I have often been asked (understandably, given the
nature of what I write) if I believe in ghosts. I answer, ‘yes’. The next
question is invariably. ‘Have you ever seen one?’ Again, ‘yes’ is my response.
People want details. I tell them, but, of course such phenomena can be
explained away by the sceptical. ‘A trick of the light’, ‘Your imagination
playing tricks on you,’ or the incredulous look behind which lurks, ‘you’re
weird’. All, of course, are quite possibly true (especially the latter), but I
have seen and heard a lot of things I couldn’t quite so easily explain but, of
course, in order to believe as I do, you simply had pt be there.
We moved house recently and, prior to that, we
divided our time between a flat in north Wales and a house in Liverpool. The
house in Liverpool contained nothing particularly ghostly – although I did once
see the apparition of the cat I grew up with who, at that time, had been
deceased for around four years. This was a happy experience which stayed with
me for days, weeks even.
The flat in north Wales on the other hand… We lived
with a ghost. There is no getting away from it. In fact the building itself
continues to be haunted by more than one restless spirit – and one of them was
caught on camera!
The building dates from the mid eighteenth century
and has gone through many different configurations – as shops, dwelling places,
a combination thereof and is now a club beneath with a two floor flat above.
This was unoccupied for many years until we moved in following extensive
renovations. Almost immediately things started to happen. And they were mostly
homely, welcoming things, as if our invisible ‘visitor’ wanted to make us feel
comfortable.
We would sometimes arrive to find the TV switched
on, lights on and, before you say we had carelessly left them on before we
left, we hadn’t. In fact, we had checked that everything was switched off just
a few minutes before we left. And no, sorry, no-one else could have sneaked in
and done it either!
Meanwhile, in another part of the building, used by
the Club, other things were happening. In the Snooker Room, chalk was regularly
moved, as were beer mats, and then, at around six one morning, my husband came
down to our kitchen, whereupon he heard the distinctive sound of the gents’
toilet flushing. This is next to the Snooker Room and on the other side of our
wall. He logged the time precisely, thinking that maybe the cleaners had
arrived unusually early.
When, mid-morning, he heard the sound of the Barman
arriving to start his shift, my husband, who was Treasurer, went downstairs to
the Club and asked to check the CCTV. Evidently the Cleaners had arrived later,
at their usual time, so who had been in the Gents? Fortunately CCTV was trained
on the area immediately outside. As he watched and, at precisely the same time
as he had logged the flushing of the toilet, there was a distinctive, if
fast-moving, waft of white smoke across the camera. He continued to watch.
Nothing else happened. Other staff watched it. I watched it.
No one has yet been able to explain it. There was no
one there or we would have seen them. The cameras were installed to ensure no
hiding place for anyone entering or leaving the building and are motion
activated. Yes, they were all in perfect working order when the incident
happened.
Since then, things have continued to move from time
to time in the Snooker Room and a couple of the bar staff have been so unnerved
by the goings-on there that they refused to go up there. One of the staff is
certain he heard his name called one night when he was locking up after
everyone had gone home. So certain in fact that he answered. There was no one
there.
A psychic-medium was shoved violently when she
entered the room (with no prior knowledge of its reputation). I was pushed
violently backwards and forwards before being thrown off the stair. The
injuries I sustained were so severe, the doctors at the hospital couldn’t believe
only one stair was involved. I didn’t go into all the detail of being shoved
and pushed this way and that before the fall occurred. I had no witnesses and
who would believe me? My arm was badly broken and I had a bone scan, as they
wondered whether my bones were brittle. There was no sign of osteoporosis then
or since (this happened over ten years ago). I have never been in that room
since.
Thankfully, the ghost in our flat was always
friendly. My husband was often aware of her moving around when he was there
alone, and there was the curious incident of the washing machine – the
detergent drawer was mysteriously and impossibly pushed out when it was
operating one day. For all the years we lived there though, neither of us ever
felt threatened in that flat.
As for our new home, only time will tell. So far,
all is quiet…
We are the Thirteen and we are one
4 Yarborough Drive looked like any other late
19th century English townhouse. Alice Lorrimer feels safe and welcomed there,
but soon discovers all is not as it appears to be. One of her housemates flees
the house in terror. Another disappears and never returns. Then there are the
sounds of a woman wailing, strange shadows and mists, and the appearance of the
long-dead Josiah Underwood who founded a coven there many years earlier. The
house is infested with his evil, and Alice and her friends are about to
discover who the Thirteen really are.
When death's darkest veil draws over you, then shall shadows weep
The Darkest Veil is
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