Royal Holloway

Well, Tide Riders, we’re crossing the pond for the second installment of our Schoolhouse Scares saga and heading to Egham, Surrey, where Royal Holloway, University of London looks less like a university and more like a Victorian architect’s fever dream. Behind those huge red-brick walls and the straight-up French château vibes of the Founder’s Building, you’ve got a crazy history of big money, serious ambition, women breaking barriers, actual royalty, and a wave of heavy Victorian flex that makes Hogwarts look like a community college. But this place has another reputation—one with cursed paintings, spectral students, ghostly founders, mysterious footsteps, and a black cat that may or may not be Thomas Holloway himself. We’ll explore the infamous Man Proposes, God Disposes, the apparitions said to roam Founder’s Building, the mysterious “Harry Called” encounters, and the other strange stories that have made Royal Holloway one of Britain’s more interesting haunted campuses. Then, naturally, we’ll leave the well-lit corridors behind and step into the Tinfoil Teepee, where we’ll take those legends from grounded explanations to paranormal possibilities and finally into some seriously wild territory. Class is officially in session—and this spooky school has some seriously strange lessons to teach. Sources: Official Royal Holloway University pages: https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/about-us/our-history/our-founders/ https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/about-us/art-collections-and-archives-homepage/picture-gallery/history-of-the-college/ https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/about-us/our-history/ Royal Holloway, University of London - Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Holloway,_University_of_London Founder’s Building - Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founder%27s_Building Bedford College, London - Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedford_College,_London Royal Holloway, University of London - The Victorian Web - https://victorianweb.org/art/architecture/holloway/1.html Thomas Holloway’s Two Legacies - Egham Museum - https://eghammuseum.org/thomas-holloways-two-legacies/ Kate Rist, “We went on a Halloween ghost tour of Royal Holloway,” The Tab, 29 October 2015 - https://thetab.com/uk/rhul/2015/10/29/tour-rhuls-haunted-buildings-3809 Megan Cormack, “RHUL rumours: True or false?,” The Tab, 3 December 2016 - https://thetab.com/uk/rhul/2016/12/03/rhul-rumours-true-false-11137 “Man Proposes, God Disposes,” - Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_Proposes,_God_Disposes “ ‘Man Proposes, God Disposes’: A Haunted Painting at the University of London,” Curious Archive, 27 June 2025 - https://www.curiousarchive.com/man-proposes-god-disposes-a-haunted-painting-at-the-university-of-london/ “ ‘Man Proposes, God Disposes’: A Cursed Painting’s Eerie Legend,” The Ghost in My Machine, 4 November 2024 - https://theghostinmymachine.com/2024/11/04/encyclopaedia-of-the-impossible-the-man-proposes-god-disposes-cursed-painting/ Austin Harvey, “9 Haunted Paintings Said To Be Cursed By Supernatural Forces,” All That’s Interesting, 23 October 2023 (updated August 2024) - https://allthatsinteresting.com/haunted-paintings/8 “Slashed and Hidden from Sight: The Strange Power of Cursed Paintings,” Hyperallergic, 12 November 2014 - https://hyperallergic.com/159739/slashed-and-hidden-from-sight-the-strange-power-of-cursed-paintings/ Harry Howard, “And you thought THAT painting was cursed!” Daily Mail, 25 August 2023 - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12445611/And-thought-painting-cursed-Artwork-Royal-Holloway-haunting-reputation-covered-enormous-British-flag-quell-students-fears-presence-make-fail-exams.html “Thomas Holloway’s Feline Phantom,” Haunted Hosts - https://hauntedhosts.com/haunted-places/surrey/location/5145-thomas-holloways-feline-phantom “Jane Holloway,” Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Holloway