Episode 8 Haunted Houses

Hello everyone, my name is Karen Swanston.

My name is Grim Moon.

Welcome to Lights on Still Scared. Each week we delve into ghost stories, hauntings, folklore and paranormal mysteries, sharing the tales, legends, and experience that continue to fascinate us. So whether you're a believer, a sceptic or simply curious, settle in and decide for yourself. Because after what we're about to tell you, you might just leave the light on tonight.

Something in the dark remembers me. No matter what I do.

Hi everyone, how are you doing? Graeme here, uh Lights on, still scared. Uh hope you've been following our previous episodes. And joining me today is my esteemed colleague Karen.

Hello there, everyone, and hello Graham.

Hello, hello, how are you doing? Um we're gonna be talking today um ghosts, paranormal, supernatural, and today's theme is houses. Come in all shapes and sizes houses.

Indeed, they do, yeah.

So we will be covering family homes, palaces, hotels that became homes, and vice versa. Just an abundance of stories that I think you'll hopefully find interesting. And uh some are definitely creepy, I have to say, and some really interesting stories from from first hand accounts as well, which is always good to get. Very good, yes.

Yes, perhaps some personal accounts as well.

Oh, yes, yes. We'll look for that. I'm sure I'm sure I can rake up a few. There's been a few few houses I've lived in where strange things have happened, not just the plumbing. Um so what we're gonna do is share that with you today. So how are we gonna kick off with today, do you think?

We I think are gonna kick off with something that is really well known, and I thought if we're doing houses and we didn't fit that in, people will complain. So we're going first to Borley Rectory.

Ah, yes, the famous Borley Rectory.

Indeed, in so it's meant to be the most haunted house in England. Or the most famous?

I would say so, yeah. Yeah.

So it's located in Borley, which is a little village in Essex, in the old uh old Towy town. Yeah. Uh it was a rectory that was built in 1862, and it's built by the Bill family. But prior to that, the early rectory on the site was destroyed in 1841. So there was a rectory there before, apparently. Right. So and the building remained occupied until the late 1930s.

Right.

So the previous rectory burnt down in 1841.

Right.

And this was later viewed as the first sign of misfortune connected to the site. So it's got a bit of a history before it even was really built. There apparently was a uh death during the construction of it. Okay. A 17-year-old labourer called John drowned while the rectory was being built, which is a bit unfortunate for you. And whilst it's not originally connected with the hauntings, it was by the villagers felt that it was a bit of an omen.

Yes, okay.

Right from the start, the villagers were saying it had problems. And apparently a human skull was reportedly discovered inside the rectory after the new occupants moved in. So it's got, yeah.

Did you know whose skull it was? Well, I will come back to that. Ah, okay. Good, good, good.

So, yes, so originally the house was built by uh Henry Ball, um, who was the first rector of the new rectory.

Right.

And he lived there until his death in 1892. And during his occupation, strange stories of activities began to circulate.

Okay.

So after he died, then the his son, Reverend Harry Ball, um was at the rectory from 1892 until his death to 1927.

Okay. That's the name that uh that's the name I kind of remember from his history. Yeah.

He was there for most of his life and he has quite a big attachment to the property as well. Um he developed parts of the grounds and pathways where later sightings were reported. So going on to the reports of the ghosties. Very interesting. So following Henry Ball's death in 1927, witnesses started reporting an elderly man.

Right.

Um, figure was described as elderly, thin, respectable dress. Uh, some believe that it's the apparition of Harry. So I suppose the difference there is that he was a real person, he wasn't someone that was constant. And the most famous one there was the nun. Those nuns. They got around the monks and so according to folklore, uh there was a monastery built there before, and then there was a nearby convent which housed a young nun. The nun and the monk apparently fell in love, and they attempted to escape in a carriage.

Okay.

And unfortunately, they got caught.

Right.

So the monk was executed, the coachman was killed.

Craigy, he didn't do the monk.

No, no, and the nun was murdered or bricked up alive. So I think she'd come off worst.

I would say so. I would say so.

Poor woman.

Good god.

Oh dear. So yeah, so there but then saying that uh research uh into it said that there was no actual monastery there. Right, yeah. There's no convent nearby, there's no records of anyone being murdered.

It's interesting, though, isn't it, how these stories, you know, you you kind of they just become embedded, you know.

So I suppose it's probably from the villagers, I would imagine, but that's probably because I suppose it had a history beforehand where they thought it was cursed and so, but yeah. But um the Ball family did have several witnesses of a veiled woman, a black clad female figure, or a silent apparition, and a woman walking the garden paths. So but the most famous one uh was 1900, uh, with the four Ball daughters, because I think they had quite a large family. So four four of the daughters that reportedly saw this figure at dusk. What were they doing out there at dusk?

I don't really know, that's bizarre. I mean, were they nature lovers sketching? Wandering about?

Wandering about as you do. And they watched her near the grounds, and when they approached her, she disappeared.

Okay.

So she then was known as the nun of Borley.

It's interesting, though, that multiple witnesses always handy if it's genuine, always.

Yeah, but then saying that though, that if there was no convent or anything, was she a nun? True. Perhaps she was something else. Yeah, yeah. Hmm. Because if you think about Essex and the witchcraft, it sits quite near to that region where there was that huge witch trials and superstitions. What's his name? Matthew Hopkins. Yeah, Matthew Hopkins, yeah. So he operated through East Anglia through uh the 1640s and responsible for numerous witchcraft investigations, and he's also so uh associated with one of the largest witch panics. So I think that area um East Anglia was awful for the witches. We thought Edinburgh was bad.

I know. And a lot of superstition there as well, of course. You think, well, there's different stories from the year of phantom dogs and black shuck type things and all that kind of stuff going on.

It's I mean, maybe it was just rural the nature of being in a rural area. That's what I was about to say is that you know, considering the the area of Essex, Norfolk, the area where there's a lot of like these monastery kind of witch hunts going on as well.

Yeah.

Um then I think a majority is probably down to those folklores coming in from the the people who live there that would have been farmers and and the like. So, yes, so she could have been a cunning woman who is a folk healer.

Right.

Possible, or possibly she could have been a woman that was prosecuted due to the witch. There, yeah, it could be anything that's associated with that land, but not so much a nun. What else is there? We have mentioned the headless coachman.

Headless coachman.

Uh-huh. So there is apparently one of the legends is a phantom coach. Oh people witness hearing galloping horses, hearing wheels on the road, and seeing an old coach being driven by a headless horseman.

Is this related to the guy who was supposed to be killed?

That's what they're all saying, is that there are some reports said there's one headless coachman or two.

Yes.

How does they know where they're going? Sorry.

We've had this conversation before. Anyway, sorry. So yes, a witness has said that they've heard the coach but saw nothing. Or saw the coach, not the driver.

Right, okay.

So it's all very, very strange. Suddenly appear, travel a short distance, then it'll disappear again. Without any explanation. So yeah, very, very weird at all. So I mean it all that all comes down to, as I said, the coach that was used during the monk and the nuns escape. So that's what they seem to think he was.

