Haunted House Tales

by Riley Amitrani

  They had met while in university, their strong attraction a mutual passion for the paranormal. Natalie had accompanied Antony when they were sophomores, and just good friends, to a lecture from a researcher who was well-known in Europe and the U.S. for his unorthodox investigations into locations having associations with hauntings. She had a mild interest, but was still a bit skeptical when Antony invited her to the talk. The overall topic was at least intriguing to Natalie, and she figured it might be worth a few laughs if nothing else.

  However, after that lecture, Natalie was a serious convert, and she and Antony began to pursue all aspects of paranormal research and reports with a vengeance. They joined several groups that routinely ventured into locations where sightings and/or vocalizations of beings from the spirit world had been reported. Some were quite scientifically based, while others were just people on the fringes that bought into anything that even remotely resembled an old episode of the X-Files.

  They were soon able to cull the disreputable outings from the genuine ones, and it was not long before they both knew this was what they wanted to pursue upon graduation. Their timing was good as well, as a number of both internet and cable television offerings were finding this topic to be both lucrative and appealing to the mass public. With a small inheritance that Antony had received from his grandfather, he and Natalie launched their own organization focusing only on ghost hunting expeditions. They did not try and pass themselves off as anything but amateurs in this start-up, as they had no real formal training as a few of the established companies around doing this type of thing did.

  Antony knew they would be run out of any chance they might have to get a piece of this pie if they did make such claims by their competitors who could. At the same time, the fact that they labeled themselves as amateurs seemed to draw others to them and they began to acquire a significant following on the internet-based video site they ran. They realized that a lot of their followers might not be the types of people that they ultimately wanted to be associated with, but the plan was to try and grow a large enough audience in this manner that they might attract the attention of a television network somewhere and land their own show.

  Each year over the last three years that they had been doing this, they had seen their audience grow. It was not explosive growth annually, but a slow and steady uptick each year. Antony was sure they just needed one big event to push them over the top and make them impossible to ignore by television producers. He and Natalie had seen enough of the ridiculous cable shows doing “ghost hunting” now that they were sure they could do better. Antony had been stocking away a lot of the money they had been generating from the internet subscriptions they had been selling for those years and investing it in equipment and other material so they would be ready for TV when the call came.

  It was when Natalie came into their make-shift office one afternoon with a file about this haunted mansion in England that Antony saw this as just what they needed to make the TV producers notice them. He read over the file of various articles that had been written about The Woodchester Mansion over the years and his curiosity grew with each successive paper.

  “You read all of this?” Antony asked.

  “A couple times. Place has been there since the 1800s, and has a long and mysterious history. That last article? The one by Richard Jilson? He has interviewed a lot of people that have both actually been to the mansion and visited many famous haunted structures around the world. The conclusion is that the Woodchester is the most haunted of them all.”

  “Yeah…I saw that. You thinking what I am thinking?”

  “A visit to Woodchester?”

  “Yeah…we have been looking for the one big episode to make us irresistible to cable TV. I think this one might be it.”

  “Must be something due to all of the press. It’s a magnificent structure, but it is still unfinished even after all these years. We delayed our honeymoon to cover that hotel in Wisconsin. How about a short trip to make some killer videos at the Woodchester and celebrate our honeymoon at the same time?”

  “I like it! We’ve both had our fill of that part of the UK from that trip we did right after graduation, so we can focus our efforts on the mansion this time.”

  “Maybe take some of that equipment we have been amassing for a TV show to make an even bigger impact for a presentation to a producer?”

  “Good idea.”

  “This place seems really wacked-out, too. Did you see some of the reports on it in those early papers? If we are to believe them, this Woodchester Mansion is one horrifying and terrifying joint.”

  “I did. Hard to say what is true and what was written up to sell newspapers or magazines. However, Jilson is reputable and well-known. I would buy his accounts without question. Guess there is only one way to know for sure.”

  “I guess so. When do we leave?”

  Dreaming of Romance

  Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean

  Despite their ultimate reason for the trip, Natalie was still looking forward to romance and some time together with Antony during this quick trip. It was true that she had not been the one as keen on marriage as Antony had been, but once it had happened she was drawn to all the trappings of it all the same. The ceremony had been small but the emotional impact of it had hit Natalie deep. This had surprised her at the time, as she insisted to all her friends that nothing would change…this was just something that Antony seemed to feel was important…it was just “a piece of paper”.

  However, as all the pre-wedding events went on and then when Natalie was actually standing in front of the priest with Antony, the real impact of it all hit her like a shock wave. Regardless of what she had said to everyone, it was not just “a piece of paper” anymore to Natalie. Sure, her parents had been a nightmare together. They had hardly been any type of role models for her for what a marriage should be or even what mature adults should be, but as she looked back now with an objective eye, Natalie realized that this had little to do with the institution of marriage.

