Shanklin Alley opens on to a rough pathway running parallel with the rail tracks which extend from Southcote Station to Northwich Park Station, just over a mile away. Few make use of the alleyway. Fewer still avail themselves of the path which extends from it. For this particular locale is considered to be one of a number haunted by a spectral presence known locally as 'The Shanklin Man'. No ordinary aparition, The Shanklin Man is believed to traverse the Norwich suburbs using 'The Secret Alleys': a lattice of occulted pathways which only intersect with our world at very specific locales - of which the actual path between Southcote and Northwhich Park is one.
For those having claimed an encounter with it, The Shanklin Man is uniformly described as a hunched, crooked figure in worn and ragged trousers, and with an equally ragged anorak with a grimy, fur-rimmed hood. It is said that The Shanklin Man's hood is always pulled up close around its head. It is said that when one encounters the Shanklin Man, it is always facing away from you. It is said that when it hears your breath, hollow with fear, The Shanklin Man will turn slowly - ever so slowly - meaning to reveal its face to you. It is also said that you should not dwell on the unearthly phosphorescent glow that creeps around the edges of its hood as it begins to turn to look at you. It is also said that on no account should you remain long enough to allow that to happen.
Who, indeed, would want to come face-to-face with the inhabitant of a wholly alien realm in a quiet, lonely alleyway, in the darkest part of the night?
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