Thursday 20th October 2022 

In my last update, at the beginning of this month, I had mentioned some 'peculiar occurrences', taking place in the business premises of an acquaintance.  A week or so after that post, I was able to speak to the person more fully and briefly interview them about the happenings concerned in a little more detail.  I was told that they had only taken over the property in December 2021 and had seemingly noticed 'strange occurrences' from the get-go...

As previously mentioned, the owner had entered the premises one morning - to 'open up' for the day - and was perplexed to find that loaves of bread had been 'placed in a row' on the floor, forming a 'proper straight line'!?  Following the initial incident, this is said to have occurred fairly regularly... even happening when customers are being served, or in the few minutes when staff have 'popped outside for a cigarette' during the working day.  They will turn around - or re-enter the premises - to find the loaves placed on the floor, all facing the same way...?

Akin to the above, three small tin boxes were found to have been stacked, one on top of the other, to form a tower...  The owner had attempted to re-stack them in the same way, but reports that, because of their shape, this was very difficult to do...  Objects are also said to 'go missing' and - after considerable searching - 're-appear' again, in the very place that they had vanished from!  A staff member present mentions a little jug, that is always kept in a specific spot, recently disappearing for 2 days... before seemingly returning to it's usual resting place again, as an example.  Another item moved in recent days was a 'throw rug' that had been placed on the rear of a chair in the toilet area.  After closing for the day, it was found to have been thrown on the upstairs landing.  The owner brought it downstairs to mention the matter to staff... and it has subsequently vanished?  Staff also suggest that chairs, which have been placed flush against tables at closing time, are sometimes found to have been moved again in the morning... and cupboard doors inexplicably opened.  

Lights that were definitely 'switched' off upon closing were discovered 'on' again the following morning... This would include all of the upstairs lighting.  Friends of the owner would sometimes ring at night to say that they were passing the site and had noticed that the lights were 'on', despite the fact they'd all been turned 'off ' at the end of the working day.

Motorised shutters that cover the windows of the premises - and are closed with buttons inside the property - occasionally begin to close of their own accord, with customers sitting underneath or near them...  Staff have to rush to the buttons and manually re-open them!  

On the day before my visit in question, the upstairs of the site was said to have been particularly noisy, with a sound akin to a handful of people 'running around' for most of the day, accompanied by doors banging and clattering.  This is a regular occurrence, it seems; particularly the slamming of doors.  One staff member refers to a store room - situated above the kitchen area - and says that you will hear a loud 'Bang, bang, bang, bang...' sound and question what could possibly be causing such a noise?  Upon investigation, however, nothing will be found to account for such disturbance...?

Initially, because of a lot of the things being discovered to have occurred overnight, it was believed that someone might have - some how? - been entering the premises after closing and actually 'living there'?  A thorough check of the building was made, to try and discover how access might be attained, but no possible entry points (apart from the obvious ones) could be found?  At times, the workforce said that they could smell a perfume-like odour - a man's aftershave - as well as other unexpected smells.  The toilet area was also found to have been disturbed, as if someone had possibly been 'washing' in there? 

Because of the above-mentioned, the owner installed cameras that could be monitored and receive 'movement alerts' at home...  However, this system proved to be something of a pain, as such 'alerts' were a constant occurrence... but, upon checking via the cameras, nothing could be seen to account for the disturbance?  It was noted that a faint 'chattering  sound' - akin to people talking, but quietly enough as to not be able to ascertain what was being said - could sometimes be heard on the audio of the footage, along with a heart-beat-like noise at times.

One night, after receiving an alert, the owner checked along the external shutters of the premises to see if someone might have been - perhaps - standing against, or close to, them and setting the system off that way?  Scanning around with the remote camera, they had a view of the street outside the property and spotted what they initially believed to have been a 'figure', squatting down against the wall of the property opposite...  This was during the early hours of the morning and, scrutinising the form, they came to the conclusion that it wasn't a real person, but more of a silhouette... with the wall of the site behind somehow visible 'through' the form!?  They had the distinct impression that whatever-this-was was somehow 'staring back at them'...  As a result, the owner removed the cameras the very next day!

