The Ghost of Phillip Babb
An artist’s depiction of a ghostly butcher with a large knife. Photo credit: wikiart.
The Isles of Shoals are filled with stories of pirates, shipwrecks, murders and ghosts. One of the most well-known of these is the ghost of the infamous Phillip Babb.
The Isles of Shoals
A map of the Isles of Shoals. Image credit: Wikipedia.
The Isles of Shoals are a small group of islands off the East Coast of the United States near Maine and New Hampshire. They have been occupied for more than 400 years, initially by fishing communities and have more recently become a home to a small community as well as a large seasonal hotel and a marine research facility.
Who was Phillip Babb?
Phillip Babb was born around 1634 in England. He married a woman named Mary and had several children. Babb lived on Appledore Island in The Isles of Shoals and worked as an innkeeper, butcher and a police constable. Legend has it that he was a pirate in his younger days and chose to retire to a more peaceful life on the Isles.
Babb was not particularly well liked on the island of Appledore. He was known as being a rude, evil and loathsome man, always wearing a bloodstained butcher’s frock with a large knife sheathed on his belt.
He lived on the southern side of Appledore Island in a small cottage near the cove. It is documented that he forced another islander to dig a large hole near the cove for some unknown reason. It is speculated that Babb had either acquired some gold is his pirate days or happened to find some on the island and used this hole to bury it for safekeeping.
Phillip Babb died in the 3rd of March 1671 but his spirit is not at rest. It is said he is still roaming the island causing havoc to this day.
Sightings of the Ghost of Phillip Babb
Phillip Babb’s body was buried in his family plot on Appledore Island, but his ghost still roams the island, especially near the cove, watching over where his precious treasure once hid.
A local man was working late in his workshop one evening when he a wild looking man running towards him. At first he thought it was one of his friends playing a prank on him. As the figure grew closer he realised it had the grey, hideous face of a corpse and terrifying sunken eyes.
The angry apparition then drew a giant butcher’s knife from its belt and held it up to the frightened local’s face. The man immediately ran home without looking back.
Another island dweller saw a mysterious figure wandering around aimlessly in the night at Babb’s Cove. The man knew everyone who lived on the island but could not identify this person walking the cove in the night. The dark figure began to approach the witness, making no sound as it moved.
As it got closer the man recognized the figure as Phillip Babb with his giant form, black eye sockets and slightly reflective butcher’s frock. The man shouted at the specter who quickly moved away down the path before vanishing.
Many other locals have stories of run-ins with the terribly unpleasant ghost of Phillip Babb, always seeing him with his giant knife and butcher’s frock.
A huge storm in 1851 filled in the hole where Babb’s treasure was supposedly buried and it is now covered with a coast guard house. No one knows for sure what happened to Phillip Bab’s treasure but his spirit will forever roam the land protecting where it once lay.
If you enjoyed this article you may also enjoy reading about a ghostly Old Coot or the Dungarvon Whooper.
When they reached the car, they found that the driver was dead, and her 18-month-old daughter, though alive, couldn't have been the one speaking.
For more than a hundred years, a ghostly ship has appeared on the Platte River roughly every 25 years. Each sighting has been said to predict the death of someone known to the witness who spotted the eerie vessel.
In the early 1900s, the MacKenzie family line in Scotland experienced several different paranormal omens, warning them about deaths that would soon occur in the family.
Have you been taking photos and discovered mysterious green orbs appearing? What could this mean?
In 1957, Jacqueline and Joanna Pollock lost their lives in a car accident. Their parents believe they were reincarnated the following year as their twin sisters.
A fleshgait is a creature that imitates the voices and appearances of people in the woods, with the intention of luring them away. People who have seen fleshgaits describe them as tall, thin, grey beings with long claws and no hair.
In 1971, strange stains in the shape of human faces started appearing on the kitchen floor of a house in Bélmez de La Moraleda, a little village in Andalusia, Spain.
The Stikini is a humanoid owl that can supernaturally transform from a seemingly ordinary human into the form of an owl.
Black Annis is a blue faced witch from English folklore that is said to have a taste for human flesh and a penchant for wearing the tanned hides of children around her waist.
The Alp of German folklore is a nefarious entity that haunts the nightmares and drains the life force of its unsuspecting victims.
A Victorian-era house stands proudly at 65 Mulberry Street in Quitman, Arkansas. It was built in 1891 and is reportedly haunted by numerous spirits including a WWI soldier, an old man, and a particularly terrifying entity known as the "Dog Boy”.
According to the legend of Tomino’s Hell, if you read the poem aloud you will become cursed.
In the late 16th century, a Newgate Prison inmate in London wrote a terrifying account of a ghostly Black Dog hunting prisoners. Today, reports continue to circulate about this Black Dog haunting the area around the prison.
In Greek folklore, there is an evil undead creature called the Vrykolakas, said to be a type of vampire. If a Vrykolakas knocks on your door and you greet it you will be soon to die.
The Nigerian legend of Madam Koi Koi tells of the spirit of a teacher who haunts boarding schools, preying upon students who arrive too early or stay too late.
La Sayona is a vengeful ghost on the Venezuelan plains, known to seek out and punish unfaithful men who do not escape her wrath.
In 1996, Ukrainian artist Svetlana Telets created a strange painting of a woman in the rain. She has sold it several times, each time it was returned due to the unsettling paranormal activity it brought with it.
If you’re out after dark in Abbeville, Alabama, you might run into Huggin’ Molly. Huggin’ Molly is a 7ft tall woman who loves to grab children in a hug-like embrace and scream in their ears.
Hannah Cranna was a woman accused of being a witch in Connecticut in the 1800s. Legend has it that she had the ability to curse those who wronged her. Some say she even haunts the area to this day.
The Badlands of Dakota are a strange and eerie place, with colorful but bleak peaks and labyrinthine canons, that some say are haunted by a banshee.
There exists a concealed cave that harbors a sinister history spanning more than three centuries. Legend has it that all that enter the cave are cursed.
The Cyhyraeth (pronounced 'cuh-huh-raith') is a ghostly spirit or apparition that is part of Welsh mythology and folklore. It is described as a disembodied moaning or wailing voice that is heard before the death of a person.
La Carreta Chillona is a ghostly unmanned wagon that drives through the streets at night, collecting the soul of anyone who lays eyes upon it.
The Sallie House in Atchison, Kansas has a dark history of death and sorrow. Many claim to have experienced paranormal activity while in the house including receiving unexplained injuries and having objects melt for no reason.
An urban legend spread throughout Latin America in the late 1980s telling of a knife being hidden in Fofao dolls. It turns out it was somewhat based in reality.
Several people have reported seeing a large cat lurking around the US Government buildings in Washington D.C. Some say the cat appears as a warning before significant events.
In 2015 a spree of suicides took place in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Some believe these were caused by an evil spirit called Walking Sam.
According to Chinese legend, Diao Si Gui are the souls of those who took their own lives or were executed. These spirits may manifest as a body with a protruding, lengthy red tongue and attempt to persuade those who cross their path to join them in the world beyond.
Hunting Haunted Secrets: YouTuber Somnus Papilio Uses Spirit Words to Uncover a Mysterious Pond