The Dead Hours

York Ghost Festival 2011

2011-10-21T13:56:00.001+01:00

Listings

We're off! Eighth York GhostFest, second Yorkshire GhostFest, both now underway.

I'm not doing my own investigation this year, instead I will be at Haunted on Stonegate, York, for the night of seances. Booking advisable, but you can just turn up: if you do, see you there!

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

Don't let the Sun dazzle your eyes

2011-10-21T13:52:00.004+01:00

Alleged alien photos and vid

Oh come ON!

If you have the technology to travel through space, are you likely to pop up behind a school group and let yourself be caught unawares on camera?

Given its the same colour as the trees, optical illusion? Is there a new film about aliens due out in need of some major publicity?

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy

Ghost Finder General

In The Eye of the Beholder...

2011-08-28T23:40:00.001+01:00

Just thought I'd share this link: I joined ASSAP last year and this article really struck a chord.

When we (humans - I'm making an assumption here all my readers are) see images that aren't immediately obvious as to what they are, we try to make order out of chaos. We also automatically look for something human first, be it a face, or a full body. James, our science bod, has been telling us this for years.

Its worth following the link on their page through the word 'here' to the table of misperception factors.

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy

Ghost Finder General

More Things Going Bump In The Night: Haunted Live & Extreme

2011-08-28T23:27:00.002+01:00

I was privileged to be at the taster night for Haunted's new Live & Extreme, which is running over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Here's hoping its successful enough to be repeated at other times, I certainly enjoyed myself going round this after hours, adults only show provided by GNG Entertainments.

Introduced to the venue at 35 Stonegate were flashing lights, audio, re-arranged rooms, body parts and actors, as the evening event turns the normally peaceful house in to a scare attraction.

I'd love to tell you more about it but that's not playing fair: these things only work if you don't know what's coming next! I will at least say that my old bête noire, the Mask Room, was the best of the rooms - or worst, however you want to look at it. I crossed it with one of the Eye of Newt staff clinging on to me as she was too scared to even move, it took a few deep breaths before even I unpeeled myself from the wall to cross the floor to the next room!

Fanastic follow up at the Golden Fleece in the newly-named The Hangman's Chambers (the function room), where we were treated to champagne fresh from the coffin, a show by Sweeney Todd (one of the guys from York Horror Tour), 'intestines' and 'hands' to nibble on (the hands were rather good!), and the pièce de résistance, a cake in the shape of a model graveyard complete with chocolate coffins which you had to dig through the cake to find. My daughter found one of them, I settled for eating a few tombstones, rocks and some fruity and fizzy bones. An evening for adults, that brought out the child in some of us!

Catch the show whilst you can, or hope it comes back again soon? Grab your tickets via the link on this blog for Monday or risk missing out.

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy

Ghost Finder General

Scream Until You Like It

2010-10-27T19:26:00.009+01:00

Hallowe'en: great for the little kids to dress up, have some mild terror, eat lots of sweets... but what about the big kids?

You want big scares and big screams this year, try York Maze's Hallowscream. I was invited along to the press launch and took as a test audience my seventeen year old daughter Carol, and her boyfriend Rob as ballast, as it was easier to hold her when she jumped with one on each arm. Yes, it was that scary for her!

Like York Dungeon, I'm not going to give away too much about the attractions as that would take the fun out of it. But a few words of advice: wrap up warm, wrap up waterproof, and wear decent shoes. And take a friend.

We started with An Audience With The Undertakers: a few scares, a few laughs, but we'd expected more jumps. It worked well to set the scene, and I think the experience was better for this rather than going all out for terror from the word go. Maybe it was just to lull us in to a false sense of security... We followed it up with The Curse of the Corn, which started with a tractor ride. As we waited our turn, we saw two other rides go out full and come back empty, and all we could hear in the darkness was the screams...

The walk back was... err... interesting. Funny moment when Carol and Rob (by this time we were all linked in a chain, fingers nearly being broken in terror) found they couldn't run any further – having run straight in to a hay bale! I was suffering with night blindness from the very bright lights on the other side of me (nice touch whoever thought of that), I got my just desserts for laughing at them when something loomed out of the darkness next to me, and I jumped, although not as far as Carol who nearly achieved vertical takeoff a few times.

