Ghosts: Woman wants her house exorcised.
Sylvia Smith’s house she claims is haunted and inset, the Very Rev Michael Bunker, Dean of Peterborough.
“My dead sister seeks revenge” claims woman.
By Irena Barker.
A city woman who believes her house is haunted is calling for her home to be exorcised – to rid it of the spirits she claims plague her. Sylvia Smith (72) has called in five priests over the years to her house in Deene Court, Westwood. But she said the Holy water they sprinkled in blessing ceremonies has failed to banish the ghosts. Over the 25 years she has lived in the house, Sylvia claims she has seen china smash, objects move and felt a frightening burning above her head that comes and goes without warning. And guests have remarked upon the icy drafts that blow around the rooms, despite thick curtains and powerful heating. She said she has even heard whispering at night and strange knocking on the walls.
Miss Smith believes that the spooky phenomena are down to a phantom from her past – the ghost of her dead sister Katherine, who was burned to death in an accident in 1944. Miss Smith said: “She is seeking revenge on me because I lived a life she never had. She was only 18 when she died and never got the chance to live and love like I did.”
And the haunting is not just confined to the house. MIss Smith claims: “I have been in fear of my life for years. I am always having accidents and have come close to death so many times. I know it is her seeking revenge.” She added: “Every time I came close to marrying, Katherine would stir up trouble between us out of jealousy.”
She believes that if she can rid the house of its icy spirits her life would be transformed, but five blessings by priests have proved useless. She said: “What I really want is a complete exorcism. If there’s anybody out there who is prepared to do it for me, I want them to come forward.”
The Very Rev Michael Bunker, Dean of Peterborough, said: “Exorcism is a very sensitive issue, and we take these things very seriously. Normally we ask that people contact their parish priest first to find out what can be done. The issues involved can often be very complicated and each case must be treated separately.”
Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 9th August 2002.