Premonitions

The Psychiatrist Who Believed People Could Tell the Future

After a national disaster, a British doctor began collecting foreboding visions. Soon, they closed in on him.

By Sam Knight

John Barker recruited a group of people whose predictions were uncannily prescient. Then one foresaw Barker’s death.

Illustration by Matthieu BourelBy Sam Knight

John Barker recruited a group of people whose predictions were uncannily prescient. Then one foresaw Barker’s death.

Illustration by Matthieu BourelFor many years, Kathleen Lorna Middleton lived at 69 Carlton Terrace, in the North London suburb of Edmonton. The house, which faced one of the main roads leading out of the city, had a small plaque to the left of the front door: “Miss Lorna Middleton, Teacher of Pianoforte and Ballet.” Middleton was born in Brockton, Massachusetts, in 1914. She was a talented dancer as a child and had friends who went to Hollywood, but, during the Depression, Middleton’s parents, who were English, lost everything and moved back to London. Middleton, who had small hands, buck teeth, and a pronounced New England accent, opened a school for dance and music in the front room of No. 69 and called her students the Merrie Carltons./.../