True Ghost Stories #2

[Weston14]

I’ve been off work today and instead of doing anything productive I’ve just been reading all the creepy threads on here !!!

I’ve put a story from my mum on the thread about creepy explainable thing but ive got a story to share here too, again not my own sadly (my life is far too boring ha).

I used to work with a woman who was the straightest woman you’ll ever meet in the sense of always calling a spade a spade, never caught up in flights of fancy etc etc.. so when she told me this it really shit me up to say the least !!

ex colleague was absolutely stunning, i knew her when she was a bit older but she was beautiful even then , and she was from somewhere in essex originally (for context am in the north) and there had been a bit of chat around the office that she was a “gangsters moll” type back in the day.

I went for leaving drinks for someone one day and of course me being an old soak it ended up just being me and her at the end,, I didn’t know her terribly well so we ended up having a chat about our lives and our backgrounds.

she told me that prior to moving up north she had been involved with a bit of a dodgy fella (I think they might haveeven been engaged??) who was a bouncer on the doors of one of the big london super clubs, I won’t say which as if you Google him a lot comes up!! If you were around that scene back then you might even remember him, I’m told he was a bit of a name.

as all these types did, he controlled both the doors and the supply of drugs in and out, she really wasn’t happy as I think what started out as a little “pocket money”for him had ended up getting out of control and they’d had bricks put through their window and everything. He had started using too and had started getting violent, I think he’d put his hands on her a few times and she was starting to get seriously unhappy.

Lo and behold one day she gets a knock on the door from the police, he’d been killed coming off his motorbike down a fairly rural lane. I think it was investigated and foul play was officially ruled out but ex colleague was never convinced, she knew he had a lot of people out for him. I think she was actually quite relieved and felt like she was finally free of it all.

Here comes the creepy bit. about six months after he’d died she’s on a train late one afternoon coming back from somewhrre , sat in the window seat absentmindedly looking out and it stops at a little single platform station not far from home. She looks out the window and the platform is pretty much empty apart from a few people, and then she notices sat on a bench - it’s him. she was certain that it was him because he had on a jacket that he’d always worn, a beige Harrington type jacket. He’s sat on the bench with his hands clasped and head down and as the train pulls to a stop it’s like he looks up and suddenly notices her. She said he stared right through her and the look he gave her was one of just pure evil, real anger / malice. The train pulls away and his eyes just follow her until she’s far off into the distance. I think it was a few more stops from home and she just sprints back to the house, packs some stuff and goes and stays at a mates house, not long after she moved up here and has been there ever since!!

It’s not my story obviously so she could’ve been having me on but the way she told it has always stayed with me. As I say I googled him and there was a photo knocking round and it just sent a chill down my spine looking at it, he was a real hard faced fella. One of the few times in my life I’ve been genuinely spooked !!

sorry it was a bit of a rambling one and I’m certain I’ve not told it as good as she did !!

 

[FenellaTheWitch]

Back in the early 90's, through work, I had to go to Friern Hospital in Colney Hatch, London. It was a an old Victorian Asylum and had previously been known as Conley hatch Lunatic Asylum. I went there a few times when it was operation and I always found it a creepy place. It has the longest corridor in Europe.

Anyway, the place closed in 1993 and stood empty awaiting development. I was called there because there was some structural issues and I was to meet a colleague there and the security man. It was one of those early winters evening at about 4.30 so getting dark. I got there and couldn't see anyone but the main door was open. I went inside and started walking through looking for the security guy. I walked through a couple of corridors and past some offices .I didn't get very far when I was just so overcome with an urge to get out that I literally ran back outside. A really weird sense of forbodding came over me. I didn't see anything but It was just so creeped out I literally ran back to my car. It just felt very dark inside there.

The main building is still there and it was turned into luxury apartments that had various celebs live in them from time to time but I would never in a million years have bought one. the residual energy in that building must be off the scale.

