WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.040 --> 00:00:04.679 Have you ever had a moment that made your skin crawl, 2 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:08.000 a shadow where there shouldn't be one, a whisper in 3 00:00:08.039 --> 00:00:12.320 an empty room, or something you simply can't explain. If so, 4 00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:16.120 we want to hear from you here at the Haunted 5 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:19.760 UK Podcast. We're always on the lookout for spine tingling 6 00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:23.120 stories to feature in our end of season listener episodes 7 00:00:23.440 --> 00:00:27.519 and our short Haunts series. Whether it's a chilling encounter, 8 00:00:27.879 --> 00:00:31.440 a mysterious experience, or something that's haunted you for years, 9 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:36.079 we want your tale. Send your story to contact us 10 00:00:36.359 --> 00:00:40.079 at Haunted UK podcast dot com, and don't forget to 11 00:00:40.119 --> 00:00:45.159 follow us on social media Facebook, x at Haunted Ukpod, 12 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:49.960 TikTok and Instagram at Haunted UK podcast, or visit our 13 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:56.479 website www dot hauntedukpodcast dot com. Now, if you love 14 00:00:56.560 --> 00:00:59.719 what we do and what even more haunted goodies, then 15 00:00:59.719 --> 00:01:03.320 you can support the show on Patreon and Coffee. We've 16 00:01:03.359 --> 00:01:07.480 got two brilliant tears, Possessed and Spooked, both packed with 17 00:01:07.560 --> 00:01:12.159 bonus content, exclusive episodes and extra material that'll keep you 18 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:16.040 up all night. But that's not all. We've launched a 19 00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:20.879 brand new sister podcast, Haunted UK Fiction, and we're calling 20 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:25.400 all storytellers, whether you're a published author, an aspiring writer, 21 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:28.680 or someone with a natural gift for spinning ear retails. 22 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:32.879 We're looking for original fictional short stories and novellas with 23 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:39.840 strong paranormal or supernatural themes. Think suspenseful, mysterious, atmospheric, terrifying, 24 00:01:40.120 --> 00:01:44.680 thought provoking, even darkly magical. If your story is selected, 25 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:48.760 we'll professionally narrate, record, mix and master it into an 26 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:52.760 audiobook style format, then feature it on the show. You'll 27 00:01:52.760 --> 00:01:55.480 get a copy of the finished production to use however 28 00:01:55.560 --> 00:01:58.959 you like, and you'll retain full ownership of your work. 29 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:03.719 Admit your story to Haunted UK Fiction at hotmail dot 30 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:08.520 com and follow us on Instagram at Haunted UK fiction. So, 31 00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:12.360 whether it's truth or fiction, if it's haunted we wanted. 32 00:02:13.159 --> 00:02:18.719 Now sit back and enjoy the episode. This is the 33 00:02:18.759 --> 00:03:25.400 Haunted UK Podcasts Short Haunts. Welcome dear listeners to our 34 00:03:25.479 --> 00:03:29.520 series of short haunts. A shot of scary just for you, 35 00:03:30.520 --> 00:03:33.560 So grab a hot chocolate, maybe a t or maybe 36 00:03:33.639 --> 00:03:38.639 something stronger because this is Haunted UK Podcasts Short Haunts. 37 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:44.039 Haunted Moves. We've heard so many times about people who 38 00:03:44.120 --> 00:03:48.680 seem to attract paranormal and supernatural activity. They can have 39 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:54.199 multiple experiences, whilst many others have none. But this short 40 00:03:54.199 --> 00:03:58.719 haunt is different. This short haunt tells the story of 41 00:03:58.759 --> 00:04:02.280 a person who appears to have the ability to actually 42 00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:07.000 sense the paranormal and supernatural, a kind of sixth sense 43 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:12.039 if you like. Joanne's house moving history is a bit extensive, 44 00:04:12.120 --> 00:04:16.240 to say the least, and during the numerous moves between properties, 45 00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:19.000 some of them have proved to hold more than just 46 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:24.439 good memories. They've held something else, something from the past, 47 00:04:24.519 --> 00:04:29.680 