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The 👻haunting👻 tale of the Brooklyn Dodger

By Snooze Goblin

For this story, we will go back in time, long before you and I were born, to the 1960s. Back when there was no internet and a T.V. wasn't yet in every house. Back when a poltergeist roamed Brooklyn.

Two black and white images form the 1960s. Both images are sourced from the Alexander Turnbull Library archive. Full acknowledgement of these images can be found in the text of the blog post.

Poltergeists are the ultimate ghost. Instead of just being a transparent weirdo in the corner of your bedroom like your usual ghost, poltergeists can attack you! The scariest thing about them is they don't just exist in horror films, they have also shown up in our city's history. Dun dun duuun!

This story begins in our very own suburb of Brooklyn where there was a boarding house called Ohiro Lodge (it has now been replaced by apartment buildings - the ones on the left-hand side of the road just as you arrive into Brooklyn) which was owned by an older couple named Mr and Mrs Beaty. It was a normal place until something quite strange happened.

black and white picture of a house with large tree logs lying in front.

Photographic negatives and prints of the Evening Post and Dominion newspapers. Ref: EP/1963/1066-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22697333

Felled trees at Ohiro Lodge, Brooklyn, Wellington. Dominion Post (Newspaper).

It started with the cutting down of some trees on the property. This doesn't sound like much of an event but the following night a flurry of rocks, coins and pebbles started pelting the outside of the building. Hitting the place so hard that windows were smashed. These attacks went on for hours into the night and continued for the following 3 nights. It became huge local news and hundreds of spectators (one night it was 800 people!) came to watch this strange occurrence and the media coined it the Brooklyn Dodger.

The police got involved but struggled to find the cause. Some watchers started to suspect that it was the work of a poltergeist (and one person suggested a leprechaun...). It was quite distressing for the couple who owned the lodge, but the lodgers all seemed to be enjoying the excitement.

Mr and Mrs Beaty looking through a broken window. Black and white

Photographic negatives and prints of the Evening Post and Dominion newspapers. Ref: EP/1963/0966-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22749450

Mr and Mrs R A Beaty of Ohiro Lodge, Brooklyn, Wellington. Dominion Post (Newspaper).

As much as I love the idea of a poltergeist in Wellington, there were reports later of a boy who had been caught by the police with a slingshot and after a bit of a telling off, it did coincide with the end of the rock throwing.

So, what do you think? Did this kid spend night after night pelting this one building with an endless pile of rocks or do you think it was an environmental poltergeist angry at the removal of the trees? Personally, I think it was the leprechaun.

A lizard wearing a green hat with a shamrock band around the brim

This leprechaun?

If you want to learn more and you're a nerd for old stuff, this radio program from the 1970s did a great piece on the Brooklyn Dodger. You can find it online at Ngā Taonga, Sound & Vision.

Our new ghost investigation kits will be available soon to borrow, so keep an eye out if you're experiencing your own ghostly problems at home.

P.S. If being scared by ghosts is your vibe, here are some books to fill the void in the meantime: