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Ghost Tales From Everyday People

If evil spirits are not usually attached to furniture, then my daughter might had miss a good deal.

She claims the family were not asking much for the house contents but just wanted to empty their house hoping someone would buy their house.

But her cell phone camera going weird made her uncomfortable.

Then she said a lot of the ladies’ travel cases were on the floor and she felt the dead owner’s presence.
 
It's quite a coincidence that both Leeds and second-hand furniture should have come up over the past couple of days. If anyone fancies a trip to the main Emmaus furniture shop in Leeds, take a look for the three-piece bedroom furniture set at one end of the display. The wardrobe exudes properly unpleasant vibes. I may need to go back and take some photos - unaccountably, I didn't try while I was there.
 
Quoting myself again'ere -

My parents were once given a very good quality second-hand mattress which caused such trouble that they ended up buying a new one, which they could ill afford.

Every night in the early hours, my mother would find herself lying paralysed, chilled to the bone and unable to even cry out. She became convinced that she was feeling the death-throes of the last owner.
Yup, it she was having nightmares or sleep paralysis or whatever, but it went on every night until they got rid of the mattress. She always bought new after that!
 
Krepostnoi said:
It's quite a coincidence that both Leeds and second-hand furniture should have come up over the past couple of days. If anyone fancies a trip to the main Emmaus furniture shop in Leeds, take a look for the three-piece bedroom furniture set at one end of the display. The wardrobe exudes properly unpleasant vibes. I may need to go back and take some photos - unaccountably, I didn't try while I was there.
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There's a story in one my favourite ghost books about a haunted wardrobe. It was bought by a hotel owner at some point and, as I recall, at night the solid-looking spectre of a gentleman in tweeds and a deerstalker hat would emerge from it to take a stroll.
 
escargot said:
Quoting myself again'ere -

My parents were once given a very good quality second-hand mattress which caused such trouble that they ended up buying a new one, which they could ill afford.

Every night in the early hours, my mother would find herself lying paralysed, chilled to the bone and unable to even cry out. She became convinced that she was feeling the death-throes of the last owner.
Yup, it she was having nightmares or sleep paralysis or whatever, but it went on every night until they got rid of the mattress. She always bought new after that!
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Arrrgh! *shivers* That somehow reminds me of tv presenter Anne Diamond's real-life story of a chair that made one feel as if it were a coffin(!)

EDIT: I've got the spooky story wrong, it seems ~

http://www.67notout.com/2011/06/anne-diamonds-ghostly-experience.html
 
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Krepostnoi said:
It's quite a coincidence that both Leeds and second-hand furniture should have come up over the past couple of days. If anyone fancies a trip to the main Emmaus furniture shop in Leeds, take a look for the three-piece bedroom furniture set at one end of the display. The wardrobe exudes properly unpleasant vibes. I may need to go back and take some photos - unaccountably, I didn't try while I was there.
Click to expand...
I have only ever twice seen a piece of old furniture that looked like it was radiating evil.

Furniture item 1. As a teenager, I used to go round the antique shops and auctions, looking for restoration projects we could do.
At one auction, we saw a stool (or table) for sale that made us both react badly.
To describe it - it was a low stool with a roughly-cut sheepskin draped across the top. The legs were the bottom part of a cow's legs, complete with yellowed old hoofs intact. I joked that it was a Satanist's altar or something of that ilk. Who would make or own such a monstrosity?

Furniture item 2. We went to look at a piece of furniture at a tiny antique shop near us. It turned out to be a massive black-painted Victorian gothic sideboard. It had so many finials, I lost count. It was the blackest, most elaborate item of huge furniture I've ever seen. It was so big it wouldn't fit into the tiny sales room, so the owners kept it in a room just behind the shop. They wanted rid of it ASAP and were prepared to sell it for a knockdown price. Something about it other than the looks and the sheer size put us off, so we said 'no'. Walking back to the car, my Dad remarked that it looked evil. He wasn't in the habit of saying such things.
To give you an idea, it was a bit like this, but imagine it to be even more elaborate, with bizarre carvings everywhere:
1699876052755.png
 
Mythopoeika said:
I have only ever twice seen a piece of old furniture that looked like it was radiating evil.

Furniture item 1. As a teenager, I used to go round the antique shops and auctions, looking for restoration projects we could do.
At one auction, we saw a stool (or table) for sale that made us both react badly.
To describe it - it was a low stool with a roughly-cut sheepskin draped across the top. The legs were the bottom part of a cow's legs, complete with yellowed old hoofs intact. I joked that it was a Satanist's altar or something of that ilk. Who would make or own such a monstrosity?

Furniture item 2. We went to look at a piece of furniture at a tiny antique shop near us. It turned out to be a massive black-painted Victorian gothic sideboard. It had so many finials, I lost count. It was the blackest, most elaborate item of huge furniture I've ever seen. It was so big it wouldn't fit into the tiny sales room, so the owners kept it in a room just behind the shop. They wanted rid of it ASAP and were prepared to sell it for a knockdown price. Something about it other than the looks and the sheer size put us off, so we said 'no'. Walking back to the car, my Dad remarked that it looked evil. He wasn't in the habit of saying such things.
To give you an idea, it was a bit like this, but imagine it to be even more elaborate, with bizarre carvings everywhere:
View attachment 71300
Click to expand...
That one above looks very much like a church or cathedral piece to me.
 
Mythopoeika said:
I have only ever twice seen a piece of old furniture that looked like it was radiating evil.

Furniture item 1. As a teenager, I used to go round the antique shops and auctions, looking for restoration projects we could do.
At one auction, we saw a stool (or table) for sale that made us both react badly.
To describe it - it was a low stool with a roughly-cut sheepskin draped across the top. The legs were the bottom part of a cow's legs, complete with yellowed old hoofs intact. I joked that it was a Satanist's altar or something of that ilk. Who would make or own such a monstrosity?

Furniture item 2. We went to look at a piece of furniture at a tiny antique shop near us. It turned out to be a massive black-painted Victorian gothic sideboard. It had so many finials, I lost count. It was the blackest, most elaborate item of huge furniture I've ever seen. It was so big it wouldn't fit into the tiny sales room, so the owners kept it in a room just behind the shop. They wanted rid of it ASAP and were prepared to sell it for a knockdown price. Something about it other than the looks and the sheer size put us off, so we said 'no'. Walking back to the car, my Dad remarked that it looked evil. He wasn't in the habit of saying such things.
To give you an idea, it was a bit like this, but imagine it to be even more elaborate, with bizarre carvings everywhere:
View attachment 71300
Click to expand...
I don't know about 'evil', but whenever I look at that thing I think 'the dusting!!!'
 
catseye said:
I don't know about 'evil', but whenever I look at that thing I think 'the dusting!!!'
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No, no. If you are attempting to cultivate that authentic "evil furniture" look, you don't dust, and let the cobwebs form where they may. This may be helped be gently relocating spiders into the furniture instead of throwing them outside (at least, I throw them outside, other people may be less merciful).
 
SimonBurchell said:
No, no. If you are attempting to cultivate that authentic "evil furniture" look, you don't dust, and let the cobwebs form where they may. This may be helped be gently relocating spiders into the furniture instead of throwing them outside (at least, I throw them outside, other people may be less merciful).
Click to expand...
I have an ENORMOUS (well, it looks big to me) spider that is currently living between the bath and the sink in my bathroom. I thought about ejecting her (my daughter, who knows about these things, says it's probably a 'her') but decided that, as she was sufficiently far from my dressing gown to not be a worry, I'd leave her.

So she's been there for over a year, sometimes popping out to sit in her web and sometimes hiding down behind the bath. We eyeball one another with suspicion, but other than that we leave one another alone. But since she's been there I haven't seen one other single spider ANYWHERE in the house! None of this 'lurking in the plughole' nonsense. no running about the carpet or hiding behind the kitchen cupboards. I mean, I've still got loads of those leggy bastards that are like bits of string, but none of the big beefy ones.

I like to think she's keeping them at bay for me.
 
catseye said:
I have an ENORMOUS (well, it looks big to me) spider that is currently living between the bath and the sink in my bathroom. I thought about ejecting her (my daughter, who knows about these things, says it's probably a 'her') but decided that, as she was sufficiently far from my dressing gown to not be a worry, I'd leave her.

So she's been there for over a year, sometimes popping out to sit in her web and sometimes hiding down behind the bath. We eyeball one another with suspicion, but other than that we leave one another alone. But since she's been there I haven't seen one other single spider ANYWHERE in the house! None of this 'lurking in the plughole' nonsense. no running about the carpet or hiding behind the kitchen cupboards. I mean, I've still got loads of those leggy bastards that are like bits of string, but none of the big beefy ones.

I like to think she's keeping them at bay for me.
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Until she lays her eggs... when they've hatched, that is a sight to behold, believe me. A genuine wonder of nature, but not one you want in your bathroom particularly. Hundreds of tiny spiders and strands of cobweb everywhere.
 
SimonBurchell said:
Until she lays her eggs... when they've hatched, that is a sight to behold, believe me. A genuine wonder of nature, but not one you want in your bathroom particularly. Hundreds of tiny spiders and strands of cobweb everywhere.
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Ah yes, been there with those. But I truly don't mind little spiders and they do tend to disperse very quickly.
 
Mythopoeika said:
I have only ever twice seen a piece of old furniture that looked like it was radiating evil.
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The ones you describe sound grim indeed!

However my antique Art Nouveau wardrobe is perfectly lovely but my ex used to be scared of it as he said the carving on the top looked like a 'jack o' lantern' that was beaming evil at him.

Silly old sod ... seriously we had to rearrange the furniture so he wouldn't see it if he woke up in the night. I thought he was joking at first as he wasn't a wimp otherwise but no, he just found it very disturbing.

This is where I wish I'd got a mobile phone so I could take a photo and share it on here to see what you lot thought. I had a look online but couldn't see one like it.
 
catseye said:
I don't know about 'evil', but whenever I look at that thing I think 'the dusting!!!'
Click to expand...
SimonBurchell said:
No, no. If you are attempting to cultivate that authentic "evil furniture" look, you don't dust, and let the cobwebs form where they may. This may be helped be gently relocating spiders into the furniture instead of throwing them outside (at least, I throw them outside, other people may be less merciful).
Click to expand...
What's dusting?

(This year for the first time ever, no big spiders have appeared. Only the very thin, small types that just stay on the walls/ceilings catching the mossies).
 
Floyd1 said:
What's dusting?

(This year for the first time ever, no big spiders have appeared. Only the very thin, small types that just stay on the walls/ceilings catching the mossies).
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'Dusting' is that blowing thing you do when visitors are expected and you look up and notice that someone wrote their name on the mantelpiece. Bonus points if they dated it.
 
Just finished listening to the latest annual Christmas Campfire episode from the Dark Histories podcast presented by "Ben As Usual" (really just Ben), and it is the best one yet! Each first hand account shares highly weird, unabiguously spooky experiences of ordinary people. Part 2 of the 2023 Christmas Campfire will be released on Boxing Day. Can't wait.

I listened on Patreon; I want to support the show, but if you can't, episodes are usually made available on the Dark Histories website at a later date:
https://www.darkhistories.com/
 
At a Christmas lunch I was lucky enough to be sat on an end table with one of my friends and his very interesting wife. She told me a ghost story that one of her friends had told her. The friend was visiting Hampton Court when a young man dressed in a white shirt and trousers and carrying an old fashioned tennis racquet walked past him. As he looked out of place the friend turned to watch at him and saw him disappear into a wall.The friend looked at the wall more closely and saw that there appeared to be a blocked up door at the point where the person disappeared. My friend's wife said that her friend wasn't someone interested in the paranormal and seemed to be very puzzled about what he had seen. She also said that what had convinced her was that her friend wasn't given to telling stories, and also that if he had made it up she would have expected him to see a Tudor ghost, not a 1940s one.
 
