Speaker 1: Have you ever had a moment that made your skin crawl,
Speaker 1: a shadow where there shouldn't be one, a whisper in
Speaker 1: an empty room, or something you simply can't explain. If so,
Speaker 1: we want to hear from you here at the Haunted
Speaker 1: UK Podcast. We're always on the lookout for spine tingling
Speaker 1: stories to feature in our end of season listener episodes
Speaker 1: and our short Haunts series. Whether it's a chilling encounter,
Speaker 1: a mysterious experience, or something that's haunted you for years,
Speaker 1: we want your tale. Send your story to contact us
Speaker 1: at Haunted UK podcast dot com, and don't forget to
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Speaker 1: bonus content, exclusive episodes and extra material that'll keep you
Speaker 1: up all night. But that's not all. We've launched a
Speaker 1: brand new sister podcast, Haunted UK Fiction, and we're calling
Speaker 1: all storytellers, whether you're a published author, an aspiring writer,
Speaker 1: or someone with a natural gift for spinning ear retails.
Speaker 1: We're looking for original fictional short stories and novellas with
Speaker 1: strong paranormal or supernatural themes. Think suspenseful, mysterious, atmospheric, terrifying,
Speaker 1: thought provoking, even darkly magical. If your story is selected,
Speaker 1: we'll professionally narrate, record, mix and master it into an
Speaker 1: audiobook style format, then feature it on the show. You'll
Speaker 1: get a copy of the finished production to use however
Speaker 1: you like, and you'll retain full ownership of your work.
Speaker 1: Admit your story to Haunted UK Fiction at hotmail dot
Speaker 1: com and follow us on Instagram at Haunted uk fiction. So,
Speaker 1: whether it's truth or fiction, if it's haunted we wanted.
Speaker 1: Now sit back and enjoy the episode. This is the
Speaker 1: Haunted UK Podcasts Short Haunts. Welcome dear listeners to our
Speaker 1: series of short haunts. A shot of scary just for you,
Speaker 1: So grab a hot chocolate. Maybe a team may be
Speaker 1: something stronger, because this is Haunted UK Podcasts Short Haunts.
Speaker 1: The priest room. For most of us, going away on
Speaker 1: holiday provides an opportunity to relax, to take in new experiences,
Speaker 1: to try different food, and to escape the daily grind
Speaker 1: of work. We look forward to these times away from home,
Speaker 1: a brief change from the usual four walls. But things
Speaker 1: don't always go to plan. You only have to look
Speaker 1: at the events which took place at the Palazzio Albritzi
Speaker 1: described in episode eleven The Venetian Palace Haunting to discover
Speaker 1: that even the best laid plans and holidays in some
Speaker 1: of the most exotic and beautiful locations can go terribly wrong.
Speaker 1: We've heard so many times on this podcast that paranormal
Speaker 1: and supernatural phenomena are not restricted by race, color, culture, wealth,
Speaker 1: or profession. The events which took place in the Palazzo
Speaker 1: Albritzi affected the entire group of holidaymakers, including and ranging
Speaker 1: from ominous atmospheres and poltergeist activity to full body apparitions.
Speaker 1: These terrifying events apparently took place because the holidaymakers had
Speaker 1: dared to use the dining room for dinner parties, not
Speaker 1: realizing that around four hundred years previously, the space had
Speaker 1: been a bedroom where a horrific murder had taken place.
Speaker 1: The bedroom was the domain of the Contessa Albrizzi, whose
Speaker 1: portrait hung in the dining room. The story goes that
Speaker 1: her husband couldn't have children, so the contessa took a lover,
Speaker 1: but was soon found out by her husband, who not
Speaker 1: only killed her lover, but also murdered her by decapitation.
Speaker 1: It just goes to show that sometimes you don't really
Speaker 1: know the true fabric of the environment in which you're staying.
Speaker 1: Events like these could take place anywhere hotels, guesthouses, hostels,
Speaker 1: stately homes. The list goes on and on. This short
Speaker 1: haunt was sent in by a listener who wishes to
Speaker 1: remain anonymous, so for the purpose of this episode, we'll
Speaker 1: call him Nathan. He describes a series of strange and
Speaker 1: frightening events which took place during an innocent family holiday
Speaker 1: in a truly beautiful location. It's important to stress to
Speaker 1: you all that Nathan wasn't the only witness to these events.
Speaker 1: There were others. So with that, it's time to hand
Speaker 1: over to Nathan so he can recount he's short haunt.