maybe something that may have crossed the veil and stayed 48 00:04:30.199 --> 00:04:35.319 in our dimension. But Joanne's story actually begins when she 49 00:04:35.480 --> 00:04:39.560 was just a young girl. So with that said, let's 50 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:45.279 hand this over to Joanne. I grew up in the 51 00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:48.399 West Country in the nineteen seventies. When I was a 52 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:51.560 little girl, my parents would take me to National Trust 53 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:55.800 properties at the weekends and holidays because they were members 54 00:04:55.839 --> 00:04:59.399 and it was a cheap day out. Even at that age, 55 00:04:59.480 --> 00:05:02.959 I started to notice something odd. I'd enter a room 56 00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:06.279 in a National Trust property and get a peculiar sensation 57 00:05:06.439 --> 00:05:08.360 up the side of my neck and on my shoulder, 58 00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:12.480 as if someone was standing very close behind me, when 59 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:17.959 nobody was at that point, the guide would invariably say, 60 00:05:18.439 --> 00:05:21.240 no doubt, due to the interest in the supernatural during 61 00:05:21.240 --> 00:05:24.199 that time, that this room was rumored to be haunted, 62 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:28.120 and then they'd tell a lurid story about a murder 63 00:05:28.160 --> 00:05:31.519 that had taken place in that very room. To date, 64 00:05:32.240 --> 00:05:35.680 this feeling persists, and there are some places where I 65 00:05:35.800 --> 00:05:42.079 get that odd sensation. Very occasionally this will escalate to 66 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:45.839 blinding headaches, resulting in me having to leave a room 67 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:51.360 or property, but that only happened three times. In my thirties, 68 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:56.360 I studied psychology and aced cognitive psychology my favorite module. 69 00:05:57.240 --> 00:06:00.720 This enabled me to ground myself in science and explain 70 00:06:00.759 --> 00:06:02.800 a lot of the things that happened to me, such 71 00:06:02.839 --> 00:06:09.759 as coincidences, sleep related hallucinations or tricks of perception. I 72 00:06:09.800 --> 00:06:12.920 also found out about low frequency sand waves such as 73 00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:16.879 infrasund and their effects on the brain. This enabled me 74 00:06:16.959 --> 00:06:19.519 to make peace with myself and to push the odd 75 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:22.439 little things that occurred when I was younger and living 76 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:27.920 a more bohemian lifestyle aside. Since then, though, I've moved 77 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:31.319 around the country a lot, from the West Country to 78 00:06:31.399 --> 00:06:36.800 the Midlands, Scotland, the Southeast and Wales. I've lived in 79 00:06:36.839 --> 00:06:41.240 approximately eighteen properties and experienced things that I couldn't explain 80 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:45.279 with my scientific brain in three of them. These are 81 00:06:45.319 --> 00:06:51.199 the stories of those properties. In nineteen ninety seven, my 82 00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:55.759 then boyfriend Richard and I moved into a house in Griffydam, Leicestershire. 83 00:06:56.399 --> 00:06:58.680 It was a new property and I think the people 84 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:01.399 we were renting it off, mister and Missus Barker, had 85 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:05.079 actually built it. We were very happy to be there. 86 00:07:05.560 --> 00:07:08.920 It had large rooms, it was airy, and the kitchen 87 00:07:09.160 --> 00:07:12.079 was awesome, which was great for me as I loved cooking, 88 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:16.279 and the views at the back were stunning. We'd come 89 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:20.279 from the center of Leicester, Braunston Town and a grim 90 00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:24.519 terraced house on Ravenhurst Road which was poorly maintained by 91 00:07:24.519 --> 00:07:29.160 the landlord and dark inside. Suddenly we were in this 92 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:34.800 beautiful light space. We got on with unpacking and the 93 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:38.079 various other tasks involved with moving into a new property. 