Personal experiences: Part 2 – Is there anyone there? or the little séance

This is a six part story about a paranormal event that occurred in January 1980. As usual, it’s told without any embellishments and according to a document that I had written after the event.

After I had told people my experiences and people started to feel something on the stairway, everyone got excited and someone suggested that we have a séance, because there was a memorial in our room to someone called ‘Robert Rice’. Some were guessing that maybe he had died here, and his spirit was haunting the room.

I don’t believe this was the case and to this day I have no clue who Robert Rice actually was. He could have been a founder or maybe a student who died there.

Having no real Ouija Board, we created our own out of paper and used a plastic cup to spell out letters.

Just before the séance occurred, the top stairway light blew out for the first time, which meant, if I remember correctly, everyone was using torches to illuminate everything.

We set up the pieces at the bottom of the stairway and five people sat in a circle around the board and put a finger on the cup. They claimed they were just letting them hover over the cup, but I have my doubts about that, as one of them as a trouble maker called Norman and he was there for a lark.

The first question they asked was ‘Are you Robert Rice?’ The cup appeared to jump slightly and moved towards the ‘yes’ sign, (and I am certain this was someone pushing the cup rather than any spirit being involved) but before they could continue, something happened.

The tingling which we had been feeling around the stairs suddenly manifested itself very strongly and I felt it over my entire body.

Then Norman suddenly yelled ‘Bullshit!’ and scrambled the Ouija board and fled up the stairs. He was spooked and scared, and though he never spoke of what happened, it was clear he must have felt or something something. And suddenly, everyone else was screaming and bolting up the stairs leaving just me, Shawn and another teen called Terry.

We exchanged notes and found we have all felt the same sensation.

Now, I don’t know if everyone was just agreeing with each other, or how many others felt what I felt, but I think everyone did certainly get pulled into the excitement and drama of it all, and whether they felt anything or not, they joined it. I don’t recall the general reaction afterwards, but people seemed to just carry on with what they were doing.

However, the experience was real enough for one of the boys named David (who actually was a student there) to get this large cross and place it at the bottom of the stairs. I was not aware he did this, but when I next went through the doors, the stairway felt clear as though the presence had left it.

Then I saw the cross. I called Shawn and without explaining anything, I asked him to come and see what he could feel. When he joined me, he asked how come there was nothing there.  I then showed him the crucifix.

The cross didn’t last very long, however, because one of the brothers who lived at the college found and remove it. The brothers then complained to our band masters, who in turn were sceptical and said that they couldn’t believe their ears and gave us a small lecture about leaving property alone.

So when it was removed, I didn’t know it had been. So as I headed to the showers, I once again felt the energy. I was puzzled why until I saw that the cross was gone.

The presence now felt angry, well at least to my mind, though I could have been imagining that. The feeling I was getting, though, was very strong. Then, abruptly, without any apparent reason,  the next morning it was gone.

As I said, at times it felt like I was walking through static electricity, and I do not that it’s presence did not match my expectations of it.

Next : The painted face