Well, it's interesting because if you took away the whole actually took away that legend in a sense and just looked at these as hauntings as individual things, I mean, they could they could be three disparate. They could very much be. Which probably even more interesting, I suppose, in a way.

Yeah, so it could be a completely separate and perhaps an older legend than what the nuns were as well. That's true.

That's true.

So anyway, along comes Harry Price.

Yes.

Famous Harry Price, who um is he not like the paranormal godfather?

He is, he's he's yeah, it's been a lot written about him. Um interesting guy. I I suppose um you keep reading today, but he describes being controversial, you know, because of his methods, I suppose. I I don't know, it depends. There's so many books out about him, but but interesting. And took the time, I suppose, to decamp somewhere and actually study uh a haunting at a leisurely pace for a period of time rather than just you know a one-night stand in a sense, which is always really interesting, you know.

So apparently he came on the on the story, let's just say, in 1929 to investigate. The Smith family apparently was then staying there. Right. They lived there at that point, and they were the ones that actually contacted the newspaper regarding the stranger fights that were going on, because I suppose they were still continuing to go on even after the other people have gone. So, would that mean that they knew about the legend and they kind of like carried it on, or did he get paid for it? Yeah, I mean so yes, so he is called in to investigate, and it was him that actually called it the most haunted house in England. So when he investigated, apparently bells will ring, the servant bells will ring. Right, yes. And they would be the bell system activated without any obvious cause. Right. Footsteps were heard in empty rooms, and there are unexplained footsteps at night.

Okay.

Apparitions, the nun again, she's she's she's not getting out, is she?

Who knows?

Indeed. Uh shadow figures and the phantom coach. So the phantom coach was uh allegedly being seen there, and also the elderly figure as well. And there were stones thrown, bottles moved, and objects displaced.

Now, yeah, objects displaced, I mean you could put that down to Yeah, I've seen a few misplaced objects in the past are obviously not paranormal at all. In competent small, but uh I have seen other things that potentially could be, so I guess.

But there's the joys of being middle-aged. Where did I put that? Why am I here?

Yeah, it magically appears again. Whoa. So message from beyond.

Well, talking about messages from beyond, apparently there was uh uh reported messages included Marianne, please help me, written on the walls. Now, Marianne was the family that was there from 1930 to 1935.

Okay.

So there's got a lot of lot of people. There's quite a few families coming and going there as well. The Foster family were there from 1930 to 1935.

Yeah.

And it was the Reverend Lionel Foster and Marianne Foster, and they had their daughter Adelaide. And they reported furniture moving, objects throwing, glass shattering, and the bells ringing as well, and seeing the apparitions, and as I said, they saw the writing on the wall as well.

Yeah.

Um, and during their occupancy is when they had the largest number of haunting reports. So it seemed to be quite active when that family was there as well.

Interesting. I wonder why they yeah, I wonder why basically. Is it was it down to them?

Yeah, it does make you wonder.

Spiritual makeup, if you know what I mean. But uh who knows.

So in 1937, Harry decided to do an investigation. So um he asked volunteers to come to the property um and stay overnight and to keep diaries as to what they actually experienced. And quite a bit has been done with that one as well. So they've done a seance apparently, and a spirit called itself Senex Emuris. I may have said that completely wrong.

I'm impressed.

Allegedly appeared. Okay. And predicted that the rectory would burn down and human reins would later be discovered.

Aha. Okay. Right.

So in February 1939, the rectory was destroyed by fire, as predicted by Sid Spooky.

That's strange how two buildings both met the same fate.

I mean, I know things happen, but this is so believers considered this a fulfilment of the prophecy, and sceptics question the reliability of the predictor.

Yeah.

So yeah, so after the fire, so following the fire, by the early 1940s, the rectory was in ruins.

Right, yeah.

So there's nothing left. So um Harry decided to organise a small excavation of the cellars beneath the ruined rectory. And the human bones were importantly discovered.

Okay.

Now Harry believed that it belonged to a young woman, and some have said it's connected to the nuns. So he Yeah, there's no evidence to prove that this was connection.

But they did find bones in the cells.

Um and the bones were given a Christian burial in Liston Churchyard because apparently Borley parish refused permission for the burial to take place locally. So, yeah, so they didn't want anything to do with it. Um, and many of the villagers believed that it was actually pigs' bones, not both.

Ah, I see, okay, okay.

But I mean this adds to another layer of the mystery, doesn't it really?

That's true.

Yeah, so he discovered he conducted further investigations. So there's reports of apparitions, footsteps, strange stories, unusual experiences. Um obviously he published books based on that as well. And that's how he became famous. So uh following his death, uh they decided to poo-poo. Pooh poo, I say. Pooh poo escape. So his methods came under criticism.

Yeah.

Um some accused him of being exaggerating, and some said hoaxes and yeah, witnesses contradicting themselves. So the jury's out on that one. It is I don't know.

I've been fascinating with that story for years. It is really interesting. I mean, it's like anything else, these these very sort of famous stories. Um, you know, in the modern world, we look at it now with sort of sort of clearer eyes in a sense we can understand why maybe people wanted that publicity. But maybe they were genuine, maybe they genuinely want to prove something. Whenever I suppose when anybody sells a story to a paper or writes a book, there's always gonna be a level of kind of like suspicion. You know, how many stories we've read of people have actually told the newspaper to get out of their system in a sense, and then suddenly everything becomes a bit of a circus. But I remember, I mean, I'm sure you've seen it yourself, there's a really famous photograph uh during the demolition was a brick was flying around or photographed in midair, which again people say, well somebody could have thrown it, or but others say, Well, it looks like it was floating. I don't know, but I mean uh certainly today, I mean, from what I've heard or read, there still seems to be a lot of ghostly activity associated with the area, the village. Obviously, not the house no longer exists, but yeah, it's it's it's stuck, hasn't it? It's a long time that it's stuck.

I I'm sure that I see adverts saying that you can visit it and I think, well, why? Because it's just like a pile of grass now.

Yeah, it's a pile of grass. There's nothing there. So I think locals go mad. The locals the locals go off there, they're not happy, are they?

No, they're not happy, no. I mean I understand why, really.

I know you've got a quiet life. Mind you, if they're making money from it, is there a pub there? No very well, wouldn't it?

It would, wouldn't it? Can you imagine that? Yeah, personally I probably would want to stay in the pub.

You wouldn't?

I would. Oh yeah. Stay in the pub and go see a pile of grass.

Well, herbs are a nice pile of grass, to be honest. But it's got the null on it. Maybe, maybe.

Thankfully, no monk.

No, no, no. Interesting, though.

Interesting. That's fine.

