With Hallowe’en creeping closer, in this week’s Peeps into the Past we’ve opened the casket on a few of the spookier tales to haunt the Surrey and Hampshire borders over the centuries.

Phantom carriages and lost souls

The area's ancient byways have long been the setting for ghostly encounters. On the A31 Hogs Back, a driver witnessed a ghostly box carriage cross the road one rainy night in January 2007. A dim lantern illuminated the spectral scene as the horse-drawn carriage passed in front of him before vanishing without a trace.

In Farnham, ghostly coaches are not uncommon. Castle Street is reportedly home to a ‘drunken man’ who stumbles from a phantom coach, only to vanish into a nearby house.

The long-since demolished Hop Bag pub in Downing Street was also said to be haunted by the eerie sounds of a coach pulling into its courtyard, with phantom horses whinnying as they await their lost passengers. A spectral girl in grey also haunted the pub, waiting for a lover who never returned.

Farnham's Bush Hotel, a 400-year-old coaching inn, is said to host a friendly, albeit unsettling, ‘serving girl’ who appears and disappears at will.

Another ghostly road encounter occurred in Petersfield, where lorry drivers frequently report seeing a ghostly hitchhiker flagging down vehicles, only to disappear without a trace.

Ghostly figures and feline phantoms

The 12th century Farnham Castle also boasts a rich history of hauntings. The castle is home to a shadowy guard, a phantom monk, and the tragic spirit of a dancing girl who collapsed and died on the staircase. Disembodied footsteps echo around Castle Hill.

In the churchyard of St Andrew’s in the town, there have been sightings of a silent old lady who mouths words, trying to communicate with the living.

Beyond the town, the countryside is rife with strange sightings. Reports of large cats have haunted the area since at least the 18th century. One of the first modern sightings occurred in 1962 when a Water Board worker spotted a black cat near Heathy Park Reservoir on Odiham Road.

There was another sighting of a big cat in 1825 by William Cobbett, no less, and a former Cardinal is also said to drift through the ruined abbey’s dining hall.

In Hindhead, the ghost of a murdered sailor is said to appear near the Devil’s Punchbowl. This poor soul, killed in 1786, continues to stagger across the landscape in tatters, eternally reliving his tragic fate.

Spookiest villages - dead and alive

The abandoned village of Hartley Mauditt near Alton is renowned for the ghost of a phantom horse and carriage racing through its quiet streets. The church, which still stands, is sometimes filled with the chilling sound of disembodied singing.

In Liphook, the Royal Anchor hotel holds the ghost of Captain Jacques, an 18th-century smuggler who was killed in the hotel. His long coat and three-cornered hat are a familiar sight to those who claim to have seen him darting into a secret passage behind the fireplace in room six.

Bramshott, often called Hampshire’s most haunted village, is home to a variety of restless spirits. The White Lady, known as Lady Hole, haunts the riverbank, and Mistress Butler, who drowned in sorrow in 1745, wanders beside the water.

A young girl and several other spirits are also said to roam the area, keeping company with the dark past of this eerily haunted village.

Another spooky locale is Selborne. Among its many hauntings, the most famous is that of the Reverend Gilbert White, the renowned naturalist who lived in the village during the 18th century.

Locals have reported seeing his spectral figure wandering near The Wakes, his former home, as if still observing the natural world around him.

Mysterious lights and ghostly figures have also been spotted on the village’s ancient roads, particularly near St Mary's Church, where eerie footsteps echo on quiet nights and many have experienced the sudden, chilling sensation of being watched.