Dalby Spook Haunting Revisited - Gef Returns

Gef the talking mongoose. It sounds like a child's TV show, but in fact it was a not-very-nice poltergeist that haunted the Irving family on the Isle of Man in the 1930's. Gef is a fixture in English paranormal lore, and is now experiencing a resurgence in popularity thanks to the efforts of Christopher Josiffe, a cataloguer at London University's Senate Library, who is reopening the investigation.

Gef was mostly seen by the family's daughter, Voirrey, who discovered that this strange, yellowish creature could talk and sing. She taught him more English, introduced him to the family, and Gef was a frequent visitor to the house.

As news of the poltergeist spread, Gef was investigated by Harry Price, one of England's most celebrated and dedicated magical investigators. Gef never appeared for Price, however. He took pawprint casts and bite-mark impressions and had them analyzed by experts, but they were never associated with any known animal.

Did Voirrey and the rest of the Irvings do this for fame and fortune? There is no evidence that they ever charged for admission to their house, called Doarlish Cashen, and the constant stream of gawkers and tourists was a tremendous bother to them. No, it seems like their report of the haunting was simply factual.

Gef disappeared when the Irvings left in 1935. His legend lives on, however, backed by the testimony of Price and the assertions of Voirrey Irving, to her dying day, that Gef was real.

Now Christopher Josiffe is re-examining Price's documentation and asking for information from Isle of Man residents in an effort to further probe the mystery of Gef. What will he find, more than 70 years after the fact? Mongooses are notoriously slippery creatures, but he may yet grasp more tantalising details to add to the Dalby Spook mystery.

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