Robert Thurston Hopkins (1884–1958) was a British author, topographer, and ghost hunter whose diverse literary career spanned biography, travel writing, and paranormal investigation. Born in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, Hopkins developed a deep appreciation for the English landscape and its lore, which would later become a central theme in his extensive bibliography.
As a biographer, Hopkins published studies on prominent literary figures of his era, including Rudyard Kipling and Oscar Wilde. Alongside these biographical works, he wrote extensively about the English countryside, capturing the regional charm and history of various locales. However, he is perhaps best remembered for his fascination with the supernatural. As an active ghost hunter, Hopkins documented numerous paranormal phenomena and personal encounters, most notably in his 1946 book Adventures with Phantoms. In this work, he recounted his own eerie experiences, including twice encountering the apparition of a hanged man in the woodlands near Burwash during the 1930s.
Beyond his own writing, Hopkins's legacy continued through his family; his son, Godfrey Thurston Hopkins, achieved significant recognition as a prominent photojournalist for Picture Post. Hopkins passed away in 1958, leaving behind a unique body of work that bridged the gap between topographical observation and supernatural folklore.
