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