Embracing the Spirits: True Stories of My Encounters With the Other Side by Barbara Parks (bill gates best books TXT) 📕

as Monte Cristo is concerned, it’s certainly appropriate to judge a book by its cover. This is one house that cer-

tainly lives up to its ghostly expectations!

My friend, Jason is passionate about all things paranormal,

as evidenced by his self-named moniker, Jason Ghostman. He is particularly entranced by Monte Cristo, and makes a point of

trying to visit the homestead every year. Being a regular visitor, he has become good friends with Reg and Olive. As such,

he has been privy to many of Monte Cristo’s paranormal dis-

turbances, and indeed, has experienced many of them himself.

Olive, Reg and Jason on the front porch at Monte Cristo.

Jason tells me that the feeling of being watched is ever-

present at Monte Cristo, as well as the feeling of having travelled back through time.

“You almost feel like you shouldn’t be there,” he says. “And

in some rooms, you can actually start to feel really sick.” Jason tells me that on a recent ghost tour, some people refused to

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enter certain rooms, so strong was the feeling of revulsion and foreboding.

On one particular occasion, Jason decided to stay at Monte

Cristo overnight. He had heard numerous accounts of late

night visits by noisy, ghostly children, and was keen to encounter them for himself. As well as making a right ruckus, the

young ghosts were also reported to jump up and down on the

guests’ beds, and Jason was hopeful that they would do so to

him.

He expectantly lay in his darkened room, ears trained for

the slightest sound. The effort must have been exhausting,

because in no time at all, Jason fell fast asleep! He was devastated to discover that not only had he slept soundly through

the entire night, but he had also missed numerous ghostly

manifestations.

Although there weren’t any reports of the young ghosts

jumping on beds, they had been heard laughing and running

up and down the hallways. Jason was devastated.

He was further affronted to discover that one of the guests

in the neighbouring room had seen a black, shadowy figure

purposefully going about its business.

“You should have knocked on the wall!” Jason told the

bemused guest. “I would’ve run in … I had my camera ready

and everything!”

Once he got over the disappointment of missing such an

eventful night, Jason reasoned that there would be plenty

more opportunities to fraternise with Monte Cristo’s ghosts.

And in accordance with his promise to himself, he continues

to visit his favourite haunted house year after year.

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The grand old lady herself; Monte Cristo Homestead,

believed to be Australia’s most haunted house.

Unlike Monte Cristo, not all haunted houses bear the clas-

sic appearance of looking old and creepy. And by the same

token, even those houses which look positively ominous can

draw a blank as far as ghostly activity is concerned.

The most sinister-looking mansions can be entirely ghost-

free, whereas their non-descript suburban counterparts can be

crawling with ghosts. It would be remiss to assume that only

old homes with chequered histories are likely to be haunted,

as it’s just as likely that a newly-built modern house is home to unseen occupants. It may be that the ghosts are connected to

the land, or perhaps they once dwelled in the buildings which

stood on the property before the current house was built.

There is also the possibility that for whatever reason, a

ghost has attached itself to one of the home’s occupants, following them home from who knows where. This is more

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likely to be the case for people with mediumistic abilities such as myself. Ghosts and spirits thrive on attention and acknowledgement, and as such, they are more likely to gravitate to

those who can see them. Such a scenario is invariably more

attractive than placing themselves in a situation whereby they are likely to be ignored.

Other circumstances which can give rise to hauntings are

related to the geographical location of the house itself. Under-ground water sources, in particular, are thought to provide an energy source necessary for paranormal events to occur. The

archaeologist and occultist, T.C. Lethbridge, first suggested the link between subterranean, running water and apparent haunting phenomena, and his theory has continued to gain momen-

tum ever since. Lethbridge suggested that the running water

acts as a battery, thereby providing disembodied entities with a power source which allows them to manifest.

This seems to be the case with a house owned by a local

hills couple, Sylvia and Lawrence. Although they built the

house themselves over twenty years ago, it has been consis-

tently plagued by paranormal activity. Electrical appliances

consistently turn themselves on and off (particularly newly-

acquired ones; it’s as though the ghosts are excited to be playing with a new toy), there are frequent disembodied footsteps

and voices, and apparitions have been seen wandering through

the property on numerous occasions.

On the day my husband, Stuart and I went to visit, I noticed

a figure lurking in the hallway as soon as we walked through the front door. Sylvia showed me an area of the house that the family had deemed to be a ghostly thoroughfare, so frequent were

the appearance of figures and flashing lights.

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As I stood in the area Sylvia indicated, I felt the surging

energy at once. Upon taking a photograph, we saw numerous

orbs, the most striking of which floated just a foot away from me on my left.

Although Sylvia suspects that many of the household’s spir-

its are deceased loved ones, she believes that there may be some

“blow-ins” as well. Sylvia pointed out that there was an under-ground aquifer just to the front of the house, which had proven to be an abundant water source. Perhaps this was the power

supply which was allowing the departed to manifest.

Despite the strong and regular paranormal activity within

their home, Sylvia and Lawrence do not find it in the least bit disturbing.

“Standing in the ghostly thoroughfare at Sylvia’s house … the most vivid orb sits just to my left.

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In many ways it’s comforting,” says Sylvia. She tells me

that even when she is alone in the house, she feels very safe

and