{
  "title": "ELLIOTT O’DONNELL",
  "category": "[RADIO-APPEARANCES]",
  "article": "In the mid-Twenties Britain’s most reknown “ghost hunter” made sporadic\nappearances on the BBC. His reputation was already well-established at the time\nthat he made his first broadcast, and he was the published author of over twenty\nbooks on the subject of the supernatural and spectral phenomena, starting with\nBona-fide Adventures with Ghosts in 1908 and including Haunted Houses of\nLondon (1909), Werwolves (1912), Twenty Years’ Experience as a Ghost Hunter\n(1916), The Banshee (1920), and Strange Sea Mysteries (1926).\nIn appearance, writes Grant Sinclair, “O’Donnell looked every inch the\nacademic professor, being tall, thin, austere and white haired with a pince nez\nalways balanced on his hawklike nose. He also had a penchant for cloaks and\ncanes; and those who encountered him claimed he had an ethereal, other worldly\nair about him…” In fact, in 1934 columnist George Tucker remarked, “He even\nlooks a little like a ghost himself.”\n“One of the most prolific authors on the subject of ghosts and hauntings of the\nearly 20th century, Elliott O'Donnell investigated numerous hauntings, claiming\nto have visited thousands of localities and been eyewitness to hundreds of ghosts\nand various paranormal phenomena. Also an enthusiastic collector of ghost\nphotographs, O'Donnell became one of the first authors to routinely include\nphotographs of an allegedly paranormal nature in his works, which included\ncountless stories and articles submitted to a wide variety of magazines and\nnewspapers. His books include such titles as Some Haunted Houses in England\nand Wales (1908), Twenty Years Experiences of a Ghost Hunter (1917), The\nBanshee (1928), Haunted Britain (1948), Dangerous Ghosts (1954) and many\nmore. Although born in Bristol, England, O'Donnell was descended of an old\nIrish family and claimed that they were haunted by their own familial banshee,\nwhich prompted his interest in the supernatural.”\nDuring the course of his career O’Donnell had his share of detractors as well. M.\nR. James, one of the acknowledged masters of the antiquarian ghost story, wrote\nthat “Mr. Elliott O'Donnell's multitudinous volumes I do not know whether to\nclass as narratives of fact or exercises in fiction. I hope they may be of the latter\nsort, for life in a world managed by his gods and infested by his demons seems a\nrisky business.”\n[Research Kev Demant, who has written about O’Donnell.]\n[Punch, January 21, 1914] “My flesh declined to creep an inch from the first\npage to the last of Animal Ghosts… Not one of these stories is convincing. Mr.\nO'Donnell taps you on the chest and whispers hoarsely, ‘As I stood there my\nblood congealed, I could scarcely breathe. My scalp bristled;’ and you, if you are\nlike me, hide a yawn and say, ‘No, really?’”\n[PROGRAM INFORMATION]",
  "origination": "2LO, London (BBC).",
  "duration": "February 13, 1926-May 17, 1927 (six appearances inclusive within\nthese dates).",
  "personnel": "Elliott O’Donnell (storyteller).",
  "extant_recordings": "None.\n[PROGRAM LOG]\nELLIOTT O’DONNELL (2LO, LONDON)\n[Saturday—10:00-10:30 PM]\nFebruary 13, 1926\n“Some Queer Happenings”\n[“…Time (Greenwich) ; Weather ; News ; Mr. Elliott\nO’Donnell…”]\n[Wednesday—7:40-8:00 PM]\nJune 23, 1926\n“St. John’s Eve”\n[Thursday—7:00-7:25 PM]\nJuly 22, 1926\n“Sea Mysteries”\n[Tuesday—7:40-8:00 PM]\nAugust 31, 1926\n“Strange Cases of Mistaken Identity”\n[Thursday—7:40-8:00 PM]\nDecember 2, 1926\n“Old London Inns”\n[Tuesday—7:00-7:15 PM]\nMay 17, 1927\n“A Night in an American Forest”",
  "chronology": "",
  "sources": "PERIODICALS: The Times [London].",
  "gallery": "",
  "images": []
}