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The Strange Case Of Millionaires Day And Its Journey To The USA | Guest Post

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Hi readers, I appreciate you having me here! And a special thank you to Erica for hosting this piece, because lord knows I had trouble finding someone willing to share what I’m about to tell you. For self-preservation reasons, I’m sorry but I’m unable to attach my name to this. I’m an MA student in the UK that is now writing my paper on local hauntings in South Wales, but originally I pitched an investigative project about Millionaires Day. I was immediately summoned to a meeting with not only my advisor, but members of the Ethics Committee, AND the Dean. I thought I was perhaps going to receive some sort of grant to aid my research (to pay for interviews, things like that) but I was swiftly told in no uncertain terms that not only would my University not be approving my research proposal, but that I was jeopardising my place with them. They then proceeded to gaslight me for 30 minutes straight, insisting that Millionaires Day never happened at all. I’ll save you the rest of the details (because I don’t want to be identified) but needless to say, I was stunned as I walked out of that office.

The reason I’m talking about it now is because an indie author called Kit Power (UK based), who I discovered lives locally to me, has recently released a fictionalised version of the events of that day, and FINALLY, I’ve started to see word spreading about what happened. I contacted him through FB messenger (where I learned he’s actually flying over to the US for an American release of this book towards the end of this month), and he kindly offered to meet me and he gifted me a copy (apparently he’d had problems with the book actually reaching recipients when he mails it). I have to say, though slightly dramatised, he nailed the chaos of the real event in his story.

So, what did happen, you might be asking? As far as I can determine, this only happened in the UK, and the reason I became so interested in exploring it – outside of the bizarre event itself – was the clear suppression of news and discussion about it. I posted on social media on the day and then was put in social media jail with my account suspended for 30 days. There was no local or national news coverage mentioning the money, only some mention of the rising crime rate, no social media posts – nothing, basically.

It’s like it never happened.

In a nutshell, about a week before Christmas 2019, everyone in the UK that was asleep through 8am woke up with a hand luggage case near their person, and this case contained £1 million. I know how that sounds. I’ll tell you upfront that I got one. I was staying in a hotel and assumed the money was either fake or that I was being framed for a crime by someone with access to my room, and I panicked, reported it to the police, and checked out without taking it with me. A part of me is devastated that I did that, but considering the rate of robberies and murders where I live, a much larger part of me is relieved. I discovered that my flat had been broken into when I returned home. The place was ransacked but nothing was taken, so I assume someone didn’t get a case and went on the hunt for one, or realised there were a load of cases out there and got greedy.

Like I said, little is publicised, but here are some pieces I did find:

Steve Toase (I’m a huge fan of this guy, he writes for Fortean Times, which I have been subscribed to forever) wrote this piece for Gingernuts of Horror.

Gingernuts of Horror also promoted the book but the editor expressed some concerns that his site was essentially being shadow-banned purely for supporting this author (I’m paraphrasing, but the whole article can be read here.)

These next two posts (thanks Kit to directing me towards these after we initially talked) are of particular concern to me. There’s a statement from French Press Publishing (the American publisher of Millionaires Day), in which they explain that they will support Kit Power and this book regardless of threats and harassment (I mean…what?!). The other statement is from another reputable press that published some of Kit’s prior work, who also received harassment and demands to alter previous books:

A few testimonials from people who were affected (I swear, I had a folder with many more but these are the only ones I can find that are still visible on the Internet):

A YouTuber and podcaster called Exaggerated Elegy had a conversation with Kit Power:

And finally, another YouTuber called Erik Smith: Horror Aficionado reviewed the author’s book (and let me tell you, that review has to be the weirdest I’ve ever seen):

And he actually discussed the whole thing with Kit Power and his publisher:

You might be able to find more information, but good luck to you if you try because the above small list took me weeks of scouring to find.

There was a UK release of Millionaires Day last year, but the publisher had issues with people not receiving their orders, promotional pieces disappearing from social media, and – this one scared me – books that they brought here from the USA vanishing at the airport. Determined to get the word out, Kit is travelling to you guys in the States and re-releasing it there. I believe they think they’ll have fewer problems on a different continent where none of this happened.

If you want to meet the author and pick up a copy (the story he’s written is absolutely gripping, by the way), he’s making two public appearances that I know about so far:

If you’re not local to those events, you can also get a copy of the book from Amazon (worldwide), which I’m told is now reliably getting these out.

Thanks for reading – as they say, a problem shared is a problem halved, and this has just been sitting in my brain for years, freaking me out. Thanks again to Erica for this support <3

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