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History's spookiest names found in family records

Alex Cox Findmypast
Alex Cox
30 October 2019

From Jekyll and Hyde to Jason Vorhees, we've uncovered all manner of blood-curdling characters in our record collections.

How frightening is your family tree? We've rifled through our crypt of historical family records to unleash the most devilish of characters from the underworld. Read on if you dare!

Ghost sightings

According to our vast collection of parish baptisms, 869 Brits were born with the rather peculiar surname of Ghost.

She's a vamp

Elizabeth Vampire married Glynn Royds in 1996 in Caernarvonshire, Wales. We can't confirm if there was garlic on the wedding menu.

Seriously spook(y)

A James Edgar Spook was a lead miner recorded on the 1871 England, Wales & Scotland Census, living in Teesdale, Durham.

Spooky surname

In fact, there was a whole family of spooks.

A 17th century Creep(y)

John Creepy lived in Westminster in 1695.

Creepy historical names

He's listed in our extensive rate books from the time.

Horror in Harrogate

The 1939 Register brings us Albert E Horror, an estate agent living in Harrogate, West Yorkshire.

Horror family

And to our horror, there was more one Horror in the house.

Monster Maid

The Heyne family must have been superstitious when they employed Mary Monster.

Records of monsters

She's listed as their domestic servant in the 1881 UK Census.

A nightmare on Back Church Lane

Meet the real Freddy Krueger and his family.

A shoemaker born in Germany, he was living in London during the 1861 Census.

Freddy Krueger family

Freddy's wife had an unusual job - she was an umbrella maker.

A horror classic

Penny Wise was born in Manchester in 1924 and died in 2002.

Cause of death is unconfirmed.

The modern day slasher

People of England, be careful. There's a Jason Vorhees prowling your streets.

Our modern electoral rolls have recorded sightings of this masked maniac in Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Newcastle and Kidderminster between 2007 and 2019.

Hell on earth

Can a cenobite fall in love? Well, Pinhead did.

A Pamela M Pinhead married Jesse A Height in Nueces County, Texas in 1980.

The inspiration for Psycho?

You’d think twice about staying at the Hotel Upper Northgate Street in Chester, England in 1901.

That year's census shows it was managed by a (William) Norman Bates.

A couple of counts

We've unearthed Frank Dracula on a ship bound for New York from an unknown destination in 1859.

Later, there's a San Diego burial record for Alben A Dracula. He lived from 1919 to 2013.

A vampire hunter in Scotland

Fritz Van Helsing roamed the streets of Edinburgh in recent years. He's recorded in our modern electoral rolls from 2002-12.

Nosferatu's namesake

Similar to Count Orlock from Nosferatu, Wilfred Orlock lived in a castle.

Castle Street, Brighton in 1901, to be precise.

A monster in the making?

Victor Frankenstein was a 6-year-old living with his family in London in 1891.

Frankenstein family

His occupation is listed as a scholar rather the modern Prometheus.

Hot dog

Frank N Furter of Rocky Horror Show fame was hiding out in Hampshire, England in 1851.

What are the chances?!

Finally, and maybe our most disturbing discovery of all, is Jekyll and Hyde listed together at an address in Devon, England, in 1881.

The real Jekyll and Hyde

Arthur Jekyll was a visitor while Annie Hyde was a nurse for the Leir family. Spooky stuff indeed.

Your frightening family tree finds

All these deathly discoveries left us wondering if any of the Findmypast Community had similar paranormal goings-on in their family history. So we took to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to find out. Here's what you told us.

With Halloween this week, we’d love to hear about any ghostly stories from your family... 🎃👻🦇

Posted by Findmypast on Monday, October 28, 2019