By Tim Binnall
Residents of a small village in Britain say that they have been tormented by a ne'er-do-well who has been sending them threatening letters for the last several years. The creepy case, which came to light this week, reportedly centers around a specific street in the Liverpool suburb of Woolton. Amazingly, nearly every one of the twenty homes along the road has received ominous missives from the prolific miscreant. "All of the letters are pretty sinister," one fearful resident revealed, "there's almost always a sign-off at the end with something along the lines of, 'if you don't do what I say, there's going to be repercussions.'"
The homeowner, who understandably opted to remain anonymous, indicated they moved to the neighborhood a few years ago and were initially told that "there were some characters on the street and some funny things happen." The vague warning came into focus shortly thereafter, their first letter from the mysterious individual arrived in their mailbox. That particular missive complained about how the person had parked their car and promised to "report the matter to Liverpool City Council and the police" if the situation was not rectified to the writer's satisfaction. The vehicle was later keyed by a vandal, who the homeowner suspects was also the author of the angry letter.
Being new to the area, the homeowner kept quiet about the strange incident until they became friends with a neighbor and shared the odd account with them. It was then that they learned the chilling extent of the mysterious missives that are always typed out to disguise the author's handwriting. A subsequent letter received by the homeowner last summer lambasted them about their noisy home renovations. The creepy missive concluded, "count this as your first and last warning. Believe me there will be trouble" should the cacophony continue. With the author's agitation seemingly increasing with each new letter and the possibility that they may take action beyond writing an angry note, authorities have now gotten involved in the case.
The situation in Woolton is far from the first time the proverbial 'poison pen' phenomenon has plagued various communities. Perhaps the most infamous British incident occurred in the town of Littlehampton over a century ago and inspired the 2023 film 'Wicked Little Letters.' A similarly chilling case, which has spawned a variety of television documentaries and books, unfolded in Circleville, Ohio, in the late 1970s. Lest one think the poison pen is a remnant of the distant past, last September, residents of the British community of Shiptonthorpe reported being targeted by yet another angry anonymous author who has been sending them missives since around 2022.