The Derry Journal, quoting Peter McCartney's Parade of Phantoms, says that in the late 1950s and again in the late 1960s there were numerous reports of a whispering man throughout the city, particularly in the Creggan, Bogside and Brandywell areas.
People would hear a rattle on their windows and go out to look. Finding nobody, they would often then hear a man's whispering voice in their ear. One witness claimed to have seen the creature and described it as more of a shadow than a man. The last reported hearing was at a former fruit shop on John Street.
The story has the pattern of a neighbourhood scare spreading by word of mouth over several months, which is also seen elsewhere in Britain and Ireland. The pin is the city centre, as the reports ranged widely.
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