Kingfisher has a bit of a chequered past. For one, it’s built over a chapel and its companion graveyard (the occupants of the graves were moved elsewhere). That doesn’t seem to have eased any minds watching from beyond, however, and some of the graves may still be in situ.
As for the hauntings, the Ghost Tales by the Fireside Podcast claims a man was sighted walking through a closed storefront at the Kingfisher by police, after the public alerted the force to a presence on a balcony. There’s reportedly a stern bibliophile at a nearby The Works store, too. The ghost likes throwing books at customers.
Perhaps one of the spookiest tales from Redditch involves a “Canon Newton House”, which seems to have once been part of the area beneath the Kingfisher. It’s associated with Evesham Walk, to the immediate north of the shopping centre. A security guard riding an elevator had the doors open on a figure in hooded robes – a monk. The spectre walked through the lift door as the employee tried to escape to a safer level.
Monks are especially common in Worcestershire, given the abundance of monasteries in the area in the 12th-16th centuries.
Their fascination with shopping is as yet unexplained.
Written by Ben Spencer
