THE ghost FILES

Karina Machado is a journalist, host of the Spirit Sisters podcast and the author of Spirit Sisters, Where Spirits Dwell and Love Never Dies, a non-fiction series exploring the extraordinary experiences of ordinary people. Now, on The Ghost Files podcast each week, Karina will introduce a guest who’ll share their personal encounter with the spirit world.

A TRAGEDY FORETOLD

Tom met his best mate, Ashley, skateboarding on the streets of their neighbourhood on the north coast of NSW. The boys grew up together, but when high school ended, they went their separate ways.

“One night, I had a really strange dream,” Tom, 29, tells me on The Ghost Files podcast. Tom had dreamt he was with Ashley’s family in a rainforest, but then Ashley’s father went missing and they couldn’t find him anywhere. Finally, it was his lifeless body they discovered. Tom woke up feeling deeply unsettled, and rang his friend first thing to ask if everything was OK. To his relief, all was well. “We had a normal conversation,” relates Tom.

Later that day, Tom’s mobile rang. To his shock and horror, Tom learnt his friend’s dad had indeed passed away unexpectedly. Tom had never had a premonition before but it would not prove to be the last time he showed signs of budding psychic ability and mediumship. About six months later, Tom made the move down to Sydney, where he fortuitously – or so he thought – rented a covetable inner-city apartment for a bargain price.

“Nothing out of the ordinary happened … at first,” says Tom. Then one night, sitting up in bed, Tom was scrolling through his phone when he was overcome by a very odd feeling. “I started to feel a really strange sensation – a warm, fuzzy, paralysing sensation from the outside in,” he recalls. Sitting up and wide awake, Tom was suddenly completely paralysed. Then he heard a voice, as clear as life. It was his friend’s dad – and he had an important question to ask him …

To find out the rest of Tom’s story, tune into The Ghost Files podcast. Have you ever heard the voice of a late loved one? Write in and let me know.