approached the Carinup tavern. My mind was focussed on pol-
tergeists and hauntings, I was primed and ready for the ghost
hunt. The fact that a Ouija Board sat just behind me, clattering in the back of the station wagon, further set the mood. It was time for the investigation to begin.
As we entered the tavern, we were met by Rob and Heidi,
the hosts of a popular morning radio show. One of the local
television stations had also sent a reporter, who was covering the investigation for the following evening’s news. The media
were poised for what they hoped would be an eventful eve-
ning. They wouldn’t be disappointed.
It wasn’t long before Tony had scanned the building, and
identified a closed-off corridor as the focus of the haunting.
To reach it, you had to go through a long dark hallway with
self-closing doors at either end. Once you entered the hallway, the heavy door closed quickly behind you, pitching the space
into complete darkness. It was musty and foreboding.
The doorway at the end of the hall led to the corri-
dor, which in turn gave access to a bathroom and two pokey
rooms. These had once been the publican’s quarters, but were
now too decrepit to be used for anything other than storage.
Ted, one of the previous publicans didn’t think so though, and he continued to occupy his quarters in spite of being dead.
The Night of the Poltergeist 9
Tony thought it would be best to take us into the corri-
dor in pairs, so that the groups were small enough for him to
maintain control.
First to accompany Tony into Ted’s quarters was Heidi,
who had confessed a profound fear of ghosts beforehand. The
reporter from TV station also went in, her camera rolling. She admitted she was a skeptic, and didn’t expect to capture anything untoward.
After much convincing, a tearful Heidi eventually agreed
to go in, her terror palpable as she made her way through the
heavy first door. We could hear her voice getting softer as the group moved away from us, as she repeatedly asked to go
back, unwilling to face her darkest of fears. Tony managed to
reassure her, telling her she would come to no harm.
Tony called out into the darkness.
“If there’s anyone here, could you please make a noise.”
Almost instantly, a loud banging began on the ceiling and
walls. Heidi screamed.
“Oh my God!” she gasped. “I need to get out. Take me back!”
“It’s OK …” said Tony calmly. “Nothing will happen to you;
you’ll be fine.”
Tony addressed the ghost once again, and asked if it would
make itself known to them.
Another loud bang echoed through the corridor. By now
Heidi had begun to hyperventilate, and worse was yet to
come. The reporter continued filming, stoically trying to pro-
cess what she could scarcely believe was possible. Tony continued trying to establish contact.
And then, completely unfathomably, the trio were pelted
with a smattering of stones. They had materialised out of thin air; it was more than Heidi could take.
10 The Night of the Poltergeist
“Get me out of here!” she screamed.
Seconds later she was bolting down the hallway, back through
the heavy wooden door and into the sanctuary of the pub.
“It’s real!” Heidi cried. “It’s really real … he threw rocks at us!”
I could see her shaking from across the room. We all crowded
around her, shocked but intrigued. We were unable to compre-
hend that the poltergeist had actually manifested stones and used them as projectiles. I’d read about the phenomenon being connected to poltergeists before, and could never quite believe it.
Being confronted with the evidence now was almost more than
I could process.
Tony called Rob in from the hallway, it was his turn to go
in. I quickly grabbed the door before it shut, and asked the TV
reporter if she was OK.
“I’m fine,” she smiled, as the team disappeared into the
darkness and the door slammed shut once again.
The group resumed their positions in the corridor, and
Tony asked the ghost if he wanted them to leave.
BANG!
“OK … but we’re not here to hurt you mate. We’re not try-
ing to upset you …”
BANG!
Tony picked up that Ted didn’t like the reporter at all and
it wasn’t long before he expressed his disdain. The stones fired up once again, and this time they were all aimed at the young
woman. Even her camera was bombarded, and she ran from
the corridor, an hysterical mess.
As she stumbled into the pub with her camera hanging by
her side, we were shocked to see her so distressed. She was
crying, shaking and struggling to breathe. We helped her into
The Night of the Poltergeist 11
a chair and gave her water, waiting for her to catch her breath so we could hear what had happened. She was completely
traumatised, perhaps more so for having been a skeptic just a
few minutes earlier.
It was then that Tony called my name.
“Your turn,” he said.
Having seen how the two ladies before me fared, to say I
was scared would be a ridiculous understatement. All my old
fears came bubbling to the surface. I felt like I was a teenager again; as frightened as I’d been when I was terrorised by poltergeists thirty years ago.
“I can’t do it,” I said, terrified. I could feel my face burning; my body was trembling.
Tony assured me I’d be safe, and the rest of the group
agreed. They reminded me I’d come all this way for a reason, I wouldn’t forgive myself if I backed out now. So with my heart
racing and my breath rasping, I clung to Tony’s elbow as we
made our way down the increasingly cold hallway. Karen (my
fellow competition winner) was armed with her infrared cam-
era and made up the threesome for the third leg of the inves-
tigation.
