HAUNTED HOUSES
When “phantasms of the dead” constantly appear in one house, and there only, that house is said to be “haunted” and, in such a case, the phantasms seem to be attracted to the locality more than to the individuals living in it. This is usually the case in so-called haunted houses; no matter who lives within them, they one and all see the spectral forms; but this is not invariably so. In the case of the “Great Amherst Mystery,” for example—given below—the haunting seemed to be associated with the person more than the house, so that we might be said to have here a case of a Haunted Man (or Woman). But this is the exception, not the rule.
The cases that follow are all well-attested; and the phenomena have been witnessed by many persons. The original Reports, for the most part, have appeared in the Proceedings of the S. P. R., and the facts were carefully investigated at the time, by competent investigators. The first instance is particularly interesting, because of the experiments which were tried to ascertain the nature of the “ghost,” and if many more such experiments were conducted, we might hope, in time, to know something about them. I shall begin with a carefully recorded example, which I may call—
THE RECORD OF A HAUNTED HOUSE
The case of a haunted house here given is very well authenticated, and corroborated by six written and signed statements, as well as that of the original informant. The account originally appeared in the Proceedings of the S. P. R., Vol. VIII., pp. 311-32, and is drawn up by Miss Morton, a lady of scientific training who resided for a long time in the house in question. She was well-known to Mr. Myers, then Hon. Sec. of the Society. Very interesting experiments were conducted to test the nature of the “ghost” as the following brief account will show:
“My father took the house in March, 1882, none of us having then heard of anything unusual about the house. We moved in towards the end of April, and it was not until the following June that I first saw the apparition.
“I had gone up to my room, but was not yet in bed, when I heard someone at the door, and went to it, thinking it might be my mother. On opening the door, I saw no one; but on going a few steps along the passage I saw the figure of a tall lady, dressed in black, standing at the head of the stairs. After a few moments she descended the stairs, and I followed for a short distance, feeling curious what it could be. I had only a small piece of candle, and it suddenly burnt itself out; and, being unable to see more, I went back to my room.
“On the night of August 2, the footsteps were heard by my three sisters and by the cook, all of whom slept on the top landing—also by my married sister, Mrs. K., who was sleeping on the floor below. They all said the next morning that they had heard them very plainly pass and repass their doors.... These footsteps are very characteristic, and are not at all like those of any people in the house; they are soft and rather slow, though decided and even. My sisters would not go out on the landing after hearing them pass, but each time when I have gone out after hearing them, I have seen the figure there.
“On the evening of August 1, we were sitting in the drawing-room, with the gas lit but the shutters not shut, the light outside getting dusk—my brothers and a friend having just given up tennis, finding it too dark; my elder sister, Mrs. E., and myself both saw the figure on the balcony outside, looking in at the window. She stood there some minutes, then walked to the end and back again, after which she seemed to disappear. She soon after came into the drawing-room, when I saw her, but my sister did not.
“The apparitions were (always) of exactly the same type, seen in the same places by the same people, at varying intervals.