Walking through Manchester today, it's easy to forget that the streets are steeped in history - some of which is truly terrifying.

Local historian, author, associate lecturer in History at Manchester Metropolitan University and genealogist Michala Hulme has captured the darkest histories of Manchester, in an effort to preserve the twisted tales of this city.

As well as her book, Manchester: Bloody British History, Hulme has curated a bone-chilling exhibition at the Manchester Central Library to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Philips Park Cemetary.

The exhibition is completely free, and documents the history of Manchester’s first municipal cemetery, as well as a selection of grim events from the city’s history.

But before you head off to the library, be warned - there are some pretty ghastly stories afoot. We asked Hulme to pick eight of her most horrific histories as a preview for the MEN readers, and she did not disappoint.

Want to know how much a dead body would cost you on the black market in the 1820s? Or why a stray dog wouldn't stop barking at the Manchester Infirmary in 1829?

Read on for eight of Manchester's most horrible histories, curated and written by Michala Hulme.

1. The Taylor murders

In May 1862, an estate agent named Evan Mellor, was brutally murdered at his offices on King Street. The culprits – man and wife named William Robert Taylor and Martha Ann Taylor – later handed themselves in to the police. While searching the Taylor family home, officers made a grim discovery. Laid out on the floor in a back room, was the couple's three children. Each child was wearing a long white nightdress, they had black bands around their wrist and a name tag placed on their chest.

William and Martha were both tried for murder. Martha was later acquitted. William was found guilty and was executed on the 13 September 1862. After his death, it was revealed that the estate agent had rented the family a house with a faulty boiler, which resulted in the death of William's child. In an act of revenge, William decided to murder the estate agent, and then the whole family would die in a suicide pact.

The children were buried at the Manchester General Cemetery. Over 300 residents contributed to a fund to pay for a family grave and headstone for the children so that they could avoid a pauper burial.

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2. The Deansgate body snatchers

(Image: Wellcome Library, London)

During the 1820s, the price of corpses reached an all-time high. With two anatomy schools in Manchester, a body sold on the black market could fetch as much as £10.

One evening in May 1828, John Massey and his accomplices left their lodgings on Deansgate and walked to the Quaker Burial Ground in Jackson's Row. In the darkness, the men worked at speed to dig up one of the freshly buried bodies - the body was that of a lady named Mary Howcroft. The men carried the heavy corpse down Deansgate and back to Massey's house, where they stuffed it in a trunk and sent it to the Star Coach offices, bound for London. A worker at the Coach office decided to open the trunk, and made the grim discovery of Howcroft’s body. Massey was later apprehended and sentenced to three months in prison.

3. The missing heads

On the 17 January 1745, the residents of Manchester were in an uproar: four decapitated heads of the town's soldiers had been stolen from outside of the Exchange. The heads belonged to four officers from the Manchester Regiment, who had been executed for treason. The men had been found guilty of assisting Bonnie Prince Charlie. After the executions were finished the heads of the men were severed from their bodies and placed on stakes outside of the Exchange.

Sometime during the evening of the 16 January they were stolen and never recovered.

4. The Body in the Pond

In January 1829, a stray dog was disturbing patients at the Manchester Infirmary with its constant barking. The dog eventually got the attention of a Hackney Coach driver, who spotted the body of a woman in the water.

The woman was described as 23 years old, wearing a blue skirt, shirt and a pair of stockings. She was later named as Winifred Hughes, daughter of a farmer from Wales. She had moved to Manchester to get work. Shortly after arriving in the town, she found herself with child. With the prospect of having a child out of wedlock, she filled her pockets and a basket full of rocks and walked into the pond, where she committed suicide.

The loyal dog that tried to get attention was sent to live with a reverend in Leeds.

5. Manchester’s Ripper?

(Image: M66778 © Manchester Archives and Local Studies)

While Londoners were starting to adjust to life after the Ripper, the residents of Manchester were about to get their own serial killer. Just how many victims there were remains a mystery.

The first victim’s body was discovered in the afternoon of the 11 April 1905, by a man named David Shields. He was gathering rags on Hoyle Street, Ardwick, when, inside one of the empty houses, he uncovered the battered body of a young boy. The victim's mouth was stuffed with paper, and a red handkerchief was tied around the head to keep the paper in place.

The teenager was later identified as 15-year-old Thomas Smith of Wood Street. Two years later another 15-year-old boy was found murdered. His body was also discovered in an unoccupied house in Ancoats. The cause of the death was strangulation. Tied around his face was a red handkerchief. The murderer was never caught.

6. The cake of death

(Image: M09992 © Manchester Archives and Local Studies)

In 1828, a young boy was playing in Ancoats when he was approached by an old lady. She asked him to deliver a cake to a man named Mr Drummond. She then handed the boy two sixpences and off he went. When he knocked on Drummonds door, he was greeted by his wife, who told him that the cake was not for them. When the boy got home, he gave the cake to his mother and she began to share it out in the street. As soon as people began swallowing the cake, they began to complain of a burning sensation in their throat and were violently sick. One child died. Tests showed that the cake was laced with arsenic.

The police offered a reward to catch the mysterious woman. She was described as being of medium height with big front teeth and was wearing a brown gown. She was never found.

7. The night the house came crashing down

(Image: © M35606 Manchester Libraries)

In January 1899, Thomas Shawcross, a labourer who lived at 5 Great Newton Street, was sat down with his family for tea when about 5.45pm, he suddenly felt his house shake. He must have blacked out because when he awoke, he could not see for debris. He made his escape through a passage, picking up his nephew in the process.

Once outside he realised that the chimney from the factory next door had fallen on top of his home. Trapped inside were seven members of his family. Men from the local fire station were deployed to try and get people out of the wreckage. In total five members of the Shawcross family were killed.

8. The Bloody Prizefight

(Image: Manchester Local Image Collection at Manchester)

In September 1849, a brutal and bloody prize fight took place on the bank of the River Irwell. The bout was a between a professional thief named Richard Lilly and a man named John Middleton. It was reported that the fight lasted for over two hours, with Middleton being declared the eventual winner after knocking Lilly out.

Lilly was given some brandy and appeared to come around. However, his injuries were so severe, that he died en-route to a pub in Stretford, where the fighters were supposed to have after fight drinks.

Want to know more? If you're feeling brave, pay a visit to Hulme's exhibition in the Manchester Central Library. The exhibition ends on Saturday, December 31 is free entry. For more details visit the website here.

And for more horrific tales, Michala's book Bloody British History is available now at Amazonand Waterstones.