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The Scream

A

Anonymous

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Kevin Stokes


In 1972 or 1973, I was a member of a school walking party, walking for a week in the Lake District.

We were staying at a place called Monk Coniston, an old building, reputedly an old monastery, on the shore of the lake of that name. Being some of the youngest members of the party, a group of 5 of us, all in the 14-15 age group, were consigned to one of the worst rooms in the building. While the lofty 5th and 6th formers enjoyed the luxury of rooms and dormitories upstairs, we were sent down to a pokey little room on the ground floor, next to the boot room. (This was the room where one left his muddy boots after the days perambulations).

http://www.forteantimes.com/happened/scream.shtml

Link is dead. See post below for complete text.
 
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The Reply

When I was about 11/12 I would spend a lot of time at my friend's house, a recently (5 years) constructed Barret House. One day my friend's mother went out and asked us to lock the back door if we were going out but to leave it open if my friend's sister was still in as she didn't have a key. We eventually decided to go out shopping and called up stairs to see if Susan was there.We both heard her say something to the effect that yes she was in, wasn't going out and to go, so out we went. when we returned my friend's mother told us both off for leaving the back door unlocked!
Susan swore that she had been out all day, we swore that we had heard her reply when we called out to her. A couple of days later my friend and I discussed what had happened, we both realised that we hadn't heard Susan but just a voice. All three of got on well at the time and Susan wouldn't have played a trick to get us in trouble.
So, who or what did we hear?
 
I often hear screams, it could be a replay or recording?...
 
nicki said:
I often hear screams, it could be a replay or recording?...

You what?! I see you're in London; are there urban foxes around? Please tell us more.
 
It is worth remembering that lofty fifth and sixth formers may have been having a bit of fun...or even (gasp) the old man running the place keeps a myth alive for tourism purposes. Though, I also agree that foxes ( and cats - though not together) when mating can make the most eerie type of screams. Strange loud snuffling sounds are often hedgehogs - the sound can be all out of proportion to their size.

As a confession of trickery...I used to break into my friend's house and when he came back (I would be hiding), I'd loudly whisper things like 'get out' etc. For years he thought the house was haunted :twisted: He never once entertained the idea that it could be anything other than something supernatural. When I eventually told him (15 years later), his face was a picture....a sort of look between outright rage and relief: we are still friends (btw) but he has sworn to find a way to get me back!
 
The link in post #1 is long dead. Here's the complete text, salvaged from the Wayback Machine ...

-------------------------------------------

The Scream

Kevin Stokes

In 1972 or 1973, I was a member of a school walking party, walking for a week in the Lake District.

We were staying at a place called Monk Coniston, an old building, reputedly an old monastery, on the shore of the lake of that name. Being some of the youngest members of the party, a group of 5 of us, all in the 14-15 age group, were consigned to one of the worst rooms in the building. While the lofty 5th and 6th formers enjoyed the luxury of rooms and dormitories upstairs, we were sent down to a pokey little room on the ground floor, next to the boot room. (This was the room where one left his muddy boots after the days perambulations).

The room was roughly square in shape and had a mix of bunks and cots. On around the third night there, all of us were woken by what I can only describe as an unearthly scream, one of utter despair, and abandonment of hope, all of us in the room were shocked into wakefulness, thinking that some terrible disaster had befallen one of our school chums.

After a few minutes, when we heard no further sounds from the building, we realised that the sound which had woken us, had not woken anyone else in the building. This was impossible to understand , as the sound was so loud it must have penetrated to the rafters, and, being a school trip , the wary ears of our accompanying school masters would surely have registered such a noise.

After a few more minutes we all tried to settle off to sleep again. But I for one found it very difficult. The following morning, two of our party claimed not to have heard anything in the night, even though they were the ones expressing most fear at the time! Undaunted, myself and the other witnesses sought out the warden of the hostel and enquired, without leading him, about the history of the building. He warmed to the subject, and very soon told us that there was a legend of a monk being walled-up alive in the old part of the building, which was where the boot room was situated. We had very quickly ascertained that no-one else in the building had heard a thing the previous evening, and not wishing to be ridiculed by our peers we kept the events to ourselves.

Interestingly, I met up with one of the five after a gap of nearly 20 years, and after a few beers the subject got round to old school times. I broached the subject of our "ghostly " experience, wondering if the events of that night had stayed with him all these years, as it had me. I was amazed to find that he claimed never to have heard anything, and to disclaim all knowledge of even being woken by a noise! I can only conclude that the desire for rationality is so strong in some people they will block out the evidence of their own senses, or at least the memory of them, I know that the scream we heard in that room was a sound I will never forget, and never wish to hear again.

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SALVAGED FROM: https://web.archive.org/web/20020204214839/http://forteantimes.com:80/happened/scream.shtml
 
The link in post #1 is long dead. Here's the complete text, salvaged from the Wayback Machine ...

