{
  "title": "BBC HAUNTED HOUSE BROADCAST",
  "category": "[SPECIAL-PROGRAM]",
  "article": "[Harry Price, Most Haunted House…] “For special cases, as in my broadcast from the ‘haunted\nmanor’ at Meopham, Kent, I use an electric signaling instrument which automatically reveals to\nthe investigator (who has no need to leave his base-room) a movement of any object in any part of\nthe house, or a change in temperature in the ‘controlled’ rooms.” [*This set-up is illustrated in\nFifty Years of Psychical Research, London, 1939.]\n[Price] “The British Broadcasting Corporation is nothing if not enterprising, and the\nDepartment of Outside Broadcasts is always the first to investigate the possibilities of radiating\nanything of a topical nature, if interesting enough to the general public. It will be remembered\nthat I broadcast from the ‘haunted house’ at Meopham on March 10, 1936, when the ghost-\nhunting technique employed was very successfully relayed. Mr. S. J. de Lotbiniere was in charge\nof the transmission.”\n[“Trailing a Ghost: Microphones in a Haunted House,” The Times, March 10, 1936] “A old\nmanor house which is reputed to be haunted is to be the scene of a broadcast experiment tonight.\nSome of the abnormal manifestations which the B.B.C. and Mr. Harry Price, honorary secretary of\nthe London University Council for Psychical Research, hope to describe and record for listeners\nare the muffled footsteps which legend says are frequently heard in various parts of the house;\neerie winds of unknown origin which sweep through the lower storey; and the sudden and\nmysterious opening of doors, especially the door of the wine cellar. Listeners, however, may be\nwarned not to expect too much of manifestations of this kind which might, no doubt, be more\nconvincingly provided by the sound department of the B.B.C. The first part of the broadcast,\nwhich will be heard by National listeners from 8 to 8:20, will be devoted to a full account of the\npreparations made earlier in the day by Mr. Price and the B.B.C. to trail the ghost. At the end of\nthis description listeners will be invited to tune in at the traditional witching hour. If they are in\nreadiness at 11:45 they may presumably expect equal punctuality on the part of the ghost.”\n[“Radio Balks Ghosts.” Palm Beach Post (April 1, 1936)] “In English Kent there stands a manor\nhouse which is said to be occupied by one or more ghosts. Certain persons have heard these\nghosts walking around and conversing, or one ghost talking to itself, or kicking up a racket of\nsome kind.\n“Many persons convinced themselves of the truthfulness of the ghost’s cavorting at night. The\nstory was a good one. So the British Broadcasting company a few nights ago attempted to\nbroadcast this ghost.\n“The floors of the house were covered with powdered chalk that the footprints might stand out.\nThere was a recording thermometer to gauge changes in temperature—believing one declaring\nthat the house grew oppressively warm while the ghost was carrying on. Sensitive instruments\nwere placed thickly about to pick up the least sound.\n“Unfortunately, the ghost refused to put in appearance, to take advantage of this opportunity to\nprove existence. At midnight the big broadcasting company had to admit failure to trap the shade.\n“Various persons immediately came forward with various reasons why the ghost didn’t show up,\nthe most pertinent, perhaps, being that the regulations for broadcasting in England requires a\nscript to be presented to the broadcasting company in advance. No successful spook would stoop\nto such a rule.\n“The London Times jubilates because the experiment failed. It believes that if listeners had\nheard the ghost say, ‘Good evening, everybody,’ many would have expired in their chairs while\nothers would have accused the broadcasting company of a colossal fraud.\n“The Manchester Guardian merely finds that nothing is proved by the failure except that the\nspook is not a departed publicity agent.”\n[“Ghost-Like Silence.” Detroit News (ca. January 9, 1937] “A few days ago the British\nBroadcasting corporation attempted to broadcast a ghost. A haunted manor house in Kent was\nsupplied with microphones, the floor was covered with powdered chalk to record ghostly\nfootprints, thermometer was ready to record changes in temperature produced by the spooks, and\na large unseen audience was informed, as darkness fell, of all the preparatory steps.\nUnfortunately, the shade failed to take advantage of this opportunity, and on shutting down at\nmidnight the BBC had to admit its nonsuccess. Various reasons for the ghost’s nonappearance\nwere given by various people, the most pertinent one being that the spook was familiar with the\nregulation requiring a script to be presented to the BBC in advance.\n“The London Times is glad the experiment failed: it believes that if the listeners had heard the\nghost say, ‘Good evening, everybody,’ many people would have died in their chairs, while others\nwould have accused the BBC of perpetrating a colossal fraud.\n“The Manchester Guardian, however, believes that the test proved nothing except that the ghost\nis not a departed publicity agent.”",
  "origination": "",
  "duration": "",
  "personnel": "",
  "extant_recordings": "",
  "chronology": "(NATIONAL PROGRAMME—BBC)\n[Tuesday—8:00-8:20 PM]\nMarch 10, 1936\n“Haunted House”\n[“…A scientific investigation by Harry Price and F. H. Grisewood into the\nalleged haunting of an old manor house. The investigators set the scene\nand describe their preparations, fromthe house itself…”]\n[Tuesday—11:45 PM-12:00 MIDNIGHT]\nMarch 10, 1936\n“Haunted House, Part 2”\n[“…The investigators report on their evening’s vigil, from the house\nitself…”]",
  "sources": "",
  "gallery": "",
  "images": []
}