94 00:07:38.839 --> 00:07:41.639 But as the day turned to evening, I started to 95 00:07:41.639 --> 00:07:45.000 get that sensation up my neck, and as I unpacked 96 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:47.079 all the things for the kitchen, I thought I could 97 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:51.079 see shadows from the corner of my eyes. I pushed 98 00:07:51.079 --> 00:07:54.040 it aside and got on with stuff, but I noticed 99 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:57.000 that in the late afternoon and evening, I would get 100 00:07:57.040 --> 00:08:01.040 that strange feeling. It seemed to own get triggered when 101 00:08:01.079 --> 00:08:03.720 I was in an area or room towards the front 102 00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:07.639 of the house. The back of the house, the living room, 103 00:08:08.040 --> 00:08:12.600 dining room, and back bedroom were all fine. This didn't 104 00:08:12.600 --> 00:08:16.399 make any sense to me. Again, I tried to ignore 105 00:08:16.439 --> 00:08:20.600 it because I didn't want to be afraid of anything. Additionally, 106 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:24.639 Richard and I did not have a happy relationship, and 107 00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:27.839 I didn't want to upset him the slightest thing and 108 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:31.079 he'd freeze me out and sulk for days. I didn't 109 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:34.320 have many friends at that time, so I relied on him. 110 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:39.399 One evening, i'd come home from work. I worked as 111 00:08:39.399 --> 00:08:42.159 a secretary at the time because it was an easy 112 00:08:42.200 --> 00:08:44.759 way in those days to make money, and I had 113 00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:48.519 no interest in studying at that time of life. I 114 00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:50.919 was alone in the kitchen and my head was full 115 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:54.720 of office gossip. I was chopping salad on the kitchen 116 00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:57.159 surface because it was a warm day and we were 117 00:08:57.200 --> 00:09:01.080 going to have a cold supper. I was thinking about 118 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:04.039 work and the fact I was hungry and happily cutting 119 00:09:04.120 --> 00:09:07.639 up cucumbers and tomatoes. When I looked down past my elbow, 120 00:09:08.159 --> 00:09:12.480 and there was a pair of feet in fine black shoes. 121 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:16.799 Attached to these feet were legs in black trousers. But 122 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:18.720 that was as much as I could see from the 123 00:09:18.759 --> 00:09:22.000 angle I was stood at. I thought to myself, I 124 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:24.600 didn't hear Richard come in, and why is he wearing 125 00:09:24.679 --> 00:09:30.159 smart shoes? I turned around and there was no one there. 126 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:33.840 I dashed out of the kitchen through the lobby, which 127 00:09:33.879 --> 00:09:36.000 was a large area at the bottom of the stairs, 128 00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:39.919 and into the living room. There was Richard slouched on 129 00:09:39.960 --> 00:09:43.720 a chair, eyes fixed on the TV. I asked him 130 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:46.080 if he'd been in the kitchen, and he said he hadn't. 131 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:49.039 I told him there must be someone in the house 132 00:09:49.080 --> 00:09:52.759 because I'd seen someone behind me in the kitchen. Richard 133 00:09:52.879 --> 00:09:57.000 rose reluctantly and searched the house. All the doors were locked, 134 00:09:57.360 --> 00:09:59.440 and there was no one in the building except us. 135 00:10:00.519 --> 00:10:04.759 He went back to his TV show. I returned to 136 00:10:04.799 --> 00:10:07.480 the kitchen, but I could still feel the sensation in 137 00:10:07.559 --> 00:10:11.559 my neck and shoulder. Whatever it was, it was still here, 138 00:10:11.799 --> 00:10:17.000 and it wasn't a person. It was something else right. 