The Haunted Stone Heads: A Chilling Encounter with the Unknown
In the world of paranormal encounters, there are few stories as eerie and inexplicable as that reported by Dr. Anne Ross, a renowned Celtic scholar and archaeologist. I first learned about the following event by reading a report of the incident in Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain, published by Reader’s Digest, in the 1970s.
Here are the details.
In 1971, Dr. Ross was tasked with examining two carved stone heads discovered near Hadrian’s Wall, an ancient Roman fortification in northern England. Little did she know that these ancient relics would unleash a series of terrifying events that would leave her and her family shaken to the core.
The stone heads, carved from local Northumbrian stone around 1800 years ago, were likely used as guardians outside a military shrine or temple of the Celtic legionaries who made up a large part of the Roman garrison on Hadrian’s Wall. According to Dr. Ross, the heads were “nothing unpleasant” to look at, but she couldn’t shake off the feeling of unease and discomfort they evoked. She decided to keep them in a box in her study, planning to have them geologically analysed before returning them to the museum.
However, it wasn’t long before strange things began to happen. Dr. Ross woke up in the middle of the night, feeling deeply frightened and cold. She saw a tall, dark figure slipping out of her study, which she later described as “part animal and part man.” The figure seemed to be drawn to the stone heads, and Dr. Ross felt an irresistible force compelling her to follow it. Although her husband searched the house, no sign of the intruder was found, and they dismissed the incident as a mere nightmare.
But the terror was far from over. A few days later, Dr. Ross’s teenage daughter, Berenice, came home from school to find a “huge, dark, and inhuman” creature on the stairs. The creature rushed towards her, vaulted over the banisters, and disappeared into her room. Berenice was left shaken and traumatised, and Dr. Ross and her husband were at a loss to explain the phenomenon.
As the days passed, Dr. Ross began to experience strange occurrences in her home. She would feel a cold presence, hear the soft thud of animal footsteps near the staircase, and find her study door bursting open without anyone being there. On one occasion, both Dr. Ross and Berenice saw a dark figure ahead of them, which vanished after vaulting over the banisters.
The connection between the stone heads and the haunting became clear when Dr. Ross learned that a similar creature had appeared in a neighboring house on the night the heads were first discovered. The woman who lived next door to the garden where the heads were unearthed reported seeing a “half-man and half-animal” creature, which touched her before disappearing without a trace.
Despite the stone heads being returned to the museum, the haunting continued. Dr. Ross and her family were left with a chilling question mark, wondering if they had unleashed a malevolent force that would haunt them forever.
The story of the haunted stone heads raises questions about the power of ancient artifacts to stir up dark energies. Were these stone heads, once used to guard a Celtic god, still imbued with a magical or divine presence? Had Dr. Ross and her family disturbed a malevolent force that had lain dormant for centuries? The answers, much like the entity itself, remain elusive and unknown.
One thing is certain, however: the haunting of Dr. Ross and her family serves as a reminder that some secrets are better left unexplored, and that the line between spirit entities is far more blurred than we dare to imagine.
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Helpful reading:
1)
The Hexem Heads.
2)
Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain, by Reader’s Digest.
Worldwide Temple of Aurora 