 

[GlassOfBeans]

I was in our local Asda toilets yesterday washing my hands and I swear something pulled me backwards 3 times by my hood. I looked back after the second and there was honestly no explanation, even though I could see behind me in the mirror anyway. The third time it happened I RAN

No offence but if I was a ghost, I’d like be haunting some big old mansion… I’d be fuming if I got stuck haunting Asda toilets

 

[sk8ergirl]

When I was pregnant 4 years ago, it was a few years after my grandmother passed away & we were really close I’d never ‘sensed’ her since she’d passed but I was getting ready for work & suddenly could smell her so clearly right by me & I burst into tears & my partner was baffled. I told him what happened, anyway this kept happening & I could smell & hear my grandad tapping away alot( he used to tap his fingers on the table all the time) & I thought this is off.. you’re not usually so frequent & often, a few weeks later we miscarried & I was very, very poorly after for the entire time I was in bed & I could feel my Nan around me & my grandad sat on the bed both constantly around me tapping etc
I thought I was going nuts -I’m a believer but it felt very unlike them to be so obvious
Months later my mam was at a spiritual thing that was going on at her pub but she hadn’t gone to it it was happening whilst she was there & the medium called out for her.
my grandparents (her parents) were there holding a baby &told her they were looking after my baby & to let me know there had been there to look after me as I was so poorly(I lost a lot of blood)

anyway.. I’ve lots more but that is one that just always gets me

 

[EllenDeGenerate]

Not really a ghost story as such, but anyway. My lovely sister's anniversary of her death was a couple days back. As is usual for me, I lit a candle that morning, sat down with a cuppa and had a 'chat' with her. I realise that sounds odd but I get great comfort from it. I asked her to please send me a sign that she was OK... that she was with our other loved-ones who have passed. I then got on with my day.
That afternoon I was preparing the family dinner in the kitchen, with my favourite Spotify playlist blaring from my soundbar. George Michael came on singing Fastlove, and I smiled to myself remembering the fantastic night I had at one of his concerts with my sis - both of us big fans. Suddenly, the volume slowly lowered right down, seemingly of its own accord, till I could hear almost nothing from the speaker! Then, a quite a few moments later, the volume increased again, back to normal. It fairly stopped me in my tracks. I genuinely believe it was my sister trying to communicate with me. There is no other explanation for it tbh. And I have read that spirit will often try to communicate with us via electronic devices.

 

[Thechubbymoaner]

So, this is the first time contributing to this thread after reading since day dot. I've loved reading everyone's stories and experiences. Sadly I have mine, resulting from losing my sister a few weeks ago. She passed away from cancer while I was travelling, we were told we would have longer than we did and she insisted I went and it kills me I didn't get to say bye. I was in part of the world where I couldn't connect to internet, only by WiFi and the whole trip I was ok. They Day she died I ssd frantic, everywhere trying to connect to WiFi and overwhelmed with a feeling of panic. There were butterflies everywhere where there hasn't been up to that point. A huge black cloud went over the clear blue sky and we went to a cafe, thinking it would rain.i connected to wifi and saw my mum had been calling to say she had died.

Since then, so much stuff has happened, so much. today I started crying and with that a song came on classic FM that was played at her funeral - a song that shouldn't be on classic FM. Each week I light a candle at the time she died. The candle goes crazy and the TV flickers. Lady week my dog started reacting like there was someone there and it was only me in the house. The candle I burn is the same candle we had burning in the room where she was waked. I get the smell in my house, that's fair enough, I have the same candle that I burn once a week but I have smelled it in my workplace and both my mum and I have woken in the night in my parents house being surrounded by the smell of the candle. The smell lingers and vanishes (I live in a different country to my parents and sister). When I was home for the funeral, I stayed up late watching TV and when I went to bed I could smell the candle in the hallway.

Then the dreams- I dreamed I got flowers for her memorial service- bird of paradise, she wouldn't have been keen on them to be honest, and then when her ashes came home her husband had bought a bunch of the same flowers for next to her urn, I dreamed I bought her a map of the world tea towel,so weird, and her son, my nephew, in Canada, was telling me there's a homeware shop in Canada that sold loads of stuff that she would have loved, and then they have weird stuff too..like map of the world tea towels...I hadn't said a word to him. So odd.