The rest of our 'pleasant country walk' was not so amusing, as the darkness, mud, maize stalks and random nasties contributed to set us all screaming - and immense fun it was too!

After a quick breather we decided that next we would brave Barnageddon, an indoor maze of the macabre which included the wet part, more nasties, moving parts, hysterical offspring, toilets and sheep. I had a good scream halfway round partially because I felt the urge to join in, and partly to keep Carol company. Honestly. I must admit that after this one, even I wasn't sure about going round the last one: Carnevil.

Avoid if you have a phobia of clowns. Avoid if you have vertigo. Avoid if you are affected by strobe lights. But for the rest of us - awesome! The children, bless them, let me go round alone. If the random couple with nice warm woolly hats who were in my group are reading this, THANK YOU! I couldn't have made it round without you. Adrenaline kicked in after 30 seconds, so I made it round laughing and shrieking, and absolutely loved it. Rob only stayed out as moral support for Carol, after I came out he went round and I do believe the word he shouted as he came out was also "awesome" - the vote of approval from both generations.
Big kids: go scare yourselves silly at Hallowscream!

You MUST book in advance for this one, I think next year we'll be organising a staff outing to Hallowscream.

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy

Ghost Finder General

Illuminating Time in York Dungeon

2010-10-22T15:14:00.007+01:00

New exhibition at York Dungeon for Hallowe'en: the history of Jack O'Lantern. I was invited to the launch evening, and despite knowing the route and what happens, even I jumped a couple of times!

I can't give you all the details because that would take the fun out of it, so the only way to find out what happens is to go yourself.

York Dungeon is also running a Hellowe'en competition, see their Hellowe'en on Facebook for details: upload photos of your costumes, carved pumpkins etc for a chance to win some great prizes.

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

Its life Jim, but not as we know it

2010-10-22T15:03:00.023+01:00

The latest paranormal photo to appear in the local paper, The Press, of what was believed to be a UFO, has sadly been removed.

It technically is, in that its unidentified, has wings, and its an object.

So is it an alien life form? Ghost? Or, perhaps, a fly at close quarters?

My money is on the fly...

Two more have gone up since I first wrote this blog, any comments on them welcome:

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

A Bit of Light Relief

2010-10-08T00:17:00.001+01:00

I thought I'd share this moment of insanity just to show how surreal the life of a professional ghost hunter is.

Earlier this year I had a night out that had to take the biscuit as being the most surreal night out ever. The biscuit, incidentally, being teapot shaped and pink, with shiny tasty things on it. I have wondered since exactly what sort of biscuit it was...

I only wish I'd drunk more, because then I could either forget things, or things may have made more sense. Except for the fish. I can't see the fish ever making sense. I first wondered if the pirate smelt of fish as he thought it added something to his costume. Then I wondered if it was something to do with the beard and whatever he had been up to earlier in the day, and decided that was a thought best supressed. I tried really hard not to react to the smell whilst he was talking to me, but it was difficult to ignore.

I was kind of relieved when he took two small salted sardines impaled on a wooden kebab stick out of his pocket. That is not a euphamism. At least they disguised the smell of the ripe cambezola he had down his trousers. This is also not a euphamism. We at least had the sense to say no when he offered to share the cheese.

Why me? Why was I targetted by a group of pirates who also do Viking and troll (WTF?!) re-enactment, collect antique weapons, and hide various smelly food stuffs about their persons? I suspect my costume may have had something to do with it, which was why they wanted photos of me and also asked me to join their burlesque troupe as a "naughty pirate."

Even though they have my details they haven't been in touch. I wonder, now, what other delights I have missed out on since?

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

P.S. If you're one of the pirates reading this, do please get in touch! If nothing else, I'd like to see how the photos turned out.

Facing the Past

2010-06-19T14:49:00.003+01:00

More reflection photos, sorry but this time I can't tell you where they were taken as we were sworn to secrecy. All I can say is that the building is *only* 100 years old, but on a site where there has been human activity for nearly 2,000 years, including a lot of deaths both natural and unnatural.
It is human nature to look at random patterning and try to make sense of it, and the first image we look for is a human face. However, what about other body parts?
See the below photos: the first one was taken seconds after another one that doesn't have anyhting odd on it, but this one appears to have a person forming in the right pane of glass:

The second photo was taken looking the opposite way, and there appears to be a reflection of a person in the gloss on the door (the photo was taken using a mobile phone camera, no flash), although the more I look at it the more I think it is just my brain trying to see a face:

Thoughts, anybody?
Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.
Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

York Ghost Festival 2010 - biggest so far!

