Unexplained
Demonic possession – or a shape-shifting beast?
William Ramsey, 9, was just like any other little boy. He loved playing outside, running around pretending to be a fighter pilot.
But, one sunny afternoon in 1952, Bill was in his garden in Southend, Essex, when he felt an icy chill come over him.
A foul smell invaded his nostrils, and he began shaking uncontrollably.
His mother saw the sudden change and called out to him – but, letting out an impossibly deep growl, Bill flew into a frenzy.
After tearing a fence post from the ground, taking the wire fencing and concrete mooring with it, he waved it around, snarling like a wild animal.
His mum and dad tried to pry the post from the boy’s hands, but were no match for his sudden, inexplicable strength.
Terrified, his parents ran back into the house. They could only look on in horror, as their son started tearing the wire fencing apart, gnawing at it with his teeth.
Seconds later, Bill dropped the wire and stood panting like a tired dog, blood dripping down his cut chin.
Stranger still, he had no memory of the incident.
As years passed, Bill grew up, married and had three children. Now a family man, he’d put the bizarre incident behind him. Or so he thought In the 60s, Bill was plagued by a recurring nightmare.
His wife was walking in front of him but, suddenly, she’d turn and run away in terror.
He’d wake up breathless, covered in sweat.
The dreams stopped in 1967, but Bill’s ordeal was only just beginning...
In 1983, he was drinking with friends in a local pub when he felt a familiar icy sensation wash over him.
Checking in the toilet mirror, he was horrified to see a wolf staring back at him!
Unnerved, he was desperate to leave. But, in the back seat of his mate’s car, Bill began to growl, viciously biting his friend’s leg.
His friends restrained him. By then, his fury had subsided.
Later that year, Bill was in the middle of a blood-pressure check when he suddenly sank his teeth into a nurse’s arm.
Letting out an inhuman roar, Bill rampaged through the ward, hunching his shoulders, hands curled into talons, baring his teeth like a ferocious beast.
The police tried to restrain him, but were knocked away with superhuman strength.
It took a tranquilliser to subdue snarling, wild Bill.
A similar incident happened a month later at the same hospital. While waiting for a doctor, Bill’s inner beast took over.
He violently threw a nurse to the floor and savagely attacked an orderly.
Growling and snapping his teeth, Bill fought four policemen, until they eventually overpowered him.
Doctors recommended Bill check into a mental institution.
But, with no recollection of either incident, he refused.
In 1987, Bill infamously threw a 6ft tall, 14st officer across a police station car park. It took a dozen officers to hold him down while he was sedated.
After that, Bill voluntarily checked into a mental hospital, but doctors found no answers.
By then, Bill was at the centre of a media storm, with the newspapers fascinated by
It took a tranquilliser to subdue snarling, wild Bill
his lupine transformation. The tabloids labelled him The Southend Werewolf. The bizarre case caught the attention of US paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren and the couple offered Bill their help. Lorraine believed Bill was actually a victim of demonic possession by some sort of vicious animal spirit. Bill was still searching for a rational, medical explanation. But countless hospitals, tests and scans offered no answers. At the end of his tether, Bill finally agreed to meet the Warrens for an exorcism. In 1989, he and his wife travelled to Connecticut, where the Warrens took them to their church. Still sceptical, Bill agreed to be restrained.
Under Ed and Lorraine’s supervision, Bishop Robert Mckenna began the rites of exorcism.
Once it began, Bill’s form began to change, his features contorting in fierce rage.
During the ritual, he growled and scratched at the bishop. Then, with one last roar, his ferocity subsided, and Bill fell unconscious.
Bill Ramsey last appeared in public in 1992. Three years on from his exorcism, he’d suffered no more incidents.
Yet his whereabouts today remain unknown. Perhaps he’s living a peaceful life...
Or will The Southend Werewolf return?