When Neil and Louise Bronner sank more than 55,000 into a two-bedroom property in the British town of Stoke-on-Trent, they knew the house had a unique connection to history: It was the boyhood home of Edward John Smith, the Titanic's captain who died with roughly 1,500 others when the ship struck an iceberg in 1912.
The couple rented the property for a decade and now they want to ship out. The Bonners are hoping to get the equivalent of 126,000 for it, but have the problem of scaring up a buyer who isn't spooked by the fact that Smith's spirit still haunts the place.
"We've heard of things going bump in the night from other tenants," Neill Bonner told the Daily Mail. "Some have said they felt a really cold chill passing over them -- as cold as an iceberg."
The house has suffered other coincidences similar to the disaster, albeit on a smaller scale, the owners said. About five years ago, a young couple flooded the kitchen.
"[The couple] stacked all the dishes in the sink after a party and they went away for the weekend but left the taps on," Bonner told the Daily Mail. "We had a phone call from them on the Monday morning sheepishly saying 'we've flooded the kitchen.' I definitely had that sinking feeling when they started to explain, but at least it is all water-tight now."
Louise Bonner, 60, says the 100th anniversary this week of the tragic voyage has increased awareness of the house. But they haven't been flooded with offers.
"Since it went on the market it's already triggered some interest," she told the Express and Star. "One of those has included someone on the phone from a Titanic museum in Germany."
Smith is believed to have lived in the house with his parents for more than 10 years before heading off to sea when he was 13.
By age 25, he was qualified to captain a ship and had a successful naval career before making the Titanic voyage at the age of 62.
"It's hard to understand what motivated him to go to sea," Louise Bonner told the website This Is Staffordshire. "He came from a typical working class potteries family and he went on to achieve so much.
"His name is known across the world and the interest in the Titanic is never ending," she went on. "Many people ask whether Captain Smith was to blame for the disaster, but a lot of things conspired against that ship. He wasn't at the helm at the time and the ship had been badly designed without the proper buoyancy because they wanted to make more space for first class passengers."
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On a headland near Plymouth lived "Aunt Rachel," a reputed seer, who made a scant livelihood by forecasting the future for such seagoing people as had crossed her palm. The crew of a certain brig came to see her on the day before sailing, and she reproached one of the lads for keeping bad company. "Avast, there, granny," interrupted another, who took the chiding to himself. "None of your slack, or I'll put a stopper on your gab." The old woman sprang erect. Levelling her skinny finger at the man, she screamed, "Moon cursers! You have set false beacons and wrecked ships for plunder. It was your fathers and mothers who decoyed a brig to these sands and left me childless and a widow. He who rides the pale horse be your guide, and you be of the number who follow him!"
That night old Rachel's house was burned, and she barely escaped with her life, but when it was time for the brig to sail she took her place among the townfolk who were to see it off. The owner of the brig tried to console her for the loss of the house. "I need it no longer," she answered, "for the narrow house will soon be mine, and you wretches cannot burn that. But you! Who will console you for the loss of your brig?"
"My brig is stanch. She has already passed the worst shoal in the bay."
"But she carries a curse. She cannot swim long."
As each successive rock and bar was passed the old woman leaned forward, her hand shaking, her gray locks flying, her eyes starting, her lips mumbling maledictions, "like an evil spirit, chiding forth the storms as ministers of vengeance." T
he last shoal was passed, the merchant sighed with relief at seeing the vessel now safely on her course, when the woman uttered a harsh cry, and raised her hand as if to command silence until something happened that she evidently expected. For this the onlookers had not long to wait: the brig halted and trembled-her sails shook in the wind, her crew were seen trying to free the cutter-then she careened and sank until only her mast-heads stood out of the water.
Most of the company ran for boats and lines, and few saw Rachel pitch forward on the earth-dead, with a fierce smile of exultation on her face. The rescuers came back with all the crew, save one-the man who had challenged the old woman and revengefully burned her cabin. Rachel's body was buried where her house had stood, and the rock-before unknown-where the brig had broken long bore the name of Rachel's Curse.
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Even though (according to my theory) geomagnetic activity has been almost completely flat-lined since the latter half of 2008 and therefore ghost hunting is not a profitable venture of late, the TAPS team will always be known for changing America's view of ghost hunting.
Prior to Ghost Hunters or BGH ("before Ghost Hunters"), ghost hunting was something people giggled about as frivolous and born of the spiritualists movement involving hoaxes such as ectoplasm, Ouija boards, and (dare we say) s'eances. People who believed in ghosts were in with the ranks of UFO witnesses and Bigfoot peepers; all of them taken as overzealous nerd fantasies.
But, after Ghost Hunters (AGH), Americans who had believed in ghosts and would not readily admit such a predisposition, were now turning to their friends and admitting their "affliction." I had been hunting a few years before the show came to be, but when I heard a show about ghost hunters was going to be on national TV, I thought "times are changing! I might finally come out of the closet."
AGH, a large amount of Americans not only admitted to believing, but having experienced the paranormal, and a huge mass of them were rushing out to hunt on their own. Search of the paranormal became accessible to every Joe and Jane. You didn't need a psychic (thank you Ghost Hunters for proving that. Even thought I'm psychic, I would never use my readings as proof). You didn't need fancy equipment even, just a digital camera, maybe a thermometer, and if you're lucky an audio recording device. AGH, it was quite a different world for paranormal believers.
Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm a very logic-minded and a fairly orderly person (Virgo), but I'm also very giggly, silly, and child-like.
BGH: When I told people I ghost hunt, they thought it was some kind of joke or need to be eccentric and goofy, but they never asked and never knew that I packed "heat" (EMF meters, thermometers, cameras, voice recorders, etc). I was serious about it. I had enough of experiencing the paranormal and not being able to prove it. I feared sharing my hobby because people who took me seriously would now look at me as if I'd just become a Scientologist and had a belief system set in the stars. Others who were devoutly religious would say I'm calling in the Devil.
AGH: When I told people proudly that I hunt ghosts, they were intrigued. They wanted to know all the details, try the equipment, ask questions, share paranormal experiences that they never would have told anyone about BGH. I was able to bring people in and help them learn about the business and advise them. Birthing newly inquisitive people is a great honor. Sending them out into the world to find their own paranormal puzzles is very gratifying. I'm not protective of ghost hunting like some hunters. I want more of us out there; more eyes watching things, more minds wondering how to make it better, to improve the industry.
This brings us to the final aspect of this PGH (post Ghost Hunters). That is, when the show is off and gone and all its little clones have deceased... Where will the ghost hunting world be? No doubt, at a standstill. BGH, they were still using psychics and Ouija boards, but PGH, we'll unfortunately still be cornering the market in electrician's devices with the hopes they can detect ghosts (which is kind of like saying I hope my rectal thermometer can measure the exhaust coming out of my car's tail pipe).
We still have a long way to go in the paranormal research world. As much as GH was unbelievably important in teaching us debunking and being skeptical, they also carried with them old-world views of what ghosts and hauntings are. They had their "belief" system already in place. They became inbred and unable to grow in their research because they knew what ghosts were and how they present themselves and that they suck energy from your batteries and they make the EMF meter spike and yada yada yada. As open-minded as they were about a haunting possibly being explainable events and debunking a great deal of evidence, they also weren't open-minded enough about just what a haunting is. So long as they defined what a ghost was and the different varieties, i.e. residual, intelligent, noncorporeal, etc, they never went to the next level. All their explanations were tailor fit for their belief system.
What is the next level for ghost hunting PGH? It's going to take scientists and electrical engineers, geologists and psychologists and other professionals who hid during the BGH days to come forward and start some research with open minds. Sort of reverse engineering hauntings by looking at the evidence and backtracking for how it could have been set into motion. It will take very broad-minds in the field. There can be no more "religion of ghost hunting" allowed. So long as people think they know what is causing phenomenon and have already graded, tiered, and labeled it without any way of verifying these notions, they've just entered into the murky waters of a belief system(i.e. "Paranormal State").
