Fisher's Ghost

Because Halloween is fast approaching, I felt it would be appropriate to explore one of Australia's most popular ghost stories: the tale of Fisher's Ghost, which coincidentally enough, was the subject of one of Australia's first horror films in 1924.

The story of Fisher's Ghost begins with the mysterious disappearance of a somewhat wealthy land owner named Frederick Fisher. His friend and neighbor, one Mr. Worrell, said that Fisher had told him he was moving to England and later claimed he had no intentions of returning. According to Worrell, Fisher had left all his land and possessions in Worrell's care. Nobody seemed to think this was suspicious...at first.

One day, an innocent young fellow called Farley happened to stroll past a creek (pictured above) where he saw the ghost of Frederick Fisher sitting eerily on the fence. The ghost did not speak to him, it only pointed somberly in the direction of a paddock some distance away. When Farley informed the police, they did not investigate immediately but eventually decided it wouldn't hurt to take a look. Under the paddock, they discovered the dead and rotting corpse of Frederick Fisher.

Worrell was arrested on suspicion, and eventually confessed to the murder. He was hanged at a later date, and Fisher's body was brought to a proper burial ground.

Since then, Fisher's Ghost has become the stuff of legend in Australia, turning into a popular tale of folklore. There is even a "Fisher's Ghost Festival" in Campbelltown, Australia where the whole incident is said to have taken place. For real, they're crazy about this stuff. Check out the official website here..

And here's a site with all kinds of info Fisher's Ghost.

Now you might be wondering what any of this has to do with cinema - let me explain. Australia was never really known for it's horror films, although they did produce a handful of them in the first few decades of the 1900's (including Fisher's Ghost). But it was not until the 1970's when Peter Weir arrived on the scene that Australian films really started to creep (pun intended) up to the edges of the horror genre. The Cars That Ate Paris could probably be considered one of the first widely acclaimed horror films to come out of Australia (depending on how loose your definition of horror is), and even Picnic At Hanging Rock has a distinctly sinister vibe to it. This website has a very detailed history of horror films in Australia, and it goes almost up to the present if you want to check it out.

And here's the Fisher's Ghost IMDb page for good measure.

So there you have it. Happy Halloween! (almost)

-Megan R.