139 00:10:17.240 --> 00:10:19.960 I thought, I can't be putting up with this, so 140 00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:23.399 I decided to have a little chat with it hi, 141 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:28.120 I said, softly, confident that Richard wouldn't hear because the 142 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:33.840 TV was on. I'm Joe and him in the living room. 143 00:10:34.080 --> 00:10:38.480 That's Richard. We're renting this place for a year. After 144 00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:41.639 a year will be gone. I know you've probably been 145 00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:44.440 around here a lot longer, and we won't disturb you. 146 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:47.919 I was wondering, though, please, can you not come up 147 00:10:47.960 --> 00:10:51.320 behind me like that again? You see, you could scare 148 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:53.440 me and I could drop a plate and smash it 149 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:56.639 or something, and if I do that, he'll get angry 150 00:10:56.679 --> 00:11:00.000 with me because plates cost money and we don't have it. 151 00:11:01.320 --> 00:11:06.080 I then finished making dinner. After that conversation, nothing happened, 152 00:11:06.440 --> 00:11:10.919 and I wasn't scared. In that house, the electricity had 153 00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:13.320 a habit of going off, and it was always at 154 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:16.840 around two am. For some reason. We had a prepaid 155 00:11:16.879 --> 00:11:19.720 meter which was located on the outside of the building, 156 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:22.759 so to get the electricity back on, I'd have to 157 00:11:22.759 --> 00:11:26.240 creep downstairs in the pitch darkness, go through the lobby, 158 00:11:26.360 --> 00:11:29.440 which didn't have any windows, out of the house, and 159 00:11:29.559 --> 00:11:34.360 down to the meter. By pressing the emergency button, you'd 160 00:11:34.360 --> 00:11:38.000 get a few hours of electricity. Richard would never do this, 161 00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:41.320 so it was always left to me. But even this 162 00:11:41.519 --> 00:11:45.360 chore groping my way around in the dark, I still 163 00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:48.039 wasn't scared because I didn't have that feeling up the 164 00:11:48.080 --> 00:11:51.320 side of my neck. I knew I was alone and 165 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:54.039 there wasn't anything waiting for me down there in the dark. 166 00:11:55.559 --> 00:11:58.399 When the twelve months was up, we moved out, and 167 00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:01.279 on the last day, as I was hacking boxes, I 168 00:12:01.320 --> 00:12:05.399 did feel the presence for the last time. It was 169 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:07.679 as if it knew I was going and it wanted 170 00:12:07.720 --> 00:12:11.480 to say goodbye to me. This may have been entirely 171 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:14.200 my imagination, but I do like to think that it 172 00:12:14.279 --> 00:12:17.720 came back to see me one last time. A few 173 00:12:17.799 --> 00:12:20.799 years later, around the year two thousand, I found myself 174 00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:24.279 living with another man who was to become my first husband. 175 00:12:24.600 --> 00:12:29.240 Up in Aberdeen. I was working as an administrative assistant 176 00:12:29.240 --> 00:12:31.799 in the public sector and a little group of us 177 00:12:31.799 --> 00:12:35.480 women used to go for coffee. One morning, one of 178 00:12:35.480 --> 00:12:38.639 the girls, whose name was Emma, said, there's a ghost 179 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:42.519 in my house. We all looked up, somewhat surprised, as 180 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:46.639 this was not the normal morning conversation. Emma went on 181 00:12:46.679 --> 00:12:49.440 to explain that in the morning she'd wake up and 182 00:12:49.480 --> 00:12:52.240 go to the bathroom, and while she was cleaning her teeth, 183 00:12:52.600 --> 00:12:55.360 the stereo in her room would turn itself on and 184 00:12:55.480 --> 00:12:59.159 loud music would begin blasting out, waking up her parents. 185 00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:03.080 As you can imagine, this got Emma into trouble as 186 00:13:03.080 --> 00:13:07.519 her parents didn't believe she wasn't doing it. Turn the 187 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:11.519 stereo off at the mains, I suggested, I can't what 188 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:14.000 if it went off when it was unplugged. I'd be 189 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:19.799 so scared you. I remembered my experiences in Griffidam okay. So, 190 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:21.720 say you've got a ghost in the house and it 191 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:25.519 likes music, right, it always plays the Spice Girls for 192 00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:29.399 some reason, Emma replied. We all laughed at that. So 193 00:13:29.879 --> 00:13:33.120 I suggested, when you're by yourself, say to it that 194 00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:36.519 you understand it likes music, but it's turning the stereo 195 00:13:36.600 --> 00:13:39.080 on too loud, and it's getting you into trouble with 196 00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:42.440 your parents. Ask it to turn the music on quietly 197 00:13:42.519 --> 00:13:47.279 next time. That's a compromise. A few days went by 198 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:50.559 and Emma said nothing of the experience again until I 199 00:13:50.600 --> 00:13:54.200 asked her, what about your ghost? Then she looked at 200 00:13:54.200 --> 00:13:57.559 me and said, very tersely, I did what you said, 201 00:13:58.200 --> 00:14:00.960 and when I came back from the bathroom. The music 202 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:04.960 was playing really quietly. She never spoke of it again. 