Uh well, my story is not has uh has not so much gravitas attached to it, because it's a little bit of a uh an unusual uh and probably unknown story, I suppose. It's pr but pr well only unknown to those who've not heard about it, but for those that took part in it unwittingly, they had a very, very bad experience. And it's from a place called Skipness, which is on the Kintare Peninsula, which near Mulla Kintarre. Ah. And um I've not been there, I'm not gonna lie, but when I got told a story, I had we look on the old uh the old map, and it's pretty remote. The guy didn't tell me which house it was, by the way. Okay, perhaps it's best. Probably. It's an Airbnb, so I think it could for me fatal. Um, but there is there is a few dotter around, but not many, so it's definitely one of a collection of, say, ten houses. And the guy I actually met uh unwittingly when I was on holiday Dunkild. So I was in Dunkild on holiday, and we always stay at this cottage, and I've got chat of the owners, um Leslie and Heather, who are like friends of ours, and they basically said, Oh, there's a guy in next door in one of the other apartments who might have a ghost story for you. And I thought, Oh, okay, I'll go and see him as you do. So I went, you know, that was my that was me writing there, and he was a real nice guy, and he was a photographer, and he said to me, he was pretty cynical about these things and all the sceptical, but he had a really horrible experience there, and basically what happened was um so he I'll I'll actually describe what he says. This is what he said, this is his quote. The place was paid for by a mate of mine and was an old fashioned farmhouse situated in a row of other houses. If I said the avocado bathroom suite was the best part of it, you can imagine the rest. It wasn't the best to say the least, the best part being a large Inglewood fireplace which could sit inside. The deck was very 1960s and awful. I don't sleep so well at the best of times and regularly get up. So this happened on the night in question. It was probably about three o'clock and I decided to do some work on the laptop. After a while I noticed at the door opposite me now stood a woman, with her arms akimbo. Oh yes, glowering at me. She looked like a Victorian farm worker. I stupidly called out I'm sorry, do you live here? She then began floating towards me and came around the furniture and now stood right beside me at the table. She had no legs from the knee downwards. Oh nice. Well I just put my head down and stared at the computer. I didn't know what to do and it was terrifying. She vanished and I headed for bed and didn't tell my wife who was still asleep. There's more because a short time later something sat on the edge of the bed than something lighter saw on the opposite side. I got the impression it was a woman and a kid. Well at that moment I just shouted out get the beep out of beep and the bed rose. Well I never said anything to my wife till we were on our way home, and guess what she told me? She had seen the same woman standing on the landing, who then melted through the door. Well we had a four or five hour drive, and when we got back we were anxious. Not long after we were sitting at our table, something like the one we were actually sitting at at the time. And there was a large book with a raffia type bookmarker in it, and the book suddenly jumped on its side. I am literally having an accident, I shall say. Until I realise that our cat has gotten its claw caught on the side. The book marker which was hanging over the table and had pulled it. Which is very bad timing. To say the least. So some years after I contacted the office who was renting the property, but they denied all knowledge of it being haunted. I suppose they wouldn't admit to it. Anyway, that's the story.

That's a good one.

It's a good one. It's creepy. Um and when he was telling me, he was um which is always interesting when you speak to someone in the flesh, you see the the sort of reaction on the face. And I knew full well that he wasn't fluent. He was a really sort of I suppose a straight up kind of guy, so I guess he had had a terrible fright. But um yeah, I think I would have done the same. What could you really do? With a woman drifting towards you with no legs, you kinda you just kinda just bury your head in this well, literally in the sand, would you and hope it goes away quickly?

Indeed.

But there you go. That's that's this that's an Airbnb in the Quintana Peninsula.

Lovely. Right. Okay. Would you be surprised if I said there's more monks?

No.

Not at all. This is a taken aback, somewhat disappointed if you listen. Yeah.

This is a well-known one as well. I'm going for the good ones. Okay. Um 30 East Street. The black monk of Pontyfrat. I'm glad I said Pontyfrat, right? In West Yorkshire, I was gonna say East Yorkshire. No, it's West Yorkshire.

Would that cause that will cause that would cause issues?

Yes, but I don't mind you.

Is Pontyfrat where the cakes come from?

Well yes, it is.

Okay.

Indeed. Indeed. Yes. Um so this is not like a big house or big stately home or anything. It is a semi-detached council house.

Okay.

Um, which looks like any other house in the street, apparently. So they so they do say that the site is one of the most famous allegipote guys' cases. And it's still been investigated to go. Yeah, so it's a post-war council house, like a lot of them. Um, nothing unusual about that in its appearance. Uh and it's not linked to any ancient buildings or anything like that. So this family move in, they call the Pritchards. Nothing actually before then is reported. So that's quite unclear as to whether there was anything beforehand. There's no widely documents at all of anything major perennial activities prior to their occupancy. So is it the house? Is it the people? Interesting. So, yeah, so it only begins with them. So move Pritchards are Joan and Jean, who moved into the house with their children. Initially, they experienced nothing at all. And then the earliest disturbance was knockings and banging sounds. Right. Minor things, really. Yeah. And they just dismissed it, I think, to start off with. And then it escalated. So objects started to move, the furniture started to shift about, items started disappearing. Well, we've just discussed items disappearing. Yes. Uh, and loud, unexplaining noises as well. Yeah. Um, so the family allegedly claimed that they were touched by unseen hands, bedding was pulled away, and objects moved.

You wouldn't like that.

Independently, a bit like the book, sir, but I don't think it's the cat.

Yeah, no, no, no. I think that was uh that was a unique experience.

So interesting, I I suppose the the common thing with poltergeists is that they appear to focus on women member of the family. Yes. And they're usually teenagers, aren't they?

That's correct, yes.

Um so in this particular case, the person that became the font of it all was poor Diane, who was one of the daughters.

Ah, okay. Do you know roughly how was she a teenager? She was a teenager, yeah.

Yeah. And there was uh family members later claimed that Diane was physically attacked by unseen presence.

Right.

And one of the most famous reports states that she was dragged by the hair. So there's one version that says she was pulled towards or even partly up the stairs.

Right.

And family members reportedly intervened to help her. Nell. Going down the stairs, you would think she's just tripped, but going up the stairs, that's that's gonna take quite a lot of um.

Yeah, effort, energy, yeah.

Especially it's by the hair as well.

Well, I know, and I mean it must be squishingly painful if that was true, you know. Yeah, absolutely terrifying. Um terrifying, yeah.

Yeah, so um obviously it's uh the incident uh primarily from witness testimonies, there's no widely accepted photographic evidence of the event. So but then would you there? Hold on, you're being dragged up the stairs. I'll take a picture.

Yeah, but I'll just sketch.

Just sketch it. Yeah. Yes.

No, you you'd you'd no, you know cracking.

Yeah, I I suppose they're saying that it varies slightly uh depending on the source up. But then I suppose if you've got several people in the room, they already say that if you've got several people in the room, they're different their story will be different from the next one. So it's their interpretation.

Well it's true, it's true. They a a word or two of difference can make can make a story change uh tack rather quickly, I have to say.

