When asked about whether I’m a believer in the paranormal or supernatural I explain that I’m an open-minded sceptic. I am open-minded to the possibility and love reading about encounters, and theories and watching top 5 evidence videos on YouTube. However, I am still sceptical about the truth of it all and take all evidence with a pinch of salt. I really do want to believe, but I need to see and experience more. That isn’t to say I haven’t experienced anything, but even my own experiences I don’t fully understand.
So, let’s not bury the lead and I will explain my own possible encounters.
I attended a secondary school in Coventry called Coundon Court. The school was centred on a large Victorian building, we called the Old House, that was originally built as a house for the Singer family in the 1880s. There had been stories from several teachers and staff who had reported strange events such as hearing music from rooms no one was in, hand prints appearing overnight in fresh paint and even shadowy figures walking from room to room. There was even a legend of a maid who was killed when she was pushed over a bannister from the second floor. When I was 13, I was helping at a parents' event at the school one evening. I was with a friend, Stuart Bentley, and we were in the old house getting something from one of the classrooms (it was the English department). At the end of the corridor outside the classroom was a fire escape door. It was a heavy door, made to only open out, and only accessible outside from a secured fire escape staircase. As Stuart and I stepped into the corridor, the fire door started to shake loudly in its frame. The glass was rattling, and the door banged in the frame. We didn’t know what was causing it, so we ran out of there as fast as we could. Once outside we stopped, and Stuart asked why I had pushed him as we ran out. I explained that I was in front of him the whole time, but Stuart was convinced he felt two hands on his back pushing him as we left that corridor at speed. Did we encounter one of the ghosts that resided in the old house?
My second brush with the weird came while I was in university (2001 – 2003). During my second year, I experienced sleep paralysis for the first time. I was living in a house in the Evington area, my room was on the second floor. One night I woke up and couldn’t move. I could see the wall and feel the duvet, but I was not able to move. As the panic started to set in, I was convinced I could hear someone at the far end of the room. Not knowing what else to do I think I must have fallen to sleep.
After this, there were two experiences in quick succession. First, I fell asleep on my bed one evening and woke to see a figure huddled by the far wall. I convinced myself I was seeing a bundle of clothes or something similar, but then the figure stood up. I rationalised it as being a dream, so I closed my eyes and woke up in my room in the dark. Quickly turning on the light the room was normal, and I was alone.
This was soon followed by the final experience in that house. It started much like the last encounter. I woke up and saw the bundled figure. Knowing what to do I encouraged myself to relax, knowing it was a dream, so I would wake up. I did and all seemed normal, so I went to leave my room, and as I opened the bedroom door the figure, I had seen, charged at me up a short set of stairs just outside the room. The shock shook me awake and I was in my bed. I stayed awake the rest of the night, but I there were no more encounters in that house.
It was the following year in a house two streets over that I had the next round of similar experiences. I had three consecutive nights of sleep paralysis, each night I would be facing the wall and could sense movement in the room behind me. However, I felt I had this sorted. Each time I would relax and slip back into sleep. However, on the fourth night, I woke, lying on my back I was facing into the room that seemed darker than I was used to. Nothing moved, but I was convinced there was a presence. I don’t remember falling asleep again, but I do remember waking up in the morning in daylight.
In 2013 I moved to my current house in the village of Oakthorpe, a former mining village. While here I have walked a lot of the rural public paths across fields and woods. It’s a beautiful location with a lot of history. Over the years I had two odd experiences that occurred within a single week in 2018. One early evening in the summer I was walking my dog, Skye, along a path with thick growth of trees on either side. As the lights started to dim, I could see a man sitting back from the trees about 50 or 60 metres ahead of me. He was sat on the embankment on the right of the path with his back against a tree. I could see the movement of his clothes and his head slightly. He was wearing a long coat and had shoulder-length hair. I was conscious of him being there as Skye was off her lead and has a tendency to jump up when excited.
However, as I got within 10 metres, I noticed that the man was gone, and the shadow of the trees did make a similar shape. It was like the figure had blended in with the shapes being made by the trees and their shadows. Even to this day I am convinced that there was a tangible person there to begin with.
Two evenings later while walking Skye closer to home down a street in the village I again spotted a figure standing at the entrance to an entryway, that leads to a public path that passes through a field. The figure was a similar height to me, wearing a long coat and a flat cap. The figure didn’t move at all. It just stood there, not even looking at me, almost indifferent to mine and Skye’s presence. Skye knew the figure was there and quickly moved on. I was uncomfortable, so did the British thing, gave a brief nod and moved on. Even as I walked past, I looked back and noted that the figure was still in the same position, not having moved at all.
I have walked those paths and streets hundreds of times over the years and at different times of day and never had these experiences again.
Of all these potential encounters mentioned, I couldn’t say any of them are actually supernatural. There are explanations, misconceptions and simple human nature that could explain them. However, these are the experiences that stick with me and have kept me interested in the supernatural and the weird. Doing Weird Country I hope to delve more into these experiences and challenge them and myself.