203 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:08.399 I got the impression the outcome of my advice had 204 00:14:08.440 --> 00:14:13.279 frightened her more. As I mentioned earlier, I lived in 205 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:17.200 eighteen properties over my somewhat chaotic life, but only three 206 00:14:17.240 --> 00:14:22.399 of them harbored experiences which I would deem paranormal. You've 207 00:14:22.440 --> 00:14:25.039 now heard about Griffidam, so let's move on to the 208 00:14:25.080 --> 00:14:29.799 next one, the house in Bosham, West Sussex, where I 209 00:14:29.879 --> 00:14:32.759 lived with my ex Jack, who is the father of 210 00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:37.039 my son. Jack and I were dreaming big when we 211 00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:40.399 bought the house in Bosham. We were child free and 212 00:14:40.440 --> 00:14:43.320 at the time both of us had good jobs. It 213 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:47.039 was a beautiful detached five bedroom house on a corner plot. 214 00:14:47.639 --> 00:14:50.279 It was three stories tall and in the West Sussex 215 00:14:50.360 --> 00:14:53.559 Dark Skies conservation area, so there were no street lamps 216 00:14:53.559 --> 00:14:57.519 on the surrounding roads. It was and still remains my 217 00:14:57.639 --> 00:15:00.759 dream house. I even used to call it the House 218 00:15:00.799 --> 00:15:04.519 of dreams because quite frankly, we had our heads stuck 219 00:15:04.519 --> 00:15:07.200 in the clouds when we bought it. It would soon 220 00:15:07.240 --> 00:15:11.720 become very obvious that we couldn't actually afford it. When 221 00:15:11.720 --> 00:15:14.559 I first looked around the property. I sensed a bit 222 00:15:14.600 --> 00:15:17.480 of an atmosphere of dread in the attic conversion that 223 00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:20.279 housed bedrooms at the top of the house, but it 224 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:24.600 wasn't enough to put me off. Speaking honestly, nothing could 225 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:28.679 have put us off from buying that place. We put 226 00:15:28.679 --> 00:15:31.600 in an offer and it was accepted. There was the 227 00:15:31.720 --> 00:15:35.159 usual protracted house sale nightmare, but after what seemed like 228 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:40.440 a lifetime, we finally moved in. Almost immediately I noticed 229 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:43.720 things were a bit off. The washing machine would switch 230 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:47.639 itself on, it would audibly beep, then the light would 231 00:15:47.639 --> 00:15:51.840 go on and it would begin running a cycle. We'd 232 00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:55.279 had that washing machine secondhand from Jack's parents, and they 233 00:15:55.279 --> 00:15:58.360 didn't report it doing anything like that, nor did it 234 00:15:58.399 --> 00:16:00.759 do it when we transferred it to the house in Cardiff. 235 00:16:02.519 --> 00:16:05.000 I also kept finding the back door open when I 236 00:16:05.080 --> 00:16:08.600 knew i'd shut it. I'd shut the door, certain that 237 00:16:08.679 --> 00:16:11.559 I'd locked it, only to find it unlocked and wide open. 238 00:16:12.600 --> 00:16:16.039 This happened regularly when we first moved in, but suddenly 239 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:21.200 stopped with no explanation. Jack wasn't in the habit of 240 00:16:21.240 --> 00:16:25.000 leaving doors open, so this was strange. I wasn't doing 241 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:28.960 anything differently either when it stopped happening, which didn't make sense. 242 00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:33.000 On one occasion, I was alone in the dining room 243 00:16:33.080 --> 00:16:36.679 doing some dusting when I felt something blow sharply in 244 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:40.960 my ear. The strange incidents continued to happen, with another 245 00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:45.240 strange encounter occurring in the master bedroom. I was dusting 246 00:16:45.320 --> 00:16:48.440 when for some reason I turned around to be met 247 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:51.440 with a cloud of mist floating by the bedside table. 