Who are you calling STUPID?
The spook in church hadn’t really just said that… had she?
As a child I never believed in ghosts. Other people told me stories and I’d roll my eyes and say: ‘What a load of rubbish!’ There was no proof, was there?
Ghosts were just in stories. I became an adult and remained a sceptic.
Then one day I was bored and flicking through the TV channels. I found an American one that featured a ghost investigator recording voices on a dictaphone. I still thought it a load of nonsense but the tech side appealed to me and I watched as they recorded spirits and played them back, hearing the spooks chatter!
‘I’ll have a go,’ I told myself.
Next day I popped to Argos and bought a standard dictaphone. I’d heard of an ancient church nearby so drove there and went inside. It was completely empty. Silent. The dust was visible in the sunlight and my footsteps echoed on the hard floor. I sat on a pew and pressed Record on my device.
I sat there for an hour or two enjoying the peace and quiet.
When I got home, I played it back while I made my dinner. I was just stirring a pot when I dropped the spoon. I hurried to the dictaphone. I’d heard something… hadn’t I?
Rewinding the recording, I played it again. At first there was crackly silence. Then it came again: ‘Stupid!’
I frowned, rewound, then played it again. ‘Stupid!’
I shivered. It was an old lady’s voice. She sounded peeved. Yet, in the church I’d heard nothing.
I decided to go back. This time I sat in the church, pressed Record and began to talk. ‘Anyone there?’ I asked.
Nothing.
I walked to an ancient Bible. ‘Want me to read?’ I asked the empty church. Nothing.
I went home and played it back again. For ages there was nothing but silence.
Then I heard myself mention the Bible and say: ‘Want me to read?’
A reply came then. An angry male voice: ‘No I do not. Get out of here!’
I sat down, stunned. Spirits were there. I’d just not heard them in person. They were pretty narky ones too! In that moment a lifetime’s scepticism vanished. ‘Ghosts are real,’ I muttered.
I set up a group called Ghost Encounters Global. We got a group together and bought equipment. We started doing live streams on social media and got lots of followers.
We heard and saw all sorts – from angry voices to people whizzing by on bikes that weren’t there. I was even followed home twice by spirits we caught in haunted locations.
Now I still love hearing voices and capturing spirit. I never believed before and always thought ghosts were a load of rubbish.
I am so glad that moody female spirit in church called me ‘stupid’.
She gave me a whole new world to explore.