A PERSONAL PARANORMAL PILGRIMAGE

We’ve always believed, ALWAYS that a checkout operator in a supermarket, a delivery driver, a shop worker, anyone and everyone from any walk of life, can experience paranormal activity and witness paranormal activity without a need for rigid baseline experiments, tests and strict settings and guidelines.

We will feature more of these in the future but what is sometime refreshing is the back story to their experience(s), the background and their development and their journey that they find themselves on.

Never would I have expected that an impromptu outing on a dull May day in 2017 would change my life. But tacky as it sounds, it really did. After my first trip to a very special location, so began a series of experiences connected to and interwoven with all things paranormal, generated by this chance introduction to a place so unique that I dread to think who what or where I’d be without it. to me were now missing despite the fact I had only just turned proudly up on their spines. I have had two painful scratches, What began initially as a hobby, a succession of expensive weekend jaunts out on location in the dark with lots of strangers who for the most part all dressed in black, soon

My adventures that were initiated that day have led me The group hunts are a wonderful introduction to methods and amongst other places, to explore the chilling empty corridors theories behind modern ghost hunting, but I felt that I more of a German concentration camp. I have meandered through interested in the antisocial aspect of investigating that to my the damp dark bunkers and tunnels of Normandy and have become stuck at the bottom of an almost vertical slope at the entrance to a Nazi tunnel on the Greek island of Kefalonia. mind, produced the best results without the need of psychic abilities or fancy equipment. I have neither. Of course, the ‘newbie’ ghost hunter and sceptic alike, all want the full-on In 2019 I turned over in bed to discover that the pillows next experiences on tap, otherwise they are disappointed. over and not yet gone to sleep, to find them…. where? Stacked Gather fifty curious folk together up neatly around the corner of the room by the closed door. Our Henry Hoover lifted a foot off the floor and gently set for £50 a head, and of course, itself back down again, I have watched a Bluetooth speaker dance deliberately and slowly on the bedside table. Shortly they will probably want the after this, I heard and felt the heavy air-con unit slam into the wall at 2am, and returned to my living room to find my loose change that was lying on the coffee table, standing full-on shadow figure or to be levitated to the ceiling! changed. one like a dual cat scratch on the arm, and the other, well… let us just say it emanated from a very personal place. It bled so profusely that on removing my undergarments, it ripped the dried blood off like a gory plaster. I saw two three-inchChances are they will experience nothing like, although of course it is not out of the question. But with my newfound interest, I could virtually guarantee success EVERY time. long gauges coming from an area that I promise you I had not touched let alone scratched! I am not a contortionist. So, bit by bit I dropped out of the group work and look on. The board experiments and séance-style activities, and I instead This experience occurred during a visit to my favourite haunted location in 2019. What do all these things have in common? They have all happened because of what I get up to in my spare time. looked forward to the hour or two of free time at the end of the night. To be allowed to wander at leisure around historic locations in the early hours of the morning is a privilege, and not something that many people get to experience.

Like many, I suppose my introduction to this phenomena came from watching certain ghost shows on TV. There seem to be so many these days that I have narrowed my viewing down to just two that I deem trustworthy, but that is just a personal preference! I was influenced by a particular episode of Ghost Adventures, in which the team headed into the Vulture Mine ghost town in Arizona. Whilst in the schoolhouse, Aaron receives some incredible EVP voices, and this really got me thinking. Surely anyone with a voice recorder can have a go at this. If this is not faked, it is incredible. Why is no-one really jumping on this?! Aside from a quick playback and a crew member at base listening as the recordings happen, there seems little or no effort to listen closer, delve further. This frustrated me to the point where I’d be screaming at the TV, “Slow it down!! Use headphones!”, but no – the first assumption as to what was said during the session was to them, gospel; even though I was adamant that with a little time and effort what was really said would become clear.

Purchasing a cheap little thing from the internet, I headed out with my local group to Fort Amherst in Kent where I used to live. During the previously mentioned free time, I left everyone else guzzling coffee at 2am in the cafe used as a base and delved into the chalk tunnels of the Napoleonic fort virtually quivering with anticipation at what may happen.

To be honest I did not think I would capture anything. But that night not only did I manage to photograph a shadow figure up close in the wooden-floored gun room, but I recorded my very first EVP. It happened in the furthest tunnel of the Napoleonic system, as my soft soled shoes padded down the compact white chalk floor, a Northern man (think Sean Bean and you’d be spot on!) says “They’re joking…” I went over and over that recording, absolutely bubbling over with incredulity and outright joy. This was a natural high unlike anything I had experienced. Ann x

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: THANKS TO: HAUNTED MAGAZINE STOCKISTS: Paul Stevenson @hauntedmagazine paul@hauntedmagazine.co.uk DESIGNER: Andy Soar The Hill House, Wye Valley, Matt Spearin, The Wendigo, The Haunted Hunts. Pendle Hill, Tasma Terrace, NZ. Ardbeg, The Wee Beastie, Spook-Eats, Jon Culshaw, Usborne Publishing, Anna Howorth, UFOs, Alison Griffin,Boleskine House, “the truth is way, way out there” #HANDS #FACE #SPACE UK: Haunted Antiques Paranormal Research Centre, 11a Regent Court, Regent Street, Hinckley, Leicestershire LE10 0AZ bit.ly/hauntedHAPRC Bodmin Jail, Berrycoombe Rd, Bodmin, @thehauntedguy KEAP Paranormal, Chris Willcox, Cash’s Plymouth, Cornwall PL31 2NR bit.ly/ andy@hauntedmagazine.co.uk Well, Essex, UK, Wednesbury Paranormal, hauntedbodminjail

ADVERTISING Karen Fray @Karenhauntedma1 karen@hauntedmagazine.co.uk Higgypop, Villisca Ax(e) Murder House, Ectoplasm,West London Paranormal Team, Festival of the Unexplained, Stolen Pictures, Bodmin Jail AUSTRALIA:Sarah Chumacero, bit.ly/ haunteddownunder USA: Hinsdale House, 3830 McMahon Rd, Hinsdale, NY 14743 bit.ly/ WRITING TALENT : SPECIAL THANKS TO: hauntedhinsdalehouse Richard Estep, Jan Bondeson, Dennis Mohr, Amanda R. Woomer, Hubert Hobux, Simon Powell & Jason Wall “the Dipsy & Laa Laa of HauntedLIVE” Interested in becoming a stockist? Email stockists@hauntedmagazine.co.uk

Nicky Alan, John Tolladay, Morgan HAUNTED MAGAZINE Knudsen, Sarah Chumacero, Danny Moss, Penny Griffiths-Morgan. Leonard Low, Rich Austin, Mark Kenny, Kate Cherrell, Karen A. Dahlman, Ann Morris THE WHITE SHEET #28 “THE LOST ISSUE” Created by Paul Stevenson & Andy Soar Written by Steve Higgins, Penny Griffiths-Morgan, Jayne Harris, Barri Ghai, Mike Covell & Paul Stevenson Designed by Andy Soar The views of our writers may not necessarily reflect the views of Haunted Magazine; they probably do though, but, hey, still worth mentioning to cover our own backs. #HANDS #FACE #SPACE WILL RETURN WITH All features & images are ISSUE 29 IN PRINT. IN DIGITAL. ON APP. Haunted on the web: www.hauntedmagazine.co.uk The Print Shop: www.hauntedmagazineprintshop.com Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/HauntedDigitalMagazine Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/HauntedDigitalMagazine copyrighted to the individual authors and photographers respectively. If we miss a credit off, tell us and we will correct next issue. All Rights #dontbenormal BE PARANORMAL Also available from the App Stores Reserved.