2010-06-19T14:06:00.000+01:00

Woot!

Check out the website, we're in for a busy one!

Of course, this early in the year there's a lot of TBA and TBC about, but I can confirm unofficially that there's three investigations booked in already with a possibility of more, two exclusive screenings, walks, talks and this year, we're even doing some Hallowe'en fun stuff for children. We're involving more venues and attractions throughout the city, and have some big backing behind us this time.

Also, for the first time, we're inviting celebrities along... more to follow soon!

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

The Face at the Window

2010-06-19T13:58:00.003+01:00

Random phone photo taken in the back bar of the Black Swan, York. Different people have seen different faces in the window: classic case of the ink blots syndrome?

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

Flushed With Success

2010-02-06T22:31:00.008Z

There's something about ghosts and toilets. Most investigations I have been on have either had a haunting in the toilet, or close enough to make people nervous of using them. Is it the user's vunerability that makes them nervous, or spirits drawn to the water? (For more on ghosts and water see previous waffle on the Bernays Theory)

Welcome to 2010 - a bit late, but I've been rather busy. For the first time in years I went to the Black Swan on Peasholme Green at the end of January. I'd met with somebody to discuss ghost tourism in York, and how underplayed it is.

On March 12 there's going to be an investigation at the Black Swan, Peasholme Green, York. The previous landlord we are told turned down Most Haunted, but we're going in to this amazing ancient building which dates back to at least the 15th century (the doubt comes in because a date has been found scratched in to the fabric of the building which is from the previous century, but of course this could just be a reused beam). There are three well known ghost stories and a number more are now being added.

The event will cost £150 per person which includes a bespoke ghost walk, two course evening meal in the Black Swan which is superior pub food prepared by the in-house chef (they should have the squirrel pie back on by then!), with the investigation proper starting once the pub shuts. This should continue to 4am, at which time you can retire to your four poster bed (all rooms are en suite), with breakfast also included in the morning. This is ghost hunting with added luxuries!

The next event is on March 26 at our most prestigious venue: Gray's Court. The photos don't do it justice: parts of the building date back to the 11th century, it has several Royal connections and it was the original Treasurer's House - it is at right angles to the building now known by that name, the two being all one at some point in the past. It is quite possibly that the Roman road on which the ghostly legion were seen by Harry Martindale also runs under this building. Its now an upmarket tea room and coffee house (it has some excellent coffee blends to chose from, as well as teas and light snacks), with gardens running up to the Bar Walls of the City of York. As you can probably tell, I've been bowled over by the beauty of the venue!
A night ghost hunting at Gray's will cost £100, which includes a three course chef-prepared meal with accompanying ghost stories by a leading York historian, followed by an investigation until 2am in this amazing historic building in the shadow of York Minster.

Both investigations will have a medium and a psychic present in the shape of Psychic TV's Diana Jarvis.

So where does the ghost and the toilet fit in? During our first meeting, during which much coffee (and no alcohol) was consumed, I had to use the facilities in the Black Swan. Whilst I was in there, somebody came in (I heard the two doors open and close), looked in the empty cubicle, walked past it to in front of my door (I heard the footsteps on the tiled floor and saw their shadow under the door), paused, then turned and walked out again.

When I came out I told the person I was with what had happened, as I considered it a bit strange. She told me that nobody had gone in there whilst I was in, but there were regular reports of a male ghost walking in to the ladies' toilets!

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

Its Not All Done With Smoke & Mirrors

2009-10-25T21:04:00.006Z

Saturday night (24th Octber) saw the opener for York Ghost Festival: 'Orribly Original 2009, as we (Paranormal & Spectral Investigations) teamed up with Hull Paranormal Ghost Society (HPGS) for a night in which we planned to have one person in each room of Haunted, the reputedly haunted house at 35 Stonegate, York.