So, and there's also one where um the family members claim that she was lifted from her bed by an unclean source. But photographs were taken. So whether they're uh I haven't actually seen any photographs. I couldn't actually see anything, but is there any photographs of her being?

I do know I haven't seen that at all. I have not seen anything photographic at all about that story, I'll be honest with you. Um so I wonder where they are. I might I'm gonna Yeah, I know there's a few books being put out there.

Yeah, and apparently they are in the books, so I'll have to go hunting, I think, to see where we can actually see it. Indeed. So the black monk. So the witnesses see a tall, rock, dark robed figure with hooded appearance, and they think it is a man. So um and Pontifrat does have a long religious history. I suppose that's why they say it is the monk. But there's no evidence that ever linked the apparition to a real monk. So don't know, don't know. But one of the most famous things, apparently, which is quite interesting, is that a crucifix was reported found beds.

Oh, okay.

And according to some uh accounts, it was embedded in the wall.

But again, what I always find fascinating in stories is you know, we're talking about pottergeist activity. Portergeist activity is a completely different thing than a sighting of a ghost, isn't it? So it's kind of weird. Is it uh is it the same thing?

Is it the same thing?

Is it is the ghost doing the stuff, if you know what I mean, or whatever. I don't know.

So yeah, so yeah, sceptics say uh, you know, independent verification is limited and details vary. So but the witnesses outside the family, the neighbours have um also reported hearing disturbances, and some claimed unusual experiences as well. So yeah, so that that's a bit weird. Police also reported detaining the property, and some later stated they witnessed unusual events as well. So there's other witnesses outside of the family that have come in and experienced it. Yeah. And of course the journalists went in newspapers, covered it extensively.

I suppose police as well. I mean, you know, uh generally speaking, usually would downplay something like that and tend to kind of look for the rationals. So it's quite interesting if they themselves saw something, or at least alluded to the fact it might be something, you know, unusual.

Yeah. So um researchers later search for historical explanation, and we've got the monk as well. So John Marsh become involved. Do you know John Marsh?

I do not know John Marsh.

Sometimes identified as the spirit behind the hauntings. Ah so he's said to have lived in the area centuries earlier, and various versions describe him as a monk or a criminal or a local religious figure. Well, it could be a combination of all three, I suppose. A criminal. Criminal. Yeah, but this is a little bit weak, I suppose. This I think people are just kind of like clutching there.

Try to find uh try to find a name. Trying to find a finding.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, but I mean it's you know, it's a bit of a weird, weird one, that one.

Yeah.

I mean, they do say that, you know, the the critic say, you know, it could all be down to family stress, hoaxes, you know, the usual non-believers. Yes, yes. Rather than um actual poltergeist uh but saying that uh there is multiple witnesses, the police was involved, there's consistent reports, yeah. And there's photographic evidence as well. So it's a weird one, that one.

I'm gonna be looking for that photographic evidence.

Yes, interesting. Very interesting, but apparently um it is now used for paranormal investigations.

Really?

It's uh I think that it's just been sold, I think. I think the guy that's actually bought it, he hires it out rather than lives in it.

So I think it's a wise move. Two reasons obviously to make money safer for him, I guess.

Do you remember? Now I will have to re-watch it and see, because this could be my brain blown up. But I do remember watching a program, I think it's called Paranormal Lockdown, UK, and it had Groff. Yeah, I think, and I they done an investigation there, and I think what they call and again I may be incorrect, but I think that there's a glass door on the lounge.

Mm-hmm.

I think they caught on camera a a male figure walking up along the hallway. It's just like the outline of him from the glass.

It's still ongoing.

So it's still ongoing by the looks of it, yeah.

Oh begs the question before the house was this a kind of walkway for a religious person? Or maybe not a religious person. I did I did like the idea of the it's a monk and criminal combo. It's like can make up their mind one or the other. But it's terrifying.

Yeah.

Do you know what I find terrifying? The idea of it, and I was not so much now, but as a child, living in a house like that, if something like that actually happened, we were being physically hurt. You just wouldn't hang around, would you? Life's too short. I'm gonna be, you know, here's the keys, thank you very much. You would, would you? But I mean, typically like in the 70s or 60s, people were probably quite keen and happy to get a place to stay, so you kind of stuck through it stoically, putting up with all sorts of terrifying scenarios. I mean, the councils, I was looking at last week about reports from council houses in Scotland about ghosty sightings, and they do take it quite seriously. Uh, and you can I think you give us a Freedom Information Act when you can actually get certain from certain dates, at least look at these instances when there's been reports of, for example, when the police have investigated, and um so many people have try, you know, what out their councillors because of this, and of course the counsellors are usually cynical. Oh, it's because they want, you know, they want two bedrooms instead of instead of one. And I think one, I can't remember one case somewhere, and I'm sure it was somewhere in Scotland. Uh Cricky, where was it now? Outside Dundee, where some guy, some counselor way back in the 60s, stayed there himself overnight to prove a point, you know, because he was he didn't want this guy getting a move, a house move basically. Seems a bit of an effort though to get a house move, isn't it? You know, usually it's about oh we've got mice or damp or whatever.

That's interesting because I got a story later on that's very similar on that on that colour realm. Oh, very good.

Oh well, well, um I'm tenuously here. I'm I'm talking about Kuros Palace but it is a house. Can I sneak this one in the wire?

Big house, then it's quite big ish. Oh go on, I'll let you.

So this is uh this is uh run by uh a lady called uh Linda Whiteford and it is a property, National Trust, I believe. I think it's National Trust. I hope I'm getting this right here. National Trust. It's very nice by the way. Kuros is a village outside Dunfermline where people I suppose today recognise it from how you know Outlander was filmed there. But it's so beautiful. I think about 70% of buildings are probably owned by the trust. Very, very nice place to be. And and it's this palace, among many other buildings in the village, because not just there, is meant to be haunted. But not meant to be, it is haunted, I should say. It's deadly haunted because I've been in it and I've had an experience. Oh yes. Well, you have to tell us about that. I will, I'm gonna do it, yeah. So this this village, which is really beautiful on the 4th of 4th, is really famous because the main owner, and there's been a few, of course, was a guy called Sir George Martin. It's very similar to the the guy who Abbey Road, Beatles guy, but it's not him, it's not him. Not the producer, no. Unless he's been reincarnated somewhere along the line, I don't know, but we'll probably not. But he's he's quite an interesting guy because his his house has got this beautiful rooms that are all wood lined and they're all like got painted, so it's quite unusual to see so many rooms with this painted galleries, and it's very pretty. And he also made his money from salt. Oh, I know. So so basically in a nutshell, and I know it's hard to believe, he excavated below the Firth of Fourth this massive coal coal fields, if that's the right coal fields. Well, there was coal under the further fourth. So he dug straight down. Oh straight down and or or or down deep, and people were actually underground, excavating coal, climbing up these big ladders. It was a way back in the you know the 1500s, and then using the coal to heat these big salt pans and and extract the salt. And of course, salt was hugely important and valuable. Yeah. Made a lot of money from it. And um so basically the palace was built in two halves, first being 1597, completed in 1611, made with Baltic pine back which were from ships, the ballast from ships. So it's very interesting. Uh he's meant to be one of the ghosts by the time. Oh it's an interesting building, it's got so many different kind of rooms, and I think I believe by about 932 it was it was at the point of collapse, but was saved, so we have it today. But there's been all sorts of weird activity going on there for years, and a lot of people who've experienced things there happen to be women.

