A Scottish castle, Glamis was built in the fourteenth century and has been inhabited ever since. As can be expected of such an old structure, Glamis is ripe with alleged hauntings and may have more supernatural legends associated with it than any other building in all of the United Kingdom. Glamis is also said to be the home of a monster, a vampire, and several ghosts. Finally, the castle is said to have more exterior windows than can be located from the inside.
According to legend, the monster associated with Glamis Castle is the 11th Earl of Strathmore. Born deformed, with an egg-shaped body, tiny arms and legs, and no neck, the child was sealed away into a secret chamber and left to die. Despite this treatment, he supposedly lived for a very long time; he is said not to have died until the early 1920s, despite his birth in the early 1800s. Although this story has never been proven, it is known there is some sort of secret chamber hidden deep within the castle. In a similar story, the Glamis Castle vampire is said to be a servant girl caught drinking the blood of her victim. She was sealed up alive within the secret chamber as well.
The number of ghosts associated with the castle is staggering. The list includes: “Earl Beardie,” the fourth Earl of Strathmore, who wanders around the uninhabited tower; gray ladies in the chapel; a tongueless woman running about the grounds; a thin man who runs up the castle drive; a black boy -- possibly a servant -- who sits outside the Queen Mother’s sitting room; a sad-eyed woman who clutches at an upstairs window; and a tall figure in a long, dark cloak. A woman wreathed in flames has been seen above the clock tower; it is presumed this is the ghost of Janet Douglas, who was burned at the stake in 1537. During storms, another ghost stalks a portion of the roof called “The Mad Earl’s Walk.” Alleged ghostly phenomena include sounds of swearing and stamping from the abandoned tower; a door that opens every night, regardless of how it is secured; hammering sounds; knocking noises; and bed clothing being pulled off of guests.
Finally, Glamis Castle is believed to be the scene of two murders: that of King Malcolm II, an eleventh century Scottish king, and that of King Duncan, the king from Shakespeare’s Macbeth. However, it is highly unlikely either murder occurred at Glamis, especially since Malcolm lived some 300 years before the castle was built.