Haunted flat puts family in terror.
By Steve Peacock.
A terrified family have called in a priest because they fear their Aldershot council home is haunted. The mother, 22-year-old Dorothy Addison, is so afraid for the safety of her young son that she will not allow him to stay at the flat. And she and her soldier husband Tony are so worried about the strange goings-on that they refuse to stay there in the evenings.
Last week the Rev. Brian Goldsmith said prayers with the family and then blessed the three-bedroom flat. He has promised the family that if they continue to be worried by the “haunting” he will take the matter up with his bishop.
Each time the couple return to their 20-year-old flat in Denmark Square, Aldershot, which they share with Mrs Addison’s brother, 30-year-old Brian Deans, they are convinced that what they experience is unnatural. They hear strange noises at night, doors mysteriously open by themselves, and articles have been moved even though nobody has been at home. Mr Addison fears that what is happening in her home has affected her five-year-old son, George.
Nothing strange happened until six weeks ago, she says. It was then that her brother became curious and decided to rip out a partition in the hall cupboard to see what was behind it. There was nothing there, but, she said, “Then the strange things began happening.” Only a week later little George climbed out on to the third floor balcony an dfell 40 ft. to the ground. It was only by a miracle that he was not seriously hurt. Since then he has continually tried to get out on to the balcony an dhas been found hanging out of windows. “Whenever we ask him why he has done it, he keeps saying someone tells him to,” said Mrs Addison.
Now George stays with relatives just around the corner in North Lane. With him is Mrs Addison’s 58-year-old mother, Mrs Violet Deans, who is so frightened that she will not go near the flat after dark. “I’m just petrified to go back there because of what has been happening,” Mrs Deans said. Mrs Addison said: “We hear footsteps in the hall in the early morning, but when anyone gets up to look, there is never anyone there.”
Doors which have been securely shut often open without any help. “The cupboard in which my brother pulled down the partition is always open no matter how firmly we close the door,” she said. Mrs Addison said: “I’m very frightened, especially in the evenings. We go out every night rather than stay in this flat, and I won’t stay here on my own at night. I don’t know what is happening or what is causing these things.”
The family were frightened enough to call in their local vicar, Mr Goldsmith, of St. Augustine’s Church in Holly Road. He visited the flat on Wednesday afternoon. He said: “I did what I normally do when I visit a family. I prayed with them and blessed their home and the family. The family is obviously worried about something and they are going to let me know if it gets any worse. If they want it to go any further I will contact the bishop.”
Aldershot News, 5th September, 1978.