Oh.

Because apparently, according to Linda, Sir George has an eye for the ladies.

Oh, he's one of those ghosts, isn't he?

Yes, particularly blondes, I might add. That's what I was told.

I'll be alright then.

Well, I wasn't I'm a bloke, but there you go. It was very strange. I went there, I went there innocently for a wee walk around because I always wanted to go there, and um it was fabulous, and it was in there. So I asked her about ghosts, you see, because you know, as you do, and she was really very accommodating, talking about all the stuff they've done there, and they've done so many investigations. And she said, Oh, Sir George has got this eye for the ladies. Uh, and I was actually there with Cara all the time, my wife who's got blonde hair, and we were left in a room because the parcel guy had arrived, the DPD guy had arrived, so he ran out. Uh Linda ran out to see the guy and says, Just wait in the room. So it was fine. Next minute, I kid you not, the feeling of something in the room was intense, like literally a hair up in the back of the neck, and it falls about. So we started walking around the room to escape this, whatever it was. But it was it was firmly attached, let me tell you. And round and round we went until eventually came back, and it and it was funny because she said, uh, so what happened? Well, we said, and she just sort of laughed, well, you know, but was she expecting something?

She was expecting something.

I think we're fed the lines down there a wee bit, to be fair, but uh very interesting. So this is what he does, and I might add that off one of the bedrooms, and I don't know if Sir George is the guilty party or not, but after out of one of the bedrooms is is a strong room where the family's money was kept. The walls are really thick. I mean, seriously, it's about four feet thick, very secure room. So you can only get so far in as we rope and you can peek in. And I believe there's an American tourist at the time with a rather long ponytail, sort of like looking in the room, and she got a very little fierce tug in the back of the hair and like a proper tug, so her head was sort of snapped back. So I don't know if this was Sir George or not, but somebody was obviously uh unhappy at her presence.

No idea.

But um, children of course see things sometimes we don't. And the classic story was that a young girl was there and um with her mum and uh claimed that a gentleman had been smiling at her and in the corner of the room, wearing a ruff and a big you know, and a big beard and all this kind of thing, and the mum was like, Meh, I thought this was nonsense. But when the attendants took them upstairs to the Sir George Martin portrait, uh the young girl said, That's him, which was quite interesting.

Sometimes you do find that though, and you do. You see a picture of them and think, Oh, it's them.

But yeah, there's lots of stories. Um there's a cafe uh where stuff has been, you know, porter geysactivity, for example. Somebody was petal by scones there once upon. I know I find that funny. I'm thinking of the goodies here, I'm gonna talk about this for some reason.

I hope they were nice, fluffy scones.

I hope they're all supposed to well rock cakes, I suppose, but anyway, never mind. Um but that was the kind of stuff that happened, yeah. So it's it's quite interesting. Yeah, so full-bodied apparitions in the top part of the rooms, which I believe were owned or were lived in by later owners, is a kind of attic area where there's been like um the sound of like people dropping military, you know, swords and belts and such like buckles that's clattering on the floor. And I believe a couple of young visitors there uh saw what it describes, a musketeer type figure wandering by, you know, his outfit on. And I and yeah, genuinely the attic was used apparently as a kind of like uh we'll call it a barracks in its loosest sense, but there were soldiers or some description, military people there. So that's quite interesting. There was also a ghost of what appears to be a monkey. A monkey. A monkey. Not a monk, but a monkey. A monkey noise. Yeah, makes a change. So yeah, a monkey, and uh and again being seen um by by guests swinging on the four-poster bed, which is unusual. But yeah, there's been lots of stuff there, and a chap there, once upon a time, who is known as the black colonel, who lived there, and both his daughter and wife died from TB, and both have been seen in the room, um, which is quite interesting. The portrait is it's an interesting portrait. He's got he's got like a a big old King Charles, the second head of hair thing going on, you know, which we're assuming is a wig. But it's interesting because there's been photographic evidence of this guy being seen in the building, I believe. And yeah, very, very interesting. He just appears, but his daughter appears in the room, which I think's off his what would have been his bedchamber. There's a little ante room, if you like. She's got her room off that. I'm trying to remember the configuration of the building, but yeah, it is interesting. He she's been seen there too, sort of kneeling by the bed. So there's been multiple sightings. Guy in a green coat, like a sort of velvety jacket. Yeah, lots of released things. Interesting place. So yeah, we went in there and that was that. Interesting times. Also, like I say, the Sun newspaper was here at the time, and man settled down for the night and actually did uh an investigation. The sun, the sun, believe it or not. I know, would you believe it? Could you be in the Guardian, but they've got the sun, but there you go, you've got the sun.

Wow.

And the sun came round and they were in there, and um, this is quite funny. So the Sun newspaper also got in in the act, and um they were doing their investigation, and Sir George apparently came through because they were asking questions about who he was and what was there and all that kind of thing, you know, deep questions, the kind of questions we always ask in these things, and he replied, jerk. So, well, what about me? says Anna, who was the reporter. The reply was common.

It could have been worse, I'm sure.

Yeah, he was a gentleman after all, but uh yeah, absolutely outrageous. So there's been a couple of things there. So yeah, do you think he has probably got a sense of humour?

Sounds like it.

I feel the last thing really about there that is probably less amusing is the sighting of what has been described as a black mass coming out of what's the strong room. Uh three or four members of staff describe this whatever, this dark entity rising from the floor before moving up walls and crossing across ceilings, described as a kind of elemental energy. It's either there to protect or could be harmful to those who trespass or transgress. So um this was what I was told. So I was my best behaviour then, let me tell you. But that's quite creepy, and that's been witnessed a few times.

Yeah, that doesn't sound at all nice at all.

I'm just gonna think if there's anything else offhand here. Oh, apart from, yeah, I'd say photographic evidence, but the but the actual haunting, if you like, of whether it's the same haunting or not, seems to not just be confined to the building. I mean, there's stuff being seen in the garden area. There's a there's also a a sort of toll booth area in the in the in the in the main village, which is probably a couple of hundred yards away, sort of phenomena there as well. But whether it's the same things or completely different, I I couldn't say it. I really would like to go back. I know for a fact they do do or have had a lot of a sort of not not necessarily seances but investigations there. But it's done by a specific team, so it's quite low-key. You can book tickets, I believe, for it, depending. I've never been I could I quite fancy it, I'll be honest with you. It's got a really interesting building. Um and I definitely something in that room. I'm not just saying that it would it was strange. I mean, I was laughing about it, but I was laughing about the time. It didn't feel bad, but it's felt a bit weird. Interesting.

