Liminal Earth looking for stories in Oxfordshire

Duncan Saunders, 30, from Oxfordshire, represents Liminal Earth, a project which collects strange and inexplicable stories from across the globe.

So far, Liminal Earth has focussed on the USA, but since December is now looking to gather stories from the UK too.

Mr Saunders - who is also the events and hires officer at Modern Art Oxford - has teamed up with Liminal Earth’s co-founders Garrett Kelly and Jeremy Puma.

See also: 24 hour bowls game raises money for girl's cancer treatment

Mr Saunders said: “Liminal Earth has been building and building in the US for a while now and I was asked by Garrett and Jeremy if I could run things for them here in the UK.

“Not many people outside the the US knew about it before so we’re now looking to gather some momentum here.

“Oxfordshire is an area which has a long history of unusual things and we’re trying to make people more and more aware of all these different things going on across the county.

“Hopefully in the next year or so, we can have a story for every town or village in Oxfordshire.

“I’m looking forward to going to different places to find strange stories and gathering them in person - everyone’s got a story to tell.

“People are discussing these sorts of things and it’s about getting more people interested.

“I’m really interested in things in the landscape such as eerie things that shouldn't be where they are and capture people’s imagination.

“A good example is the playing cards that have been seen in the windows of Barclays banks across the UK - I’ve seen this in Oxford in Cornmarket Street.

“We look for little curious stories which can often then become humorous local urban legends.

“I’ve done a lot of research previously into unusual events and collect particular local mysteries.

“I’ve also been looking for any ghost stories locally.

“When you start putting these stories on the map, strange patterns start to emerge.”

Mr Saunders is currently flâneur-in-chief for London and the South East at Liminal Earth and described his role as ‘a lot of fun’.

The term flâneur originates in French and in English, translates as someone who saunters around observing society.

Mr Saunders added: “We’re trying to get more people to be ambassadors so that we can really branch out in the UK and get lots of high quality stories coming in.”

Read more: Elderly man dies after falling from Westgate Centre roof terrace

Mr Saunders has lived in Oxfordshire for 10 years and has previously worked at various museums across the county.

He was both the front-of-house manager and retail manager at the Story Museum in Oxford.

He was also an ‘extreme reader’ at the Story Museum, where he would find unusual situations, places and ways of reading.

The purpose of this role was to engage younger children in reading.

Whilst dressing up as a character, Mr Saunders found innovative ways of not just getting children interested in reading, but enjoying it too.

As well as his work at the Story Museum, Mr Saunders has also created a range of scare attractions at Oxford Castle.

He said: “I helped design ghosts stories, murder mysteries and locked room puzzles at Oxford Castle and through them I then got to work with one of their partners in Portsmouth where I designed a Sherlock Holmes detective game.”

In addition to his work locally, Mr Saunders has also designed puzzle games for various tourist attractions across the South East of England.

Later this year, he is hoping to do more traditional fortune telling.

Liminal Earth itself has its roots in Seattle and is a ‘map of the strange, wonderful, unusual and unexpected’.

Users are able to submit their own stories to the map on the project’s website.

Stories on the map are then placed into one of several categories.

These categories include: dark forces; time distortions; ghost and UFO sightings; strange animals; and visions.