Ghosts of Wales Live! with the Swansea Devil at Swansea Museum

Mark Rees (Ghosts of Wales) with the Swansea Devil at Swansea Museum

Is the Swansea Devil really cursed? There was only one way to find out – by hosting a Ghosts of Wales Live! event in Swansea museum!

I recently launched my new book The A-Z of Curious Wales with a “curious” night of entertainments at Swansea Museum.

It was an evening of strange tales and spooky surprises, all under the watchful gaze of Old Nick himself.

And best of all, we discovered some new details about this “Satanic statues” secret origin along the way…

The Swansea Devil | A-Z of Curious Wales by Mark Rees
The Swansea Devil | A-Z of Curious Wales by Mark Rees

Swansea Museum: The Ultimate Venue for Ghosts of Wales Live!

Swansea Museum is one of my favourite places to visit, not just in Swansea but in Wales, and was the perfect venue in which to launch a book of curiosities.

It’s an institution which I’ve refereed to in the past as one of the city centre’s “holy trinity” of cultural landmarks, and now that it is also home to the demonic carving steeped in folklore it was the obvious choice.

But as well as the venue, I also had to enlist the help of some…

Special guests for Ghosts of Wales Live!

Mark Rees with the Lotus Sisters outside Swansea Museum for Ghosts of Wales Live!
Mark Rees with the Lotus Sisters outside Swansea Museum

I was joined for the occasion by the always-amazing Lotus Sisters Belly Dancers (pictured), who made an extra special effort for their performance by creating these snazzy new witch-themed outfits.

If you haven’t seen them live, be sure to check them out – especially the sword balancing act!

Also in attendance were my good friends from Cymru Paranormal, a Wales-wide paranormal investigation group who conduct scientifically-based ghost hunts in some of the country’s “most haunted” places.

Swansea Museum has long had a reputation for being haunted, and now that it has the supposedly-cursed Swansea Devil in residence, it seemed like the perfect time to conduct an investigation of our own. The results of their experiments will be revealed soon.

Hidden Secrets of the Swansea Devil

The Swansea Devil photo from the launch of Mark Rees' The A-Z of Curious Wales during Ghosts of Wales Live!
The Swansea Devil photo from the launch of Mark Rees’ The A-Z of Curious Wales

The room was full of guests for the book launch, and I’d like to wish a huge thank you to everyone who made the effort to join me for the occasion.

In particular, there were those who had first-hand accounts of their own relating to the Swansea Devil. One lady, who was even kind enough to bring a photo along, once live – LIVED! – inside the original building on which he was poised.

In the photograph (above) you can see him peering out from above the open window of the bicycle shop in the centre, from where he would once have had an unobstructed view of St Mary’s church.

My next book, a collection of Welsh ghost stories, is due to be released in March 2020. Check back soon for details of the next spooky event!

Mark Rees

Read more and get in touch!

You can read more about the Swansea Devil in my Folklore Thursday article here, and on the Ghosts & Folklore of Wales podcast here.

Do you have your own tale to share about the Swansea Devil, or any other Welsh curiosities? Get in touch! Contact Mark Rees