A road trip. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. So it's still on the power geast.

Oh, yes, yes.

Yes, but off to Enfield.

A very good, very good, good old London town.

Good old London teen. 284 Green Street Enfield. Very, very famous account of the Hodgsons that stayed there from 1977 to 1979. Yes, Peggy uh lived there with her four children, and majority of the activity was around the 11-year-old Janet Hodgson. Um, but it would appear that they all got some kind of things going on. There was bed shaking, loud knocks on the walls, furniture moving, and the objects being thrown as well. Um, so police again, as similar to the other case, the um can't remember the name now.

Completely oh uh the black monk. Black monk, yes.

Pontifrates him the police attended, and one police officer uh reported seeing a chair move in an unusual manner.

She noted it down in the snow. It's an unusual manner. Unusual manner. Very civilized, I have to say.

Uh so the main phenomena was knocking sounds that appeared responsive. Furniture moving, and which I've already said, objects being thrown. Um, and apparently Janet levitating. Now there is that famous photograph of her mid-air.

That's correct. Yes.

Um, and also a deep male voice would be speaking through Janet as well.

Yes.

Occasional reports of apparitions on explained noises. So the person who investigated them, who was brought in to investigate, was Amoris Grause. Yes. And guy Lin Pleafair. And they conducted extensive investigation on behalf of the Society of Scotland.

They could call us out. Is it them?

It's them.

Them what?

Them, them. It is they they they've done it on their behalf. Investigation. I do apologize for my fumbling.

So anyway, there were hundreds of witness statements, photographs, audio recordings, and media reports were collected. So there's quite a bit of evidence about this kind of thing that went on. Um, the voice, um, which is quite interesting, that Janet claimed to do, because she used to like do this voice, um, which was quite a deep, gruff voice. Um, and it's claimed to be the former resident of Bill Wilkins, uh, who stated that he lived in the house and died there as well. And I do think that there was investigations actually confirmed that that was the last person who lived there before they moved in. And the voice provided details of Bill's death that appeared in correspondence to known the facts. So there's evidence there that he did. He did there, yeah. And it is reported that Bill's son heard the recording of voice. I think he heard it on the radio. Um, and he is reportedly confirmed uh that that was his father's voice. And he confirmed how he died as well. Yes, so they said this is the strongest piece of evidence in the case. So he's yeah, and I think that he didn't get on well with his father. So I think there was kind of an estrangement, but so he it wasn't someone that Yeah, what protect um protect, yeah, yeah. So that's quite strong there as well.

Have you heard the recording, by the way? Have you ever heard it? I have. It's creepy, isn't it? It is very creepy.

From a little girl, you know.

Yeah, it's kind of very sort of blender blairish in a way.

Yeah, so uh uh there's no well documented reports of hauntings or poultry activities before they moved in. Right. So again, it's all based on teenagers. I mean the previous one was teenagers, so is it a case that the this is something I've been thinking about lately as well.

Is it a case that when your hormones are all up and there's quite a lot of emotional upheaval that that can make you susceptible to seeing ghosts or true could be could be the opposite to what people think, and it could be that rather than you know your your own brain causing it in a sense, or your own energy. Yeah. The the photograph of the I can't remember her name, but the the the daughter who was photographed sort of floating that's always been I mean, it's it's a very intriguing photograph. I mean, there's sort of two two schools of thought. There's those those that think she you know bounced on the bed.

On the bed, yeah.

But I mean, I know there was a few reporters in there as well, and they I think they stayed in for some considerable time and they seem to believe it was actually a genuine phenomenon.

I mean, there's a lot of evidence there that actually supports the case. But journalists did admit in some incidents they were faked. So Right, yeah, yeah. Um and they did uh investigates occasionally caught the children staging minor events.

Right, yeah.

And as you said, some of the photographs have been interpreted of her jumping rather than being levitated. So yeah. Yeah, the the jury's out, I think, on that one. But it it's interesting.

Yeah.

Um that the fact I I certainly think that the fact that the son can actually say yes, that was my father's voice, and he confirmed how he died and and all that information beforehand. But yeah, so nearly 50 years later, it still remains unsolved and it's still talked about.

Yeah.

And I think it's one of those things that will be certainly in folklore, I think.

And but nobody since they've moved out has really, I don't think, have they really talked about any continuation?

No, it doesn't appear to be, which makes me think that perhaps it's just the person rather than the actual.

Yeah, no, I totally get that. Totally get that.

Mmm.

Well, I I I was going to talk about something completely different now, but since you've just talked about that, I'm gonna talk about something very similar to what you just said. Because I thought that it would make us look like smooth and it's all segued in there.

Okay, off we go.

Have you heard of the Gordon Street Portergeist? Gordon Street No This is an Aberdeen, Gordon Street Portergeist. This is an interesting one because it's it's kind of similar, except it was way back in the 1920s. So Gordon Lane, Gordon Street, Gorn Lane, it's a little backwater um off Union Street, and it doesn't exist. The B building is gone, it's a cottage. But in 1920, there was a there was a series of sort of portergeist activity, uh a porter guest outbreak that sort of hut the papers, and of course it's sort of spread across Britain, so it was listening to London papers as well, and so it was attracting a lot of publicity, and they're attracting massive crowds every night, just like you know, people just hanging about waiting to see what's happening. And and you had like spiritualists from the spiritualist church who went in and they did a a couple of like seances and such like, and they were you know adamant. I think they kind of proved I'll tell you what happened. Well, I'm jumping ahead myself, but basically, um this guy called John Ucker, who got nicknamed Johnny Ghosty. Oh Daniel. That's a good thing. That's a great, great name. He claimed that there was something attached to him, like a ghost. And the family were also backing us up by saying like they'd hear like abnormal thumping noises, and he'd the bed, or he would rise from the bed, and all this kind of stuff. And this went on for ages, and a figure of a guy'd been seen and he was terrified, and things would jump off the table and such like. So this was the scenario. So now you've got a big crowd getting whipped up into a frenzy, and it turned out you know, they were the they thought it might have been his grandfather. Um like there's a sayance, one that one of the mediums said, I think, if I remember correctly, that it was the grandfather who passed away.

Right.

But I mean, again, this has never been proven. So the second scenario was that down below them was a was a blacksmith, and he'd poisoned himself, this guy, and he he died, but he he didn't die there. I think he was found in dead bodies found in Countess Wells, which is kind of outside of well, it was the middle of nowhere back then, put it that way. Yeah, probably about five miles away from there. So the peep there's two schools of thought. It's either him come back to haunt the house that he was in, or it's the grandfather trying to impart a message, and he was claiming the young lad was claiming that his granddad was telling me you know to that the family should look after each other and all this kind of stuff. So it was all very ambiguous. But after a while, the police were there and such like, and it all kind of died down and was forgotten about but it's a big, big story, and and when you read about it, it was it was generally quite creepy the descriptions of what was going on. There was even an old photograph in the papers, and you see it, and it looks like a creepy old place. But it turns out I don't think it was it might have been absolute flannel, I don't know. They had a um a woman approach the papers, probably the evening express or one of the Abbey Papers uh crikey a few years back, and she said, Oh, I knew the you know, because she was from the area, and the the the guy had issues, we'll call it issues, the young lad. And she says, Oh no, no, it was him. It was him, but he was caught making noises, jumping about and carrying on, I don't know, hyperactive or whatever, but he was doing something.

