DIARY OF A GHOST HUNTER

Darkness enveloped the room. Total darkness. So black I could not see my hand in front of your face. I could feel the pounding of my heart as my hands were taken up on both sides by the people sitting on either side of me. They were held tight and placed on the big round table that the group was sitting around. Silence and an air of expectation filled the room. Both of the people on either side of me had been to many of John's seances. They assured me that it would all be OK. They were laughing and giggling and making light of what was to come. "You will be amazed! Wait until spirit shows itself and be prepared to be touched on the head" said the older lady. She was filled with joy, as if the next 2 hours would be some sort of a holy experience. I guess for her it was. I didn't know what to expect other than what I was told before we had been moved into the room. "Now love, remember...." she whispered, "don't move, as it can cause...

In 1921, a thoroughly charming and entertaining article appeared in The Times detailing the domestic rules of etiquette for receiving ghosts. This ghostly code of conduct was prepared as a possible topic for discussion at the First International Congress for Psychical Research in Copenhagen the same year. Whether it actually made it onto the conference agenda for that year, or any other, however, is not known. Nevertheless, I would say that any of today’s self-respecting psychic researchers could do very well to abide by these principles if only to avoid unnecessary and embarrassing ostracisations from the spirit world — heaven forbid ! The Times, Jan 1921 WHAT’S GOOD FORM WHEN RECEIVING GHOSTS? We cannot urge you too strongly to appear perfectly natural when receiving a ghost. If you are seated remain so. You won’t gain anything by standing up. When reading you may lay aside your book if you wish. Or if you are very nervous you may walk across the room and flick...

I spent the most wonderful morning being introduced to the ghosts of one of our suburb's - Lambton. Originally a coal-mining township, Lambton was incorporated as a Municipality (including Jesmond, New South Wales ), on 24 June 1871. The 1891 Census gave the population as 3,434. It was the first municipality in Newcastle district to be lit by electric light. In the early years the miners of the township used to entertain themselves gambling on dog races known as the "Dog & Rat" because they would release a rat (wallaby) on flat open area then let their dogs chase it down. The dog that caught the rat won (the rat won if it made it to the scrub!)                                                       ...

Last weekend I had the opportunity to take myself to Campbelltown on a ghost hunt with the crew from SIGHT ( Sydney Investigation Ghost Tours ) I visited Quondong Cottage - St Patrick's, as the building was originally known, was the first catholic school in Australia to be built from private subscription. The Catholic Church acquired the land from Mary Shiels. It had a gabled hall of plastered brick. The veranda across the front was added later, as were the urns on the round-topped pilaster-buttresses. It was built in 1840 and opened on St Patrick's Day. It remained in use as a school until 1914 when Father James Dunne opened St John's Primary School in Lindsay Street. It was then sold to Mrs Keihone who had it converted to a dwelling, and wishing to give it a truly Australian title, renamed it Quondong. It appears to be named after a Kurrajong tree at the front which was mistakenly believed to be a native Quandong tree. Local legend has it that at one ...

A few months ago I received a letter from a lady named Barbara who had seen a ghost out at a small church yard at Yarramalong. Yarramalong is on the Central Coast in NSW about 20 kms from Wyong. This is a lovely collage Barbara sent me that she had made in honor of Milly. The drive there from Newcastle takes you through gorgeous valley vistas - rolling mountains and  green valleys-its simply stunning as the late afternoon sun turns everything golden. I was interested in this story as I had visited St Barnabas some time ago. It was a quaint little church in the middle of nowhere. My investigating buddy, Angela, from BOO Paranormal, took the trip out with me this time. Barbara had seen the ghost of a young girl around the back of the church heading to the cemetery. She believed this to be the ghost of Milly - a child who had died at the age of 12 and is buried there. Sadly Milly's parents are not with her - they are buried at Wollombi having passed about 20 years...

October 3rd 2015 Not all night's in the world of ghost stalking are exciting and challenging. Sometimes they are quiet and reserved. I was not expecting too much tonight. It was, after all, about providing a good night out for my guests tonight and that is what was important to me. Tonight I was running a private tour for a family who were out on a ghost walk for the very first time. There was the very enthusiastic mum, the dad who had been dragged along and really felt it was all a load of crap and two children, 13 and 10 years of age. My work was going to be cut out for me to keep them all entertained. So... I let the city talk to them instead. The Convict lumberyard, which is one of my favourite spots, is always a fascinating place - for me anyway. The atmosphere often changes and can sometimes feel alive and also at other times be very silent and lonely. It was in its past a place of so much hardship. I try to tell that story. The story of the convicts and...