Speaker 1: I recently stumbled upon your podcast on Spotify and have
Speaker 1: listened to the entire collection during my work shifts and
Speaker 1: drives to and from work. I love listening to other
Speaker 1: people's experiences with the paranormal, and I must admit it
Speaker 1: reminded me of an experience my family and I had
Speaker 1: on holiday. For context, this event took place around fifteen
Speaker 1: years ago, so my recollection of exact details may be
Speaker 1: a little sketchy, but listening to the experiences of others
Speaker 1: has given me the confidence to not only tell my story,
Speaker 1: but to also come to the conclusion that this wasn't
Speaker 1: in my imagination. I've taken the time to corroborate the
Speaker 1: series of events with other members of my family, and
Speaker 1: I now feel it's right to share these experiences with
Speaker 1: you and the show's listeners. My family and I would
Speaker 1: usually take a yearly vacation somewhere hot, such as Tenerife, Lanzerotti,
Speaker 1: or similar destinations. A year or two prior to the
Speaker 1: events of this story, my uncle had purchased a villa
Speaker 1: in the Algave in Portugal. We stayed there one year,
Speaker 1: but the following year was going to be the big
Speaker 1: family holiday. My dad's side of the family were planning
Speaker 1: for all of us to be in Portugal at the
Speaker 1: same time. What a fantastic idea, we all thought. My
Speaker 1: cousins and I thought of nothing more than the endless
Speaker 1: playtime we'd have, whilst our parents thought of nothing more
Speaker 1: than all the downtime they'd have. They could relaxed whilst
Speaker 1: we would entertain ourselves and wear each other at As
Speaker 1: you can imagine, there were quite a few people attending
Speaker 1: this holiday, fifteen to be exact, adults, seven children, and myself.
Speaker 1: You'd be correct in thinking that fifteen people weren't all
Speaker 1: going to get into one villa, so it was decided
Speaker 1: that a second villa should be rented out. Again for context,
Speaker 1: my uncle's villa was located down an unmade road, a
Speaker 1: rough track, if you could call it that, where there
Speaker 1: were three or four other residences, two at the start
Speaker 1: of the road and then further back my uncles and
Speaker 1: the villa across the road which we were renting. My aunts,
Speaker 1: uncles and cousins were in one villa, whilst my family,
Speaker 1: myself and my nan would be across the road in
Speaker 1: the rented one. The day of the holiday finally arrived
Speaker 1: and the merry mob of us got on the plane
Speaker 1: with us kids, causing complete havoc. At this point, everything
Speaker 1: was normal and the flight was routine. As we landed
Speaker 1: and stepped off the plane, we were met with a
Speaker 1: rush of heat from the Portuguese climate. After locating the
Speaker 1: higher car, we soon arrived at the villa in which
Speaker 1: my family and I would be staying. The listing details
Speaker 1: of the villa made it sound fantastic a games room,
Speaker 1: private pool, four bedrooms and bathrooms. My mum and dad
Speaker 1: got the only upstairs room, which was massive and had
Speaker 1: fantastic views from what I recall. Then came the fun bit,
Speaker 1: the rest of us picking our rooms. The original plan
Speaker 1: was for my nan to have her own room, my
Speaker 1: brother and sister to share a room, and me, being
Speaker 1: the oldest and a grumpy, belligerent teenager, having the pleasure
Speaker 1: of having my own room. After getting inside and hauling
Speaker 1: our cases into the villa, we immediately began to explore,
Speaker 1: with a number of us trying to locate the games room,
Speaker 1: as the description hadn't made it clear where it was located.
Speaker 1: As I entered the kitchen, I discovered a winding staircase
Speaker 1: which led to a lower floor. I can't explain, but
Speaker 1: I felt like there was a terrible darkness down these stairs.
Speaker 1: Being a teenager, I ignored the feeling. I simply wanted
Speaker 1: to know if this was the games room and if
Speaker 1: it was, what was in there. Hoping for a play
Speaker 1: station or an Xbox, I was greeted by metal gates,
Speaker 1: heavy metal gates which were painted white, which was strange
Speaker 1: considering these were essentially in the basement in front of
Speaker 1: a locked door. Again, pushing any questions aside, I unlocked
Speaker 1: the door, flicked on the light switch, and was met
Speaker 1: with the sight of a pool table, a dance board,
Speaker 1: and a few other bits and pieces. I must admit
Speaker 1: I was disappointed, so I went back upstairs to the
Speaker 1: ground floor and informed everyone that I'd found the games room,
Speaker 1: then briefly described what was in it. After the period
Speaker 1: of exploration was over, it was time to unpack. We
Speaker 1: decided to get my nap and set up in her
Speaker 1: room first. As I remember it, it was a buttery
Speaker 1: yellow room filled with floral knickknacks and doilies. We then
Speaker 1: looked at what would be my room, and this is
Speaker 1: where the issue arose the experience with the paranormal. This
Speaker 1: room would have been perfect because it had a double bed,
Speaker 1: its own bathroom, and plenty of space. I've always been tall,
Speaker 1: so bedspace has always been a big deal. Access to
Speaker 1: this room was via a small hallway with the bathroom
Speaker 1: to one side and slatted wardrobes on the other. As
Speaker 1: soon as I laid eyes on my room, I felt uneasy.
