My night of terror in a haunted house

ic Coventry ^ | Nov 20, 2004 | Duncan Gibbons

[CurlyBill]

My night of terror in a haunted house Nov 20 2004

Nov 2004
By Duncan Gibbons

"A night of terror" is how a man described the time he spent in what is said to be one of Warwickshire's most haunted houses.

Michael Chapman was one of 10 people who spent the night at Shrieves House Barn, in Sheep Street, Stratford.

The 500-year-old building, now home to Falstaffs Experience museum, is said to be a hotbed of paranormal activity.

Mr Chapman, 48, a fine art expert from a village near Stratford, said the ancient building soon revealed its dark secrets.

Volunteers reported feeling dizzy, sick and breathless, and felt icy chills and pains.

He said one woman suffered bruising after being hit on the head by a mystery object and others watched as a picture moved to and fro on the wall.

A photo was taken which is said to show the ghost of an eight-year-old girl who wanders the medieval hallways.

Mr Chapman and his daughter Melissa, 17, were the only two people brave enough to last the whole night - but it is a night they will not forget.

"We were total sceptics. I always thought the dead will never hurt you but now I am not so sure. We felt icy cold, saw flashing lights and I could smell burning - there was a fire here once in which people died.

"I am the most level-headed person there is - but there are things in there that left me thinking perhaps there is more to this world. Even the mediums had to leave.

"I don't believe in heaven and hell but I have to say it's got me guessing. It's a very spooky place." Melissa, a student, said: "I was one of those people who thought this life is all we have - now I am open-minded about everything.

"Something was pulling and shaking me on the night and things have been happening to me since I left. I was at college and someone kicked the chair from under me but there was nobody there. I've also felt a presence at home and in the car."

Other members of the group who stayed in the house at Halloween also said strange events had happened to them afterwards.

Dave Matthews, a white witch and owner of Could It Be Magic, in Shrieves Walk, said he returned to his shop at 3am to find it icy cold. He reports hearing mysterious footsteps and seeing objects being moved around. He then felt a sharp pain in his arm and believes he was followed by an evil spirit.

Another member of the group said she returned home to find the cupboard doors in her kitchen opening and closing and the contents on the floor.

Steve Devey, who owns the museum, said: "We are astounded but not surprised at the level of unexplained paranormal activity"

[Southack]

"I believe that some places are tainted spiritually by the immensity of evil that happened there. Srebrenica is one of them... so's Auschwitz, so's Wounded Knee."

The Dallas Holocaust Museum gives a guided tour of their modern building, explaining everything that they can about what happened in Europe. But at one point, the guide stopped us in a dimly lit area and asked us to think about all that we'd just seen.

Everyone in the tour group started fidgeting. Everyone became uncomfortable. The air chilled. You could begin to smell...something.

Then the guide turned the lights up. We were all standing in one of the boxcars that took the Jews to the ovens. The guide then explained that people could "tell" that they were in a place where terrible things had occurred, even with the lights dimmed.

It was a very powerful experience. It's a good tour. I recommend it.

[sinanju]

Winchester house in San Jose California is said to be haunted. The owner keep building rooms to house the sprits of all the gunshot victums she thought were caused by the Winchester. I visted the place and while it was quite odd I was not in the least bit perturbed by any ghosts.

I've read about Winchester house and seen the "Secret Passages" thing on the History Channel. The wacky thing about that place was that the heiress owner kept making additions without any rhyme or reason so you get all these unintentional architectural anomalies. It seems they weren't built that way on purpose.

[Siegfried]

Dave Matthews, a white witch and owner of Could It Be Magic, in Shrieves Walk, said he returned to his shop at 3am to find it icy cold.

Wow! I climbed into my bed last night and found it ICY COLD! This has got to be more than just coincidental!

so I thought I'd throw something up...

I wish you hadn't...

[Terabitten]

We were all standing in one of the boxcars that took the Jews to the ovens.

I stood in a mass grave south of Srebrenica in Bosnia.

I still have nightmares, not of what I saw, but of their executions. I can't explain it, but I'd bet any money that my recurring nightmare is accurate in all details.

[chris1]

What the heck is a white which????

[Andy'smom]

That's funny you mention Winchester House. I was told that it was very haunted but I had the same experience as you. I felt nothing at all and believe me I have felt presences in other houses.

[diamond6]

Which is another reason why people should never ever play Quija boards, tarot cards, consult psychics or anything doing with the occult because the evil tends to follow you.

I have a friend is who an aethist/agnostic and she played with a Quija board and had a scary experience, which I'm sure made her twink twice.

[CurlyBill]

I wish you hadn't...

Come on Siegfried .... it's all in fun.

[Fedora]

Thanks!

[Popman]

It was a very powerful experience.

Been there and I would agree.

[the lone highschooler]

Creepy story! I am a strong believer in "hauntings" and "ghost phenomenons" and I should know because i have MANY stories about it.

(this isn't quite a ghost story, but it is still one of my personal favorites) My aunt had a son that died in a car wreck several years ago, and immediately after he died, my aunt prayed and prayed that he would not leave this earth and to be able to visit him every night in her dreams.

It indeed happened, for a good two years or so...every night in her dreams she would call out to her son, and every night he would answer, "I'm right here, mom" and she would just hug him closely.

After the course of two whole years and one day when she called out to him, he replied in a sad and sorrowful voice "I'm here mom, I've been right here all along" and when she came up to hug him, she stepped back and literally exclaimed. "You smell like a dead dog!" he replied by saying that he wanted and needed to pass on to the after life, and in order for that to happen, she technically needed to "spiritually" release him. She prayed for his release the next night...and after that, hasn't seen him or heard from him since in her dreams.

[Ciexyz]

I've read accounts of people who have visited isolated concentration camps at night. Not well-known places like Auschwitz, but lesser known camps that were out in the Polish countryside where there's nothing around, and they report an overwhelming presence of evil in the air.

[Moonman62]

Volunteers reported feeling dizzy, sick and breathless, and felt icy chills and pains.

I felt the same way last night after posting an old Jimmy Carter speech.

[woofie]

http://www.hauntedhouses.com/states/nm/house.htm

[FredZarguna]

We need the James "The Amazing" Randi to take this place on.

Or, perhaps just an ordinary person with some common sense and a flashlight.

Certainly, any "Magic Shop" owner who describes himself as a "White Witch" is a paragon of believability. But call me skeptical anyway.

[Juana la Loca]

I think a white witch is akin to a Druid or pagan witch, as opposed to the traditional definition of a witch as being a Satan worshipper.

[onedoug]

"I don't believe in heaven and hell but I have to say it's got me guessing.

Thus this nonsense.

[Rastus]

Not ghost related, but you ought to read about H.H. Holmes, the infamous serial killer in turn-of-the-century Chicago. He had his house built by a succession of contractors so no one but him could get an idea of the crazy layout. He had stairs that led nowhere and other features meant to confuse his "guests." The book I read was "Depraved" by Harold Schechter--a trashy title, but an intriguing read. There is also a novel about the case called "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson. I have yet to read it, but it's a current bestseller and has gotten good notices.

[Rastus]

I guess it's the opposite of a witch of color.

[Siegfried]

so I thought I'd throw something up...

I wish you hadn't...

Come on Siegfried .... it's all in fun.

Well, if you throw it up, you gotta clean it up, that's all I say...