The Coal Miner Ghost

At the nursing home in Batley where I used to work, there was a lovely staircase which overlooked the entrance hall. Once, when I was making my way up these stairs I saw a man in the lobby dressed all in black. Even his hands and face were black. After speaking to a few of the nurses, it transpired that there had once been an active coal mining industry in the area, and that the nursing home had once been a hospital.

Again, I only saw the figure for a fraction of a moment but my recollection of the man is that he looked lost ... as though anxiously waiting to hear some news. I felt sad for him.

Male Intruder - Ghost in My Bed

My boyfriend thinks this one is a bit weird but it did happen to me so here goes ...

One of the most embarrassing things that ever happened to me was when I was visiting my mum and dad's house years after I left home. At that time I was in my mid to late twenties and single.

That particular night I slept in the box room on a single bed and when I woke in the morning - facing the wall - I felt a large figure in bed with me, behind me in a classic 'spoons' position. It, whatever 'it' was, was awake and touching my body.

I wasn't asleep and I wasn't in one of those semi paralyzed dream states; this was a real sensation and although I felt sort of 'violated' - and of course frightened - I was tired enough to allow myself to drop back off to sleep.

Poltergeist Activity with the Goldfish

One of THE weirdest occurrences at my mum and dad's house involved my sister's goldfish, Kellogs.

One night, whilst lying in bed, I heard a really weird tapping noise outside my bedroom door. Upon investigation I discovered my sister's goldfish flapping around on the hallway floor.

It was only when I picked the goldfish up that I noticed my sister's bedroom door was closed. Furthermore, when I went into her bedroom I discovered the trap door on top of the fish tank was also closed. My sister was fast asleep on her bunk bed, so I have no idea how the fish found its way onto the landing.

Needless to say, after popping the fish back in its tank I spent the night safely tucked up in my sister's bed.

Oh, and poor Kellogs never made it through the night. We found him floating at the top of his tank the following morning.

Duvet thief

Some really strange things used to happen to me when I was a teenager living at home.

One night whilst trying to fall asleep, I felt my duvet moving down my body as though someone was standing at the foot of my bed slowly pulling it off. I can't remember how far I let the duvet go before I bolted - heart pounding - into my sister's bedroom.

Over the years people have offered various explanations, but the bed was completely level and most importantly, there was a footboard, so it would have been impossible for the duvet to simply slide off the end!!

Man in the Orange Suit - Ghostly Figure

My mum and dad's house in West Yorkshire is a post war build and isn't particularly spooky to look at, but some of my most profound ghostly experiences took place there.

As a night owl, I am usually the last one to go to bed, which means it's usually me who has to switch all the lights off downstairs - one of my least favourite jobs.

One night, in my early twenties, I was standing in the doorway to the living room looking in when I switched the light off - and there, standing inches in front of me in the darkness was a middle aged man wearing an orangey brown coloured suit. If I could put an era to him it would be the 1960s or 70s. He was there for a moment and then he was gone - but he was as clear as anything.

I raced up the stairs in super quick time.

Nursing Home Patient

When I was in my late teens and early twenties I regularly worked night shifts at our local nursing home for the elderly. The building was pretty spooky as it had once been a Victorian hospital. If you were looking down on it from above it would have resembled the letter H, with four wings.

One of the wings was refered to as the operating wing, and was by far the spookiest and coldest section of the nursing home, particularly in the early hours when we were doing our hourly rounds.

Luckily, this part of the nursing home is where the relatively self sufficient residents were housed.

One night, at around 3am, I was doing my rounds in this part of the home, when I noticed something odd at the far end of the corridor. I saw the door handle on one of the doors on the left of the corridor move down and then up as though someone on the inside was trying to get out. I knew for a fact that this room was unoccupied and immediately assumed one of the senile residents from one of the other wings had wandered into the room.

I hurried down the corridor and entered the room only to find it empty. However I noticed the rocking chair (an orthopedic one) under the window rocking slightly and thought the old dear might have wandered into the bathroom, which was situated to the right of the chair.

I can't tell you how frightened I was to discover the bathroom was empty too. The door handle and rocking chair had clearly been moving, which is exactly what I did - at top speed - out of the room and back to the nurse's station.

 

Carlinghow Nursing Home, the former Batley Hospital