Speaker 1: There was an aura coming from it, which filled me
Speaker 1: with dread. Hoping it would pass, I walked further in,
Speaker 1: noticing that the bathroom light was bathing the whole room
Speaker 1: in a yellow glow, like the set of a badly
Speaker 1: filmed horror movie. Again, I tried to convince myself that
Speaker 1: I'd get used to it and overcome this feeling, which
Speaker 1: at the time seemed like an irrational fear. I then
Speaker 1: took to the actual bedroom and found that the walls
Speaker 1: were all white, just plain white, with the furniture being
Speaker 1: constructed from a very dark wood. The bulbs in this
Speaker 1: room cast a cold white light, making this contrast incredibly offsetting.
Speaker 1: The room was also unnaturally cold, ridiculously cold considering the
Speaker 1: temperature of the rest of the villa. This is when
Speaker 1: the dread set in deeper. I felt like I was
Speaker 1: being watched and felt the hairs on the back of
Speaker 1: my neck stand up. The need to run out of
Speaker 1: that room as quickly as I could was overwhelming, and
Speaker 1: I immediately went to find my mum to explain what
Speaker 1: I'd felt. She tried to console me, as I'd always
Speaker 1: had a very active imagination, but after telling her that
Speaker 1: I really really didn't want to stay in that room,
Speaker 1: that I'd rather share a room with my brother than
Speaker 1: staying there, my mom was forced to make changes. My
Speaker 1: brother was nine years old at the time, and as
Speaker 1: you'd expect, the difference in age and interests put us
Speaker 1: at odds with each other more often than not. Changing
Speaker 1: rooms was clearly a big deal, as I was swapping
Speaker 1: a luxury double bed and privacy for a single bed
Speaker 1: in a shared room. My mom then offered the room
Speaker 1: to my twelve year old sister, genuinely believing that I
Speaker 1: was imagining things. But this didn't go to plan either.
Speaker 1: My sister had the same feeling of dread as I did.
Speaker 1: Before she'd even got into the room. She turned to
Speaker 1: my mum and told her I'd rather share a room
Speaker 1: with Nan than sleep in there. With two of us
Speaker 1: now having the exact same feelings about this room, my
Speaker 1: mom finally went to investigate it for herself. She also
Speaker 1: felt exactly the same way as my sister and I did.
Speaker 1: She left the room and we all looked at each other,
Speaker 1: somewhat lost for words. We looked at one another and
Speaker 1: silently started unpacking in our newly designated rooms, my brother
Speaker 1: and I in one room, and my sister and Nan
Speaker 1: in the yellow room. That night, I had horrifying dreams
Speaker 1: in which shadowy figures lurked around the corners of that room.
Speaker 1: I woke up in a cold sweat, my brothers still asleep,
Speaker 1: but knowing I had to walk past that room. I
Speaker 1: wasn't taking the chance, and I just sat in that
Speaker 1: bed all night, waiting for dawn. Eventually, when dawn did come,
Speaker 1: I went and sat in the living room, flicking through
Speaker 1: the available channels on the TV. It was a feeble
Speaker 1: attempt at finding something to shake the fear that had
Speaker 1: been gripping me, trying to distract myself from the feeling
Speaker 1: of being watched, somewhat like having to watch a Disney
Speaker 1: flick after overdoing it on the horror movies before bed.
Speaker 1: I eventually settled on Taqushi's Castle, finding the comedic commentary,
Speaker 1: easing my nerves enough to get me through the next
Speaker 1: two hours before anyone else stirred. When my mum came down,
Speaker 1: she could see I wasn't in a good way, and
Speaker 1: as we sat down out of a cup of tea,
Speaker 1: she asked me what was up. I simply said, I
Speaker 1: dreamt of the priest Room. I have no idea why
Speaker 1: we started calling it the priest room, but for some reason,
Speaker 1: it just seemed to fit. I decided against telling her
Speaker 1: about the shadowy figures or anything else that happened in
Speaker 1: the dream, as I didn't want her to panic. But
Speaker 1: the feelings of dread didn't stop there. As soon as
Speaker 1: it got dark, if the door descending to the game's
Speaker 1: room was open, I could feel that dark presence and
Speaker 1: the feeling of being watched. I don't know why, but
Speaker 1: by closing the doors, I felt like I was safe.
