Distinguishing the effect that a buildings lore may have depends on its history and often relies on the community that shares its region. For example, 30 East Drive, a house in Pontefract, a historic market town in West Yorkshire is supposedly one of the most haunted buildings in Europe.  Due to the immense history of apparitions in the home, some suspect that there is more than one entity in residence, of whom “The Black Monk”, the violent Poltergeist that resides there, is just one.

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Much like the Lutzes in New England, Jean, Joe, Phillip (15) and Diane (12) Pritchard moved into Number 30 East Drive, Pontefract in August 1966. Soon, the family reported to press that paranormal events were taking over the house. However, many are as convinced by this haunting as much as the skeptics were toward the Amityville Horror in New England.

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THE CULTURAL EFFECT

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The ‘Black Monk’ references the first monks, who resided in Yorkshire from 1090 when the priory of St. John of Pontefract was founded by Robert De Lacy. East Drive was built on a civil war burial ground as well as being a location heavily doused in the history of ritual-participating monks.

The Pontefract & Castleford Express released an article in 1981 highlighting a very interesting piece of research, in which the subheading reads (Sutcliffe 1981);

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“A REAL-LIFE Amityville Horror… The classic British poltergeist… as sensational as anything in the recorded history of poltergeist hauntings”

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It is evident that the British attitude toward ghosts and paranormal and hauntings is taken much less seriously than stories in America. The subheading portrays a reluctance in acknowledging the “ghost” as a case of reality. The article, goes on to discuss the book which Collin Wilson wrote named “Poltergeist, a Study of Destructive Haunting”. Wilson describes the events as compelling evidence;

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“Amazing, not because the events described are beyond belief, but because so many people were witness to them”

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Which was certainly the case. There were several witnesses to the apparitions and poltergeist activity, including police officers and many of the family’s neighbours. Why was it then, that a story much like that of Amityville, received more speculation? The polite British nature of handling sensitive subjects may be one, but perhaps the setting of Pontefract is one that couldn’t grip the attention of horror film makers. The Pontefract Poltergeist was active a decade before the murder of the DeFoes in Amityville, yet, this equally as compelling haunting in Yorkshire has been depicted into film only once in 2012, which was received badly after being criticised for how desperate the British filmmakers were to depict a Hollywood Horror rather than take pride in its truly British story (see fig. 25 & 26) . The Amityville Horror series will release its 19th film in 2017. Could this be due to the underwhelming architecture?

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THE ARCHITECTURAL EFFECT

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The house itself sits within a council estate, ordinary and not unusual to the British eye. The estate was one of many ‘garden’ council estates from the 1920’s, designed to encourage high living conditions for those working in the mines (University of West England 2008);

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“Planners promoted the construction of new suburban ‘garden’ estates, situated on the outskirts of cities. Mainly consisting of three bed houses for families, the design of the estates aimed to create self-contained communities of low density - often with no more than 12 houses per acre.”

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These types of simple housing solutions provided warm, safe abodes. Their exterior facades depict a simple semi-detached brick structure, which during the film adaptation of the events suffered by the Pritchards “When The Lights Go Out”, the camera hardly focuses. In the American TV series “Paranormal Lockdown” (2016) Nick Groff and Katrina Weidman, professional ghost hunters, spend 100 hours locked inside the Black Monk House. As the two approach the house, surrounded by identical clones typical to the British council estate, Weidman is quoted explaining her first impression (Weidman 2016);

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“It’s so tiny that I can’t believe these horrific events happened here…Sometimes evil does lurk in the nicest neighborhoods, the nicest of families, and you can’t judge a book by its cover when it comes to this stuff”

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Katrina admits here that the aesthetics of the house actually makes her doubt her own ‘paranormal feelings’. The sheer simplicity of the building suggests that the architecture does not affect her attitude toward the house, and relies entirely on the pre-conceived knowledge that she has.

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CONCLUSION

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It is apparent that the sheer suggestion of haunting can evoke a person to ‘feel’ the presence of the paranormal. After being presented with a photograph of the exterior at 30 East Drive and also being given the knowledge of its haunting, 20% of those who took “The Architecture of Horror” survey said that they would be able to tell that the building was haunted, if visiting in real life with one response detailing “Just looking at the photo of the house gave me a weird feeling”.

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Perhaps this example lacks the architectural effect that is typical to haunted houses, relying heavily on the cultural context and history. The house has not escaped the grasp of film and documentary attention; however, this example proves the importance of aesthetics. In both the feature film and in the small amount of documentary media made for this site, the aesthetics are conveniently avoided, whereas other “haunted” spectacles endure endless enthusiasm in their architectural attributes.