A family flees haunting horror.
A Dundee family fled their home early yesterday after a series of strange incidents. Objects moved about and lights switched themselves on and off. They phoned the Samaritans and a priest before abandoning the flat at 15 Finlow Terrace. Mrs Margaret Gorthy (19) and her husband Stephen (21) went to his parents’ home at 932 Rosemount Road with their five-month-old son. Speaking from there, Mrs Gorthy said, “Things started happening at about 11.30 p.m. I went upstairs, attracted by what seemed to be the sound of children running about in the flat above us. Our baby was wakened and the light on. All the soft toys were in the middle of the floor. We put everything away and went back downstairs. By this time the lights upstairs and downstairs were going off and on. It stopped, but later the same thing happened again. When we went back upstairs, the pram had turned itself round and all the toys were in the middle of the room again. By two in the morning I was terrified, and my husband started phoning round for help. The Samaritans said they could do nothing, and he then tried to phone a priest.” Mrs Gorthy called in neighbours to be with her. “They told me another two families had left because of what had been happening.”
The couple have been in the house for only three months, but Mrs Gorthy said this was not the first time there had been strange occurrences. “We have heard the sound of children running about, long after the children in the house above us have gone to bd. Once I went up to the neighbour about 10.30, when I heard the noise, and she said the children had been in bed and sleeping since 8.30.”
Sunday Post, 31st May 1981.
Exorcism follows night of fear in Fintry house.
A young Dundee couple will brace themselves this evening for a return to their home after terrifying and inexplicable happenings drove them out on Friday night. Mrs Margaret Gorthy (19) and her husband Stephen (21) fled with their five-month-old baby from the house at 15 Finlow Terrace, Fintry, after objects moved around with no one near and lights went on and off. Now they are hoping that whatever baleful influence was present has been exorcised after a minister prayed in each room at the weekend.
The frightened couple stayed the weekend with Stephen’s parents in Ardler. Speaking from there yesterday, Mrs Gorthy said: “Things started happening about 11.30 on Friday night. I went upstairs, attracted by what seemed to be the sound of children running about in the flat above us. The baby was awake in his bedroom and the light was on. All the soft toys in the room were in the middle of the floor. We put everything away and went back downstairs.
“By this time the lights upstairs and downstairs were switching themselves off and on. It stopped, but later the same thing happened again. When we went back upstairs the lights in both the baby’s room and the spare bedroom had switched themselves on again. The baby’s pram had turned itself round and all the soft toys were in the middle of the room again. By two in the morning I was terrified and my husband started phoning round to try and get some help. The Samaritans said they could do nothing and he then tried to phone a priest. He just said it was a ridiculous time to be phoning anybody. I think he must have thought somebody was playing a hoax.”
Mrs Gorthy called in neighbours to be with her and they told her it was not the first time strange happenings had been reported in the house. “They told me that another two families had left the house because of what had been happening.”
When he heard of the family’s plight the Rev. James Powrie, Chalmers-Ardler Church, offered to help. Despite their fears, the Gorthys returned to the house with him. “When we went in,” said Mrs Gorthy, “our son seemed very disturbed as we entered the spare room next to his bedroom. The room was freezing. The minister prayed in each room and right away everything seemed still and warm.”
A still-troubled Mrs Gorthy is now plucking up courage to move back into the house. “I will go back to give it another go tomorrow night,” she said. “But I’m still a bit disturbed by it all.”
Mr Powrie said last night that he was satisfied there had been “demonic activity” in the Gorthy home. “I have had a number of these cases in recent times very similar to this one and the action I took was to invoke the power of Jesus Christ to exorcise the demonic spirit.” He added that he would be keeping in touch with the family.
Dundee Courier, 1st June 1981.
Dundee family risk return to “haunted house.”
Mr and Mrs Gorthy with Paul and neighbour Mrs H. McMurchie and some of Paul’s toys.
When a young Dundee couple plucked up enough courage to return to their “haunted house” in Fintry last night, they got a peaceful reception from whatever forces have caused recent strange happenings. A “Courier” reporter was present when Margaret and Stephen Gorthy entered their home at 15 Finlow Terrace, Fintry, after quitting it in panic at the weekend. Their flight followed a series of frightening events – lights coming on by themselves, toys beieng found crumpled together on the floor, and a cold atmosphere in their five-month-old son’s room.
The troubles began late on Friday night when the couple heard what appeared to be footsteps coming from their son Paul’s room. Paul, who will be six months old today, is normally a quiet happy baby. That night however, he was wide awake and distressed. His furry toys, some larger than himself and last seen wedged in a corner, or tidied away, were lying in the middle of the floor. The light in the room was on and the couple were certain that all lights were off when Paul was put to bed. The baby’s pram had also moved position, all tasks clearly impossible for a baby who can’t even walk yet.
Mr Gorthy was so upset he phoned several sources for assistance. The Rev. James Powrie, of Chalmers-Ardler Church came to the family’s help. He said prayers in each of the rooms in the first-floor flat, and the couple noticed that the atmosphere in the house appeared to become warmer. After the prayers service to “exorcise” the baleful influence, the couple went to Ardler to stay with Stephen’s mother, Mrs Edith Gorthy. Last night was the first time they had returned to their home.
Mrs Gorthy, already under treatment from her doctor, made it clear the flat was very much on trial. “I don’t know if I will be able to stay here again,” she said. “But the flat is warmer. I notice that. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”
Little Paul seemed to have recovered his good spirits, even managing to smile happily when in his bedroom with his parents. The couple have already had one offer to swap flats with someone in Whitfield who seems unperturbed by possible demonic activity. If the frightening happenings recur, the couple intend seeking another flat.
Dundee Courier, 2nd June 1981.