On Saturday 8th September 2012, Twilight Shadows Paranormal conducted a paranormal investigation at a private residence in Bournemouth, Dorset. This location was initially a large house, later used by a political party as offices and finally being renovated into very large flats.
We started our investigation in the garden as shadow figures have been seen there. We assembled in the garden and stood still. There was a very strange feeling to the garden. Matt said that he saw something move across to the hedge. Apparently, that is often seen, even when the residents are sure that there is nobody in the garden with them. Apart from the strange feeling, I didn’t experience anything unusual in the garden. We stayed in the garden for a good while and then we decided that we would go into the flat.
We went into the main entrance and up the stairs. The stairs and landings definitely felt as if a presence lingered there but interestingly, both landings seemed to have a different presence on them. Matt said that he felt agitated while standing on the first landing. We were then informed that a lot of other people have expressed that they feel agitated in this area. There was a large mirror hanging halfway up the wall. We were told that dogs stop and stare up at the mirror and seem unnerved.
We carried on up to the second landing. The atmosphere really shifted and as we stood there, we all had pins and needles in our hands. I felt as if someone was actually holding my left hand. I hadn’t expressed this to the others yet and suddenly Jacky said “Somebody is holding my hand.” This was exciting.
After a while, we entered the flat. The feeling in here was completely different. The atmosphere was lovely. We did a tour of this extremely large flat and we decided that we would start our investigation in the sitting room.
SITTING ROOM
I sat on the window seat, facing the hallway. We turned off the lights in the sitting room but kept the light in the hallway switched on.
Jacky ‘called out’ followed by Matt. Dave said that the light dipped in the hallway. I noticed this too. Lauren D and Lauren H said that they had also noticed this. We talked about the spirit that allegedly ‘haunts’ the flat. The girls had affectionately named him Mr. Black and they said that they thought he responded to that name. The girls told us that they see him as a shadow and he opens and closes doors. Lauren D ‘called out’ directly to Mr. Black. While Lauren was speaking the atmosphere seemed to shift. It felt as though someone was listening. Lauren felt emotional but carried on speaking to Mr. Black. She wanted to know whether he lived or worked there in his lifetime. Lauren also wanted to know if he had died there.
The girls had thrown a party the previous weekend. Team member Sharon had attended the party and she said that she had seen a shadow figure in the garden. She also said that when she had gone back upstairs to the flat to use the toilet, she had the distinct feeling that she was being watched.
Suddenly, Lauren H said, “Is it me or is it smoky in here?” Dave, Jacky and I had noticed a mist building up within the room while Lauren D had been ‘calling out.’ I could see shapes moving in the hallway. There was a flash in the hall. We did not have any cameras running out there and there was no chance that it could have been car headlights. Lauren H said, “The mist is getting thicker.” It was. Matt said that he saw shapes moving on the landing which is what I had been watching. We all felt the essence of a spirit with us. He didn’t feel as though he was merely residual. He seemed to be an intelligent entity who was very aware of us. Lauren D told us that electrical equipment often switched themselves on when Mr. Black’s spirit was evident in the flat. Recently, a light bulb had shattered for no apparent reason.
As Lauren was talking, I asked if anyone else had seen an adult human sized shadow pass by the door. As it passed by, I also saw it in a mirror which was in the sitting room but angled towards the door. Lauren H, Sharon and Jacky said that they had also seen it. Lauren D said that she had seen it in the mirror twice. It was walking from the inside of the flat towards the front door.
Jacky asked if there had been any audible phenomena. The girls said that there had not been any noises heard apart from doors opening and closing, and electrical equipment being switched on. Lauren D said that she wouldn’t like to hear Mr. Black’s voice as that would really scare her but she wouldn’t mind him making noises by moving things around. As Lauren D was saying this, we all heard movement in the room over in a corner. Jacky said that she wondered if he had done this as he felt that Lauren D had just given him permission.
Matt said that he thought the mirror was vibrating. We all noticed that the mistiness in the room was clearing. Lauren D said that something touched her arm and at the same time, Jacky said that someone had touched her leg. They were sitting near to each other. It still felt as though a spirit was in the room with us. Lauren D and Jacky were getting breezes wafting around them. The light in the hallway dipped. Jacky said that she could see a residue of the mist by the TV. The energy felt like it was building and Jacky said that she could almost see a partial manifestation.