I need to add, I'm a scientist and will very much search for the reason behind certain things. I also appreciate that every never goes , that is a scientific certainty, so the energy that makes a person who they are can never ever be destroyed. My heart is broken but I take comfort in knowing ages still lurking around x

 

[Fauxphiehinchcliffe]

Not really a ghost story…but I went to a demonstration of mediumship evening at the town hall recently. Unfortunately the medium was either having a bad night or got very unlucky with all the guesswork as it was a painful 1.5 hours of scrabbling around and no matches for anyone really. My highlight was toward the end she realised she didn’t finish at 8.30 and still had half hour to go and was clearly quite stressed (this but wasn’t a highlight I felt really bad for her and felt she just needed to call it off as it was embarrassing)

Anyway she approached a couple and said “I’m getting a kitchen..:a kitchen with a sink…did you lose anyone with a kitchen? They used to turn the light on in the kitchen if it was dark”. I just thought….I’m not sure I know ANYONE that doesn’t have a kitchen, and who doesn’t turn a light on when it’s dark.

 

[Cheezychips]

I've just put Uncanny on, which reminded me there's something I've been meaning to say, which in its own way is rather odd but just shows you how many "Sliding Doors" moments happen in life without us ever realising it.

So, I began reading this thread, and the full thread prior to it, months ago. I was intrigued by all of your stories, and could feel the sense of camaraderie between everyone, as this was, and is, a safe space for people to share their experiences without fear of judgment. Having had a few (for want of a better word) "odd" things happen in my own life I've always believed there's more to our human existence that our physical presence on earth. Everything is made up of energy, and (for me at least anyway) I don't believe that energy just dissipates when a person passes away. I've always felt very strongly drawn to the spirit world, the occult, and just anything which many people would brush off as fantasy. Ghosts, magic, reincarnation, vampires, fairies ect were the theme of the many books I'd borrow from the library as a child, and these were not children's book. My favourite film as an 8 year old was Poltergeist. And I know what your thinking, why is a child if 8 being allowed to watch that? Well, as I said, I was quite an advanced reader as a child, not afraid of anything, and very persistent. Also things were different back then and my parents have said they knew I wasn't a "normal" child lol. Most of the kids in my street avoided me and thought I was weird. In hindsight they were probably not wrong.

Anyway, after reading this thread one day back towards the end of August I saw Uncanny being discussed, I had no idea what it was and due to autism and ADHD I really struggle to listen to podcasts, but I thought I'd give it a bash to listen to as I was doing my textile based work (I make Cosplays, costumes ect) and usually listen to music so I thought I'd give up with the podcast after ten minutes. I ended up listening to both series of it, and the Battersea Poltergeist within a few days. Upon finishing I was feeling rather despondent and was going to start it all over again when I was recommended a podcast about Scottish witches on the same app, I had heard the Scottish First Ministers apology regarding historical accusations of witchcraft back in the late 1500s to 1700s on International Women's Day last year, but I didn't pay much attention as I had no idea what she was on about. I decided to give the podcast a go, and oh, my god, did something inside me fundamentally shift. If anyone hasn't listened to it it's called Witches Of Scotland and it's incredible. I can't even begin to explain the rabbit hole it has led me down, I began researching the history of witch craft, and the accusations made in countries all over the world, like crazy and also listened to the BBC Sounds podcast called "Witch".

A few days into September I went to Edinburgh on holiday for a week to do all the touristy stuff with my daughter as she hadn't been to the castle ect since she was a young child. Over 300 "witches" were burned on Castle hill. Just standing there, knowing what those innocent women and men (80% of those accused were women) went through was horrific. I won't spoil any of the podcasts by going into further detail but for me, it changed me. The thing is, those accused and convicted couldn't have been witches, yes they may have been what we would call nowadays pagan, or wiccan ect, had alternative beliefs but the things they were accused of we now know are impossible, and would be laughed out if court. But back then people were terrified of witches, fairies (they weren't the nice wee Tinkerbell kind) and anything out of the norm. If you were a midwife, a healer, had an argument with your neighbour, looked at someone the wrong way you could end up being accused of witch craft.

As I said, I've always felt really drawn to that kind of thing, and have spent the past two months learning everything I can about the witch trials, and just occult beliefs in general. In Edinburgh we took our daughter to just about every ghosty type tourist attraction we could fit in, both vault locations, the Dungeons, Mary Kings Close, the Witches Well, the Castle, Greyfriars Kirk, and the whole time I couldn't stop thinking about what it would have been like to be an accused witch, locked in the tollbooth jail next to St Giles Cathedral, sometimes for months on end in a tiny, pitch black room, going up to court and being convicted and being taken up the Royal Mile to the hill in front of Edinburgh castle only to see the pile of firewood and the noose where your life would end in the most horrendous of ways. We actually stayed next to the town where the very first witch trial kicked off, unbeknown to me when booking it months before. Berwick.