248 00:16:52.600 --> 00:16:54.799 I stood looking at it for a while until it 249 00:16:54.879 --> 00:17:00.120 gradually faded away. I didn't feel so much frightened as fascinated. 250 00:17:01.240 --> 00:17:03.799 I didn't like being in the house by myself, but 251 00:17:03.879 --> 00:17:06.319 I'm a keen gardener, so I spent a lot of 252 00:17:06.359 --> 00:17:11.799 time outside when nothing ever really happened. Jack would roll 253 00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:15.680 his eyes at my experiences. Being a stornch atheist, he 254 00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:21.079 simply didn't believe in anything spiritual, paranormal, or supernatural. We 255 00:17:21.160 --> 00:17:25.039 eventually got two cats, Meg and Mark, and I still 256 00:17:25.079 --> 00:17:28.039 have Meg to this day, but even they knew there 257 00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:32.200 was something wrong with that house. Meg went missing for 258 00:17:32.279 --> 00:17:36.039 six weeks. We'd put up posters, searched all over for her, 259 00:17:36.599 --> 00:17:39.839 done everything we possibly could, but we couldn't find her. 260 00:17:40.920 --> 00:17:43.680 We'd given her up for lost or dead when suddenly 261 00:17:44.200 --> 00:17:45.960 we got a call from a vet to tell us 262 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:50.000 someone had handed her in. I often wonder if something 263 00:17:50.079 --> 00:17:52.519 frightened her so much that she left the house and 264 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:57.720 didn't want to come back. Mark had his own odd behaviors. 265 00:17:58.440 --> 00:18:02.000 He'd stand in the kitchen, sackles raised, staring through the 266 00:18:02.039 --> 00:18:05.240 dining room at something that I couldn't see, then cower. 267 00:18:06.279 --> 00:18:08.960 I'd tried to stroke him, jolly him out of it, 268 00:18:09.079 --> 00:18:11.960 but he remained terrified, so I'd take him in my 269 00:18:12.119 --> 00:18:14.759 arms and carry him through the dining room, past the 270 00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:17.599 hall where the front door was, and into the living room. 271 00:18:18.319 --> 00:18:22.720 Only then would he settle down. Tragically, Mag's life would 272 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:26.599 come to an end far too soon. I went away 273 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:30.200 to Geneva to deliver training at the International Labor Office, 274 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:34.720 leaving Jack alone at the house. One night, Mag didn't 275 00:18:34.759 --> 00:18:37.599 come home, and he didn't turn up the next day either. 276 00:18:38.599 --> 00:18:40.880 Jack didn't want to worry me, so he didn't say 277 00:18:40.920 --> 00:18:44.880 anything when I called. A couple of days after Marg 278 00:18:44.920 --> 00:18:48.839 had vanished, Jack heard a terrible yowling coming from downstairs. 279 00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:51.920 It was late in the evening and Jack was upstairs. 280 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:54.839 He raced down to find Mag in the hallway by 281 00:18:54.880 --> 00:18:59.160 the front door, howling. His back was broken, but he'd 282 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:01.599 managed to drag himself back to the house on his 283 00:19:01.640 --> 00:19:05.799 two front legs. Somehow, through all the pain, he got 284 00:19:05.880 --> 00:19:09.519 through the cap flap. Jack immediately took him to the 285 00:19:09.559 --> 00:19:13.039 emergency vet, but there was no hope of recovery. The 286 00:19:13.079 --> 00:19:15.200 best thing to do for Mark was to end the 287 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:20.000 pain and suffering, so he was put to sleep. When 288 00:19:20.039 --> 00:19:23.279 I returned, Jack told me what had happened, and when 289 00:19:23.319 --> 00:19:26.359 I was done crying, it suddenly occurred to me that 290 00:19:26.440 --> 00:19:29.279 the spot Jack found him was the same spot he 291 00:19:29.400 --> 00:19:32.279 used to stare at when he'd have his weird episodes 292 00:19:32.279 --> 00:19:34.720 in the kitchen. I didn't know what to make of 293 00:19:34.759 --> 00:19:37.200 it then, and I still don't know what to make 294 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:41.160 of it now. My partner Jack had a child from 295 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:44.400 a previous relationship called Laura, who used to stay with 296 00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:48.319 us every other weekend. One Sunday afternoon, we drove her 297 00:19:48.359 --> 00:19:51.759 back to her mum's then returned to the house, arriving 298 00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:55.160 late in the evening. We opened the back door as 299 00:19:55.200 --> 00:19:57.759 we never used the front door, and went into the kitchen. 