Ghosts of The Great White Horse Hotel

My first contact with this hotel was when I was asked to conduct a paranormal investigation with a local radio station for their Halloween programme.

We were looking for the Lady in Grey and the victim of a murder, maybe the murderer was still about too as there was something not very nice on the back stairs. We found much more than we bargained for, so much so that during a glass moving experiment the glass almost flew off the table! With its rabbit warren of corridors and back stairways I decided a full public investigation was called for which we carried out in March 2006. We were not disappointed.

Hidden behind a Georgian facade, the Great White Horse Hotel is a timber framed coaching inn dating back almost 500 years to the 16th century. Today the original courtyard still remains, though now glazed over.

Originally built on this site in 1518 and previously called The Tavern it gave it’s name to the street it stands on. It was rebuilt, strangley enough, in 1815 and it’s guest list reads like a who's who of historical and famous people.

From 1520 onwards, The Duke of Norfolk, Queen Elizabeth 1st, King George II, King Louis XVIII of France and Lord Nelson (then High Steward of Ipswich) with Lady Hamilton. Charles Dickens was another famous guest, featuring the hotel in the Pickwick Papers. In more recent times Edward VIII and Mrs Simpson (after the abdication) and many more names you will know from your history books.

As for our investigation, the disembodied leather boots of a soldier were seen walking along a back corridor and contact was made with a servant girl, we believe the murder victim we originally searched for. The table on wheels we use for Table Tipping danced around the ballroom, as if the ghost in contact was re-living the memory of a bygone age. Unexplained moans, an uncomfortable energy; we believe may have been the murderer, remained unidentified, weird lights and EVP: (Electronic Voice Phenomena) captured by a customer on their camcorder, completed the weekend.

The strange thing about the EVP is that it was in French. We know that Louis XVIII of France and his entourage stayed there but we were unable to ascertain if one of his staff were killed or died there. The customer was waiting and filming in a corridor with his team ready for their next experiment. One of the team asked if anybody knew if this was the right place. The answer, recorded in French said “File d'attente ici”, translated to “Queue here”. It would seem ‘they still serve those who stand and wait’.

On a more normal note, the artist Jevan Watkins Jones was in residence at the Great White Horse Hotel from September until December 2001. During this time, he recorded and reflected upon the tedium and buzz that a hotel encounters in its daily life. His works; The Housekeeper, the Head Chef, the Night Porter and All – Life at The Great White Horse Hotel, were displayed in The Room Upstairs gallery at Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich: 8th December 2001 – 27th January 2002.

John Blythe is Senior Executive Manager for Haunted Weekend who organise public paranormal investigations in haunted hotels and castles throughout the UK. He has appeared on television with Haunted Weekend clearing a haunted house and has featured in and written for many paranormal magazines. He is also a featured expert on the paranormal for World Reviewer, a website that specialises in unique experiences.

Ghosts Around

Are these ghosts a reality....?

YES....I have seen it once, I have really experienced in my home, in my office...

People have different personal instances to share once you start talking about Ghosts.
Ghost stories are a spicy subject in campus life also. Due to fear or of a neutral personality, majority tends to believe in ghosts; and of course, there are few who do not believe in these stories at all.....If u utter any such ghostly experience, they would daringly challenge such things.

I remember such a story happened to a medical student, who publicly questioned the existence of ghosts and challenged to undergo any such ghostly experience. It was during a general discussion on ghosts, that he strongly disapproved the existence of ghosts and narrated those things as fake and absurd. Sooner, it became strong topic of debate and he entered into a bet with his friends to disapprove their views.

The guy agreed to undergo any fear filled, ghostly experience. And the bet offered him prize money once he is through with the challenge. The guy seemed to be so tough and was ready to take up any daring action.

The bet was like this,

There was a peepal tree near the boy's hostel. And it was a hot topic of discussion during the past years of that hostel. The tree was famous either with suicides or with vampires and related stuffs. It says ghosts usually find their aboard on it. (Not scientifically proved, but great story tellers say so). And here, the guy was asked to pierce a nail on the peepal tree. The time of his daring action was set to be 12: 45 mid night.