I'm gonna stop blabbering on now but if anyone's looking for something to listen to give both the Scottish Witch Trial and Witch (by India Rauksen) a bash. I've began studying witchcraft both in historical terms, and in practice. Not to perform "magic" per say, but upon learning more about it I realise I've been practicing it pretty much my whole life without realising. I also discovered witch trials that involved my ancestors. The lot of it has changed my perspective on so many issues such as women's rights to spell casting (which I used to think was nonsense but now realise we cast spells subconsciously every single day, from things like asking the universe for help finding our keys, to telling our loved ones to stay safe on long journeys ect, it's all to do with intent, the "Witch" podcast explains it much better than I can).

Thanks for coming to my T.E.D. talk on witches. I'm shutting up now.

(edited to say the whole reason for this post was to say if I hadn't read this thread I'd be none the wiser, and I'm so grateful I did because a lot of things make much more sense in my life now, so, thanks tattlers!!)

 

[DrLoomis]

I really like this thread because people can share their experiences without getting insulted, which sadly happens on many forums. I'll share two of my favourite experiences.

Some of you may know that I am involved in paranormal investigation, and I have been for more years than I like to remember these days. We were filming once in an old prison in Aberdeenshire. We were hearing some noises and I was getting frustrated because members of the crew were moving about, one was even crunching on a mint which was being picked up on the sound equipment. Everyone settled and suddenly a man walked by the door. He was no taller than 5ft tall, with brown tweed trousers, white shirt, a tweed waistcoat on and a matching flat cap. I charged after him thinking he was a member of staff just to say to stay still for a moment. The room was a dead end and he was nowhere to be seen. The curator later told us that he was a common sighting and despite the building being an old prison (where you might expect clanking chains and ghostly prisoners from the past haunting it), in fact it was said he was a member of staff in the 1930s when the building was used for council storage and died in the building.

Another one was in Inveraray Jail, we weren't filming as it was a private investigation but a member of my team was dragged up six stairs on a narrow and steep staircase. He was walking up the stairs behind me and suddenly there was a commotion and I saw him go up the stairs basically sideways without making any contact with them. The poor guy was traumatized by it. When we finished the investigation and went back to the hotel he slept on a chair in someone else's room because he didn't want to be alone. He left the team soon after as well.

I'd never seen any sort of physical interactions from spirits before that but not long after that I saw the aftermath of someone getting scratched in the Blair Street area of the Edinburgh Vaults, a good 15 inch scratch down the back of their leg.

I could go on but I've probably bored you all enough already haha.

 

[Jusa]

I'm pretty sure I've not told this story about my dad on the previous thread, it's not a ghost story, but it's an odd one.

My dad had a kinetic wrist watch that he'd had for years (it worked by being on your wrist, so didn't run on a battery or need winding). Anyway, he got diagnosed with cancer, but was still extremely active, he used to walk to the local shop every day, wash up, do gardening and we'd take him to visit my mum in hospital.

One day, a couple of weeks after his diagnosis, his watch stopped working and he asked me to get a new battery for it (he'd forgotten it was kinetic, but he was 93). I had it in my bag for a few days before taking it to have a new battery put in, took it out of my bag at the shop to find it was working. The watch battery man said it was kinetic and it was fine. Gave the watch back to my dad, and it stopped working within a couple of hours.

Dad gave me the watch to take in to the watch man again, same thing happened, watch worked perfectly in my bag then stopped when I gave it back to Dad; this happened a few times, and in the end we just bought him a new watch.

My mum died in hospital about 10 days after his diagnosis, and he started going downhill a few weeks later. He had to be admitted to hospital 3 times in the space of a fortnight, and the third time he was admitted, they didn't think he'd make it through the weekend, but he did. He was in hospital for 2 and a half weeks, or thereabouts, and a couple of times he'd get very freaked out as he was convinced my mum was there in the room with him. He used to say that he knew she was dead, but she kept sitting on his bed which would make him sit on the chair as he didn't like it; he even made me take the photo of my mum that used to be next to his bed at home, that I'd taken into hospital for him, back home as he couldn't bear to look at it!