I forced myself to breathe deeply as we stood in the dark
corridor. The sense of expectation was all-consuming, though
it wasn’t long before the activity kicked in. A loud bang was
followed by the flying stones, it appeared that this was Ted’s favourite trick. One of the stones skimmed my right cheek as
it whizzed past, I was as awestruck as I was terrified. How on earth was this possible? It was beyond my comprehension that the stones were manifesting out of nothingness, they seemed
to be coming at us from thin air.
12 The Night of the Poltergeist
Tony addressed the darkness, his voice measured and con-
fident. He’d obviously done this many times before.
“If you want us to leave, just make a noise …”
The response came as a loud rap on the wall in front of us.
I was ready to run.
“OK,” I faltered. “If you don’t want us here, we’ll go.” I
turned towards the doorway, but Tony and Karen had no
intention of leaving. Especially since Karen was capturing a
spectacular display of orb activity on her infrared camera.
I’d noticed that while I was speaking to Ted I started to feel a little more calm. So I tried speaking to him again.
“We’re sorry if we’re upsetting you. We want to know
whether you need our help. Are y
ou stuck?”
Another shower of stones, or perhaps it was more of a sprin-
kling. We heard the stones clatter into the old bath, and made our way towards the bathroom to investigate. Tony held one
of the stones in the palm of his hand, it looked like one of the small orange local stones, and we joked that it was very much
like a large lentil. The atmosphere was starting to lift.
“Ted …” asked Tony. “Do you think you could show your-
self to us again?”
Almost instantly, an orb flew out from the wall to our right.
It skittered around in front of us for a few seconds, before disappearing into the brickwork of the opposite wall.
“Wow!” I said, starting to feel better. We were all blown
away.
“Could you do that again mate?” asked Tony.
We all stared at Karen’s view-finder as the small, bright orb
reappeared. It darted around in front of us, before seeming to disappear into the wall once again.
“Thank you,” I said. “It’s so good of you to show yourself!”
The Night of the Poltergeist 13
This manifestation of spirit energy felt much more accept-
able than stone-throwing and rapping! It appeared that now that Ted had our full attention, he had calmed down significantly.
Also, by now I’d managed to keep my fear in check, so there was no intense emotion available to fuel the disturbance. Karen and Tony had been calm and composed all along, it was just me who
had been on the verge of a meltdown!
By the time we emerged from the darkness, my fear had
made way for awe. I couldn’t quite comprehend what had just
happened. I had read about this type of phenomenon before,
but to experience it myself was another thing altogether.
And to think, the night had barely begun!
Once we’d composed ourselves, Tony set up the Ouija
Board. It was the very thing I had sworn I’d never be involved with. I’d heard too many stories of séances gone wrong. Yet
here I was, seated in the old dining room of a haunted hotel, about to initiate contact with its resident ghosts.
Tony’s Ouija Board is a converted fold-out table, and judg-
ing by its well-worn appearance, it has obviously seen much
use over the years. It had probably once been a pristine white, but was now looking battered with age. The letters and numbers were arranged around its periphery, with a large “YES”
and “NO” in the middle.
I reassured myself with the knowledge that Tony was an
expert in the field of spirit contact, and I knew that he wouldn’t start proceedings without protection being in place first. In an effort to further strengthen my spiritual armour, I said a quick prayer and white-lighted myself, then braced myself in preparation for the séance.
There were five of us seated around the table; Tony, Karen,
Rob, Heidi and myself. Heidi’s friend Sophie sat slightly apart 14 The Night of the Poltergeist
from us, taping proceedings on her hand-held tape recorder. We were ready to begin.
Tony asked us to place our hands flat on the table, with
our little fingers extended so as to touch those of the person next to us. He warned us that it was likely nothing would happen for quite a while, if it happened at all. If we did make spirit contact however, Tony told us we’d feel a drop in temperature
and the tips of our fingers would start to feel cold.
The wheels were set into motion when Tony asked the
spirits to draw close to us. He made it clear that only ener-
gies coming from the light were welcome to make contact,
and asked for us to be shielded from lower-vibration entities.
Tony then told us that he needed to leave us for a little while, and began to zone out. He said that he needed to make sure
that the energy around the table was not threatening. If Tony
felt an increase in energy, it meant that we were dealing with positive, crossed over spirits. If however he sensed a drop, it was possible that negative energies were around us. If this was the case, we would have to end the séance.
We watched as Tony allowed himself to drop into a semi-
trance state, and smiled nervously at each other across the
table. I couldn’t believe I was really about to do this, was I really inviting contact from the other side? It wasn’t long
before Tony opened his eyes, and announced it was safe to
begin.
