This is the True(?) Story of the Black Dog that has been terrorizing the East of England since 1577. The Black Dog, also called Black Shuck, is a famous apparition that has terrorized East Anglia for centuries. He first appeared at the village church in Bongay (pronouned BUN-gee), where the marks of his claws can still be seen in the church door. To this day, folk tell tales of their own encounters with the Black Dog.
But was this vision real? The interesting part about this story is that it happened at a time when medieval superstition was alive and well but when folk were also keen not to be seen as superstitious, so they tried to carefully document the events to prove they weren’t simply madness or fancy. But what do YOU think?
In order to get right to the story, this version deletes a rather lengthy prologue which is a delightfully alliterative fire and brimstone sermon, but if you’d like the full account by Abraham Fleming with no commentary, you can find that over on my storytelling channel: