‘Haunting Mystery’ Terrifies Family.
L Files – the Truth is Out There. By Stephen Beech.
A family told today how a bizarre mystery has turned into a terrifying nightmare. Gary and Teresa Stephens are convinced that they and their young children Rebecca (six), Jamie (two), and 18-month old Jordan, are sharing their home in St Peter’s Avenue, off Rookery Lane, with the ghosts of a young child and a woman. The couple first became aware that things were literally going bump in the night shortly after moving there in 1989. But they say a series of unexplained happenings has developed into a living hell. Now the family has contacted the Echo’s L-files in a desperate plea for help in solving their haunting experiences.
Mr Stephens said: “The first thing we noticed was when the kitchen clock stopped at 8pm and then started at exactly 8pm the following night. Then the front door started opening and shutting itself. At night we could hear a child running around upstairs but when we checked Rebecca was fast asleep. Things like keys kept disappearaing and then turning up a few days later somewhere else in the house. We had some friends round when the radio switched itself on full blast. Friends and relatives have also been in the house when the TV and video have switched themselves on and off.”
But the haunting has recently taken on a more terrifying twist. Mrs Stephens said: “One night the bed started shaking vigorously. And another time I went to close Rebecca’s bedroom door, but I couldn’t do it. I let go and the door then slammed shut. I have also been touched on the shoulder and heard someone call my name when there is no-one else in the house. There is a feeling in the atmosphere in the house that you are being watched or someone is talking about you. I won’t go downstairs at night alone anymore as I’m afraid of what I might find.”
Mr Stephens added: “We have to make a joke of what’s going on or we couldn’t live with it all the time. But now there has been physical contact I feel it is all leading up to something. It started off as childish pranks, but we believe the house is haunted by the ghosts of a woman and child. Apparently the woman who lived alone in the house before us ran out petrified one day straight into the house next door – even though she had never even spoken to the neighbours before, so something has been going on for some time. We just want to hear from anyone who can help us or explain what is going on.”
Anyone able to explain the mystery or who has suffered similar experiences should call Steve Beech at the Echo L-files desk.
Lincolnshire Echo, 12th February 1996.