Karen Steel has always had a love-hate relationship with things that go bump in the night.
Her love of scaring myself witless with horror films comes from a belief that there really is such a thing as ghosts and she has always said she'd love to see one ? provided she wasn't on her own.
So when Paula Whiting, from Spiritseekers UK, contacted her about accompanying the Haverhill-based group on a ghost hunt at the Rose and Crown pub, she jumped at the chance.
Spiritseekers UK was formed by Paula Whiting and her partner, Brendan Quinn, who both have a long-standing interest in the paranormal.
But don't call them ghostbusters!
The group formed to investigate reports of paranormal activity and have visited some of the country's most haunted locations, both locally and nationally.
They were called to the Rose and Crown in Haverhill by new owners Charlotte Wright and Hilary Munnery, whose staff claimed to have experienced odd goings on.
The ghost hunt took place on Saturday from midnight until dawn.
Before we started, Paula played me a recording made in a churchyard in Sudbury, an example of so-called EVP ? electronic voice phenomena ? where a tape left running can pick up sounds from other beings.
Paula explained the dictaphone had been left in the churchyard and the group had monitored the only exits from the location, so they knew no-one had been through.
The outcome was truly chilling.
A youngish sounding woman, initially indistinguishable, started singing: "I'm a Catholic" before complaining of feeling sick and then laughing hysterically.
It certainly made me question what I was really listening to.
Members of Spiritseekers, and a Manchester-based group, UK Ghosthunters, split up into smaller groups and set up in different locations around the hotel.
I joined a group in the bar area, which was plunged into darkness, but probably because I was with others, wasn't particularly spooky.
Other members of the group said they saw shadows moving in the darkness, but try as I might I couldn't see them.
It was decided to try a s?ance and while I've always been apprehensive about messing with forces I didn't understand, it felt safe, so I was happy to join in.
Beforehand everyone asked for protection by imagining a white light around them and everyone else around the table and assured whatever spirits there might be that we meant no harm or disrespect.
I honestly didn't expect the glass to move.
Everyone's fingers were resting so very lightly on the glass it seemed unlikely anyone could influence it and when it did start to move I felt strangely calm.
I've always thought someone in these situations must be moving the glass, but when it actually began to rotate under my finger and I had to move my hand to keep up, I had to re-think that theory.
Different people took it in turns to question the spirit, who Paula felt was a lady called Mrs Fell ? a previous owner of the Rose and Crown ? and a young boy called George, who Charlotte had been told haunted the pub.
It was a strange and very calm feeling, even when my hand became deathly cold on several occasions, but after some vigorous questioning it seemed we had exhausted the spirit.
Down in the cellar was where I was most convinced we would experience something more 'solid' and I was willing for an unexplained tap on the shoulder, but to no avail.
Several members heard the heavy door slam before we headed downstairs but sadly, I wasn't one of them.
Some of the more sensitive members of the group felt uneasy in the cellar and I admit I would probably not want to be down there alone.
In fact more than one person felt decidedly sick and the decision was taken to leave, because of the atmosphere they were getting from the place.
Up in the bedrooms another s?ance was attempted, this time with a planchette ? a piece of wood, on wheels, which can hold a pencil to write messages ? but this wasn't as successful as the s?ance in the bar.
One of the members of UK Ghosthunters, Bernie Geist, was keen for me to experience table-tipping in the restaurant, where another group had had a lot of paranormal activity.
Placing our fingers lightly on the table, it began to spin so fast we had to chase it to keep up.
I have to admit, this was the only time I was sceptical and kept looking to see whether Bernie had his hands under the heavy wooden table to spin it but I couldn't see anything obvious.
By 5am it seemed we had exhausted whatever was in the place, and me with it, so I bowed out, although I would dearly loved to have stayed and experienced some more ? somehow it didn't seem so likely to happen when it got light outside.
Paula was pleased with the results ? and the group also raised ?375 for pub regular Davey Field, who suffers from Huntingdon's Disease ? and will now spend the next fortnight putting together all the data gathered from infra red night cameras, EVP recordings and personal documentation.
As for me, what I found most annoying was that I tried to rationalise what happened to me the next day, when I don't actually believe there is a rational explanation.
I find it hard to believe no-one leaves behind a trace in the atmosphere when they die and if I was to die I would try my hardest to 'come back'.
Whether the spirits we spoke to were the ones we thought, I'm not sure, but there was certainly something there.
Source: http://www.haverhilltoday.co.uk/ViewArt ... id=1480140
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