We started talking about the stairway and landings outside of the flat. Dave said that as he stood out there, he felt as if cobwebs were brushing over his face. He said that he thought it was a female spirit. Dave said that the feeling inside the flat was so different as the spirit inside definitely felt male. We all decided that the female spirit on the landing did not feel welcoming at all. Jacky said that she got the distinct feeling that she was in a care-taker/house-keeper role. We discussed how the house would have been originally. Apparently, the attic part of the house is beautifully ornate so perhaps the servants had lived downstairs in the basement. Suddenly, we all heard a sound like a glass being put down or perhaps a piece of cutlery. We couldn’t work out if the sound came from within the room or outside. Matt said “The lights are dimming again.” Jacky heard knocking in the hall and then we all heard material rustling as if someone had just sat down. We heard footsteps and Jacky felt movement beside her. Dave heard a sound which he described as “Like a harpsichord.”
Lauren D described a previous occurrence when someone was inside one of the bedrooms and the door was rattling as if someone was trying to get in from the outside.
KITCHEN
We decided to hold a séance in the kitchen. I ‘called’ out to the spirit that is affectionately known as Mr. Black. I asked this spirit if he could do anything in the room to show us that he was there. The radio suddenly switched itself on. It played for a short time and switched itself off again. We were all shocked by this. Lauren D said, “He has switched another radio on before.” We asked him if he makes other things happen in the flat and he said that he did. There was a pleasant and friendly atmosphere in the room. We asked this good-humoured spirit if his name was Mr. Black. He said that it wasn’t but he was happy to be known as Mr. Black and he was not forthcoming in telling us his real name. At this point, Lauren D became emotional.
As we were discussing Mr. Black, we all heard something drop to the floor by the fridge. Matt searched the floor where the object landed and found a crystal. He picked it up and showed it to Lauren D. She said that she had never seen it before. I had the distinct feeling that Mr. Black was mischievous and I really wanted to laugh. I found it quite hard to contain myself for a while.
We asked Mr. Black if he had ever lived in the building. He said that he had not but he had worked there and now he liked to look after the people who lived in the flat. He did not die in the building. He told us that he walked around the whole of the building, in the flat upstairs and the one below. We asked him if there are other spirits in the building and we were told that there were. He said that the spirits who were resident in the building were aware of each other. Sharon said that she had seen another spirit there and she knew that it had not been Mr. Black. Mr. Black concurred that this was in fact, another spirit.
Mr. Black seemed to have a particular fondness for Lauren D. He said that she reminded him of a person that he used to know. Lauren D asked, “Mr. Black, when those bottles of wine seemed to fly off of the top of the fridge, was that you?” He told us that there was no spiritual activity involved with the bottles falling. They fell off because they weren’t positioned properly on top of the fridge. Lauren D asked, “Did you play a trick with Chloe and the door handle?” Mr. Black confessed that he had. Lauren D then asked, Did you open the cupboard doors on my first night here?” Mr. Black said that it wasn’t him but a female. We weren’t sure whether he meant a mortal female or a female spirit.
Dave and Matt said that they thought that he may have been a security guard. He quickly disagreed but concurred when they said Concierge.
Lauren D thinks that she has seen him in different stages of his life. Mr. Black agreed that she had. This spirit seemed to possess a lovely temperament and a good sense of humour as he kept making us laugh. He said that he put radios on and off on other occasions. I was hoping that he would do this again for us but unfortunately he didn’t.
Lauren D said that he seemed to be present in the flat a lot more than usual lately. There were people moving into the flat and he found it slightly unsettling.
Mr. Black said that his family used to take him to the building as a child. Lauren D believed that he has shown himself to her as a teenager, wearing a colourful, stripy jumper. Mr. Black said that she had seen him in that time but although his jumper was colourful, it wasn’t stripy. This spirit seemed to be a stickler for detail.
Shortly after this, we believe Mr. Black grew ‘tired,’ his energy diminished and his presence weakened. We decided that this was a good time to finish our investigation.
We really enjoyed this experience and we would like to thank Lauren H and Lauren D for inviting us to their home and giving us the chance to investigate this beautiful building.
Written by: Maria Williams.