 

Sadly (Lol!) it seems that no more 'writing' had turned up on the walls of the upstairs room since I was first shown, a couple or more weeks ago!  The owner says that they had only really noticed the wording after entering the room to make a phone call and - mid-conversation, upon seeing the script - they had fallen silent in utter bewilderment, causing the person at the other end on the line to enquire whether they were still there!?  (Lol!)  Upon ending the call, they had immediately rushed downstairs and actually dragged a member of staff away from customers... in order to show them what they had discovered!  As previously mentioned, I believe, the lettering had clearly been written in 'pencil', while I am assured that not only is there not a pencil on the premises... but, to their knowledge, there has never been a pencil in the property either!?   

The owner had initially been afraid that the main word - 'Kenneth' - had been an attempt to write 'their' surname; an assumption that was backed up by staff.  It has to be mentioned that - in this (albeit erroneous) belief - the owner admits to a fair degree of trepidation: something had written their name... so could this intimate some form of nefarious intent, maybe?  (Shades of the character Eleanor Lance, in the classic movie 'The Haunting', viewing her name mysteriously written on the wall of a corridor in 'Hill House': "It knows my name, this time it knows my name!"  Lol!)  In showing the wording to our old friend, veteran investigator, historian and author, Andrew Homer, he had commented that the lettering was what they would term 'Hooks And Hangers'... a style that used to be taught in schools, but many years ago now.  When he had been working at the 'Black Country Living Museum' and emulating a 'classroom / teaching' scenario, this type of lettering was actually featured... but in a scene dated to 1912, over a century ago!

Following recent notions re. possibly getting the W.M.G.C. 'back into' a little first-hand investigating again, after the space of a number of years now, I had asked the owner if it would be possible to organise an overnight stay for some investigators?  Such a visit had been kindly suggested previously, by the owner...

As a result, a small group of people descended on the property on the night of Saturday, the 15th of October, including 2 members from the 'West Midlands Ghost Club', a good friend from the 'Black Country Paranormal Society', and investigator John Chance of 'GhostCallers UK'.  The intention was to perform a small, informal, objective, 'stake-out' of the premises, with a specific view to focusing on the presumed happenings and related spaces outlined by the owner and staff as 'of potential interest'.  As with any investigation, while remaining objective and employing a sober stance, a degree of acceptable experimentation was introduced to the overall scenario, such as 'calling out' sessions - introducing yourself to the atmosphere of the site and inviting a response - and, in this instance, the simple taping of a 'pencil' - on string - to the wall containing the allegedly inexplicable text, with the spoken permission to answer some basic questions utilising the implement provided, etc.

During a vigil in which John Chance was alone, in a main, downstairs room (with digital voice and video camera equipment recording), he reported that he had heard a number of sounds that he would associate with a 'human' agency - from relatively close by - including 'breath-type' noises, laboured breathing-like sounds and also 'chatting', but the voices involved being too quiet to make out.  (Refer back to notes earlier in this post, related to what the manager had 'heard' over the CCTV. John had not been aware of that particular detail until 'after' he mentioned such sounds himself).  In this same period of time, the three other investigators sat in the room where the writing had seemingly appeared, but heard / experienced nothing at all throughout.

In later checking his audio footage, John discovered clear examples of the noises reported / experienced and copied a number of these into a sound file that was shared with the other investigators present and the owner of the premises too.  As with most W.M.G.C. investigations, however, time at the property went - otherwise - quietly and uneventfully though further visits are 'on the cards'... which is greatly appreciated indeed, needless to stress!

 

In just drawing this post to a conclusion, it should probably be mentioned that this isn't the first time that this specific area had generated some interest of a potentially 'ghostly' nature, as, going back just over 50 years to 1971, a nearby business unit also played host to spooky happenings too!  The premises - a hairdressers at that time - is in the same block of buildings and stands not 10 yards distant.  Maybe it's just a matter of frequently 'similar activity' taking place in poltergeist-like outbreaks, but this site also reported doors opening and shutting, lights switching on and off... and footsteps heard in an upstairs area when there was no one there to make such sounds!?  It is not revealed precisely where the information comes from, but a newspaper article reporting on the matter mentions that a young boy was said to have died in a property that formerly stood on the spot and it is his ghost that was believed to be now haunting the site....? 