Yeah.

Later on, as an adult, as a young adult, he was actually caught uh or found guilty of assaulting uh younger girls. Oh, ooh dear. Yeah, and I mean, so this and he was actually beaten up very badly by his neighbours and uh had been threatened with prison twice. I don't think he went to prison, but twice in the 19 like see 1927-28 when he was a young, older guy, we'll say older guy, you know, young man, he'd been in trouble with the law for various things. So I think he had this propensity for stuff and unpleasant things. Um but anyway it stuck. So there's this huge debate now. Did he ever did he manufacture the whole thing? Right. I don't know if the folks got paid for the story or whatever. But it it went down in the papers for about three weeks, and you could go online. I mean, I've got all the printouts from back in the day. It's interesting reading. They really did believe it was a genuine haunting at the time, but obviously in retrospect, who knows? But yeah, that was similar, I think, to that. Except obviously the Enfield farmer, a solid definitely Enfield's got something. I I really feel it myself. But you know, you couldn't manufacture all that surely incredibly difficult to do. I did see a documentary as well when they interviewed one of the girls who was on the um the receiving end of that, you know, as an adult. And she did seem a little, you know, troubled or probably anxious because of maybe what happened to her.

Yeah, well it does I think it does stick with you.

Yeah, I imagine so.

Which is uh nice segue. Oh into my one.

Oh, very good. Very good.

Right. We're going back to Leatherhead.

Crickety, okay. Very good.

We are meeting a 10-year-old Karen.

What you? Yes, me. Oh, cricket, okay. Let's go for this.

Right. So, what was 10-year-old Karen like? What do you think?

Uh younger?

She was younger. She was very strange.

Carefree.

Oh no, no, she was not carefree. She was yes, yes. What he was saying about earlier that um people seeing ghosts if they're like traumatic events, and yeah, they do say grief as well, and yeah, yeah. Yeah, just quite an emotional. So, yeah, so ten-year-old, it's 1978, I'll give my year age away.

Okay.

Um 1978 was quite a traumatic year for the young ten-year-old Karen. Right. And uh yeah, so um one of one of the traumatic events, and I say this in jest because he might be listening, was the birth of my brother. So yes, love him dearly, but still I did find that quite traumatic because we had to move from our house, which was a nice two-little bedroom house into this other house, which it was a reasonably nice house. It's three bedrooms, you know. It's not an old house. I think I would say it was about ten years old.

Right.

So council house. Okay. Um soon as I got there, I thought I don't like this. The the hallway, no, there was a glass door into the kitchen. Hated that glass door, especially if I had to come down at night. I really hated that bit of the house. The stairs as well. If I was coming down the stairs, it always felt like there was someone behind you. So you sort of go down to a stone.

Yeah.

So, yeah, so it it it didn't feel completely right, this house anyway. So uh any one particular day, there was an argument going on in the lounge between my dad, my mum, and my sister, which was not unusual, but you know, there there's all obviously a bit of a ding-dong going on.

Yeah, yeah.

So I thought I'm going to stand in the dining room where I'm not getting involved. And I was standing by the window, just looking out in the garden. I saw some kind of like, you know, like you see something out of the corner of your eye.

Yeah.

And it's kind of like a white, and then I thought, what's that? I saw like a figure, it was a wall-in-white figure of this woman coming out the kitchen door.

Right.

She kind of she like turns to the right, because uh in the garden we had like uh it was quite a steep slope up the garden. Yeah. So we had like a little um metal gate and about three or four steps going up.

Right.

She got to the gate, she opened the gate and then went floating up the back of the garden. Right. Into the tree. We had trees at the back, up to the trees, and I thought, you as you do.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So I mean it looked like she was wearing a night dress as well. So I thought, mmm, anyway. Uh so a few weeks later, mum and dad said, Right, we're off to go and look at this house. Now we'd only been in this house about three or four months.

Right.

My mum and dad said, right, we're going off to see this house. So off we go and see this house. And oh, I know it was the 70s, but we walked in. The hallway was bright green, okay, including the ceiling. The lounge was bright pink, including the ceiling. I and it was like all multicoloured.

It's the same same decorator as the one in Skipness, obviously, he got around.

There was no doors on any of the rooms, there was no banister, and there was like a um let's just say a very um weird substance on the walls upstairs, which was brown. Oh, we thought, oh, what earth are we here for? So anyway, parents parents said to me and my sister, no, I do believe this is the first and last time we probably agreed on anything. They said, Girls, would you like to live here? And we both at the same time went, No, why it looked like a crack house.

Why would we want to live here? Anyway, so courageous.

So before we knew it, oh like a month or so later, we're in this house.

You're kidding me. What?

And I thought, well, and it's only recently I thought, why? Yeah, why do we all of a sudden have to move from the house?

Yeah.

And I was discussing this with another family member, so I think perhaps my dad had seen it.

Yeah, seriously. So the ghost and thought, yeah, I'm out of here and I'll take whatever's going.

Yeah, uh, I think if my mum had said my mum was more open than my dad.

Yeah.

If she'd seen it, she would have said.

Yeah, yeah.

But I think the f that yeah, we were out there so quickly. And yeah.

So we so you bought the new place. Well, the old no, it's it was council house. So you rented. So we rented it. So you just took what was there.

I mean, it had no central heating for a start. You just think why?

Yeah. Why? Yeah, I know. I think by that time you're you're expecting sort of like improvements in these.

So, yeah, so I I did do a little bit of investigation as to what was there beforehand. It was like farm farmland.

Yeah.

Um, and where our house stood was actually a couple of wooden cottages. Oh. So I wonder if the lady in the 90 was.

Wouldn't that be interesting to get the census records from there and find out who was there and what she was.

Yes, but I just thought that it it's interesting that um we moved out so quickly. Yeah. Into a place that yeah.

