A Darkness at Lyndhurst

[Gothick]

Fans, a newish penpal has been asking me all sorts of questions about the original early 1970s DS films and Lyndhurst.  The latest question is about hauntings at Lyndhurst.  I remember Diana Millay talking about spending the night there and encountering some sort of phenomenon, but I only heard her saying something like "it happened and later, I'll tell you the story sometime."  I'm pretty sure that she did tell the story a number of times at various fan meetings, but I never got to hear it.

Does anybody have any info about Diana's specific experience, and the more general topic of hauntings at Lyndhurst?  Does anyone know if there is a video out there of Diana recounting her story?

Thanks, Goth Ick

[David]

I don't know about Diana's story, but Sharon Smyth Lentz has hosted ghost tours at Lyndhurst, so she might have some info.
Sharon is easy to find & contact through Facebook as Sharon Lentz.

[Gothick]

That's cool to know about Sharon's tours, David.  Thanks for the tip.

G.

[Midnite]

Gothick, she practically told that story annually.  Here's ProfStokes' summary of it:

Diana came onstage to read a true ghost story that had happened to her at Lyndhurst during the filming of Night of DS. Her story appears in Craig Hamrick's latest book. Diana related how she had gone back to the mansion to retrieve a script that she had forgotten, only to be stranded there by a severe rainstorm. The night watchman, an unusually sober figure, had prevented her from going to the parking lot. 'Go back to the house, milady,' he repeatedly told her. So Diana spent the night in the tower room, listening to strange noises all the while. In the morning, she learned that the house had no night watchman. "But if he was actually a prowler or a vagrant, why didn't he attack me or try to steal my purse?" she wondered. "And what about the flooding from the storm?" Had the 'nightwatchman' actually been a ghost? Could Diana somehow have slipped into another time dimension during the night and then fortunately slipped back?

[Cousin_Barnabas]

That is a wickedly awesome story, Midnite.  I don't know how I missed it.  Thanks for finding it and re-posting! 

And many thanks to ProfStokes for relating it and to Craig Hamrick for putting it in print! 

[Nicky]

Diana Millay also thinks she's a phoenix.  I'mjustsayin.

 

[Cousin_Barnabas]

 

Regardless, I think the story is fantastic.  One of those good old-fashioned ghost stories that we all need to hear from time to time.  After reading that and watching "The Dead Man" on Night Gallery tonight, I think I can call this evening a success.   

[Gothick]

I love it!  Thanks so much, Midnite, for reposting, and many thanks to Prof. Stokes for writing it all down with her inimitable flair.  Excellent!

I attended several DS festivals in those years but only heard her speak of this once, so it's quite strange that I missed hearing her tell the story. 

The night watchman sounds a lot like Thayer's character in "A Darkness at Blaisedon" ...

xo Steve

[Gothick]

but Nicky--

wait, you mean Diana ISN'T a Phoenix??? lol...

I still love it that she breathlessly, earnestly enjoined every child in every schoolroom in America to learn "the Phoenix soliloquy" because it just may be the greatest poem ever written, on one of those DVD interviews...

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

My thing about her story is why would she spend the night in the Tower Room, of all places, when there are so many other spots in the house that would have been much more relaxing? And I don't even mean a bedroom - she could have simply relaxed on, say, one of the overstuffed chairs in the Gallery, or in the Drawing Room, or particularly in the Library. Well, except, of course, that the Tower Room makes for a much more spooky location when one is telling such a story. 

[michael c]

no one in the DS universe can spin a yarn quite like la millay.