Glamis Castle was once considered one of the most haunted place in the UK. This Scottish castle (pronounced “Glams”) is located near the village of Glamis in Angus, Scotland. Malcolm II was murdered at Glamis, supplying William Shakespeare with material or his play Macbeth. The late Queen Elizabeth spent her earliest years at the castle. For the full story on all of Glamis Castle’s terrors, check out this excellent article from The Smithsonian.
There are many legends and stories about Glamis Castle but the tale of the Monster is the most famous. Depending on the version, a malformed child was born and raised in the castle, being walled up after death. In some versions, the lad is a vampire. The location of the secret room thrilled visitors for generations. (You can visit Glamis Castle even today. Have a look, see if you can find it….) Take a tour…
Such a haunted place seems like a natural for the Horror comics but I could only find these three one-pagers that specifically mention Glamis. (No doubt, many of the haunted castles were inspired by it but not named.) The authors of these single pages are not known. For some reason they all appeared in 1953. Best of all for readers, each author chose a different legend about Glamis.
“Riddle of Glamis” (The Thing #8, May 953) is a Charlton comic. This one tries to cover several tales but the one about the towels shows up here. As an experiment, guests seeking a hidden room hung towels out of all the windows then went outside to see if all windows were marked. There was one room that did not have a towel!
“Revenge of Glamis Castle” (The Unseen #11, August 1953) is a Pines comic. This one selects a tale of from 1654. A gambling lord becomes involved in murder and madness.
“The Legend of Glamis Castle” (This Magazine Is Haunted #14, December 1953) is a Fawcett piece. Finally we get the tale of Malcolm II and his death. It doesn’t resembled “the Scottish Play” much. No witches.
Conclusion
My favorite story about Glamis Castle is that Sir Walter Scott spent one night in the empty castle in 1793. Reportedly he felt the unearthly around him that evening. Visiting haunted castles was a thing with him. He visited NeidPath Castle in 1803. His own ghost is said to haunt Abbotsford Houe in Tweedbank. Scott wrote the oft-reprinted story “The Tapestried Chamber” for The Keepsake Stories (Christmas 1828). Of course, a ghost story for Christmas!
Scott wasn’t the only literary figure with a penchant for the ghostly. Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are famously known for such but others include Daniel De Foe, Victor Hugo, Lord Bulwer-Lytton and Thomas Hardy. Jack Sullivan begins his excellent book on ghost stories, Elegent Nightmares (1978) by mentioning:
T. S . Eliot once complained that Yeats’s only two interests during their early acquaintance were ”George Moore and
spooks . ”
Writing about ghosts full time wasn’t an option for writers in the Victorian Age, but many graced us with tales like “The Tapestried Chamber” every December, paving the way for writers like Algernon Blackwood, who did “sing for their supper” entirely on fantastic tales.
Next time…Secret Chambers and Haunted Castles!