I love the 'blocked up doorway' stories, especially when the person seeing someone walk through the wall did not know beforehand that there was once an old doorway there.
I wrote this on another thread;

I once lived in a house where things just didn't feel right and downright spooky at night when there on my own. I knew nothing of the history of the place (and still don't) but I wasn't too keen on being there. One day MrsF was there on her own for a while (I'd only just bought the house) and when I came back she said she'd not seen, but had 'felt' a presence walking through where the window in the living room was. I then took her outside to show her the old stone doorstep that had been left in place when they had at some point in time removed the doorway and turned it into a window (by laying bricks from the old doorstep up to window sill level). MrsF did not know that this used to be a doorway and I hadn't told her that I felt uneasy in that house either.
 
Sogna said:
At a Christmas lunch I was lucky enough to be sat on an end table with one of my friends and his very interesting wife. She told me a ghost story that one of her friends had told her. The friend was visiting Hampton Court when a young man dressed in a white shirt and trousers and carrying an old fashioned tennis racquet walked past him. As he looked out of place the friend turned to watch at him and saw him disappear into a wall.The friend looked at the wall more closely and saw that there appeared to be a blocked up door at the point where the person disappeared. My friend's wife said that her friend wasn't someone interested in the paranormal and seemed to be very puzzled about what he had seen. She also said that what had convinced her was that her friend wasn't given to telling stories, and also that if he had made it up she would have expected him to see a Tudor ghost, not a 1940s one.
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You need to visit this couple and force them to beat more details out of their pal.
Specifically, a closer description of the tennis player and the exact location of the filled-in doorway.
Where did the 1940s feeling come from?
 
Sogna said:
At a Christmas lunch I was lucky enough to be sat on an end table with one of my friends and his very interesting wife. She told me a ghost story that one of her friends had told her. The friend was visiting Hampton Court when a young man dressed in a white shirt and trousers and carrying an old fashioned tennis racquet walked past him. As he looked out of place the friend turned to watch at him and saw him disappear into a wall.The friend looked at the wall more closely and saw that there appeared to be a blocked up door at the point where the person disappeared. My friend's wife said that her friend wasn't someone interested in the paranormal and seemed to be very puzzled about what he had seen. She also said that what had convinced her was that her friend wasn't given to telling stories, and also that if he had made it up she would have expected him to see a Tudor ghost, not a 1940s one.
Click to expand...
Floyd1 said:
I love the 'blocked up doorway' stories, especially when the person seeing someone walk through the wall did not know beforehand that there was once an old doorway there.
I wrote this on another thread;

I once lived in a house where things just didn't feel right and downright spooky at night when there on my own. I knew nothing of the history of the place (and still don't) but I wasn't too keen on being there. One day MrsF was there on her own for a while (I'd only just bought the house) and when I came back she said she'd not seen, but had 'felt' a presence walking through where the window in the living room was. I then took her outside to show her the old stone doorstep that had been left in place when they had at some point in time removed the doorway and turned it into a window (by laying bricks from the old doorstep up to window sill level). MrsF did not know that this used to be a doorway and I hadn't told her that I felt uneasy in that house either.
Click to expand...
Blocked-up doorways - fascinating.
As I've mentioned, I often spot them as we cycle past farm buildings out in the sticks. Wouldn't it be cool to see someone stroll straight through one! That'd make my bike wobble.
 
Who me said:
Yup same here scargy
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Some people sign up on'ere just to share their weirdness, then do one.

Stupider posters have ripped into newer ones in the past. We should handle newbies with kid gloves, encourage them to provide more details, honour their trust in us. :nods:

Unless they're scammers. Then it's a mocking free-for-all. :wink2:
 
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