I don't um I mean yeah, I mean I I mean I've been really lucky actually. I mean, there's been a few houses we've moved into where there's been weird stuff happened, but nothing nothing crazy bad. I mean, there's been, yeah, things. I remember one I think when I first moved, moved in with Carl Victoria Road, the bloom in uh the middle of the night, uh it's like a a peacock suit by what's his name? Um Paul Weller came on the C D randomly, about full volume in the middle of the night, which is pretty disturbing. You know, I didn't know how that happened, but telly would go off and on, um, figures would be seen. My neighbour upstairs actually be living in a place called Torrey, that was quite interesting. So we had these weird experiences in this house. I mean nothing major, but just stuff. And my neighbour Suzanne upstairs was like, she she like one day she woke up when she was in her bedroom and she heard a guy, or I assumed it was a guy with the heavy footsteps clumped about next door. So she was lying, I think she'd been burgled, you know. So that was pretty disconcerting, obviously there was nobody there. But another time, and I remember it well because she'd a really big mirror, you know, it was quite a heavy thing. And she'd come out and came back, and the mirror had fallen off the wall. Now, if it'd fallen off the wall, you know, it would have smashed. But it was balanced on two candlesticks, which is unusual. Just replaced it there. So there's weird stuff there, but nothing's ever made me want to. I've I've visited houses when I've been thinking about maybe moving in a place and maybe potentially looking to buy a place, but no, thank you.

Yeah.

Because it's just like, you know, something grim's happened. And I don't know, a sage can only go work so far, I see.

Indeed, yes.

I really do. Yes, well, uh there was a house that I uh I it's not on my list, but I'll quickly say this now. There was a house that we we were renting before we brought a house. Um and uh we had the dog at that point. And when I I was the first one to go and view it, and I did think middle floor, because it's our townhouse.

Yeah, yeah.

And it's a relatively new house as well. Yeah. I thought there's something going on in this in the middle floor, but I thought perhaps it's just me, as it is. Um and then the second time we went round after we said yes, we'll have it, we took the dog round and uh the dog looked up the middle stair and thought, nope, I'm not going up there. So I said to said to the hubby, right, I said, just humour me, we're gonna sage the house. So he's there, sage it away.

There he was putting like plastic bags over the smoke detectors. Just hum remote.

Close the smoke everywhere.

I was good, open the windows, let them out.

Yes.

And it was fine for a bit, and then I think the few weeks before we were about to move out, it started feeling a bit funky, I guess.

Well, maybe they were thinking, oh Blayby, we've got used to you, we've got to find some new people on us.

I'm gonna show my Yeah, but then I was thinking perhaps it's not the actual it's not an actual spook, perhaps it's just the energy because it's a rental, there's a lot of like people going in out, and it could be like loads of energy in there.

But the doggy didn't like it, so I often think it's strange when you think about hotel rooms, you can consider how much people go through those things.

Yes, yes, I must admit I'm a bit funny with hotel rooms.

You get lots of weird hotels. I'm sure we'll cover this. I'm sure we will. But I mean, it was like God, I might have so many people I know I've stayed in hotels and ended up you know having to leave at six in the morning or or lay awake all night terrified or whatever. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Yeah. Anyway.

Oh, what am I doing?

I don't know what you do.

I've got to tell you a story. Tell us a story, thank you. I've got a couple of stories. These are these, I mean, I mean, these are these are like minis. Can I put two together? Because they're weird tiddlers. So this is like mini stories. Um they're both from my hometown, Aberdeen, which I've Talked about a lot, but I don't mean I did mention them before, so newbies. I hope. Please, please reply, viewers or listeners, in the in the comments below if you if you've heard this one before. But King Carth, yeah, it's uh guy called John, I know, told me this story. Uh it's short and sweet, but absolutely terrifying. Now he was living in a council house there, and if I get the story correct, he was um alerted by his neighbour. Um his neighbour had his wife came running round in panic and thinking the guy had had a stroke and he'd they ran around the house and the guy was sitting bolt upright in bed. Like obviously rigid, couldn't move or nothing. So he was duly hauled off to hospital and thankfully uh made a full recovery after a few days, came out of this thing, and the doctors were perplexed because they thought he'd actually had a medical you know, episode, but it was kind of fright. And what had happened was uh just opposite his bedroom was is the bathroom in the house, and he woke up one day to sit up in bed and he looked through and there was a guy in the bath sort of slumped over dead to his face, who was an elderly guy, and he got such a fright, he went into this kind of this kind of s like seizure, if you like. And it turned out um that his previous tenant in the house had actually died in the bath. Which is quite horrible. So he was kind of seen or something, and that was that was that was quite an extreme reaction. There was another lady as well that well, spoke to not the lady in question, but the friend of the lady in question. She sent me a letter, I've still got it at home, describing an incident that happened in old Aberdeen, which is, you know, a really nice area in the city. Address undisclosed, unfortunately, but I believe by the description it was possibly the high street. And this woman had um moved into this flat house and was woken up continually by weird things like somebody sitting on the edge of the bed, which is, you know, very disconcerting to say the least. And having these really vivid dreams. And she had this really horrible dream in which it was a woman or a a figure standing, woman, at the foot of the bed, that um she went up, she got up and followed the figure. And essentially in the lobby, the hallway was uh like a hatch leading to the cellar. And she followed the woman down there and saw uh like a really horrible murder taking place, and then literally woke up back in bed, freaking out, thinking, you know, had she actually physically gone out of her bed and done something. This was so vivid. Anyway, she went and checked the floor, obviously where this hatch had been, and lifted the rug and there was nothing there. So that was all good. But a little while later she went to a local corner shop and it was raining quite badly, so she thought, I'll just hang fire. I was speaking to the guy there and he was asking her where she stayed, and she was like, blah blah blah. And according to what I was told, the guy then piped up, oh that was the house where the murder took place. So I don't know if it's genuine or not, but I mean I'll be honest with you, um, up to fairly modern times, murders in Aberdeen were pretty thin in the ground, historically. If you look at murders from 1900 upwards till about say the 70s, you could pretty much map them out a couple of years, and I haven't found anything. Personally, maybe I haven't looked hard enough, I don't know. But there's certainly nothing, none of these horrible stories that always in the public consciousness. But that can't have been one of them, because I would have known about it. Anyway. It's interesting. Maybe it was just maybe it was a dream, maybe but or a coincidence or whatever. Or maybe the letter was a whole load of nonsense, I really don't know. But for somebody to take the effort to write to me, I think would likely be telling the truth.

Yeah.

I think I would hope. Anyway, that's that. That's that. So that's it, yeah. So that's two small stories with small houses. But we'll do another one soon, and it'll be more of a a grand house.

I keep the high light on, but the shadow was never fade. Every corner whisper secrets are the choices that I made. There's a tapping at the window, though the wind is standing still, and a chill runs down my spine like something moving at its will. I tell myself it's nothing, just the creaking of the floor, but every night the silence feels louder than before. Still you can hide from the side. Something in the top remembers me. I'm too afraid to see every picture. Seems to watch me as I pass away for the moment when my courage doesn't last little prayers to keep the night match from my bed. Breathing a good still scared. You can't hide from what's already cute. Something in the dark remembers me No matter what I do that feeling doesn't go a light. Still scared The hauntings never fade Maybe it's just trauma, maybe ghosts are made of fear But every night I swear I feel present drawing near You can say there's nothing there But tell me if that's true I just don't sing in the quiet feel like it's looking through me top you can't hide from what's here.