Ten Things you Didn't Know About Harry Barker Raymond

When and where were you born?

I was born on January 9, 1979. Like a typical Sagittarian, I have a strong sense of adventure and I don’t mind taking the occasional risk to keep life exciting. Pearl would probably say I take too many. (laughing) I was born in Forres, Scotland. My family—my mother, father and older brother Chris—moved to Manchester when I was nine years old and I have lived in the city ever since.

When did you develop a passion for the paranormal?

When I was a young lad, my uncle Fred used to visit us every weekend and he would tell stories of the ghosts he'd seen. He used to see them all over the place, down the coal mine where he worked, in the local pubs, even in the post office on the corner. He saw them so often I thought there was something wrong with me because I couldn't (laughing).As I grew older I started reading other people's accounts of otherworldly experiences and decided to do some amateur investigations. This tied in nicely with my hobby as a photographer at the time and it was fun.

Have you ever captured a ghost on film?

Pearl and I were in Wales a couple about a year ago investigating a reported haunting in a building that had once been a monastery and then a boy's home. I did get some very unusual photographs in one of the rooms, but the images were not at all what I thought they might be.

When did you decide to become a professional photographer?

At the age of 14 during a business trip to China with my parents.

How did you meet J.J. Benson?

I met Benny in a pub in Salford. I had missed my train and he was just about to take a tour of Ordsall Hall which is rumored to be very haunted. He asked me to go with him to shoot pictures and I did. I didn’t know at the time that he was a good friend of Pearl's.

What's it like Working with Pearl?

I love it. Pearl and I have been friends for years; we were at university together. She's much more skeptical than I am when it comes down to the paranormal stuff, but I think in her heart she really would like to experience something that would convince her that there's something going on that she can't totally rationalize.

What's your worst bad habit?

I don’t wash my dishes until I run out of clean ones (laughing).

What's the worst thing that could ever happen to you?

It already has. I lost my wife in a fire four years ago.

What's your most prized possession?

My Morris Minor Woody.

What is your biggest accomplishment to date?

I won the Golden Shutter photography award in 2012 for a series of photographs called Loving Life that I exhibited that year. The twelve photos were all of my wife Marie doing things that made her most happy.

                                A Trick Box or A Box of Tricks?

What could two college students, a priest and his twin brother, and a young mother all have in common? A perplexing mystery has been unraveling throughout the city of Manchester over the past few weeks, one that despite its intriguing elements and several witness statement, is no closer to being solved.

The tale begins a little over a month ago when three students at Manchester University had a small package delivered to their dorm room. Inside was a five inch by five inch wooden cube. With it was a hastily scrawled note which read, “ open the box before midnight or suffer the consequences.” Though the three friends did not take the threat too seriously, they did attempt to open the cube by several means, all of which were unsuccessful. Thirty minutes before midnight a strange man arrived at their room demanding to see the box open. The incorrigible man refused to leave even when they tried to give the box back, but insisted he must stay until the stroke of midnight. As the clock struck the witching hour, the three boys claim that the stranger began to transform from a human being into a giant snake and threatened to eat them all if they did not hand over the box.

“It’s like he was a man one minute and a giant slimy snake the next,” Martin Clooney, one of the students said.

 “I know it sounds crazy, but we all saw it happen,” said his friend Colin Frome “and we hadn’t even had a single beer that night.”

  Soon after the man’s transformation, the boys managed to escape the dorm room and hid in the gym until the next morning. When they returned to their room, they could find no trace of the man-snake or the box. Upon hearing their story, their fellow students laughed it off as a hoax, until another strange story was posted on Facebook less than a week later.

The story tells of, Diane Gurney, a young, single mother from, Salford who reported to the police that a “strange troll-like man” had entered her home on the morning of October 22nd around 8am. Gurney says she has no idea how the man got into the house but when she threatened to call the police he began to laugh at her, then demanded that  she open an unusual box. Afraid for her life, she attempted to placate the man, and tried to open the box, which she recognized as a puzzle box. Just as she felt she was getting close, the bacon began to burn and set off the smoke alarm. The small man immediately became very agitated. The last thing Ms. Gurney remembers before she fainted was that the man turned into a large pig and began “to run around the kitchen squeaking and squealing.” The young woman was found several hours later by a concerned neighbor.

More recently but no less incredibly, last Friday, Reverend C.V. Wellington of Plant Lane Methodist Church was making some repairs to vandalized pews with the help of his twin brother Henry. Before they were done a small, disabled man entered the church and placed a strange box on the altar. When questioned, the man did not respond. After some time they approached the stranger. He promptly took on the form of their deceased mother and told them that if they did not quickly open the odd bx, they would have to spend the night locked in a cupboard. Try as they might, under the watchful eye of their browbeating mother, neither man could solve the puzzle of the box. They were found by the cleaning lady the next morning, locked in the vestry.

