Terror spirit stalks Hope Street home.
An experience of the supernatural has left a Sheerness mother “paralysed with fear”, her brother claims. Since Saturday night when 37-year-old Margaret Parsons fell victim to evil spirits, she has remained in bed, unwilling to talk or eat and afraid to leave the house, the Times-Guardian was told. Today (Friday) she has an appointment to visit her doctor and the family hope she can be persuaded to overcome her terror. Her brother Andy Ralph and his wife Julie, both 19, told of the weird happenings when Margaret visited their Hope Street flat.
“We had been aware of an evil presence since January. Things happened which defied explanation, but on Saturday Margaret came face to face with a man who she described as being about 50 years old, wore glasses and was dressed in a pin-stripe suit. “She appeared to be in a trance and kept saying ‘get it out.’ We were terrified. We all fled and there is no way we will ever go back to that place. Never,” he said.
Other friends and relatives were in the flat and all heard noises in the flat and all heard noises which they went to investigate, but it was only Margaret who met the apparition. Margaret remembers nothing of the experience, but her husband Ron said: “Her eyes were bloodshot, and when I looked into her eyes it was as though I was sharing the experience. It was weird. All she kept saying was ‘get him out of me. I hate you. Leave me alone’. “
The Ralphs, who have a seven-month-old daughter, Charlene, say they were fortunate to have experienced nothing more sinister than odd coins being thrown around a room, doors shutting themselves; a feeling of being watched and lights being switched on and off. They had lived in the flat for a year, but it was not until January 6 that they became afraid. “I can pinpoint the date exactly because it was Twelfth Night and I had taken down Christmas decorations. From then on it’s been uncanny.”
They know that a middle aged man who lived alone had died in the flat in 1974. He had apparently died of pneumonia and his body lay undiscovered for a week. Mrs Lillian Hogben, who lives immediately opposite the flat, remembers the man as “Harry,” a quiet man who would have been about 50 years old. “I’ve never been aware of anything evil in the house and I’ve lived here a good many years. There are empty buildings either sideand it’s possible that cats or rats could roam around making odd noises. It’s all very strange.”
Spiritual healer Mrs Florence Grounsell says it is quite possible the woman has the powers of a medium quite unknown to herself. “I would need her cooperation and that of everyone else who was in the house at the time to help drive out the spirits with the cross and prayer. But they are all unwilling to return to the house.” Mrs Grounsell who lives in Maple Street, Sheerness, has taught Nazarene healing for more than 30 years and has carried out several exorcisms. “I have not visited this house nor seen the woman who experienced this meeting with evil. From all I’ve been told I’m convinced there is an evil spirit there which must be driven out with prayer and love.” She was concerned that Margaret’s family tried to bring her out of a trance by slapping her face.
On Thursday the Ralphs were making arrangements to have their furniture moved out of the flat. Neither will go back even to supervise the move. They are staying with Margaret and Ron in Victoria Street until they can find another flat.
The doorway to 43a Hope Street. The flat above is thought to be haunted and a family fled in terror on Saturday.
Julie and Andy Ralph who refuse to go back to the flat. They and seven-month Charlene now wear silver crosses to repel evil spirits.
Sheerness Times Guardian, 1st May 1981.
Hope St. horror: another reason for the noises?
Sir, – All compassionate people will feel the utmost sympathy for the plight of the residents of the house in Hope Street, the details of which are set out on the back page of the Times-Guardian under the heading: “Terror spirit stalks Hope Street home.” For so long in the history of mankind, such odd happenings, which at first seem attributable only to the presence of evil spirits or some allied supranormal cause, upon careful investigation result in a completely rational explanation.
If we set our feet firmly on the ground and recognise that there is no such thing as the supernatural we shall have made a good start. People believe what they want to believe, that is why so many resort to so-called psychic mediums or the ritual of religious exorcism with a crucifix and holy water to deal with these demons. It would pay off better in the end if they looked for a physical or nervous cause for many psychological illnesses.
Perhaps a loose floor board or a broken hinge might show the cause of what they imagine is the presence of evil spirits. In the two chapters entitled “The omnipresence of demons” and “The expulsion of embodied evils” in his monumental work “The Golden Bough” Sir James Frazer sets out the amazing catalogues of magical rituals and religious incantations employed by priests and magicians to exorcise evil spirits.
The neighbours of the troubled residents in Hope Street, who said: “There are empty buildings on either side and it’s possible that rats or cats could roam around making odd noises,” is almost certainly on the right track. – Vic Harvey, 20 Broad Street, Sheerness.
Sheerness Times Guardian, 8th May 1981.
Driven out by a spook.
By Greg Miskiw.
A penny-throwing ghost has forced a couple out of their home. The spook has defied a priest’s efforts to exorcise it from the Victorian house. Andy Ralph, his wife Julie and seven-months-old baby Charlene have now gone to live with Andy’s sister. “Our nerves finally cracked,” Andy said last week. “Nothing will drive this spirit away.”
Julie said: “We were horrified one evening when pennies started flying into the room. They were coming from the stairwell and bouncing off the floor and walls of the sitting room. There was no explanation for it.”
Apart from the penny-pelting at the house in Hope Street, Sheerness, Kent, the couple claim… Doors have mysteriously slammed shut; Light bulbs have flickered on and off without anybody touching a switch; Julie felt a strangling sensation as she relaxed in an armchair; and, Sounds of someone gasping for breath, heavy footsteps and scraping noises have been heard.
Andy and Julie, both 19, put up with the terror for five months. They asked the help of a priest who blessed every room. But the spook refused to budge, so they moved.
Mrs Lily Hogben, who runs a funeral parlour opposite the haunted house, believes she may have an answer to the mystery. A kindly man called Harry Morgan, who lived alone, died in the house in 1974. His body was undiscovered for three days. “Perhaps Harry’s spirit is wandering around,” she said.
Sunday Mirror, 10th May 1981.