Family flees the choking terror.
An Indian family of seven fled from their Kirkcaldy home in the early hours of Tuesday morning claiming that the house was haunted. The “presence of spirits” in their Corporation house at 18 Oaktree Square had such an upsetting effect that they hired a taxi to take them to relatives in Glasgow. Mr Shankar Ram originally swore never to return with his family to Kirkcaldy, but later indicated that he might do so if allocated another Council house. He was a linoleum worker at Nairn-Williamson’s floor coverings factory in Kirkcaldy and was on night shift prior to the mass exodus.
The “ghost” first made its presence known in the evening as Mrs Ram and her five children were watching television. They were suddenly overcome by an “inexplicable force” and ran into the street, the children crying and hysterical. Mrs Ram went to the door of neighbour, Mrs Ann Walker (43), at 82 Veronica Crescent. She, her oldest son Robert (18), daughter Linda (20), and her younger daughter Catherine’s boyfriend Sandy Hadden went next door to investigate while the Ram children were comforted in the Walker’s home. They found nothing and after the children had calmed down their mother took them home and Mrs Walker went along to keep them company until Mr Ram who had been sent for, came home from work.
Mrs Walker said later: “Mrs Ram put the light off so that we could see TV better and suddenly I felt as if a blanket had fallen over me and I began to choke. The kids started screaming, I remember trying to shout, and we all ran for the door and raced outside.” Mrs Ram and her family then returned to the Walker’s home where Linda comforted them while a frightened Mrs Walker went to a neighbour’s house for a cup of tea. “Before I could swallow a mouthful,” said Mrs Walker, “I heard a terrible screaming and looked out to see everyone running out of my house.”
Linda nervously told the story of the evening’s third terrifying incident. “I was speaking to Mrs Ram and telling her that her husband had been contacted when, all of a sudden I felt very cold. There was a choking sensation and it was like fighting my way out of a massive ball of cotton wool to get out of the door.” In the house at the time were the Rams, Linda, Catherine, Sandy and Mrs Walker’s other two children David (11) and nine-year-old Guy. “Everybody screamed at once and we all ran into the street,” added Linda.
Mr Ram left his work about midnight and wasted no time in deciding that his family would not be returning to the “bad house” in Oaktree Square. He phoned for a taxi which took them to the home of relatives in Glasgow. Linda is convinced that Mr Ram knows what is behind the terrifying “spirits” but he is not saying, she said.
On Wednesday Mr Ram returned to Kirkcaldy to hand in the keys of the “haunted house” and during his short visit he revealed to Linda that he and his wife had witnessed the “feeling” on Sunday evening while watching television but had remained silent because of the children. Linda herself says that she has had difficulty sleeping in the house since last December. “I have been to the doctor and he gave me sedatives to help me sleep,” she said.
A theory that an electrical fault was causing a build up of static electricity was squashed on Tuesday when electricians checked the house’s wiring system and found no faults. Mr John Lees, the Burgh Factor, said that a complete check of both houses would be made.
On Wednesday, Mr Ram met Mr Lees who later commented: “Mr Ram said he liked working in Kirkcaldy and got on great with his neighbours, but he simply could not go back to Oaktree Square because his wife and children were so terrified. I understand his feelings, and they will be considered.” Mr Lees said he would be meeting the chairman of the House Management Committee in a bid to have Mr Ram and his family re-housed.
Fourteen years ago, after a similar complaint from a family in Oaktree Square, Mr Lees spent a night in the house along with the late Mr Tom Hubbard then M.P. for Kirkcaldy Burghs – they found nothing but the family were re-housed.
Fife Free Press, 3rd November 1972.
Oaktree Square “Ghosts”.
Sir, – After hearing of the “haunted house” at Oaktree Square, let me give my opinion of what is really happening. To my knowledge there are no spirits or anything like that and, as stated, the electricity and everything else has been checked. What I am sure is happening is that there are old pit workings underground belonging to the now extinct “Pannie Pit,” which were never filled in in those days as they are in more modern pits today, so there are bound to be cave-ins and subsiding going on, especially where the underground workings are pretty near the surface.
Going back to 1947 when Menzies, the builder, was building houses in that area, they had large huts for storing cement and a canteen for the workmen, and one Monday morning when we reported for work the larger of the huts had sunk to a depth of about 25 feet right in the middle of the area where they are proposing to build old folk’s houses. The old workings at that particular time seemed to run right across the now green square so it may be wise for the Council to have a check on that part of the proposed site before building on it. Surely somewhere there are old plans of the workings they could check on.
That is my opinion of what is happening at the present time. The people are sure the houses are haunted, but what they are really hearing is the rumblings of some of the old workings, giving way not far underground. – Yours, etc., A. Alexander.
Fife Free Press, 3rd November 1972.
‘Ghost’ house re-let.
The “ghost” house in Oak Tree Square, Kirkcaldy, has been re-let. And the new tenant, Mr Laurence McAndrew (42), father of five, is quite sure that there is “nothing unnatural” about number 18. A few weeks ago the previous occupants of the house – an Asian couple with a family of six – fled, terrified, from Kirkcaldy in the middle of the night, claiming that the house was haunted. But Mr McAndrew, who works in the Birmingham area, hadn’t heard about the ghost stories until he actually moved into the house. “My wife Anne,” he said, “who belongs to Kirkcaldy, had heard stories about a ghost in the Square but, like me, she just doesn’t believe in such things.”
Fife Free Press, 8th December 1972.