the day a poltergeist attacked me
Sceptical about the supernatural? So was the Mail’s MICHAEL HELLICAR — until he saw events so chilling they still haunt him to this day
‘there would be demons sitting on your bed or something.’ Playfair replied: ‘Oh no, I made a nice cup of tea and went to sleep.’
Inevitably, there were accusations that the Hodgson family were staging an elaborate hoax, and Playfair and Grosse were dismissed as gullible.
Janet admitted in a TV interview in 1980 that she and her siblings had tried to fake some happenings — ‘about 2 per cent’ — because they felt under pressure when so many visitors came to the house expecting to see something ghostly on demand.
‘We caught them each time because we were watching for trickery,’ says Playfair. ‘They would try to bend spoons, like Uri Geller. They tried to hide my tape recorder so I would think the poltergeist had moved it. But they didn’t realise it was switched on, so I heard every word of their plot!
‘ But too many other things happened that could not be faked. Usually there were too many witnesses. What about all the things that happened in empty rooms, when the kids were somewhere else?
‘What about all the things I saw and heard? And the police officers? Children couldn’t have fooled so many people, all of whom wanted to find a rational, earthly explanation for what was happening.’
As for the cacophony of voices coming out of Janet’s mouth, the psychic investigators devised their own test. With Janet and her mother’s agreement, the girl’s mouth was filled with water before being taped up to prevent her speaking. Yet the voices still came out. And afterwards, all the water was still in her mouth.
Maurice Grosse offered £1,000 (£6,500 today) to anyone who could replicate the voices by ventriloquism or any other form of trickery, but no one took up his challenge.
Finally, Playfair invited two psychic medium friends to see what they could make of the hauntings.
‘They came to the house and almost immediately made contact with the poltergeist,’ says Playfair. ‘It took them 15 minutes of talking to him calmly, and the effect was remarkable. The nastiness died down at once and Janet went to sleep for 14 hours — the first uninterrupted sleep she’d had in nearly two years. After that, there was very little trouble.’
Life at the house in Green Street returned to normal for the Hodgsons. Peggy, who had refused to move, even when things got so bad that the family would huddle together in fear, remained there until she died from breast cancer in 2003.
Janet left home at 16, married and moved to Essex. She prefers to stay out of the limelight, saying she doesn’t want to rake up those traumatic events. ‘I’m still in touch with her,’ says Playfair, ‘but I respect that she doesn’t want any more fuss.’
Inevitably, the TV drama will bring out the disbelievers. ‘To all those who say the poltergeist must have been a hoax I say this,’ says Playfair.
‘I was there and you weren’t. I investigated everything at first hand and you didn’t. I know what I saw and heard.’
So do I — and that’s why I slept with the lights on for weeks afterwards.
The enfield haunting begins on sky Living on sunday May 3 at 9pm.