-------------------------------------------

The Scream

Kevin Stokes

In 1972 or 1973, I was a member of a school walking party, walking for a week in the Lake District.

We were staying at a place called Monk Coniston, an old building, reputedly an old monastery, on the shore of the lake of that name. Being some of the youngest members of the party, a group of 5 of us, all in the 14-15 age group, were consigned to one of the worst rooms in the building. While the lofty 5th and 6th formers enjoyed the luxury of rooms and dormitories upstairs, we were sent down to a pokey little room on the ground floor, next to the boot room. (This was the room where one left his muddy boots after the days perambulations).

The room was roughly square in shape and had a mix of bunks and cots. On around the third night there, all of us were woken by what I can only describe as an unearthly scream, one of utter despair, and abandonment of hope, all of us in the room were shocked into wakefulness, thinking that some terrible disaster had befallen one of our school chums.

After a few minutes, when we heard no further sounds from the building, we realised that the sound which had woken us, had not woken anyone else in the building. This was impossible to understand , as the sound was so loud it must have penetrated to the rafters, and, being a school trip , the wary ears of our accompanying school masters would surely have registered such a noise.

After a few more minutes we all tried to settle off to sleep again. But I for one found it very difficult. The following morning, two of our party claimed not to have heard anything in the night, even though they were the ones expressing most fear at the time! Undaunted, myself and the other witnesses sought out the warden of the hostel and enquired, without leading him, about the history of the building. He warmed to the subject, and very soon told us that there was a legend of a monk being walled-up alive in the old part of the building, which was where the boot room was situated. We had very quickly ascertained that no-one else in the building had heard a thing the previous evening, and not wishing to be ridiculed by our peers we kept the events to ourselves.

Interestingly, I met up with one of the five after a gap of nearly 20 years, and after a few beers the subject got round to old school times. I broached the subject of our "ghostly " experience, wondering if the events of that night had stayed with him all these years, as it had me. I was amazed to find that he claimed never to have heard anything, and to disclaim all knowledge of even being woken by a noise! I can only conclude that the desire for rationality is so strong in some people they will block out the evidence of their own senses, or at least the memory of them, I know that the scream we heard in that room was a sound I will never forget, and never wish to hear again.

--------------------------------------------

SALVAGED FROM: https://web.archive.org/web/20020204214839/http://forteantimes.com:80/happened/scream.shtml
A fox is a good possibility. They can make the most awful noises, and can sound exactly like a person screaming.
 
I can recall something of this nature happening to me, perhaps 20 or 25 years ago. I was awakened in the middle of the night by a perfectly blood-curdling scream. It did not wake my wife (asleep next to me) or my two daughters, one of whom was a light sleeper. The scream seemed distant and I thought that perhaps one of the teenage girls across the street had experienced a night terror. I went to the window and looked out but no lights were on at the neighbors and all seemed peaceful. It still seems strange to me that such a frightful cry didn't disturb anyone else in my home (or, for that matter, the rest of the neighborhood). I suppose it could have been hypnopompic, but it certainly was convincing to me.

As for Kevin Stokes wondering about his friend who did not remember his screaming incident, human memory is a funny thing. One time, a good friend of mine related to me a rather detailed account of how we met. I smiled and nodded my head but, frankly, I had no conscious memory of any of the events he mentioned. To this day, I don't know if he confused me with someone else or if I just have this Swiss-cheese hole in my memory.
 
Of course, if it had been a fox, then the friend who also heard the scream might have reasoned it out as being such, and be slightly embarrassed at his reaction at the time.

I live out in the wilds, and the noise that can be made by foxes, hedgehogs, badgers, guinea fowl etc, has to be heard to be believed, and a lot of it sounds unearthly and human too. Being on the ground floor might just mean that the activity (mating foxes, territorial badgers) was practically outside your window and those sleeping upstairs just weren't close enough to be woken by it.
 
Of course, if it had been a fox, then the friend who also heard the scream might have reasoned it out as being such, and be slightly embarrassed at his reaction at the time.

I live out in the wilds, and the noise that can be made by foxes, hedgehogs, badgers, guinea fowl etc, has to be heard to be believed, and a lot of it sounds unearthly and human too. Being on the ground floor might just mean that the activity (mating foxes, territorial badgers) was practically outside your window and those sleeping upstairs just weren't close enough to be woken by it.

Badger porn, Brian May would approve.
 
I agree with the fox diagnosis. Here are the noises of Tasmanian Devils, for fun:


And here is the noise of a cute little possum:


Marsupials make some odd noises.
 
I agree with the fox diagnosis. Here are the noises of Tasmanian Devils, for fun:


And here is the noise of a cute little possum:


Marsupials make some odd noises.

Yes they do, all of them wonderful.

Whenever I see a video of devils like that, they always remind me of men saying 'hold my ciat, hold my coat'. They're full of shit. I love them.
 
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