Haunted Houses on Trial: Ghosts, Wills And Real Estate With Naomi Ryan

In this episode, we open the creaking doors of the courtroom to the world of the supernatural. From Adele’s eerily unsellable former home to 16th-century French tenants suing over ghostly disturbances, we explore how hauntings have—quite literally—made their case in court. Why do ghost stories grip us so tightly? Perhaps it’s because they invade our safest spaces—our homes—and then, to make sense of the chaos, we drag them before the law.

We delve into notorious legal disputes where phantoms played leading roles—from 19th-century mediums manipulating wills, to infamous murder houses cloaked in silence, to the one time New York's highest court ruled that a house was legally haunted. Whether it’s a spectral milkmaid in Derbyshire or a ghost with pig-like eyes, the courtroom becomes the ultimate ghost story arena—where belief, fear, and justice meet.

So grab your gavel (and your sage) as we ask: Can a ghost reduce your rent? Should sellers disclose hauntings? And most chillingly—what happens when the law declares a haunting... real?

My Special Guest Is Naomi Ryan  

Naomi Ryan is a criminal barrister and lover of all things macabre. After qualifying with a Masters in Law from St Catherine’s College, Oxford, she taught criminal law to undergraduates at St Hilda’s College Oxford and University College London before embarking on her career as a criminal barrister, where she both prosecuted and defended. She later moved into the Civil Service, where she has advised an array of senior government and legal figures on matters of constitutional, public and criminal law. She continues to work as an advisory lawyer whilst regularly giving talks about the darker side of legal history.

In this episode, you will be able to: 

1. Uncover real-life legal battles involving haunted houses—from 16th-century France to modern-day England and the US

2. Explore how courts have ruled on ghostly claims, from rent reductions to cancelled house sales

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