My dad died 9 weeks and 2 days after my mum, and I kept his kinetic watch. Three months after he died, I became very ill and nearly died. I knew I was very ill and decided to wear his watch as I thought that if it stopped working on me, then I'd know I wasn't going to make it; it was also comforting because it felt like he was holding my hand. I was left with health problems and classed as vulnerable when the pandemic started, and when I caught covid, with a secondary chest infection in top of it, I again wore his watch so that I could reassure myself that I'd get through it.

 

[Cheezychips]

So can anyone help me out here? I went to visit my nana’s grave a few days ago, anniversary of her death, I don’t go very often, I was sat by her grave, feeling down telling her about my life then I asked her to send me a sign, a few seconds later a squirrel was sat about a foot away from me, looking at me, wasn’t scared of me & was there for a few minutes, then it ran off, is this a sign?

I know I'm replying to an older comment here, but I hope you still see my reply. My daughter was stillborn almost 19 years ago, I have another daughter who is 17. I've gone through some really tough things both through losing her, but things in relation to her death since. My other daughter hasn't kept well her whole life and is going through a tough time at the moment. Reason I'm explaining this is whenever I'm at my lowest ebb, and really, really struggling mentally ill ask my daughter to send me a robin. And 9 times out of 10 she does. Ive only had a garden for a few years so now she sends them here, but sometimes it would be if I was walking home after dropping my daughter at school, and it's always right away, not hours or days later, it's almost immediately. I only ask if I'm desperate for a sign I'm making the right choices, or I need to know she's looking out for her sister. I see them in all seasons. I can't remember why, or when I began doing it but it was many years ago, so I'd say yes, you definitely got a sign and it's truly lovely when that happens x

 

[whisperchat]

I read a story once that has always stuck with me,
There was a really bad traffic accident that involved a mother and her 2 children and obviously the other car involved.. Anyway apparently it was a really bad car smash and the lady telling the story said she was one of the emergency service workers that day.. I can't remember now who exactly she said she was but she was at the scene and she said she approached the car and she looked in the front passenger window and the lady was sitting in the drivers seat, she was alive and she was smiling at her and she kept saying 'please don't worry about me i'm fine, just please sort my children out, please help my children. They're in the back they need your help' .. they managed to free all 3 of them from the car wreck and the children were taken care of. The woman telling the story said she followed the ambulances and everyone to the hospital and on arrival she asked one of the paramedics about the lady and if she was okay.. and the paramedic said to her 'no, unfortunately the lady died on impact, the crash was so severe it would have killed her instantly but her children are thankfully ok'.

It creeped me out but also it's sweet because she was just making sure her children would survive.

 

[Jkop]

My childhood friend lived in a really old house and the whole family would regularly hear footsteps upstairs when there was nobody up there. She had loads of stories about balls being thrown, toys being moved etc but it was a long time before she actually saw anything.
Eventually she started to see a little girl, hiding at first as if she was trying to figure out whether the family were friendly. As time went on she would show herself more and more, mainly to the children but eventually to their parents too. None of them were scared, the parents still live there now and talk about her like she’s one of the family.

 

[DCI Jack Logan]

I bet there are! I also wonder about all those older terraced houses that will definitely have had people laid out in the front parlour years ago

I come from a small northern village and my gran had the job of laying people out when they died in the village, she was a no nonsense northerner who took no shit from anyone and looked after me when my mum went back to work. She usually knew if folk were about to go she said she saw coffins in the coal fire. I must of been about 3 and I remember her coming through the door one morning muttering away to herself. I asked her why she was angry and she said I’ve just been all the way to Ethel Morris’s to lay her George out and the bugger weren’t dead he took a mighty breath and sat up on the kitchen table what a bloody waste of time I could of done me washing and put it through the mangle by now I should of known there were no coffins in the fire last night.

 

[ZoraZ]

I love a good ghost story!
My childhood friends house had a spirit of what they assume to be her stepfather, he died unexpectedly in his 40s and loved watching only fools and horses

The electrics sometimes cut out a few months after he passed, they would come back on after a few seconds and the TV would be playing only fools and horses her mother took comfort in this which was nice and would put a bottle of his favourite beer on the sofa where he would sit and watch it before.