BGH, when people asked me what a ghost was, I'd shrug and say "heck if I know.
AGH, when people asked me what a ghost was, I'd shrug and say "Heck if I know."
I'm hoping some day PGH, I'll be able to give a more definitive answer, but that will only come with much testing of every aspect from the psychological and psychic to the spiritual to quantum physics and forward-thinking options.
Ultimately, GH should go down in history as making ghosts not a chains and moans kind of castle-dwelling figure, but something that we all encounter at one point or another in one place or another and wonder, "what the heck was that?" and then weren't afraid to seek answers, whether they were a squeaky door or something unexplainable.
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Ghost photos are invariably in dispute. Today in the UK newspapers, for example, has been the report on the Wem Ghost picture. This has now been proven to be a girl superimposed from an old 1922 postcard. For 15 years people thought the photo genuine.
This reminded me of the Brown Lady Ghost of Raynham Hall (photo below) which, as far as I know, has never been shown to be a fake. Some call it the most famous ghost photo in England. There is a history to go along with the photo.
The story is that the Brown Lady is the ghost of Lady Townsend who was imprisoned in the estate by her husband. She remained there until her death. No wonder she was a might miffed and now hangs about Raynham Hall, which is in Norfolk, scaring people.
There have been some famous sightings of her ghost. King George IV is said to have seen her while he was in bed. He looked up and there she was in a brown dress, pale faced and with her hair disheveled - which is no way to greet a king! This was way back during the nineteenth century.
In the early 1800's a Colonel Loftus was at the hall for the Christmas festivities. He saw the ghost in the hall, again wearing a brown dress. She then disappeared. The Colonel, obviously a glutton for punishment, saw her a second time and noticed that her eyes had been gouged out. I guess that is the sort of thing you would notice.
Sightings of the ghost continued. There was one by Captain Frederick Marryat who saw her gliding along the upstairs hallway. The story is that he fired a gun at her - no idea why - the bullet went right through her, which surely was to be expected, and lodged in a wall.
As for the photo itself. This was snapped in 1936 by two photographers for the very respectable Country Life magazine. The gentlemen were the exotically named Captain Povland and Indre Shira.
Indre Shira explained, at the time, as to how they came to take the photo:
"Captain Provand took one photograph while I flashed the light. He was focusing for another exposure; I was standing by his side just behind the camera with the flashlight pistol in my hand, looking directly up the staircase. All at once I detected an ethereal veiled form coming slowly down the stairs. Rather excitedly, I called out sharply: 'Quick, quick, there's something.' I pressed the trigger of the flashlight pistol. After the flash and on closing the shutter, Captain Provand removed the focusing cloth from his head and turning to me said: 'What's all the excitement about?'"
The subsequent photo was published in Country Life on December 16, 1936.
PHOTO: Raynham Hall - Geograph.org.uk
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I RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING EMAIL FROM A READER IN AUSTRALIA"
Hi,
I thought I might relate a few experiences I have had over the years.
In 1989 I spent 9 months living at Mum's place to get back on my feet after a nasty split with my fianc'ee. I was in my room lying on my bed listening to the stereo when I turned my head to the right to find this ghostly face right beside my face!
It stood up and floated backward out the door into the hallway and disappeared!
I jumped off the bed and run into the kitchen where mum was preparing dinner. Are you allright? she asked. I have just seen something I said. She said I had a strange look on my face. It scared the hell out of me.
We were all sitting out in the back yard a week later when it was brought up again. My youngest brother who was 14 at the time was listening to us.
He got all excited and told us his story.
He was brushing his teeth one morning at the bathroom sink when he looked to his left into the hallway and seen an apparition. He described what he saw and it was exactly what I saw !
It was only ever seen once by my brother and myself. Looking back now it resembled my Grandmother who died in 1985. She was smiling at us just before she disappeared.
In 1992 my father died from cancer. He lived on his own as he and mum divorced when I was 9.
We went to visit him on his birthday to find him dead. He had been dead for about a week the Coroner found. I was heartbroken. I went to bed that night and woke about 2 am to find him standing at the foot of my bed! I was living alone at the time. He was standing looking very solemn at me. It scared me a lot.
