Ghost Story

I was asked by another friend of mine if I was up to the challenge of visiting him for the weekend. He would pay for me to stay at his local pub that is supposedly haunted. He told me how several guests have witnessed ghostly encounters. As you know, I always get excited for the opportunity to investigate these unknown mysteries. Remember the time I went searching for the beast of Orpington and ended up getting caught short, pissing on some blackberries behind a dark bush. The next day I was served blackberry pie containing freshly picked blackberries from the night before… I digress. So I packed my overnight rucksack and made myself some delightful mustard and cress sandwiches for the journey ahead. My friend met me at the station where he had arranged a meeting with a local folklorist and fortune teller called “Shifty Shagg” she had a reputation for smoking pipe tobacco and was known to nip round the the back of the pub for a quick shifty. However she told me the story of a “spirit walking” in one of the rooms of the pub. It is said that a local stream had a healing fish that when tickled had cured them of their ailments. This fisherman had caught the fish by stretching a huge net across the stream and hauling it in. Instead of tickling its tummy and putting it back, he took it back to the pub and ate it. It has been said the fish bloated the man until he blew up like a balloon and eventually burst, spattering the room with his remains. Many have said this was justice after what he had done. A picture of the fisherman is on display in the room he stayed in all those years ago.

With an open mind we set off to the pub where I was shown to the exact same room where all the apparitions had been happening. This was going to be my room for the night. I unpacked my things and was so tired after my journey that after a light meal I went straight to bed. The atmosphere in the room was terrifyingly eerie with constant creaking of floorboards and wind rattling the sash windows. At about 3am I was woken up by the noise of the picture on the wall swinging from side to side. It was scraping on the wall paneling like fingernails on a chalkboard. I tried to get up but was experiencing some sort of sleep paralysis as I watched this huge shadow of a fish head looking over me. I could see the silhouette of a fisherman with this large head. Was this a lucid dream or an out-of-body experience? Or maybe an astral projection traveling to a higher plane? The room felt cold, and I could see my own breath as I lay helpless for what seemed like ages. I tried to grip the bed as the fisherman pulled the bed clothes off me, but I was paralysed. It looked as though he was hauling in a fishing net into the shore. He gathered my duvet up in his arms then turned and disappeared through the picture on the wall. I was sweating profusely as my eyes were fixed to a stair as the room started to smell fishy. As he left the room it seemed to heat up quite quickly, then I regained control of my body and ran out my room to find someone. The couple in the next room had heard the noises coming from my room and met me on the landing. They sat me down and called the landlord.  

The landlord kindly made up another room for me and after a restless night I finally went off to sleep. The next morning I was greeted with a hearty breakfast as I told of my tale to anyone who would listen. He explained many people had been woken up in the night only to find the bed covers on the floor. I packed my bag and as I left I took this photo. Am I the only one that can see a face in the window?

Wow what a night to remember

Click on photo to enlarge.