The Sauchie Poltergeist aka Wee Hughie
Morbid19 Loka 2023

The Sauchie Poltergeist aka Wee Hughie

When Annie Campbell uprooted her daughter from their home in Donegal, Ireland and relocated to Sauchie, Scotland in 1960, the move resulted in consequences far beyond what anyone could have expected. Removed from the only home she’d ever known, eleven-year-old Virginia Campbell did her best to acclimate to the foreign environment as she and her mother settled into the home of Virginia’s aunt, but within just a few weeks of their arrival the family was under siege from an invisible entity Virginia would later name “Wee Hughie.”

One of the most notorious cases of poltergeist activity in Scottish history, the case of the Sauchie poltergeist involved the usual trappings of poltergeist phenomenon—slamming doors, moving objects, and disruptive noises. Yet what set the phenomenon apart from myriad other cases of poltergeist phenomenon was that the supposedly supernatural phenomenon was witnessed by many bystanders, including Virginia’s teachers and classmates.

Was the Sauchie poltergeist a genuine example of paranormal activity, or was “Wee Hughie” nothing more than an elaborate hoax perpetrated by a creative girl seeking attention in the wake of major disruption in her life and environment?


Thank you to the lovely David White, of Bring Me the Axe podcast, for research assistance :)


References

Associated Press. 1960. "Haunted Irish girl gtets aid." Windsor Star, December 3: C-8.

Owen, A.R.G. 1964. Can We Explain the Poltergeist? New York, NY: Garrett Publications.

Robinson, Malcom. 2020. The Sauchie Poltergeist. Scotland: Independent.

Sims, Victor. 1965. "Poltergeist Terror." Sunday Mirror, June 13: 8.

—. 1965. "Virginia was possessed by a wild and unknown force." Sunday Mirror, June 27: 13.

United Press International. 1960. "Girl's ghost upsets school." Pittsburgh Press, December 2: 17.


Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)

Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)

Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley

Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally

Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jaksot(821)

Listener Tales 94

Listener Tales 94

Weirdos! We're giving you a fresh batch of listener tales brought TO you, BY you, FOR you, FROM you, and ALLLLL about you!Today we have ghostly peaches, possessed dogs (question mark?), dolls in a wal...

30 Tammi 20251h 16min

Rodney Alcala: The Dating Game Killer (Part 1)

Rodney Alcala: The Dating Game Killer (Part 1)

When Cheryl Bradshaw appeared on the popular game show The Dating Game in 1978, she was charmed by bachelor number one, Rodney Alcala, and by the end of the episode, she’d chosen him to take her on a ...

27 Tammi 202550min

The Unsolved Murder of Melissa Witt

The Unsolved Murder of Melissa Witt

On December 1, 1994, nineteen-year-old Melissa Witt planned to meet her mother at a Fort Smith, Arkansas bowling alley, but by all appearances, she only made it as far as the parking lot. Two days lat...

23 Tammi 202552min

The Crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571

The Crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571

On October 13, 1972, a chartered aircraft carrying forty-five passengers, including 19 members of the Old Christians’ Club rugby team, departed from Montevideo, Uruguay bound for Santiago, Chile. Abou...

20 Tammi 20251h 17min

The Bobbed Haired Bandit

The Bobbed Haired Bandit

In the winter of 1924, the boroughs of New York City were plagued by a series of robberies ostensibly committed by a young couple. This was not the first time a woman had been involved in armed robber...

16 Tammi 202556min

Gordon Cummins: The Blackout Ripper (Part 2)

Gordon Cummins: The Blackout Ripper (Part 2)

In February 1942, Gordon Cummins, a twenty-eight-year-old Royal Air Force Serviceman, murdered four women and attempted to murder two others over a six-day period in London, leading the press to dub h...

13 Tammi 202546min

Gordon Cummins: The Blackout Ripper (Part 1)

Gordon Cummins: The Blackout Ripper (Part 1)

In response to the onset of German bombing raids during World War II, many of England’s most vulnerable citizens evacuated or were temporarily evacuated out of urban areas to safer, more rural parts o...

9 Tammi 202544min

Michael and Suzan Carson: San Francisco Witch Killers

Michael and Suzan Carson: San Francisco Witch Killers

On January 12, 1983, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department received a call from a frantic driver who reported they’d just witnessed a shooting on the side of the side of the road in Fulton, Californi...

6 Tammi 20251h 15min

Suosittua kategoriassa Komedia

nikotellen
tuplakaak
antin-matka
anni-jaajo
olipa-kerran-otsikko
ihan-oikeesti
rss-saarinen-shoy
antin-palautepalvelu
antin-elokuvakerho
puurojengi
rss-nikotellen
rss-kaheli
rss-napy
naakkavalta
rss-tuhannes-podcast
kasper-ja-mikko-suomen-suosituin-podcast
mysteeripodcast
rss-kuukka-vehvilainen-hartlin
everypodi
ela-viitti