I pitched my first original feature

When I was a kid, I wore out the DVD of The Craft and stayed up far too late watching reruns of Most Haunted. Not because I loved being scared, but because I was fascinated by places. The idea that buildings could hold stories. That history might leave something behind.

That same curiosity sits underneath Spooky Suffolk. The BBC Suffolk series that uncovers the county’s lesser-known hauntings. These are not the stories printed in tourist guides. They are the ones people talk about quietly. The ones tied to memory, atmosphere and experience rather than spectacle.

From 27 to 31 October, the series broadcast live each morning for 5 consecutive days, visiting locations across Suffolk where history still feels close. Places like Landguard Fort, Moyse’s Hall Museum and Somerleyton Hall. Each one shaped by what has happened there and by what people continue to sense when they step inside.

This was the first original feature I ever pitched, just one month into a new career. It received the green light and became a chance to find my feet inside a story I was intensely passionate about.

What quickly became clear is that these stories are not really about ghosts. They are about history. About belief. About how fear, injustice and loss can settle into a place and change how it feels long after the events themselves have passed.

In episodes exploring Suffolk’s connection to the witch trials, the weight of what happened was impossible to ignore. These were not abstract stories from the past. They were human lives, cut short or permanently altered, leaving emotional traces that still linger in the present.

Elsewhere, underground tunnels and enclosed spaces brought a different kind of unease. Darkness sharpened sound. Silence felt active rather than empty. It became easier to understand why people describe footsteps, whispers or a sense of being watched. Not because something supernatural needs to be happening, but because environments shape how we respond to them.

One of the most striking things about Spooky Suffolk was how it reframed familiar places. Towns and buildings many people thought they knew revealed different layers. The past felt closer. The present felt thinner. It was a reminder that most places hold more than one story, and we usually only see the most convenient version.

The series never set out to prove or disprove anything. It simply made space for curiosity. For listening. For letting history, atmosphere and personal experience sit alongside each other without forcing conclusions.

Spooky Suffolk is a quiet journey through the county’s hidden history. It asks listeners to slow down, notice their surroundings, and decide for themselves what they believe.

Some stories don’t need explaining.

They just need paying attention to.