Things that go bump in the Boyle home.
“Nightmare on Hatton Place” is how one Dundee family described last night how life was in their Beechwood home while a poltergeist haunted them for over a year until recently. The ghostly goings-on at the house created havoc for Tom and Marlene Boyle and their two children Angela (17), and Elizabeth (12), who say their lives were “hell” following the arrival of the apparition.
The “weird” incidents include record sleeves “popping off” the wall, a television turning on and off when it was unplugged and the chain on the door been put on. The family invited a “Courier” reporter to their house to tell him of the catalogue of strange occurrences and show him some of the evidence, which they say was caused by their unwanted guest.
The tale begins about a year ago when the family noticed several small incidents, but never gave them much thought. “Small things happened like Elizabeth’s heater was turned up full during the night when she was asleep and the clock falling off the wall,” said Mr Boyle. “Six to seven months ago things started to pick up and it was about this time that we became quite worried about what was going on. Before we hadn’t bothered about it but as the weeks went by it became frightening and really unbelievable. We didn’t know what was happening and it finally got to the stage that we believed something was here. It was a totally weird experience!”
Mr Boyle continued his story recalling the time that paintings came out of their frames. “The frames remained on the wall, but the paintings fell to the ground,” he said. “Record sleeves which Angela had pinned to her wall quite literally popped off the wall and landed several feet away on the ground. the TV started flashing on and off when it was turned off and the chain on the front door being put on,” added Mr Boyle. “Last week a picture above our bed suddenly fell on our heads in the middle of the night. On inspection the string looks to have been cut and not frayed from old age and there are ‘bleached’ fingerprints on the front of it.”
The whole affair came to a head last week when the family were forced to move out of their home for a night. Mr Boyle said, “It got really bad and my wife and kids were able to feel it. It really frightened them so I called the local priest who told us to get out.”
Mrs Boyle added that, before the incidents, she did not believe in such things as ghosts. But, after recent experiences, she has been left in no doubt that it was a poltergeist which paid them a visit. Fortunately they were able to call on some expert advice from a local minister who was able to help the family and eventually “evict” the spirit.
“I really cannot thank the minister enough for what he did for us. He organised three Christian friends to come along and say prayers in the house and bless it. They said they sensed there had been violence in or around the house at one time,” added Mr Boyle. “Admittedly many people have thought I am totally mad and I can understand why they would think this, but there was definitely something here.” Mr Boyle has his own theory to the appearance of the ghost. “Apparently there are ley lines running through the house which go back to pagan worshipping times and I feel this must be something to do with it.”
Dundee Courier, 12th March 1990.