  Her parents had been two of the most dysfunctional human beings she had ever known. They would have been equally disastrous in any context. Natalie realized, as she and Antony took their vows that she had, for all these years, been blaming the situation on marriage. It hadn’t been marriage at all. It had been two people who had no business only not being married, but likewise should not have ever been around one another at all. Singly, miles apart, Natalie was sure her parents might have been lovely delightful individuals. Together though? They just seemed to bring out the worst in each other.

  Granted they had not provided her with anything in the way of someone to pattern her life after if she was to be a well-adjusted and reasonable adult, but she had, she saw, been using this as an avoidance of marriage for many years. And she was feeling more so along these lines as they departed for England. Natalie knew in her head what the bigger picture was and the main purpose of this trip was, but her heart was holding out for more than just another piece of paranormal for their internet subscribers. And “just another piece”, while perhaps vastly under emphasizing the magnitude of this project, she was still hoping for some time with Antony and the honeymoon that had never materialized.

  If the Woodchester Mansion ended up being all that it seemed to be, from what they had read and heard, then Natalie knew it would be the last stepping stone they needed to really make it professionally and have an audience that made their small, but dedicated internet audience seem insignificant. The Woodchester had a reputation around the planet. Perhaps not to the extent of places such as The Stanley Hotel in Colorado and such, but it was well-known all the same. They had been very successful in all their investigations so far, even when they had not found evidence of a haunting.

  Antony was a genius at making even the most marginal cases seem horrifying and disturbing. He was a master at setting the scene and creating an atmosphere that could make even the most cynical viewer begin to wonder if it was real. Natalie herself had h
ad this experience. There was more than one time when she had been convinced that one of their projects was just a bunch of lame video and special effects with lighting and sound. A lot of their subscribers, she knew, were easily manipulated by such tricks of the trade. It was not something they normally did, preferring to offer up the best presentations they could, but from time to time, Antony worked his magic when they both knew they were pushing the envelope on the believability scale. However, more often than not, Natalie found herself experiencing goose bumps and a subtle shiver up the spine when she and Antony previewed these on film.

  She knew the actual situation, but still her husband never ceased to amaze her as to what he could do with less than optimal material. This time though, Natalie knew they were moving into territory that could make a real name for themselves. But despite this, Natalie was wanting more out of the trip than just work. She closed her eyes, dreaming of some romance and excitement with Antony once their work was over. Suddenly, the plane hit a patch of rough air and it snapped Natalie out of her reverie. She looked over to see that Antony was oblivious to the turbulence. He remained fast asleep, his head lolling on her shoulder, snoring away, his mouth open and gaping.

  So much for romance, Natalie said to herself, as she sighed and looked out the window at the thick walls of clouds that they seemed to be in the midst of. The plane moved higher in the sky as the pilot maneuvered them out of the elevation that had been causing the bumps. He apologized for the rough patch and soon Natalie’s vision of clouds was replaced with the clear night sky as the plane returned to the smooth path it had been tracking just moments before. She had campaigned hard before they had left home to take some time before jumping right into the investigation. Everything she had read and heard about the Woodchester Mansion indicated that this was to be way more of a challenge than anything they had ever taken on before.

  Antony’s waved off her suggestion to wait. His words still rang in Natalie’s head as she looked over at his open mouth as he continued to snooze.

  “By the time we get there, it will be day to us, what with the time changes and all. We’ll just sleep on the plane.”

  She had put up a brief fight over this, but in the end, she could see it was a fight she was never going to win. It had been easier just to let it be and she had given up. She knew historically that she never slept well on airplanes. Something about them just kept her alert and awake…nerves, the changes in pressure?...she had no idea. All Natalie knew was that she would not be able to rest as they travelled. Antony had never had this problem. She had never seen anyone that was able to fall asleep at the drop of a hat and in almost any conceivable situation like Antony. Not her, though…

  On some level it was annoying, but she knew this was not Antony’s fault. It was just how she was. She exhaled deeply as she turned from the window and pulled out both her laptop and the file of printed material on the mansion they had brought with them. If she could not sleep, then she figured she might as well reread everything she could on their target. Antony often went on his gut instincts and emotions. Natalie, however, had found she needed to be more intellectually prepared about each site they looked at. It was a good mix, though, the disparate ways that she and Antony approached their work.

  She shook her head as her fatigue was really getting to her as she looked over all the minutia of the mansion. Natalie had promised herself that she would not be snippy with Antony. She knew that she had a bad habit of getting annoyed or irritated easily when she got tired, and right now she was exhausted. It had been the death of more than one relationship in her life and she was determined to erase this character flaw from herself. Easier said than done, she knew. She could hardly hold her eyes open as she read, but for whatever reasons, she just could not make herself sleep. The more she forced herself to read and review, the more fatigued she felt. She could sense those old patterns rising in her mind.