Again - make sure to watch this space for further updates!

 

Sunday October 2nd 2022

Kicking off this most recent update... we thought we'd start by telling you about the latest - absolutely brand-spanking-new - book from our old friend, Andrew Homer: 'Ghost Hunting In The Black Country And Beyond'.  As regular visitors to this page will certainly know, Andrew has released a number of superb volumes over the years, on both the paranormal and local, historical topics...

Referring to Andrews page andrewhomer.co.uk, we were highly intrigued to discover that:

"This book is about what really happened when experienced paranormal investigators were given access to some amazing properties. Mainly due to the immense popularity of television shows such as Most Haunted, ghost hunting has changed almost beyond recognition in a relatively short space of time. Whereas we were mostly invited in to investigate phenomena as it was occurring, locations are now more likely to be booked by paranormal event companies. Nowadays, it is possible for anyone to pay for an organised ghost hunt in buildings which previously would only have been open to established research groups.

This is not necessarily a bad thing, as there is clearly a great deal of interest and many of the locations in this book now host organised ‘ghost hunting’ events. However, in the author’s experience, paranormal activity is far from reliable and established ghost stories often bear little or no resemblance to what is actually happening when a site is active. We were fortunate during our investigations that we were generally called in because the locations were actively experiencing periods of paranormal activity.

This book chronicles well over 25 years of investigating anomalous phenomena in a variety of locations in conjunction with various paranormal research groups. Many were investigated more than once and some on multiple occasions over a long period of time. 

There are some very well-known haunted locations within these pages. In the Black Country there is Dudley Castle, West Bromwich Manor House, and the Black Country Living Museum whilst further afield we have the Ancient Ram Inn, Belgrave Hall and Woodchester Mansion to name but a few of the fascinating cases recorded here.

This book then records the highlights of those occasions when something ‘other worldly’ really did manifest itself whilst 'Ghost Hunting in the Black Country and Beyond'...".

And, if that doesn't sound exciting enough... as a matter of 'added intrigue' with this particular volume, we are told to look out for the video symbol within the book, which denotes actual location footage available to view on YouTube!  Apparently, this added feature can be easily accessed by simply scanning the QR codes with a suitable mobile phone application...

Anyone interested in obtaining a copy can either do so via Andrew's own page - link above - or directly from Amazon, by clicking HERE

As with all of his previous projects, the W.M.G.C. wish Andrew every success with this latest volume...  We know it will make a fascinating, top-class addition to the paranormal section of anyone's bookshelves...!!

 

Sunday October 2nd 2022

In speaking to a local acquaintance - in fairly recent months - I had been informed that they believed the premises of a business, which they have fairly recently taken over, was possibly 'haunted'..?  Needless to say, I was intrigued... especially so when some of the details they related about the matter smacked of more 'traditional' sounding poltergeist-like effects.

The first thing that was mentioned to me was the discovery of a number of examples of the same item being discovered 'in a line', on the floor of the premises, seemingly having been placed there when the site was closed and completely empty of human agency.  In another instance, three identical items had been discovered piled-up in a pyramid-type formation.  Empty rooms upstairs had their lights switched off and doors closed.. but, upon returning, the doors would be open and the lights switched on again!?

The owner had become so perplexed, they had gone around the building checking to see if there was any possibility that someone might have been getting into the premises at night from the roof, or some such entry point?  Nothing was found, however...

On occasion, it was believed that there was a smell of something akin to aftershave in the air upstairs... the impression being that someone had been 'getting themselves ready' for something up there?  The owner admitted that they didn't feel unduly bothered by what might have been going on, but other staff were... one person refusing the even visit the toilet alone, it seems.

Upon visiting the site concerned last week, with a 'ghost investigator' friend (though not on 'spooky business', I hasten to add!), the owner had called out to me and, perplexingly, asked me to go upstairs and take a look at their 'writing on the wall'...!?

 

In following, I was led into a disused front room of the property and shown a plaster wall that clearly had the word 'Kenneth' written on it - along with what looked to be some initials, possibly? - in pencil, in a rather flamboyant / flowery hand.  The main word is sizeable, perhaps around 6 feet in length and is preceded by an indistinguishable initial / letters (above), with a smaller pair of initials below the 'K' of the main word.  (Below).

