Petersham Haunting

I grew up in a house in Petersham, Sydney owned by my parents and occupied by them for sixty years. The house was built in the 1880's and was used as accommodation for travellers in the early days.The stables were still at the rear until the 1960's.

We had numerous strange events occur over the years, including the following:

Three members of the family (I was the first) reported waking to find a man in a purple plumed hat leaning over them, all in the same room.

I came home from school one afternoon in the middle 1950's and while sitting in the front lounge room felt an intense uneasiness. I looked down the hall where I saw a semi transparent form partly obscuring the bannister post on the stairway. I remember exiting the house quite frightened.

My mother saw a man and a dog walk past her bedroom door.

In the same bedroom my older sister was held down in her bed then watched as tiny balls of energy formed into the shape of an upper torso in the corner near the ceiling. She actually poked her hand into the apparition and reported a sensation like electricity.

My mother was sitting in the kitchen one evening when she heard someone run down the stairs into the dining room and open the sideboard draw. Hearing nothing more for a couple of minutes she called out to my sister to enquire what she was doing as she assumed it was her. My sister then came in through the back door, having been in the outside toilet. No one else was at home at the time. I recall my mother getting the old Monsignor to come up from St. Thomas' church to sprinkle holy water around the place, which to our amazement seemed to keep the place quiet for a while.

Boots on the stairs and strange noises became an accepted part of our lives. The house was sold and renovated and one day I'll knock on the door and ask if anything strange is still happening.