Of Ghosties and Ghoulies and Things that go Bump in the Night

As a child I frequently suffered with night terrors. Periods of waking through the night with inexplicable intense fear and dread which led me to scream out until pacified. My parents, after a while, subscribed to the "she'll grow out of it - just leave her to it" philosophy, leaving my older sister, with whom I shared a room, free reign to exacerbate the fear even further by telling me such things as the bogeyman lived in the airing cupboard in our bedroom! I can't blame all of it entirely on her, I will admit to an interest in, even a fascination (possibly macabre) for the supernatural from a very young age. I read innumerable ghost stories, loved Tom's Midnight Garden and would sit for hours in my Grandad's shed listening to the older children in the neighbourhood relating ghost stories.  During daylight hours these were all fascinating and would spur my imagination - which would return with a vengeance in the dark hours before the dawn and scare me to death.
I have never quite left this fascination behind but now have a healthy open mind about such things. I believe in ghosts, I believe that there is energy around us that cannot be rationally explained by the scientific amongst us. Some of that may of course be wishful thinking that there is more after this life - but I have had experiences and been in situations that have led me to this belief.
So, when the chance came to engage in a Ghost Hunt recently at Bygone Times I couldn't say no. The experience promised "a ghost hunting night to remember" so Dad and I arrived in good time. I was unsure what to expect and wondered if a return of my childhood fears may return - stating that if I got scared I may go back and sit in the car - then realising that I would be on my own in the dark - so quickly gave up on that idea!
Once inside we were given food and drink and introduced to the team: a TV minor celebrity paranormal expert, a medium, an historian and a Romany witch. We started with a talk on ghosts and what this term may mean. Apparently there are three stages of manisfestation, orbs (which are rare and not of the kind seen on digital photographs and so beloved of Derek Acorah!), vortex and then full visual (I think). In fact there were quite a few derogatory comments about TV paranormal investigations (including Most Haunted which I love for its theatre rather than its scientific content).
We were shown some photographs of paranormal incidents that were we assured had been checked by Kodak and the relevant societies and passed as authentic. Very interesting.
We were then split into smaller groups to engage in a number of activities, our first was a tour of the Mill floors with the medium and historian and a number of gadgets measuring temperature and disturbance in environmental stuff (can't remember the exact term). With the aid of a torch and just a few low lights we were taken on a tour and shown areas where there had been "experiences".
Now, those sceptics reading this will easily be able to offer any number of logical explanations to the events that I experienced - all I can say is that I know what it was like - and in the words of the expert - my job is not to convince you either way. There was one point in the tour where I couldn't actually put one foot in front of the other - my legs would just not move - at this point the medium picked up a presence that was hostile to us being there and who identified that he had walking problems (found this out after my experience). Dad and I, whilst splitting from the group slightly, watched as lights flickered on and off at the end of the room and saw a shadow go across the light (there was no-one down that end at all!).
One rather funny experience was in the main room not long after we started the tour. We heard a noise coming from one of the aisles - like a voice over a CB radio or walkie-talkie, very faint but definitely heard by a number of the group. We heard this on a few occasions and each time it was the cause of some excitement. However, at the end of the evening as we were engaged in a silent group circle, it sounded again. "Oh no, it's 1 0'clock" said the voice - it was a novelty alarm clock on one of the stalls in the room (Bygone Times is an old Mill that has been turned into a retail antiques and collectables warehouse). That certainly instilled a bit of reality as we were preparing to leave .
Other activities through the night included a Ouija Board experiment and a Seance (more of a healing circle than a seance).
It was not a scary experience, the team in charge were approachable and "normal" with no intentions of indoctrinating their audience or indeed making interpretations of what was experienced other than to support and engage with us. It was a great evening's entertainment which has made us come away with food for thought bearing in mind I live in a haunted house and opposite a cemetery- fingers crossed my night terrors don't return.........