 

Needless to say, I was informed that the lettering had seemingly just 'appeared' and the business owner couldn't explain it?  (The room itself was never kept locked, however, so would basically be 'open to' anyone who ventured upstairs in the property).  The owner had initially wondered if the word had been an attempt to write their own name, but I had assured them that the word concerned was indeed 'Kenneth', which they could call to mind no connections with.  I had asked if they perhaps saw any similarities between the text and any members of staff, but was told 'no'... and that - because of feelings about the site - no staff members would venture inside that room anyway!  As a further point, it was mentioned that there wasn't even a pencil in the property, to their knowledge.  (There were other places on the same wall that contained writing in pencil, but these were old marks made by workmen making notes and diagrams about electrical systems and so forth).

With regards to the images shown here, the picture immediately below this paragraph is how the camera on my phone recorded the wall, which, unfortunately, replicates the lettering a reasonable amount 'fainter' than with the naked eye...  I am greatly against the enhancement of images generally - for example, in order to make anomalies seem more prominent than they are and so forth - but, for the sake of this post, I have 'altered' the photos to show what can be made out when not relying on my phone!

 

It had previously been mentioned that I was welcome to 'investigate' the site if I wished to, but, as I'd not really been pursuing such situations for some time now, I hadn't taken them up on their kind offer.  However, due to this recent development, I had enquired whether myself and a small group could possibly visit at some point soon, with a view to carrying out a small, informal examination of the property, overnight.

Watch this space...

 Sunday October 2nd 2022

I must admit that I never buy newspapers these days - I haven't for a long time now - but, if something of potential 'spooky interest' does come up in one of the local journals, there are a number of friends on social media who will kindly 'send me a link' and let me know.  One such notification in the past few days drew my attention to the article being mentioned here - see original, 'Daily Star' piece by clicking this LINK - which concerns a middle-aged lady, April Brown, who apparently believes she is being haunted by a 'Black Witch'... the entity concerned apparently following her from her former home in Walsall to a new address in Edgbaston, Birmingham.

As frequently happens, I subsequently shared the link concerned with a couple of friends and one recipient, my good friend John Chance, of 'GhostcallersUK', sent a return message to say that he believed he'd had dealings with April Brown at some point during the past decade or so, possibly?  As John is infinitely more 'free-flowing' than myself, re. hands-on / face-to-face activities and visits, etc, I wasn't entirely surprised by his suggested pangs of recognition?...

In immediately looking back at the piece involved, I suddenly found myself also experiencing a sensation of - albeit quite distant - familiarity with the name 'April Brown' and desperately stared at the accompanying photographs for some sort of lead..?  Eventually, the penny did actually drop and I dug into my older diaries to discover that I had indeed met April previously...
 

It transpired that, speaking to a relative in September, 1999, I was told that they had just heard a news report (on local radio) concerning a (then) Darlaston family that had apparently 'had to' move house 5 or so times because they were supposedly being dogged by 'ghostly activity'.  I instantly called the station concerned and explained my interest to a member of their news team... and they promised to pass my contact details on to the family concerned.

 

 

Within 24 hrs of the call, I was contacted by the mother of the family - April herself - and invited to go along to her (then current) home to speak with her about what had been going on.  A little strangely, I had been informed that the family wished to remain completely anonymous in this matter, but, as I arrived at their comfortable, little flat, I happened to pick up a copy of the local, free-paper (which had just, coincidentally, dropped on their doormat) and, in casually looking at the front page, discovered a headline article about the haunting... including full details, such as names, addresses and so forth!?  (See article above).  This information didn't go down at all well with April, who said that she would be contacting the paper concerned and complaining.
 
With regards to the 'activity' supposedly experienced, initial reports seemed to indicate that they were experiencing a considerable amount of poltergeist-like effects, which had seemingly started with a knocking noise heard coming from the headboard of the parents bed, which seemingly moved from one side of the board and back again.  Quite soon afterwards, other, peculiar, matters developed, such as glasses being heard smashing in the kitchen and wax crayon found to have been scribbled down the walls of the staircase, in a position where it would have supposedly been very hard to accomplish such vandalism.  April's underwear had also been found to have 'gone missing' at times: either never to be seen again, or, sometimes, returning under mysterious circumstances!?
 