300 00:19:58.519 --> 00:20:00.720 We poured ourselves a glass of wine and went into 301 00:20:00.759 --> 00:20:05.400 the living room. The whole house felt wrong. I can't 302 00:20:05.400 --> 00:20:10.480 explain it, but it felt vile, unwelcoming, cold and threatening. 303 00:20:11.319 --> 00:20:13.319 We sat in the living room and looked at each other. 304 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:19.119 Jack I said, can you feel something a bit off 305 00:20:19.240 --> 00:20:23.960 about the house? Yes, he replied, it feels absolutely fucking 306 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:28.240 horrible in here. Jack I replied, I can make this 307 00:20:28.359 --> 00:20:32.599 go away, but you have to work with me, okay, 308 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:36.519 he said. We went through every room of that house, 309 00:20:36.759 --> 00:20:40.279 holding hands, telling each other that we owned this house 310 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:42.720 and that we loved each other, and that we weren't 311 00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:46.319 prepared to put up with this. It sounds crazy, but 312 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:50.839 everything pretty much stopped. A couple of months later, we 313 00:20:50.839 --> 00:20:53.880 were forced to admit our mortgage payments were too high 314 00:20:53.920 --> 00:20:56.519 and that we couldn't afford to continue living in the house. 315 00:20:57.559 --> 00:21:00.440 We made the decision to rent it out, moved to 316 00:21:00.480 --> 00:21:03.960 South Wales for a year because my work had offices there, 317 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:08.799 and in Hampshire. We rented the house out and after 318 00:21:08.839 --> 00:21:12.400 a year the mortgage repayments went down significantly, so we 319 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:15.599 decided to move back, determined this time to make a 320 00:21:15.640 --> 00:21:18.599 go of it. The tenants who had been renting the 321 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:21.799 house were a large group of colleagues from Eastern Europe. 322 00:21:22.319 --> 00:21:26.799 During their tenancy, they didn't report anything untoward happening, but 323 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:31.240 something seemed to stick out to me. They seemed to 324 00:21:31.240 --> 00:21:35.200 be incredibly eager to leave. This left us needing a 325 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:39.240 lodger our first one. Vienna was fine in the house, 326 00:21:39.720 --> 00:21:42.079 and it certainly seemed a much nicer place to be 327 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:45.440 than the previous time we'd live there. But Vienna moved 328 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:51.400 on and Sarah moved in. Sarah didn't like being alone 329 00:21:51.440 --> 00:21:53.680 in the house at all, and when she told me 330 00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:56.079 that she was going to move out, she informed me 331 00:21:56.119 --> 00:21:58.799 of a conversation that she had with her blind grandmother 332 00:21:59.079 --> 00:22:02.559 after her grandmother had visited her at the house. Although 333 00:22:02.599 --> 00:22:05.640 Sarah thought the visit had gone well, her grandmother had 334 00:22:05.640 --> 00:22:09.279 apparently picked up on the strange, ominous atmosphere the house 335 00:22:09.319 --> 00:22:12.880 seemed to harbor, but she didn't tell Sarah about her 336 00:22:12.920 --> 00:22:16.160 feelings until she found out that Sarah was moving out. 337 00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:20.279 Sarah's grandmother was a psychic, and she told her that 338 00:22:20.319 --> 00:22:23.079 it was the right decision to leave because the house 339 00:22:23.400 --> 00:22:28.599 was haunted. She'd even performed a protection ritual in Sarah's room. 340 00:22:28.839 --> 00:22:32.640 Strangely enough, I never had any other experiences in that room, 341 00:22:33.160 --> 00:22:36.960 but I did have an unexpected problem. I was pregnant, 342 00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:40.119 and even with lodgers, we knew we wouldn't be able 343 00:22:40.119 --> 00:22:42.799 to afford to keep the house, so that was it. 344 00:22:43.640 --> 00:22:46.640 We sold the House of Dreams and moved to Cardiff 345 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:51.759 eight months after our baby, Charlie was born. One thing 346 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:54.720 I always knew but didn't really talk about, was the 347 00:22:54.759 --> 00:22:57.839 fact that the house was very moody. I know that 348 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:01.839 sounds silly, but it's completely true, because sometimes it would 349 00:23:01.839 --> 00:23:05.440 feel okay, yet other times it felt menacing. As I've 350 00:23:05.480 --> 00:23:10.279 already described. One of our lodgers, Sophie described it perfectly 351 00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:13.200 by saying, it's like you're a guest and the house 352 00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:17.119 suddenly wants you to leave, like you're suddenly very unwelcome. 