By John Cassidy.
A randy ghost who goes bump in the night is haunting the Rathcoole housing estate. The spooky figure frightened the wits out of Harold Anderson and his wife so much they were forced to flee their home at 57 Carnreagh Bend. One night, the cheeky ghoul even jumped into bed beside Mrs Anderson while her husband was at work. For 20 years the couple had to put up with his nightly antics which put the fear of God in them. But after an eyeball to eyeball meeting with the shadowy figure, Harold said: “Enough is enough.” He packed off the family to a new home in New Mossley to leave the ghost to haunt the new tenants. Said Harold Anderson: “We had heard reports when we moved into the house that it was haunted. But we never took it seriously.”
Over the years, the frail old ghost turned up from nowhere to walk around the house, scaring to death the Andersons and their children. “One night as I was lying in bed about to doze off, the bed started to shake. At first I thought I was having a nightmare and I was reluctant to open my eyes. I then opened my eyes and saw a wee, thin old man walking down along the bed. He turned and looked straight at me and then sat down on the bed.”
Mr Anderson said the old man was about 5ft 4in tall, was of thin build, and looked like a factory worker. “He then put on his hat and coat, which came from nowhere, and walked through the wall. It frightened the life out of me and my wife.” There was even nights when the couple lay frozen in their bed as it vibrated. “The bed would shake all the time. We knew there was someone in the room, but we were too frightened to even open our eyes. And there was another night when my wife felt something getting into bed beside her. It wasn’t me… because I was out at work!”
Mr Anderson has made a number of checks to try and put a name to the unwelcome ghoulish visitor. “All I have been told is that there were some old houses there long before the Rathcoole estate was built, and there were reports of things going on even then,” he added.
Five months after he moved out, the Housing Executive moved in Joan Gray and her seven-year-old son Stephen. She hasn’t seen the old man, but has had other unnerving experiences. “I have heard crying. It sounded like a very young child,” she said. “Recently, in the early hours of the morning, I’ve heard very loud hammering. I woke my next door neighbour, but he said he wasn’t hammering. I have even heard sounds like bins being trailed around the back yard. It is very unsettling. I hardly sleep a wink at nights now at all. I am thinking about moving.”
The Housing Executive said it had no reports of problems at the house.
Sunday Life, 21st July 1996.