There once was an extra-clever mongoose named Gef. Gef was endowed with the power of speech and claimed to be a disembodied spirit born in New Delhi in 1852. He lived with the Irving family in a modest farmhouse in the quaint hamlet of Dalby on the Isle of Man. There, he supposedly earned his keep by watching over the family and performing small chores around the house. Or so the story goes…
In September of 1931, the Irving family became aware of strange scratching sounds, pattering footsteps, and odd vocalizations emanating from within their walls. Eventually, the voice introduced itself to the family’s thirteen-year-old daughter, Voirrey. Gef declined to show himself physically, though he described himself as being about the size of a large rat, covered in yellow fur, with human-like feet and hands.
His refusal to appear was apparently for the benefit of the observer, as Gef stated, “I am a freak. I have hands and feet, and if you saw me, you’d faint, be petrified, mummified, or turned to a pillar of salt!”
This did not prevent Gef from accompanying the family to the market or on other small trips, though he always stayed on the far side of the hedgerow, talking incessantly. These manifestations were witnessed by other residents in the town, whom Gef was pleased to speak with—though, of course, he always remained carefully hidden. Soon, Gef became the talk of the town, gaining notoriety throughout the region via the tabloids, which dubbed him the “Dalby Spook” or the “Talking Mongoose.”
This newfound fame attracted the attention of several well-known skeptics and paranormal investigators, who flocked to Dalby, eager to explore the mysteries of the extra-clever Gef. In 1935, Richard Lambert and Harry Price arrived on the Isle of Man and conducted a detailed study of the case, publishing their findings in a book titled The Haunting of Cashen’s Gap. Their work approached the subject objectively and thoroughly evaluated the evidence provided, though, it should be noted, neither of them actually spoke to the talkative mongoose. Hair provided by the Irvings turned out to be from their family dog, and casts of footprints proved inconclusive—though definitely not from a mongoose. A possible explanation for the phenomenon suggested that it was a hoax perpetuated by the Irvings through the use of ventriloquism.
James Irving, Voirrey’s father, died in 1945, and the family was forced to sell the farmhouse and move away. Ironically, the phenomenon that had brought them fame and recognition ultimately caused hardship, forcing them to sell the house for far below its market value due to rumors of it being haunted. It was bought by an actor named Leslie Graham who, in 1946, claimed that he confronted Gef and shot him dead. However, photographic evidence showed a creature much larger than a rat—or a mongoose—and of the wrong coloring. Still, Voirrey was certain that it was not Gef.
For the rest of her life, Voirrey Irving insisted that Gef was not a hoax. She died in 2005.
Jason Roberts is a Seattle-based author noted for his acclaimed western horror series The Dead Wind Trilogy as well as other works of cosmic horror infused with historical fiction. His web-based series, Dark Distractions examines paranormal mysteries, unexplained phenomena, and all things strange.