Also I got a reading from a medium a few years ago whilst my SIL was pregnant, she told me the baby would have to spend some time in hospital and need extra help. ( I was very sceptical of this, first time seeing a medium) but my nephew was born with a hole on his heart and has downs syndrome but he had an operation for his heart and is fine now

 

[Scotch Mist]

 

[Theyallneedarealitycheck]

Not really a ghost story but… we lost a baby mid pregnancy, and on the year anniversary of losing them (we’d also had another loss at 3 months after and decided not to try again) we went away with our toddler just for some downtime and to appreciate what we did have.

Anyway, with everything stacked against us - it was too late in my cycle, I’d had to have my mmr again and was told not to get pregnant and we only did it once that week… I came home unknowingly pregnant. During that pregnancy I lost my two surviving grandparents, I hated every moment of being pregnant and did not think I would be going home with a live baby. Anyway I did… and the baby was born with a big stork kiss on their forehead. It’s believed that stork kisses are where the babies are kissed by angels and I truly believe that my gran and grandad kept the baby safe throughout the nine months.

 

[Raquencha]

We moved into our house 7 years ago. We bought it from an old lady who was going into a home. When we moved in I just had a feeling of a man’s presence but it didn’t make any sense. The original house deeds only had her name, no husband. Weird things happened like I came home from work and swore I saw a man look out of the lounge blinds. I assumed my husband had come home early but no one was in the house when I got in. Another time about 11.30pm my daughter woke for a feed, I was sat in bed feeding her and notice a faint light around the door, I grumbled to myself that my husband had left a light on downstairs but then the light disappeared. Like someone had turned a light out.
I always try and rationalise things like it’s my mind playing tricks on me, but my husband saw the light too and asked what it was.
Then in lockdown I was sat working late one night about 9pm and I looked up and the cord for the blind started gently moving. The window was closed, the radiators weren’t on, I even considered if a spider or fly could have made it move, anything to explain it. Anyway weird things like this kept happening then suddenly I felt like this man had gone, weird things stopped. A few months later I was chatting to someone in the village and they mentioned that the old lady had passed away recently. Turned out she did have a husband but he’d died not long after they’d bought the house. I always thought it was him and he was just waiting for her to pass.
The other weird thing that happened was I came home once and we have a full length glass front door and in the reflection as I opened the door I saw a small child run past in a nappy. My initial thought was it was my mind playing tricks as I wasn’t sure if my husband and daughter were home, but the child wasn’t my daughter, I had this feeling whatever I saw was someone else. Fast forward 11months and I had my second child, a girl and when she was about 2 she’d run round in a nappy and was the exact image of whatever I had seen that day. I’m not one for premonitions but it was so strange.
I always try and find the rational explanation first but sometimes some things just can’t be explained.

 

[JarvisCockerSpaniel]

I stayed in Colchester at the Red lion hotel with my two year old last week, really ancient place, 14th century coaching inn I think. We were in room 10 which is one of the oldest and has the exposed old wattle and daub there behind protective glass. The man on reception did warn me it was one of the haunted ones so I was almost disappointed that I didn’t experience a single chilly feeling or a ghostly-going on, was a fairly comfortable night even though I had to get up a few times and creep about to go to the loo.

But at 7 when my son woke up, he looked at the chair in the corner and said ‘oh, lady gone!’

 

[OldBookish]

I have spent a few days reading the first thread and now m catching up with this one. I am always fascinated by true ghost stories so thank you everyone who contributed.

I have a few things. Myself and and my family have had a few experiences which I don’t mind relating.



However, I’ve never experienced anything as paralysingly terrifying as this, yet there was nothing to see at all.



I now think the whole things can be put down to was a ‘mass hysteria', but it was awful at the time.



I was fifteen and going to lessons with a Catholic nun (I thought at the time I might become a Catholic, but didn't). Anyhow, I had a crucifix I wore, but also a Rosary that I used at times when saying prayers. (I would call myself ‘spiritual’ nowadays, but I have veered off from organised religion).



So, my parents had booked me to go on a school trip to Wales - like an outward bound course, where you canoe, hike, abseil, do a bit of caving, and when I was packing took the crucifix off because doing all that activity I didn't want it catching on anything.

My younger sister carefully placed my Rosary among my clothes I’d packed. I said I wouldn't need it, but she was insistent that I take it.



The trip was in March, and it was a cold one; we had snow, and there was ice on the canal where we canoed, but it was fun, if tiring.



The group that went was drawn from all our year at school and I didn't know any-one that well; we moved in different friend-groups, but it was actually a very good bonding experience.