Other than the creaks and groans of the building settling, nothing much was heard or seen, except the occasional sound of a chair being scrapped across a floor even though there was nobody moving about.

Feet were seen in the light under doors outside dark rooms as if somebody was pacing back and forth... when nobody was moving about. Doors opening and shutting with accompanying bangs and creaks where heard by everybody during the night... when nobody was moving about.

And in one room, an investigator from the Hull group saw a man appear, reflected around her in the mirrored walls and ceiling!

I faced up to my own personal demons when I sat alone in the Mask Room, a wood panelled room which I took a strong dislike to some years before. At the time I had crossed what is now the Mirror Room and in to the Mask Room at some speed, looking for a member of staff at the end of the day to relay an urgent message to, when it felt like something chased me across the room, starting off in the Mirror Room. By the time I was leaving the Mask Room and heading in to the Hallway it felt like it was right behind me. Until then I could have written it off as panic, until I felt its breath on the back of my neck and heard a low growl in my ear...

However, after an hour alone in there all I felt was the effects of spending too long sat on a very uncomfortable wooden bench!

I do wonder how many people watched us on Haunted's webcams on their webpage, and wondered what on earth I was doing just sitting there. Nothing exciting happened in my room, so after a quick comfort break we switched rooms.

The Dining Room, where a number of visitors during the day had seen an old woman in black, proved to be only slightly more interesting as my second choice of room. Whilst in there, i heard somebody talking in the next room over, the Mirror Room, and thought they must be having a much more interesting night than I was.

Little did I know that Sara from HPGS, who bravely went in to a room she hated and sat in the pitch darkness, had just had a very unpleasant figure appear before her. Sara was a star: after a break to get over the shock, it must have taken her some guts to go back through the room to take part in the finale, a vigil involving both teams in the Seance Room, but she did it.

What a pity anybody watching on the webcams couldn't see our reaction when we heard the doors opening and closing, our first thought was that somehow somebody had broken in to the building. We sped off to investigate and found nothing. I would be interested to hear from anybody who was watching on webcam and saw several of us moving through the rooms quickly as to whether they'd seen doors opening and closing shortly before they saw us. With one exception each time it happened we were in our break room which isn't on webcam, the only other time we heard it we were in the Seance Room at the end of the night but the noise came from downstairs (the Seance Room is at the top of the building).

Both PSI and HPGS will be helping out at Haunted's attempt to set a new record for the World's Biggest Ghost Vigil, which will be taking place on Hallowe'en on the Eye of York (next to Clifford's Tower). At 7.30pm events will start including ghost stories, psychic readings, dowsing, remote viewing and live video links to investigations at other haunted locations in York. The attempt at breaking the record will be at 9.30pm. Its free to come along, although donations to charity (York Stables Educational Project) are welcome.

Afterwards, there will be séances and a paranormal investigations at Haunted as the teams from PSI and Hull Paranormal Ghost Society will be conducting a short series of séances, followed by an overnight investigation. Séances will be on a first come, first served basis between 10.30pm and midnight, the overnight investigation is ticket only, and will cost £20 a head. A percentage of our takings will go to the Support Our Soldiers Xmas Parcels Appeal.

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghostfinder General

A Trick of the Light?

2009-10-19T00:27:00.001+01:00

Interesting image taken at the Edward Jenner Museum in Berkeley, Gloucestershire. It could very well be a trick of the light, its hard to tell without having a still image to blow up (screen shots aren't quite the same). Which is a shame, because I'm not altogether sure on this one... it may well be something far more interesting. I've not worked with 360 degree photos to know how they effect the image, I've only seen final versions, but as the trousers appear to be the same colour as the wall in the room where the photo is being taken, it does look like its some sort of colour smudging.

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

The Lights Are On, But Nobody's Home

2009-10-18T02:40:00.002+01:00

Its all in the timing. Still vaguely hooked on watching the Haunted live links, I now have friends hooked on it too - on my computer. So by Saturday night (17th October), we have three people sat round watching the screen when the light came on in the Seance Room.

Just like when somebody comes in on the tour.

Except... its 8.46pm. We try refreshing the screen in case a camera has stuck. It stays the same. We keep watching, nobody appears, but the light eventually goes out on its own. So... who turned on the light?

