Mike Covell

Author biography

Mike Covell was born, bred and is based in Kingston upon Hull. His passion for the unexplained began when he was just eight years old and saw a strange light over his hometown. Asking his father what it could be, and being given a pile of paranormal books, Mike became hooked and has researched and written about it since.
 
His earliest experiences in the world of writing came in secondary school where he was asked to write a love story that his teacher read out in class through teary eyes. He was then asked to speak to the head of the English department, where he was commended on his mature take on the topic.
 
At college he spent three years studying leisure and tourism and business with a view to creating a tourism business but after college failed to find the right job, drifting through years of pub work, factory work, and managerial work in shops, he was diagnosed with a heart condition ten years ago.
 
He decided at that point that he wanted to become a writer, picking up a pen and pad and writing ideas down for books whilst he waited in hospital waiting rooms for heart scans. Then, after two heart operations, he began putting together his plan on writing and publishing his work.  His real passions are local history, the paranormal and true crime.
 
His work went on to appear in the Hull Advertiser, as well as mentions in Fortean Times, Paranormal Magazine, Yorkshire Post, Beverley Guardian, Cottingham Times, and the Holderness Gazette.  He writes regular features for the Hull Daily Mail, and his stories have been disseminated around the world by media agencies with appearances in the Mail, the Express, the Sun, the Times, the Star, the Daily Mirror and many more.  He has written articles for Ripperologist Magazine, Ripper Casebook Examiner, Haunted Magazine, Paranormal Magazine, and Outer Limits Magazine.
 
Mike has worked on radio shows such as BBC Radio Humberside’s Hidden Histories, and From Whitechapel to Whitefriagate, where Mike’s research into the “Jack the Ripper” case was explored.   He has also appeared on Hull Community Radio, West Hull Community Radio, KCFM, Beverley FM, Rippercast and Ripper Radio discussing the case.
 
He has also worked on television shows with appearances on ITV’s Calendar, BBC’s Look North, and was featured in Australian televisions Prospero Productions documentary Prime Suspect Jack the Ripper, which aired internationally.  He has also appeared on Antix Productions Most Haunted and Most Haunted Live, alongside Yvette Fielding, Karl Beattie, Paul O’Grady, Rylan Clark and Jamie East.
 
His research has also been mentioned on This Morning, The One Show and Sky News.
 
His work in helping other authors has resulted in acknowledgments in over 100 fiction and non-fiction books, with authors around the globe. 
Mike lectures about his research and his work around the UK, he has appeared at the 2010 Ripper Conference, made several appearances at the Ghost Club, and has lectured at schools, colleges, academies, universities, libraries, archive centres, heritage centres, and for organisations across Britain. 
 
He devotes a lot of time to smaller startup businesses and lectures at events run by historical and cultural organisations across Hull, appearing at various charity events for British Heart Foundation, Age UK and Hull for Heroes. 
 
Mike’s research has been donated to several establishments across the British Isles, including the Hull History Centre, Hull Heritage Centre, East Riding Archives, Bridlington Local Studies, and at pubs, hotels, inns, and clubs that he has researched over the years.
 
Mike’s work has been optioned by Thunderball Films Ltd and is contracted to work on fellow Creativia author, Brian L Porter’s projects with the company, as well as his own.
 
Mike now runs Amazing Hull Tours, which offers lectures, lessons, tours and more, and has clients around the world.
 
Mike is 38 and lives at home with his wife, Susan, and children Bradley, Alyssa and William, his cat Sox, and budgie aptly named… Jack!

Interviews & media

Coming soon

Bibliography

Annie Chapman - Wife, Mother, Victim
Frederick Bailey Deeming: Jack The Ripper or Something Worse?
Jack The Ripper - Newspapers from Hull Vol. 1
Jack The Ripper - Newspapers from Hull Vol. 2
Jack The Ripper and the Maybrick Family
Marfleet Murder Mystery
Jack The Ripper - The Black Magic Myth
Leather Apron, Jack The Ripper and the Whitechapel Murders of 1888
The Rise of the Silver Hatchet Gang
Edwin Brough, Scalby Manor and the Hunt For Jack The Ripper
Jack The Ripper - The Hull Connection
The Caughey-Street Murder
The Tragic Tale of William Papper
Mike Covell's Paranormal Hull - Ghost Files
The Beast of Barmston Drain
Mike Covell Investigates - More Ghost Files

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“It's not dystopia to think history will repeat itself.” 
― Mord McGhee, Murder Red Ink