The girls slept in two dorms, one on one floor and one on the floor below; same with the boys, and the girls bathroom/showers/toilets were on the landing just below my dorm, next to the other girls dorm.

It was a big old house, as these places tend to be, and if there was any 'atmosphere' to be honest I was too knackered when we returned from our day's activities to notice it.



I think on the third night, some-one told me that the girls from the other dorm were doing an Ouija board, and had been every night.

At that time I didn't really know what that was except vaguely, and didn't take much notice.



At about 6. p.m. I went down to use the bathroom, I was just drying my hands when the door crashed open and two girls came in dragging another. I thought she was ill or having a fit. I'd never seen any-one look quite so white.



Through the babble of semi-hysterical explanations - given more to the male teacher outside the door than me — it transpired that they'd been doing this Ouija board trying to contact the dead mother of one of the boys — whose father was remarrying.



The girl they brought in had started crying, and saying, 'Don't let it get me,' then the glass they were using flew across the room. The girl had got up, run to the door, couldn't open it - neither could any-one else — and collapsed. The commotion bought one of the male teachers and he opened the door, at which point the girls dragged her to the bathroom.



She was still sobbing and crying that something was going to ‘get her’. One of the girls said, ‘Hit her! Snap her out of it!’ And then looked at each other as no-one wanted to so I did. And she fell down. I rode horses then and had quite a good arm, but then she got up and started screaming 'Don't let it get me.' again.

It didn't look as if she could see us at all; she was starting around at things visible only to her.



There was an incredibly horrible atmosphere in the bathroom; it was freezing, which it hadn’t been before, and I got the impression — or image, really — of these horrific ‘things’ circling around and howling and banging on my brain as if it were a door, as if they wanted to get in. I had this image of black space, but things with awful faces and jointed legs and wings all cackling and beating on the outside of my skull.



That feeling was so strong I don't like thinking of it even now. I was absolutely certain that if those 'things' got into my head, I would be lost, that to outward appearances I would be irretrievably mad, and in a mental health facility for the rest of my life.

I felt I was fighting to keep them out.



At bottom, I am quite pragmatic, and more likely to attribute creaky floors to settling wood than ghostly footsteps, but apart from the hysteria, something was not right.



Then I remembered I had a Rosary in my case.

I think I was just remembering films of vampires and crosses and Hammer Horror films! But I blurted out, ‘I’ve got a Rosary upstairs,’ and one of the girls (I learned after that her mother was a Medium) grabbed my arm and said, ‘Get it!’ So I pelted up to my dorm, found it, hared back down and dropped it over the screaming girl’s neck. She gripped it, and went straight down on the floor in a total collapse.



The teacher in the meantime who wouldn’t come into the girls toilets furious. He’d gone to break the glass they’d used for the Ouija board, and find his female colleague to deal with the girls.



The girl got up, very shaky and white but at least she was no longer in hysterics and said ‘It’ had gone. The female teacher took her off.



But it was not a good night, Every-one went around in 'clumps' which is funny to look back on, but no-one wanted to be alone. We had dinner and even the boys asked me if they could borrow my rosary, (In fact I didn’t have it, it was still with the girl). We were all on the public phone in the hall and I actually begged my mum to come and get me as I was so terrified. Obviously she said ‘No.’



It was a wild night. Through the evening, the winds rose. There were blizzards over the mountains, the wind was howling round the old house and no-one could sleep. I remember we were jumping at every creak and little noise.



Then at 12.00 all our alarm clocks went off (we all had one, as we had to be up for breakfast by 7. a.m.)

We all jumped out of our skins screaming ‘Oh my god,’ or words to that effect.



The next day we went out in the vans to go dry slope skiing. On the way, we passed military vehicles, and saw soldiers walking back to them; they'd lost a young soldier doing training the mountains in the blizzard, and his body had been found. Very, very sad, and of course someone said, ‘I bet he died when all our alarms went off.’



It was probably a good thing that our daily activities were so physical that they wore us out, so that we could sleep the remaining nights and not turn into nervous wrecks.



Mass hysteria or no, it was the most petrified I have ever been, because of the strangeness of the fear; there was nothing visible to cause it. It was like being attacked by invisible assailants. I've never felt like that before or since. I never want to again.



A week after we returned and were back at school, the man who was getting remarried hung himself, and his son, who'd been on the trip, found him in the garage