AN Emmerdale villain has seemingly returned from the dead in today’s episode.

The ITV soap’s first look streaming episode has dropped the major bombshell on one family in the village.

Viewers watched earlier this year as Anthony Fox was badly beaten by Aaron Dingle, suffocated by his abuse victim daughter Ruby, and then apparently buried by John Sugden.

The family was desperate to keep his death a secret – and his abuse – so Ruby’s daughter Steph would never realise she was a product of incest.

However Steph’s insistence on finding out what happened to her grandfather led her to realise there was something very wrong.

And Ruby was forced to tell her daughter the truth.

But in today’s episode with Steph still panicking, the family received a bouquet of flowers via courier.

The card read: “I’m coming for you. Anthony.”

Ruby added: “It’s dad, it says he’s coming for us.”

“Well it’s not Anthony is it? It’s a sick joke,” replied Caleb.

But Steph wasn’t convinced, and she said: “Everything that’s been happening, all the bad stuff and you getting stabbed.

“It could be all his doing. We’ve only got John’s word that he buried him. What if he’s still alive?”

And with viewers now knowing that John Sugden isn’t to be trusted – could this mean Anthony is alive?

Flashbacks revealed that John killed Nate Robinson and dumped his body but there was no flashback to the night Anthony was buried.

So is the abuser alive? Or is this one of John’s sick games? Or is somebody else trying to mess with the Miligans?