There's nobody in any of the rooms at the time, hadn't been anybody in any of them for ages, and the door was shut. The light didn't come back on again (which it does when the audio is running). Three of us sat glued to the screen for the next quarter of an hour, but there was nothing, not even an orb (be they dust, insects or spirits) in any of the rooms. I'm pretty sure from spending last Hallowe'en in there that if the light was turned on from the main control area then the Attic Room and Lantern Room would also be lit, and they weren't.

Sunday night I waited again at the same time, and nothing happened. Three minutes after the time awaited something to happen, one very slow orb lazily went across the Seance Room from the door side (left) to the wall behind the table on the right of the screen.

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

Welcome to The Vault

2009-10-12T19:44:00.003+01:00

The Vault has finally been opened! In here will go reports, with histories, from previous investigations. Due to slow running web hosting its taken half a day to get two online, but more will be following later in the month.

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

York Ghost Festival: 'Orribily Original 2009

2009-10-12T19:32:00.001+01:00

We're about halfway there: I know what's happening, just need to confirm some things then I can share it with everybody.

This year's festival will again be featuring Haunted in Stonegate, York. We'll be pitching in with this year's attempt to hold the World's Biggest Ghost Vigil, but we'll leave to them to make the annoucement - but we can say its a big venue, and right in the heart of York.

Afterwards, we'll be running an overnight investigation at Haunted, which will be ticket only, prices to be announced later this week. We had a very active investigation there last year, and can't wait to go back again!

The Haunted Treasure Hunt has been plotted out, we just need to walk the route to check on a few things before its launched.

We may have a second investigation lined up, more to follow on that one later in the week (hopefully).

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

Something To While Away The Wee Hours

2009-10-12T19:26:00.002+01:00

Just a short Blog to let everybody know that Haunted's website now comes with live streaming in several of the rooms.

This is not addictive. I do not believe that as soon as I look away, I'll miss a full-on manifestation. Really. I just must check again though just in case...

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

Stand By Your Beds...

2008-11-01T17:42:00.004Z

Full report on the GhostFest to follow on the York Ghost Festival website, but just one thing I thought worth mentioning as a 'strange but true' moment.

Hallowe'en Night was spent at the Haunted Museum on Stonegate, York, and at about 2am we'd just settled down for our big seance of the night with everybody present. I was sat in a chair next to the one where Derek Acorah (in?)famously vanished over the back of it as a 'spirit' tipped him out of it.

I checked whether anybody was feeling nervous: then I specifically asked the young couple on my left how they were feeling, then revealed to them that he was sat in 'the' chair...

Nothing of that nature happened last night.

Not surprisingly, one of the first priorities after an investigation is sleep. Emerging some time mid-afternoon on Saturday, the first thing my daughter told me was about her experiences during the night. She'd been staying with family, and had woken up in the night and knew she had to get out of bed. Her first conscious thought was as she stood at the foot of it, was that Derek Acorah needed a bed desperately for the ghost of a woman to use...

Neither of us have ever watched the paranormal investigations programmes on a regular basis, she isn't even that interested in it, so I've no idea where this has come from.

And I've no idea if she needs some sort of help... ;-)

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

A Call to Arms

2008-09-23T17:22:00.003+01:00

Image via Wikipedia

Another ghost photograph in the media, I've been reluctant to comment on this one previously. I'm an English Civil War re-enactor (I'm not in the footage in case you're wondering but I do recognise a few faces), and a paranormal investigator, so this sounds right up my street.

With this one, the history is spot on, and there's definitely something odd going on in the photo that's a whole lot more interesting than an orb of light.

However, much as I want this one to be a genuine ghost caught on camera, I can see a touch of the inkblots in this one. If you compare the photo on the BBC footage with the shot at 00:55 looking at the same spot in broad daylight, you can see the same lines in the trees and hedges - sadly. I can't post stills of this without breaching copyright, but if you compare them yourself, you'll see what I mean.

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

Media Tart? Who? Me?

2008-09-18T14:36:00.012+01:00

As you may or may not have noticed, the first annoucements for this October's 'Orribly Original ghost festival have gone out. First up we have National Geographic Traveler Magazine's piece on York, ghost and me - international stardom! Excellent!