  It was not sleep exactly, but Natalie let her lids fall as she thought back to a book that she had read years before by Deepak Chopra. She recalled that he had espoused the theory that sometimes actual sleep was not needed so much as just the notion of complete relaxation. Natalie thought this might be worth a try and she released the articles in her hands, closing the cover on the folder. She followed all the instructions that she could remember from Dr. Chopra’s book hoping her body would follow her brain’s lead.

  With a jolt, Natalie jerked to consciousness, finding a fully awake Antony sipping coffee as she was now the one who’s head had been resting upon his shoulder. With a blush, she wiped away a small dribble of spittle and pushed her hair back with her hands as the plane settled onto the tarmac at Heathrow.

  “Morning, sunshine,” Antony said as he kissed her on the cheek. “Thought you told me you could not sleep on planes?”

  “Morning……” Natalie replied as her voice cracked slightly, still thick with sleep. “That’s what I thought, too. Never have been able to. Must have dozed off for a few minutes.”

  “Depends on what your definition of a few minutes is I guess.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’ve been out for at least a couple hours.”

  “Really?”

  Antony just nodded and smiled.

  So much for Deepak Chopra, Natalie thought as she suddenly felt very self-conscious and embarrassed.

  Triple Threat Alliance

  Natalie quickly recovered her composure and got herself together as she stowed the folder of material surrounding The Woodchester Mansion and closed up her laptop, and sliding it into her briefcase. She had always felt her whole life as if the world was looking at her, watching and judging her every movement, and as she clamored over the aisle to join Antony. Natalie was sure all eyes were on her. However, as she peered around her, no one seemed to even be aware of her. All she saw was a group of bleary-eyed Americans just going through the routine of getting off a long international flight. It was just in her mind…just like her mother had always said…

  The line of people finally began to slog forward, and Natalie shouldered her briefcase and did her best to remember that this also was a bad habit: thinking everyone was watching your every move…it also needed to go away. She and Antony eventually made it down the hallway and joined the interminable wait for a customs agent so they could gather their luggage and begin their day in England. Despite Antony’s insistence that she had slept for hours, Natalie still felt as exhausted as she had earlier. The last thing she remembered was looking at a picture of the Woodchester Mansion taken back in the 1950s. It was part of some sort of a story from a UK writer about how there had been reports of many ghost sightings in and around the building from an event during World War II.

  She was sure that Antony was being truthful about her having slept so long, but as she walked along in the line, Natalie sure did not feel rested. And that image of the mansion and the story of all the dead British soldiers that had been temporarily housed in there…she just could not get it out of her head. They had investigated all sorts of places back in the States that had been inhabited by one, two, maybe even a handful of spirits. But the war story was indicating the better part of a battalion of men having once been held there following their deaths, and according to the article, most if not all of them were still attached to the mansion to some degree.

  It gave Natalie a bad feeling. She did not know exactly why…maybe just the sheer numbers? Or maybe because it had happened during a war? She did not know. All she did know was that the whole thing was giving her the creeps. But why all of a sudden? Perhaps, Natalie thought, as she handed over her passport to the customs agent, it was because they were physically here now…it had all seemed so different just talking about it back in Iowa. Or maybe because they were counting so heavily on the outcome of this trip to make them successful in their business. The internet program they sponsored was doing OK, but between everyday expenses and what they had invested in for equipment and other materials on the dream of their own TV show,
Natalie knew how thin their finances were stretched at the moment.

  Antony was the visionary of the two of them. He could see a plan all mapped out, how to get there creatively, and was more capable than most of how to make even the hokiest set-ups look irresistibly fascinating. Natalie, on the other hand, was in charge of the bottom line. For the most part, she let Antony have a free hand in what he thought they would need to keep moving ahead with their dream. What he did not know was that she was beginning to see a small, but consistent trend in fewer and fewer people renewing their memberships to their internet site. It was not, she thought, a time to panic yet, but after all they had sunk into this trip, if it did not land them a TV gig, then one of them…most likely her…would have to go out and get another job to keep them afloat.

  Antony took her heavy briefcase, sensing that she was dragging a bit, and the proceeded to the baggage claim area to pick up their luggage and other cases containing the newly purchased, but as of yet untested, equipment that Antony was sure would make this investigation make them look more credible than ever. They loaded all their gear onto two separate dollies and began to worm their way through the throngs of other passengers still clogging the lower level of the airport. As they cleared the masses, Antony looked up toward the near door that led to various forms of transportation into London and elsewhere to see their friend James waving enthusiastically.

  James was a native Brit who had come to the US for about a year or two to do a study program sponsored by an institute he was working for in Swindon. James, like Antony and Natalie, had gotten drawn toward paranormal subjects while a student at Lewisham Southward College in London. James had entered to study finance, but got sidetracked while there based on stories that were quite popular at the time from his friends about spirit attachment to old buildings. As it turned out, James finished his degree at Lewisham, just to satisfy his parents, but gravitated to the institute in Swindon where he still worked.