Intriguingly, it was mentioned that one of the addresses that they had moved into – while attempting to flee their own peculiar problems – had actually 'already been haunted', which, she believed, had made their own troubles worse?  She reckoned that the already existing haunting had given their own activity more impetus, possibly?
   
A disturbing 'phenomenon' that they claimed to have been experiencing, at the time that I spoke with them, was a typical 'Old Hag' scenario - or episodes of 'Sleep Paralysis' - during which they were seemingly (and quite typically) 'pinned down' by something and found themselves unable to move.  This was experienced by both April and her partner at different times.  I was told that, during such episodes, they had also sometimes seen a 'black figure' in the room and heard what seemed to be a 'shuffling sound'.  April informed me that she believed two, separate 'spirits' were taking part in these attacks – one performing the 'pinning' activity and another moving around the room and producing the 'shuffling' sound.  The episodes also seemed to be preceded by a pulsating sound – a 'wow-wow-wow' effect – described as akin to something from a Sci-Fi movie!?  These attacks were, at the time in question, occurring approximately every two weeks or so. (It was also mentioned that this was something of a 'reduced figure' re. regularity, as they had been more frequently experienced previously).  The last 'attack' had happened to April some 4 nights before our initial contact.  It was suggested to me that the assaults tended not to happen if the lights were left on and 'they' certainly seemed to 'favour the dark'.  Sue admitted that she had – on occasion – experienced the 'pressing' effect at different times throughout her lifetime.  One such attack had occurred in a hostel that she was staying in and was witnessed by another girl sleeping in the same room.  (*Needless to say, this type of experience is entirely explainable - as a human, sleep-related phenomenon - but it is still worth noting here to simply record that such events are frequently associated with / reported in 'paranormally charged' situations.  In the last couple of years, for example, I was asked to visit a family living in my own street who were experiencing poltergeist-like activity AND episodes of paralysis along the lines mentioned.  This 'connection' is a very common motif).

Throughout our meeting – at different points - April emphasised that she was desperately worried about the effect that the activity concerned might be having on her young child.  She believed that they were already able to 'see' things in their bedroom that the parents could not, as they seemed to be 'watching something invisible' moving around the room at times.  She basically lived in fear of the child being assaulted in some way, the same as both she and her partner had supposedly experienced.

The church had allegedly become involved in these matters some 8 or so times during the course of the experiences – at different properties across the Black Country region – but activity still persisted.  One vicar had told the family that their problems had something to do with the practice of 'devil worship' and that 'something' was now 'after their souls'!?  At an address they'd occupied in the Halesowen region, they had discovered a box full of books that appeared to be 'Satanic' in nature.  It should perhaps be added here that - as a brief 'life history' for April - there had seemingly been a degree of (what would be construed as) 'occult activity' relating to her family and family life, including dabbling in forms of 'negative' magic, as well as devotion to the usage of the Ouija board too.

 

           

It was also mentioned that, when April was some 8 or so years old, her mother had been to see a clairvoyant and was told that April was 'highly gifted', in a spiritual sense.  I was asked if this might have something to do with the problems they had been experiencing?  She admitted that she believed herself to have had certain powers or gifts throughout her lifetime, which she openly tied in with what was currently happening around her.

It should just be noted here that, regarding the references made by the vicar above concerning 'Devil Worship' and details mentioned in the recent article also, we have to take it that a 'potted history' of what had been going on - including family / life history, etc - would have been mentioned to all characters 'entering the scenario'.  As a result, such details as 'something being after their soul' and the 'haunting by a Black Witch' motif (as well as many other paranormally biased angles) have potentially been suggested purely 'as a result of' people simply learning and reacting to such 'pro-spooky' and 'leading' data?  

With regards to the newer article, I have made endeavours to contact certain, relevant sources, purely to discover precisely who has been involved in the ongoing saga - i.e. just who are those 'paranormal experts' mentioned? - and a small handful of other considerations.  As with a lot of these posts, I refrain from giving my personal thoughts on 'what might be going on' in the brief write-up - at least in any real detail - and simply try to remain neutral in greatly relating matters 'as they came to me'...