Jump to content

The Fortean/paranormal/conspiracy thread


Astro Hollywood

Recommended Posts

  • Paid Members

I don't believe in ghosts, and it's actually one of the few bits of Forteana (along with UFO sightings/alien abductions) that doesn't really engage me at all - the bit of Fortean Times that I'd be quickest to skip over, basically.

A lot of my family are mad on it, though, one of my half-brothers especially, so I grew up around ghost stories, and still have a bunch of local ghost story books from different places I've lived.

The only stories I can think of myself, though...

 

  1. Quick one, but after my Grandad's funeral, the immediate family were sat around in his house. Nobody was sitting in "his" chair, but there was a patch of condensation on the glass cabinet next to it, which my half-brother swore appeared as if someone were breathing on it. Not a spooky scary ghost story, but he swears he saw it to this day.
     
  2. Another one involving said half-brother; I grew up in a small village just outside of Beverley in East Yorkshire. I was friends with two brothers, who lived in one of the older houses in the village; it was a really weird, labyrinthine layout, so it felt three times the size it was, and there were multiple ways in and out of some rooms, staircases all over the place, rooms only accessible through other rooms, and so on. Old, spooky, drafty, easy to get to lost in, usually eerily quiet. They also had a player piano, just to amp up the creepiness. I don't think there were ever any specific stories, but it always had a "haunted house" reputation, and it was easy to see why - lots of unexplained chills, the feeling of being watched, or unexplained shadows and so on. The Mum of the family was American, so they'd go over there for a few weeks in the Summer, and one year my half-brother (same one) was asked to housesit for them. After a couple of nights, he said he just couldn't do it any more - he was hearing footsteps, doors opening, the general feeling of not being alone in the house. So he asked my other half-brother, who doesn't believe in any of this stuff, and is probably the least imaginative man alive, so far less likely to hear some bumps in the night and jump to the conclusion "ghost!". He lasted one night before refusing to ever set foot in the house again. It's been maybe 20 years since then, and the last time we were in the village for my Gran's funeral, we went for a walk around, and the first half-brother would power-walk past that house, couldn't bring himself to even be near it.
     
  3. Last one, the closest I've probably ever come to believing this stuff, and the one that most directly involved me. As a kid, staying in Rhuddlan, in Wales, with the family. We stayed in this massive old house (though how much of that is childhood memory making it seem bigger than it was, I'm not sure), apparently about 500 years old, and allegedly was once connected to Rhuddlan Castle by underground tunnels, so people could have escaped the castle if it was attacked and take refuge there. There was a trapdoor under the armchair in the living room, with opened into a tunnel that was bricked up a few feet in. The house had a guestbook full of comments on the place being haunted, many of them mentioning a mannequin. We didn't know anything about any mannequin, and assumed they were referring to this big, creepy porcelain doll that sat in the hall, looking out on to the street.
    At least twice, we went out, and came back to find the doll facing a different direction to when we left. Even as a kid, I'd just assumed that the landlord had popped around while we were out and moved it - but why, and how would he know when we were out? Flicking further back through the guestbook, we found a few comments on the doll moving too.
    I can't remember how long we stayed there, probably about a fortnight, but stuff just went wrong all the time. My brother kept getting nosebleeds, my father broke his toe, a decorative plate fell off the mantelpiece seemingly for no reason while we were sat in the living room, and the TV exploded. Maybe other things too. My half-brother (same one again!) was staying in a room which had this tiny door, maybe three or four feet high, in one of the rooms, and we never opened it. He was creeped out by it and, on our last night there, we figured we'd open it and see what was inside. There was a tiny crawlspace, which lead through to a small room, and all that was in there was an old mannequin dressed in Victorian military dress, and a small writing desk.

 

I could probably find some good fairy stories, though - I live in Jersey now, and there's a rich history of folk belief in fairies and witchcraft and so on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members

anyone catch Tom Delongue on the Joe Rogan podcast last week? ive seen an hour of it so far and its pretty uncomfortable viewing.

I knew Delongue was big into UFO's but he's deeeeep down the rabbit hole, it doesn't help that Rogan sniffs bullshit from the off. What's weird is Delongue is the head (or face) of some pretty legitimate research company that has (from what i can gather) many reputable names attached to it, so there may be some kind of substance to what he's saying. His story sounds like something lifted straight from a movie though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

I share this every Halloween, because it's just so great. In a radio prank from 1952, an intrepid reporter is sent to "Frankenstein's castle." His growing terror is perhaps the purest rendering of fear ever broadcast, and what an ending!

"No... it... it couldn't..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYGRx1gDKgo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The creepiest thing I read in ages was someone on Reddit posting about a recording that her sleep app made in the middle of the night.

 

 

I'd dismiss it as a silly ghost story, but then there's the recording...

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

Some cracking posts there. Here's the one other story I have, but I don't remember it happening, and have probably posted it here before.

I was four, and out for the day at a stately home with my mum and gran. This is pre-Minecraft. It's what people did in the olden days of the early 80s. My mum turned around and noticed I was standing over by one of those velvet ropes that keep the public out of the owner's real bedroom and whatnot. I was also seemingly having a conversation with an empty staircase. She went to pull me away, and according to her, this is what I said, verbatim:

"Don't be frightened, mummy. They only want to play."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members

The only "paranormal" experience I've ever had occurred after my Step-Nana died in 1998. The family were all out at the Theatre and I was in the kitchen making a cuppa and I just knew there was someone standing behind me. Turned around slowly, almost breathless and there was no one there. That feeling though. Gives me the shakes just thinking about it now. Cold, so cold.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members

I've only ever had one paranormal experience too, but it scared the shit out of me at the time and has been with me ever since. I was around 15/16 and was the only person in our house at the time, with just our dog for company. It was around midday and I was in the living room watching TV - actually think it may have been an episode of Smackdown. We used to have an old biscuit tin in the shape of an alligator which, when opened, would play a recording along the lines of 'Yum, those are some tasty cookies!'. Fuck knows why my mam thought this would be a good purchase in the first place. Anyway, we heard the recording play, clear as day, from the kitchen.  I would've said I'd imagined it, except the sound of it woke the dog up and even that poor fucker looked scared. Me and the dog just stared at each other for a while, shitting it. It took me around 10 minutes to work up the bollocks to go into the kitchen and when I did, the biscuit jar was open. I slammed it shut and ran into the living room, where I stayed until my parents got back home, and they pissed themselves laughing once I told them. Cruel fuckers didn't even get rid of it for another couple of months despite my pleas.

I've since convinced myself that the jar was previously left open, and that somehow set the recording off again a while later, but fucking hell it had me on edge for days.

Edited by Lorne Malvo
Fuck knows why I said frog - it was an alligator.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...