The House At Carrington Road

About 12 years ago I moved to a new city and started flatting in a lovely old villa. The house was about 80 years old with ornate, high ceilings. It had three bedrooms and my flatmate and I each chose a room and left the third unoccupied. Looking back it is unusual we didn't think about using the third bedroom, as it was by far the largest room in the house.

We had lived there for about 8 months when I decided to move into the vacant bedroom. It was when I did this that unusual things started happening.

Initially it was just sounds. They were nothing alarming, just bangs and scratches. I barely noticed them at first, but they became so frequent and loud I couldn't help starting to listen for them.

I don't believe in looking for demons behind every curtain and coffee pot but I was finding the house a little unnerving, so I decided on an experiment. I brought in our cat. Normally the cat was never allowed to sleep in the house at night so this was a special treat for it. I put it at the end of my bed by my feet, figuring that if the cat didn't hear anything then it was all just my imagination.

After a couple of minutes, the cat who had settled down for the night raised its head and started looking around, it was trying to figure out where the noises were coming from. In another minute it jumped up and ran to the door and from then on would never sleep in the house again.

My next theory was that the house was noisy because of its age. I decided that the vibration of traffic moving past was causing movement within the old house. However I had to reject this possibility after I started being woken at 2 am from the sounds even though there was no traffic at the time.

I never told anyone about my concerns, as I didn't want them to think I was crazy. It was interesting then to see the effect the house seemed to have on people even though they knew nothing of what I was experiencing.

For example, a girlfriend of mine came over one day. She had some car problems and as she was tired from shift work, I told her to lie down in my room while I fixed it. After about fifteen minutes she came running out of the house as white as a sheet. She asked me if I had just come in. When I said no, she said she had heard the front door open and then the skishing sound from someone walking up the hall to her room in new jeans. She called out, but no one answered, and then ran out to see me. There were five different people who stayed in the house at different times, and everyone mentioned a similar experience.

By this time the noises had begun to get more sinister. I cannot begin to tell you how unnerving it is when footsteps stop outside your bedroom door, you hear two loud knocks, see the door slowly open but no one is there. I started leaving the radio on quite loud while going to sleep just to drown the sounds out. I vividly remember the disquieting feeling of being watched whenever I walked up the driveway to the house, especially at night.

I decided I needed some help and so asked a priest from the local Baptist church to pray over the house. He did so, and then said something interesting. He said he felt the problem with my house was emanating from the house next door, and did what he called "binding the enemy."

When I researched the owner's details next door I discovered the woman in the house was heavily involved with white magic, and said she often saw spiritual beings. After the priests visit two things happened. First, the sounds went away, for good, and then to my surprise the lady next door who had lived there for 96 years sold her house and moved away within three months of the priests visit.

I still don't know quite what to make of this experience, but it left a lasting impression on me.