Philadelphia Weirdness

The Woman In Black

In English literature, Susan Hill's The Woman In Black remains one of the most eerie and terrifying reads. It was also adapted into an equally terrifying film and as a stage play it maintains its high levels of creepiness. The story is mere fiction, and yet throughout the world there have been numerous accounts of sinister figures and haunting spectres which have all been labelled as "the woman in black." That ghostly figure has caused hysteria in the pockets of suburbia it has chosen to wander, and over time, similar spirits have become the stuff of urban legend.

Such a ghostly female, assuming such grim and forlorn apparitions are indeed female (many reports seem vague and confused) has been perceived as an omen of misfortune, a ghastly appearance to forewarn of a disaster or death, just like the black dogs of folklore. And although ghost lore has been subjected to the fleeting prowess of grey ladies, brown monks, white ladies, et al, there has never been anything as potent as the woman in black.

Rebecca Getter is said to be the "woman in black" in Easton, Northampton County. A pale, wasted figure adorned in a black bonnet and long, flowing black dress, indeed a spine-tingling sight to behold as she wanders the grounds of the Northampton Country Club. It is said that she was murdered by her husband Charles, her lifeless body dumped in an old quarry upon which the Country Club now sits. In time, Charles would be hung for the crime.

A figure in black is also said to loiter around the grounds of Reading Central Catholic High School in Berks County. Several ghosts are said to haunt the area, but the darkly dressed apparition remains the most mysterious, because like so many other "woman in black" tales, they appear to be unconnected to the history of a place and just seem to turn up, cause minor scares and panics, and then vanish, often never to return.

Thankfully, none of the Philly women in black appear as sinister as the figure from the novel.

Photo by *paysImaginaire* on flickr