These tales come from Carlene from Lancashire who has had two memorable spooky encounters.

In the first one, Carlene had moved into a house in Merseyside with her parents and four brothers and sisters. It was 1976 and behind the house was an old derelict gas/petrol station that had been abandoned a long time before. The family had a German Shepherd dog who was very protective and barked at anybody coming near the house. Carlene was 10 years old at the time and the second youngest.

Her older sister was pregnant when they moved in to the house and it wasn’t long before the new baby came along.

Shortly after the baby was born, the family started to hear the sounds of children laughing and playing during the night. Carlene’s younger sister was only 3 years old at the time and the family assumed that she was creeping out of her crib to go and play with her new baby niece. But every time they heard the noises and went to check, both babies would be fast asleep, as well as the dog.

When the baby had turned one year old, the noises changed from laughing and playing to crying and screaming, which the family would respond to quickly, expecting some kind of disturbance. Again, the younger children would be fast asleep with the dog guarding them close by, and no sign of anything or anyone making the noises that had woke them.

The family had these nightly disturbances for 18 months after the young baby was born, before it became really scary.

One night, Carlene’s older brother came running down the stairs shouting that there was a man in his room. Others rushed upstairs to confront the intruder but there was no one there.

Carlene’s brother described him as looking like a farmer, wearing a leather waistcoat and pants, and also an old fireman’s helmet.

He saw this man three more times after this, with the man never looking at him, but seeming to search his room for something.

In school the following year, children were asked to research the history of the area where they lived. When Carlene studied history books in the local library, she discovered that there used to be a farm where their house now stood. The farm had a barn that had burned down during a party, causing the deaths of 3 children and a local farmer who was part of the volunteer fire brigade.

Had the new baby brought out the spirit of the fireman, searching for those who were lost?

The second tale involved a nightly visitor during a traumatic time.

Carlene was going through a horrendous divorce and started seeing a mist appear in her bedroom, a bit like static on the television. It would be accompanied by the smell of old pipe tobacco like her dad used to smoke before he passed away.

She never felt afraid when she would wake up to see this, but would feel calm and assured.

It took Carlene about a month to realise that it was possibly her dad coming to check and see if she was okay. Indeed, after she told the mist that she was going to be fine, it stopped appearing.

A dad coming to check on his daughter? A fireman still looking for the children he lost?

What do we think of these two spooky encounters?

Answers on a postcard… or in an email.

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