The identity and whereabouts of the mysterious transforming man remains unknown, as does the location and contents of the mysterious box. Will he strike again until someone solves the puzzle? And if he does what secrets will the mysterious box reveal?

Puzzle boxes, also known as trick or secret boxes, have been popular for more than a hundred years. Some are basic and require only the slightest pressure on the correct spot, while more complex boxes require a combination of moves to release several different parts of a mechanism before opening.

If you have a story connected to this mysterious puzzle box or the incredible shape-shifting man, please contact Pearl Blackthorn. You can find out the solution to the Puzzle Box mystery here.

Interview with Pearl Blackthorn

by Corinna Underwood

CU: Today I am joined by author Pearl Blackthorn. As well as her series of paranormal mystery novels, Grave Matters, Pearl is also renowned for her investigative research as part of the DarkSide project, a group of paranormal researchers based in Manchester UK. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me today Pearl.

PB: You're most welcome.

CU: First of all I'd like to talk a little about your background with DarkSide, for our readers who are not quite so familiar with your work. When did you first become involved with the project?

PB: I first met the founder J.J. Benson when I was a teenager. He started Darkside magazine in 1999. When I first started writing for J.J. the magazine covered historical locations throughout the UK that are connected to paranormal legends. Over the years the project has expanded to a wider range of paranormal subjects and my colleague Harry Raymond and I frequently visit locations and investigate the claims ourselves.

CU: Your interest in the paranormal is a big part of your life, and this themes runs through your fiction and your non-fiction. Have you ever had paranormal experiences yourself?

PB: I did have an unusual experience when I was investigating a haunting at the site of an ancient monastery in Wales, but I think that was rather more of a product of my imagination. Although I do have a fascination for folklore and paranormal legends, I also have a healthy skepticism. Usually when we embark on an investigation there is a quite rational explanation for the phenomena, sometimes it just takes a while to figure it out. However, Harry keeps telling me that one day I'm going to have an experience that I can’t explain and then I'll have to totally re-think my skepticism. I'll keep you posted on that one.

CU: Yes, please do. Didn't you and Harry recently take a trip to New Orleans to investigate a voodoo curse?

PB: That's right. The curse was connected to a very dear friend of Harry, who had recently passed away. We got to visit The Blind Pig, one of the oldest standing speakeasies in Louisiana, and we met some met some very interesting characters along the way.

CU: And did you solve the mystery of the curse?

PB: We did, though it wasn't at all what we had expected. But if your readers want to find out about the whole investigation they can read about it at DarkSide.

CU: Do you have any investigations ongoing right now?

PB: Actually, Harry and I met with J.J. this morning. He has been communicating with the owner of the Rook Inn, which is located in Cheshire. Apparently the Inn was recently renovated and since the work has been completed the owners are being terrorized by strange wailing sounds throughout the night. We are planning to head down there for a few days next week and see what we find.

CU: Well we will look forward to hearing about that. Readers will be able to find a full report on the Blackthorn Blog?

PB: Absolutely.

CU: Pearl Blackthorn, thank you very much for joining me today. Good luck to you and the DarkSide team.

PB: It’s been a pleasure. Thank you. 

Ten Things you Didn't Know About Pearl Blackthorn

Why did you start writing?

I loved reading from a very early age, particularly fairy tales and folklore from all over the word. I used to enjoy losing myself in these stories so much that I began to create my own. I published the first book in my Grave Matters series when I was 20. Shortly after I began writing for J.J. Benson's paranormal magazine Darkside.

What is the besting about writing for you?
Unhindered freedom.

Name some of your favorite authors?

It’s a very long list but near the top are The Brothers Grimm, Angela Carter, Virginia Wolf, Italo Calvino, Jeanette Walls, and Michael David Lukas.

Do you listen to music while you write?

I often listen to Bach or Mozart while I write.

Where do you do most of your writing?

I like to be surrounded by books when I write. My writing room in my apartment has walls lined with books. I also enjoy writing in my friend's book shop. However, inspiration will often strike in the most unusual of places so I always carry a note book and pen wherever I go whether I'm hiking, visiting a historic site or just riding the bus.

What is the most inspiration place you have ever visited?

That would be the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. It is the only place I have ever visited that is completely silent. Its beauty, stillness and sense of peace are awe inspiring.

Where is the next place you want to visit?

I’m planning a trip to Japan's  Aogashima Island to see the ancient volcano.

What makes you laugh?

Great British comedy shows, the rain on my face and

What would you like to be if you were not a writer?

A bird. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to fly?

What do you enjoy when you’re not writing?

Reading, visiting historic sites and spending quality time with good friends.