30 East Drive

30 East Drive is infamous for being home to Europe’s most violent poltergeist. This property has seen many people leave in terror. As this is deemed one of the most haunted houses in Britain, it has many similarities to the infamous Enfield Haunting. The film, ‘When the Lights Went Out’ was made based purely on the terrifying story of the Pritchard family that lived in this house and there has been numerous newspaper reports that can be accessed on social media. It has also been widely investigated by many paranormal teams such as Most Haunted and Paranormal Lockdown high have documented its malevolent activity.

It is believed that this property is haunted by a malevolent poltergeist known as ‘The Black Monk of Pontefract’ (also affectionately known as ‘Fred’). Despite attempts to bless this house there are still paranormal teams reporting objects being thrown or moving infront of their eyes, dark shadows lurking, doors opening and strange sounds are heard when no one is around.

In August 1966, the Pritchard family consisting of Jean, Joe, Phillip (15), and Diane (12) moved into Number 30 East Drive, Pontefract. Shortly after their arrival, Phillip and his grandmother witnessed a strange phenomenon - a layer of chalk-like dust falling from a level below head height, rather than the ceiling. Mrs. Kelly, Phillip's aunt, who had been called to observe the falling dust, slipped on a pool of water that had mysteriously appeared. Efforts to clean up the water were futile as more water continued to appear. These events marked the beginning of several years of inexplicable occurrences, including green foam from taps, activated tea dispensers, lights turning on and off, plants leaping out of pots, shaking cupboards, slashed photographs, and various levitating and thrown objects. The family referred to the poltergeist as 'Fred' and despite attempts to remove him, Jean refused to be driven out of her home. Exorcisms only resulted in more chaos, with walls seeping holy water, faces being slapped, and people being shoved down the stairs. Fred even joined in on Christian songs while wearing women's fur gloves. Despite the disturbances, some of Fred's antics provided amusement for the family.