The room was in darkness except for the greenish glow
emanating from the exit sign, just enough for us to see each
other’s faces and the board before us. We were surprised by
how quickly the spirit contact was initiated. As our fingertips began to get cold, we looked at each other across the table.
The Night of the Poltergeist 15
Rob, seated directly opposite me, couldn’t hide his awe at what was happening.
“I feel it!” he said. His eyes grew wide as the table started
to vibrate.
Heidi made a pained noise as the table began to shake
more forcibly, the uninitiated amongst us staring fixedly at the table as it seemed to take on a life of it’s own.
“I feel sick!” said Heidi. “Ohhhh … it’s under my hands!
There’s tapping coming from under my hands!”
Tony’s composed voice restored some semblance of calm
as he addressed the spirits.
“Would someone like to make contact with Heidi?”
The table began to seesaw back and forth, tipping towards
Heidi as if in response to Tony’s question.
“Can you lift the table off the ground?” he asked.
Heidi looked as though she was about to pass out.
“Oh no …” she muttered, desperately trying to maintain
control. “Guys, I’m really freaking out here …”
We tried to comfort her (and thereby reassure ourselves) by
telling Heidi that everything was fine. Despite the indisputable evidence that we were in the presence of ghosts, the over-riding feeling was one of awe. This was more than just a fleeting visitation, we were actually in the company of spirits!
The table continued to rock. Heidi’s side seemed to be
straining to get off the ground.
“It’s certainly trying to lift off,” said Tony. “Let’s see if we can get some messages through with the glass.”
A moment later an upturned glass was in the middle of the
table, with each of us lightly resting a finger on top of it. We didn’t have to wait long before the glass started to move.
16 The Night of the Poltergeist
Tony immediately tuned into a murder victim. He told us
it was someone who had “died as he had lived,” and had been
caught up in a crazy, full-on lifestyle. He told us the murder happened interstate, and asked if any of us could place him, as he was definitely connected to one of us.
“I know who he is,” said Sophie from where she sat record-
ing the séance. Tony said she’d better join the table, and her deceased friend proceeded to deliver his message.
On numerous occasions he tried to communicate with
Tony telepathically.
“Stop talking to me!” said Tony light-heartedly. “We want
you to use the glass!”
It wasn’t long before Heidi’s insistent spirit friend returned, and as soon as she identified herself, Heidi’s fear vanished in an instant. She was delighted to make contact with her best friend who passed away six years earlier, firing off one validation after another. By the time she stepped back to allow another spirit to enter, Heidi was positively glowing.
The glass continued to move steadily a
round the table.
This time it spelt out R-A-Y.
“Anyone know Ray?” asked Tony.
“He was my husband, “answered Karen.
Before poor Ray could even begin, the glass was seem-
ingly hijacked by a more insistent presence. The glass moved
quickly and forcefully towards me, stopping abruptly at the
edge of the table.
Once it had my attention, it skimmed across the table,
spelling out FEB 2.
“I think I know who you are!” I said excitedly, as I imme-
diately recognised my close friend, Deni’s birth date. Deni had
The Night of the Poltergeist 17
passed away thirteen years earlier as the result of a plane crash; the Tiger Moth joy flight being a thirtieth birthday gift.
My dear friend, Deni, all dressed up for a cocktail party (circa 1995.) Deni was quick to come through the first time I used an Ouija Board.
“Can you give me your initials?” I asked.
I can do better than that! He must’ve thought, because he quickly spelt out his entire first name D-E-N-I.
“Deni!” I gasped. “It is you!”
I could scarcely believe my best buddy had stepped for-
ward. Despite seeing his spirit for the first few years after his death, I hadn’t seen him or sensed his presence in over five
years.
18 The Night of the Poltergeist
“U- NO- C- ME”
“You no see me?” read Rob. “You don’t see me perhaps?”
“Oh Deni!” I said. “I know I don’t see you any more. I
thought you might have come back as my son Danny …”
The glass wasted no time in whizzing across to NO.
I told Deni I loved him and that I was so very grateful for
his visit. Before he left, I had one last question.
“Do you love me?” I asked.
The glass began to move slowly towards the “YES.”
“Ummm … you’re not very convincing,” I joked. “Glad to
see you feel so strongly about me!”
With that, the glass sped straight towards the YES, which it
then proceeded to circle as if to prove a point.
“I know you do,” I said. And then as quickly as he had taken
charge of the Ouija board, he stepped back and was gone.
At this point Ray managed to find his way back in, and we
continued our séance with broad smiles and lighter hearts.
It was the perfect counterbalance to our encounter with
Embracing the Spirits: True Stories of My Encounters With the Other Side Page 2