A lonely country road.

A driver travelling through the Bedfordshire countryside.

And a passenger who seemingly disappears without a trace.

This week on This Is A Ghost Story, we head to the small village of Stanbridge and one of the strangest ghost stories to emerge from the local area.

For years, stories have circulated of a mysterious figure encountered on the roads around Stanbridge — a phantom hitchhiker whose appearance has left those who claim to have seen them with an experience they cannot easily explain.

It’s a classic piece of ghostly folklore: a solitary figure beside the road, an unsuspecting motorist and a journey that takes a decidedly supernatural turn.

But where did the story come from?

Is the Phantom Hitchhiker of Stanbridge based on a genuine encounter? Has the tale changed as it has been passed from person to person? And why do remarkably similar stories of vanishing hitchhikers appear all over Britain — and around the world?

Kathryn and Alison tell the story, before Producer Andrew digs into the history and folklore surrounding the case and takes a closer look at the enduring legend of the Vanishing Hitchhiker.

Was somebody really encountered on a dark Bedfordshire road?

Could there be a more ordinary explanation?

Or does something still wait beside the road at Stanbridge for the next unsuspecting driver to come along?

As always… we’ll leave that for you to decide.

🚗 A lonely road.

👤 A mysterious passenger.

👻 And a journey the witnesses would never forget.

🎧 This Is A Ghost Story — Episode 21: The Phantom Hitchhiker of Stanbridge

Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and YouTube.

Have you ever encountered a mysterious figure while driving late at night? Or experienced something strange, paranormal or completely unexplained?

We’d love to hear your story — it could feature in a future episode of This Is A Ghost Story.

📧 thisisaghoststory@icloud.com

🎵 MUSIC CREDITS

Opening Music

“It’s In The Fog” — Darren Curtis (@DarrenCurtisMusic)

Via BreakingCopyright — Royalty Free Music

Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Music provided via BreakingCopyright

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Additional Music

“Haunted”

Composer: Ross Bugden

Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQKGLOK2FqmVgVwYferltKQ

License: Free To Use YouTube license — youtube-free

Music powered by BreakingCopyright:

https://breakingcopyright.com

🔊 SOUND EFFECTS

SFX from Pixabay

https://pixabay.com/