HALLOWEEN is the perfect time for some spooky tales, and south Essex has a number of haunted pubs and scary stories.

One such pub is the Anchor Inn, in Canewdon.

Legend has it that this pub is haunted by the ghost of a young woman called Sarah. In the 1500’s, Sarah fell pregnant after having an affair with a wealthy landowner.

After the landowner’s wife found out, she ordered Sarah to be locked in a building, which became the Anchor Inn. Sarah was murdered after giving birth, but her ghost is reported to still haunt the building.

Both visitors and staff have reported that they’ve smelt unexplained perfume, hearing a baby crying and seeing items fly.

Southend Historian Ian Yearsley, 53, from Eastwood, says there are lots of witchcraft legends linked to Canewdon. He said: “It’s legend that if you run around the church in Canewdon three times at midnight, supposedly you go back in time. Essex has a history of witchcraft that many other counties don’t.

“When I’ve been travelling to write my novel, I’ve even had several people introduce themselves to me as witches from around Southend.”

Other haunted places include Hadleigh Castle. It is said an haggard old lady can be heard cackling near the castle to this day.

Robert Hallman, author of Essex Ghost Tales and Canvey Island: A History, said: “One of my favourite stories is about a farmer who travelled across Canvey one winter on a horse and cart and fell in the ice of a lake.

“People say his ghost still haunts the area.”

In the 1980s, the partial skeleton of a large horse and the wheel of a wooden cart was found in Canvey Lake by volunteers helping to dredge the lake.