It's almost 70 meters distance from the hostel to the peepal tree. As decided earlier, the guy took his determined steps towards the tree with a hammer and nail. It was getting darker when he moved near to the tree. He looked around, the hostel seemed to be a dark chamber from distance, and the screaming of bugs added a horror ambience too.
By then, slowly he could feel the coldness passing through his feet. He ensured twice that he was holding the hammer tightly though his palm was getting sweaty. He thought to hit few strokes and finish the job so fast.

Now, the coldness has passed on to his body and to his finger tips as well. It's totally dark around...The whistling wind moves with a panicking ambience. He felt like its long way to reach near the tree.

With trembling strides, somehow he managed to reach over there...

The moment he reached at one arm distance to the tree, he raised the hammer...fixed the nail.... The wind was blowing bit heavy, and he felt as if the wind will pull him up. He hit the nail with maximum power. When it pierced an inch on the tree he quickly turned back and tried to run away......ALAS.....he couldn't....... some thing is horrifying...
Somebody pulled him from back....his neck was getting tight...He felt like somebody is trying to strangle him. ...ohhhhhh... he screamed aloud. But no sound came out and nobody came to help. Few minutes passed.....

His friends thought that they have lost the bet money. And they waited in anticipation of his successful return. They waited and waited for long. But they couldn't find his return. So they decided to go on search of him. Once they reached near the tree, they found him laying down the peepal tree. Totally lost with senses and movements...They all screamed. Meanwhile somebody brought water and sprinkled on his face.....But no response....Its really ghostly...

Wahhh.... Its...Unbelievable right... but what happened in reality? Due to extreme fear and horror filled ambience, he pierced the nail on the tree along with a corner of his shawl. So once he turned back the shawl on the neck got tight and it pulled him back slightly. Once the inner fear increases, obviously we will experience high stress, right? So here also the slight pull from the hooked shawl felt to him like somebody was pulling from back, thus he lost his mental control and fell faint...

This is just a story to an extend ...But are these things a reality.

There are lots of beliefs in each and every culture. They have something to talk about ghosts. Both oriental and occidental traditions have its on style of narration about horror creatures. Film industry has grown big with ghostly content. And what more to say, even there are specialists who demands controls on all these extra sensitive affaires...and takes a big fee to cure your mind. What do you say? Do you believe? Or daring to take a challenge?

By Pradeep Chamravattom

Ghost Videos - Fact or Fiction?

Ghost videos. Have you ever watched one? If you love a good scare, you're not alone. We watch ghost videos or ghost documentaries when they come on TV, or we rent them. Whether you're watching for education purposes or solely for entertainment, many, including me, feel intrigued, or drawn to, ghosts and the after-life.

What intrigues me about watching ghost videos is the thought that these ghosts (or spirits) were alive and real at one time.

What if ghosts walked, talked and ate like any other person? What if they had the same thoughts as other people? Perhaps they themselves even watched a ghost video, or saw a real ghost. What did they think about ghosts and the after-life while they were alive?

What if ghosts are real? Sometimes while I am watching a ghost video , I'm left wishing that I myself could talk to the ghosts and hear what they have to say. What kind of stories would they have to tell me? I personally think ghosts are quite real.

If they are ghosts from history, I'm especially interested in how and where they lived, and how they died. Did they know famous people? Did the ghosts from the Civil War fight with General Robert E. Lee, for instance?

Some people believe ghosts that haunt present-day dwellings or houses where they used to live are ghosts that can't seem to make it to the other side. Something has stopped them, or they just need a little help to move on.

Others believe that these ghosts may want to stay behind and tell us something, warn us about something.

Still others believe that these ghosts don't even realize that they are dead. These ghosts think that they're still living, and that society and fashion, etc. have merely changed a lot in their lifetime, not having a sense of real time, or knowing that time has moved on, perhaps without them.

Whatever the case is, watching ghost videos never ceases to amaze me.

By Krista Brehaut

The Ghosts of Crowley Hall is now available to Buy or Rent from Amazon.com from as little as $1.99