Speaker 1: I guess the idea of out of sight, out of
Speaker 1: mind kind of works when you're a teen. After this,
Speaker 1: we closed the door to the priest Room and kept
Speaker 1: it closed, and I slept better. I still refused to
Speaker 1: walk past the priest Room at night or go anywhere
Speaker 1: near the game's room. Unfortunately, the period of relief brought
Speaker 1: on by closing the doors didn't last long. During the
Speaker 1: second week of the holiday, I broke my ankle, meaning
Speaker 1: that I was now on crutches. And pretty much useless
Speaker 1: at getting in and out of bed, so I ended
Speaker 1: up sleeping in the living room. This was fantastic for me,
Speaker 1: as I now wouldn't have to go past that room now.
Speaker 1: I don't know if this part was a dream or
Speaker 1: if it actually happened, but here goes. One night, I
Speaker 1: was sitting alone in the villa. My parents, aunts, and
Speaker 1: uncles had gone out for the night. My siblings were
Speaker 1: across the road for a sleepover, but I didn't want
Speaker 1: to go typical teenager. As the hours slowly passed, the
Speaker 1: terrible feeling of dread began to creep in again, as
Speaker 1: did the feeling of being watched. Suddenly, I thought I
Speaker 1: heard the latch on the door clink open. I froze,
Speaker 1: swallowing hard because I knew there were only two doors
Speaker 1: in the villa with that clunky spring latch, and if
Speaker 1: either of them had suddenly opened, it wasn't going to
Speaker 1: be good for me. I sat there, forcing myself to
Speaker 1: stare at the TV like a toddler, thinking that if
Speaker 1: I don't see you, you won't see me. At that moment,
Speaker 1: cold air crept into the room and my body began screaming,
Speaker 1: begging me to look in the direction of what it
Speaker 1: was perceiving to be danger. I hated every second that
Speaker 1: I forced myself to stare at that TV. I felt
Speaker 1: every hair on my body stand on end. Eventually the
Speaker 1: program stopped and the tele shopping kicked in. This is
Speaker 1: when I finally relented and allowed myself a long blink.
Speaker 1: The next thing I knew, my parents were stumbling in
Speaker 1: through the front door. Then everything went dark. I was
Speaker 1: woken up the next morning by my mum, who was
Speaker 1: nursing a killer hangover. I sat there, exhausted, unsure if
Speaker 1: what I had experienced had been real or some sort
Speaker 1: of extreme lucid dream, not that I knew what that
Speaker 1: was at the time. We never went back to that villa,
Speaker 1: and a few years later my uncle sold his I
Speaker 1: tried to find any basis of rationale for the feelings
Speaker 1: I had in that room and turned up with nothing.
Speaker 1: No haunted history, no urban legend, not even a murmur
Speaker 1: of foul play. When asking my mum and sister about it.
Speaker 1: Even now, none of us can explain our feelings of
Speaker 1: initial unease in that room, and none of us can
Speaker 1: recall why we dubbed it the priest Room. It feels
Speaker 1: good to finally get this out there. Keep up the
Speaker 1: good work, kind regards Nathan, and that, dear listeners, is
Speaker 1: where this short haunt ends. What was the presence in
Speaker 1: the bedroom? What force could have been so strong that
Speaker 1: it left at least three people with feelings of complete dread?
Speaker 1: Was it also the same presence down in the basement
Speaker 1: games room? And was it here where all the trouble started?
Speaker 1: Is it possible to consider that it was Nathan himself
Speaker 1: who disturbed something in the games room when he first
Speaker 1: arrived at the villa? And if that's true, did Nathan's
Speaker 1: innocent action of simple curiosity wanting to see what was
Speaker 1: downstairs enable that something to latch on to him and
Speaker 1: in turn give it free run of the villa? As
Speaker 1: Nathan pointed out at the start of this short haunt,
Speaker 1: the events took place around fifteen years ago, so there's
Speaker 1: a chance that the villa isn't there any more. But
Speaker 1: if it is, have others who have stayed there experienced
Speaker 1: the same thing? We may never know, but you might
Speaker 1: if you've stayed there, And if you have, then why
Speaker 1: not consider getting in touch with the show and sharing
Speaker 1: your story, just as Nathan did? And maybe the next
Speaker 1: person to feature on a short haunt could be you.