A friend of mine says I may be a bit sensitive seeing these things. I don't tell others about it because they look at me strange. I know what I have seen and believe in these things.
My Lady friend I am currently seeing has seen things at my home too. We have gone to bed for her to be awaken by something rubbing her arms and legs. I have been snoring beside her. This has happened a few times. She awoke one night to see a figure standing in the doorway. She described it to me and I showed her a photo of my dad. It was him! She has heard footsteps walking by the bathroom at night when she has been in there. I have been in bed asleep. Her jewellery goes missing quite often only to turn up a few days later. We hear noises from rapping on walls to someone knocking at the front door.
We are used to it now. It does not scare us. We keep quiet about it though because others look at you strange. As I said beore I believe in these things.
I wish to remain anonymous if you print this.
Thank you.
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Doors slamming, the sound of windows shutting, dark shadows passing by, disembodied voices and cold spots were some of the events one couple north of Toronto were experiencing on a regular basis in their rental home.
In the beginning, the couple stated that there was no activity and they enjoyed the quite that came from living outside of the city. They were happy to have finally found a place that 'felt like home'. Their peaceful rental home, which dated back to the 1800's, suddenly became alive with an abundance of paranormal activity. Afraid of being labeled crazy, they kept what they were experiencing from their landlord and only told their closest friends. With each occurrence, the paranormal activity became more threatening in nature and the couple could endure no more.
The couple lasted six months in their rental home before calling it quits and moving out. When the landlord asked why they were leaving she also questioned if it was because of all the strange things happening there. The landlord mentioned that "she too had a number of ghostly encounters while in the home and herself could not spend one night there." She feared losing prospective tenants and chose not to disclose what she knew.
After the couple left the landlord put the home up for sale.
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Do you want to talk to ghosts? Does the idea of spirit communication fascinate you? Are you curious what awaits AFTER this life is over? If you said yes...I don't blame you. I've been fascinated with spirit communication for well over 20 years...and have been actively involved in psychic research, writing and readings for close to 2 decades myself.
Here are the BEST ways I've found to contact spirits, ghosts or loved ones "living" on the other side...and if you are anything like me, I think you'll find each of these experience amazing, enlightening and super eye opening to boot!
Electronic Voice Communication:
Often called EVP. What is it? It's super simple...and simply requires you use a digital recorder in ANY area you think is haunted...or may have spirit activity. (often your own home) Now listen: EVP is often thought of as a way for ghosts to talk to YOU.....but you can engage a 2 way conversation with ease...simply asking questions, and leaving the recorder running...and then listening to the whole thing the next day. And don't laugh....many GREAT minds have practiced, and PROVEN EVP transmissions are real....or at least unexplainable by science. (including Thomas Edison who was working on a TELEPHONE to the "other side" before his death, and believed spirits could communicate this way with ease)
Seances, Ouija Boards and DIRECT Communication Methods:
This is still one of the BEST ways to facilitate spirit contact, and involves either deep meditation (which takes practice but works really well) or group communication, like a seance or Ouija board. I've done them all....and the simple truth is that they WORK! (even if you don't believe them going in) As a matter of fact, one of my FIRST experiences with the "other side" came through a Ouija board. I was a STAUNCH skeptic until I had this experience...and no matter how people try to explain it away, until you've had the experience yourself, you simply can't understand how powerful the PROOF is that it's really happening.
Psychic Mediums:
The EASIEST way to contact those on the other side? Talk to a genuine medium. If you know where to look, it's easy, fast and can be an exceptionally powerful life changing experience to boot. I've talked to several mediums MANY times by phone over the last 5 or 6 years, and have made contact on numerous occasions with loved ones who ARE still "living" on the other side. (and until you actually have this experience yourself, like above....you simply can't understand how amazing, or life changing it can be!) This is the best way for newbies, or people who simply want to "test" out the idea...as you can talk to a medium from home, without pressure, and for less than 20 bucks! (no joke)
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