“There is something in Doarlish Cashen which is more mysterious than a ghost, and which fits into no category of ghosts or creatures of the animal world. Gef is a strange hybrid of the borderland. He is unique. His problem puzzles me more than anything I have ever come across in the enchanted land of occult experience.”
Nandor Fodor, from “I Live in the House of the Talking Mongoose,” pgs. 2-3
In 1931, at the remote farmhouse of Doarlish Cashen on the Isle of Man, the Irving family began experiencing mysterious phenomena. It started with strange taps, then progressed to disembodied speech. One day, the perpetrator revealed himself: a small, furry creature that resembled a mongoose. The Irvings named him Jack and treated him as a pet, but the creature declared that his name was Gef (pronounced “Jeff”) and that he was no pet — he was the eighth wonder of the world.
“I am [a] freak. I have hands and I have feet. And if you saw me you would be paralyzed, petrified, mummified, turned into a pillar of salt.”
Gef, recalled by Mr. Irving, quoted by Nandor Fodor in “My Diary in the House of the Talking Mongoose,” pg. 4
Gef took up residence in the rafters (which he called his “sanctum“) and quickly became a notable member of the Irving household, taking a particular liking to Voirrey. Gef liked to joke, gossip, and poke fun at the other residents of Doarlish Cashen. Tales of his antics gained him notoriety throughout the area, and he was dubbed the “Dalby Spook” after the nearby hamlet of Dalby. Over the years of his haunting, he would move and throw objects, eat the Irving’s food, and kill animals, including over 200 rabbits.
Few people ever witnessed Gef for themselves; the only recorded pictures of Gef were taken by Voirrey. During his stay at Doarlish Cashen, parapsychologist Nandor Fodor never interacted with or even caught a glimpse of Gef. His writings were almost entirely based on accounts from the Irving family, plus some of the locals Gef interacted with.
Gef never definitively explained exactly who or what he was. He said he was a marsh mongoose born in India in 1852, making him around 80 years old at the time of his first appearance. (The maximum life expectancy of a marsh mongoose is about 20 years.) On some occasions, Gef attributed his actions to Hindu magic. This might reflect on exoticized stereotypes of the time period. (For more on this, see: Religion and Belief.)
Theories
Several theories have been suggested to solve the mystery of Gef the Talking Mongoose. Harry Price, who investigated the Borley Rectory, was skeptical, finding that Gef’s fur was identical to the Irving family’s dog Mona, and suggested that Mona was helping Voirrey hunt rabbits. In a letter to Nandor Fodor, Clara S. Potter (the wife of humanist Charles Francis Potter) makes many suggestions from Spiritualistic and psychological bases, but ultimately believes it was a hoax, which might have been accomplished through ventriloquism or a trained ferret. Some thought Gef could be a form of supernatural entity such as a poltergeist. Nandor Fodor was unable to come to a definitive conclusion, disappointed he never got to speak to Gef during his investigation.
The Irvings denied that Gef was a hoax but were not certain that he was actually a mongoose. Mrs. Irving thought that Gef had to be a human — with a super-human brain — in animal form. Was Gef a ghost, a hoax, a psychological manifestation, or something else?
The mystery and absurdity surrounding Gef’s existence has earned him a spot in popular culture. On his 2016 album, Spirit Phone, musician Lemon Demon included a song about Gef called “Eighth Wonder.” A feature film called Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose came out in 2023, starring Simon Pegg, Christopher Lloyd, and Neil Gaiman.
The images below are from Nandor Fodor’s investigation at Doarlish Cashen. Click them for more information.