353 00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:21.839 That's exactly how it felt. I lasted about a year 354 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:24.680 in Cardiff on good terms with Jack, but spent the 355 00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:28.279 next year breaking up with him. Family life didn't suit 356 00:23:28.359 --> 00:23:31.000 him well at all. We fell out with each other 357 00:23:31.079 --> 00:23:33.920 during COVID and I ended up moving into a small 358 00:23:33.960 --> 00:23:36.839 airb and b in Rowth, while Jack stayed in the 359 00:23:36.880 --> 00:23:40.839 Cardiff house until it was sold. We split custody of 360 00:23:40.920 --> 00:23:43.680 Charlie fifty fifty and in the meantime I'd put an 361 00:23:43.720 --> 00:23:46.440 offer in for a house in Cumbran, where I now live. 362 00:23:47.720 --> 00:23:50.359 Buying and selling houses is a nightmare to begin with, 363 00:23:50.759 --> 00:23:54.799 but in COVID it was even harder. Eventually, in June 364 00:23:54.799 --> 00:23:58.240 twenty twenty, I moved into my forever home in Cambran. 365 00:23:58.920 --> 00:24:01.160 The day I got the keys, I still had the 366 00:24:01.200 --> 00:24:03.559 AIRB and B, so the plan was to move to 367 00:24:03.599 --> 00:24:07.240 the new house gradually. I visited the house with Charlie, 368 00:24:07.359 --> 00:24:09.880 who was two at the time, to unpack some bits 369 00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:13.480 and pieces. The sellers couldn't get rid of their late 370 00:24:13.519 --> 00:24:16.799 mother's furniture because the charity shops were closed, so I 371 00:24:16.920 --> 00:24:19.920 ended up with all of it, including her bed, which 372 00:24:19.960 --> 00:24:22.319 I slept him for about six months until I could 373 00:24:22.359 --> 00:24:27.119 afford a new one. Charlie was incredibly excited, jumping up 374 00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:29.319 and down on the bed and exploring the new house. 375 00:24:30.279 --> 00:24:33.000 We were downstairs in the open plan dining and living 376 00:24:33.079 --> 00:24:38.039 room when the following conversation happened. Charlie stood in the 377 00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:41.400 living room and said, Mummy, who's that man? Who is 378 00:24:41.400 --> 00:24:45.400 what man? Pickle? I replied that man over there? He 379 00:24:45.480 --> 00:24:48.839 pointed towards the dining room. Oh can you see someone 380 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:52.720 out the window? Darling, No, Mummy, he's in the room. 381 00:24:53.119 --> 00:24:58.400 Said Charlie. Okay, I said, but there is no man there, sweetheart. 382 00:25:00.200 --> 00:25:02.359 We went into the hall, and as I was getting 383 00:25:02.359 --> 00:25:06.519 my coat on, Charlie spoke again, who's that lady coming downstairs? 384 00:25:07.440 --> 00:25:10.359 I don't know, pickle, I said, and then we left. 385 00:25:11.400 --> 00:25:13.640 There had only been us in the house, and Charlie 386 00:25:13.640 --> 00:25:16.240 had never done that before, and he hasn't done it 387 00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:19.920 since the first week of living there. I was sleeping 388 00:25:19.960 --> 00:25:22.799 the nights on a dead woman's bed, trying to squeeze 389 00:25:22.880 --> 00:25:26.240 my furniture in with hers, negotiating all the COVID stuff, 390 00:25:26.519 --> 00:25:29.400 and trying to start a new life, which was difficult 391 00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:32.759 because my ex Jack was sleeping on the couch downstairs. 392 00:25:33.519 --> 00:25:36.519 His house purchase had fallen through and he needed somewhere 393 00:25:36.519 --> 00:25:40.720 to stay. One afternoon, Charlie was bouncing on the bed. 394 00:25:41.240 --> 00:25:44.240 Jack was lurking about downstairs, and I was coming out 395 00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:46.200 of the bathroom and onto the landing at the top 396 00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:50.359 of the stairs, and there she was, a woman in blue. 397 00:25:51.319 --> 00:25:53.759 She was there for a second and I saw her face, 398 00:25:54.440 --> 00:25:58.680 then she disappeared. At that point I lost my temper. 399 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:02.920 Leave us alone, I snapped, in a quiet, hissy but 400 00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:07.720 angry voice, Get the fuck out this is my house 401 00:26:08.079 --> 00:26:12.039