Next, The Press with an old but fun full colour photo:

http://www.thepress.co.uk/news/3683348.Ghost_hunters_heading_for_spooky_festival_in_York_/

Next stop, Calendar:

http://info.itvlocal.com/whats_on_halloween2008.shtml

AND:

http://www.itvlocal.com/yorkshire/whatson/?player=YOR_WhatsOn_15&void=243446

The old PSI messageboard has been moved and revamped, it can now be found here:

http://ghostfindergeneral.proboards101.com

The websites

http://www.yorkghostfestival.co.uk

and

http://www.psi-chicks.co.uk

are also both due another revamp - watch this space for news!

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

Midsummer Madness

2008-09-18T13:45:00.012+01:00

Well we managed to mark midsummer with our usual style and panache... by 1am three people were flat out in the cold wet grass wondering, yet again, why we do this. I did say last blog that we weren't doing anything until October, but we couldn't let this day pass without a little something!

On our on-going mission to lurk around the former execution grounds of York, we have yet again drawn a virtual blank - so I ask again, benefit of clergy moving souls on, or time to admit there's nothing out there?

We started off - myself and our two newest members, Miss E and Sprota - with a quick trip to the former leper hospital on St Nicholas' Fields. Whilst we have no reportings of hauntings from there, we've had one from a near-by house which includes the appearance of various nuts, bolts and screws dropping out of apparently nowhere. A member of PSI was there when one of them happened: there was the noise of something small and metallic hitting wood flooring, when we looked, there was a screw on the floor in the corner of a hallway. Nothing above it, nothing next to it, just blank walls and a wooden floor. It dropped, rather than being thrown, not that there was anyone around to through it. Proof at last that paranormal investigators have a screw loose?!

A number of these have appeared, all of which have been kept and one traced to its place of origin - from the front door handle. It fell out one day, given that it was far too short for the job it was doing, it was no surprise! But as for the other three items, a rational explanation has yet to present itself. A visit from a medium who was there socially seems to have upset something: a thud and slosh was heard and two people turned to see the water level in a kettle sloshing about wildly, as if the kettle had been picked up and slammed down. Curious...

A second visit from a medium this time 'on business' came up with it being a male presence, contemporary, but not connected to the building - he worked in a building formerly on the site. That fitted in with the householder's belief that it was connected to former (modern) buildings on the site, nothing earlier, and was male. This is now an on-going private investigation for PSI.

Anyway, ramble over, and back to midsummer. There are standing stones in this area but they are of modern construction, however there are stones here from the earlier church and hospital. Miss E was just tuning in to something when the night was split by the roar of a motorbike, and so we instincively dived in to the bushes - the bike had no lights on, and we were certain this was no ghostly apparition! Not wanting a confrontation, we curtailed out activities for the evening - the living are far too active in that area during the early hours for our liking!

We moved off to another execution site: this time, Lamel Hill gallows, via Walmgate Stray, believed by some to be the real site of the Battle of Fulford. As with previous investigations there was no sign of imprints from the violent deaths, however two other spirits were picked up on. A female servant girl of possibly Victorian times, scared to move on in case she met up with the former lover who killed her, was flitting about the meadow.

And as the evening was ending, a strong male presence was felt prowling the boundaries of Siward's Howe. Sorry, his land. Because that was the feeling he gave off, that we were on his territory, but he was indulgent of our presence and happy to remain surveying his domains.

That was it before the summer break as those of us with other hobbies take some time off, before its back for the fifth anniversary of our original festival.

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

Something and Nothing

2008-05-22T12:52:00.005+01:00

Its been a while since I last blogged on, and the last few months seem to have gone past without really being worth remarking about.

The YGF eventually went ahead in November, much reduced, as continuing ill health kept causing problems. I was very busy over winter, until I ran myself in to the ground and once again was ill, this time I was signed off sick and have yet to return to work - hopefully all will be sorted in the next few months, in the mean time we're not attempting to put any more events on until the Fifth Anniversary York Ghost Festival in October/November of this year.

Back to YGF 2007: we returned to York Tyburn in somewhat less hospitable weather than last time, so much so that several members of the public pulled out. We went ahead anyway, when we managed to find a break in weather, but I have decided for the future that there is a time for putting on outdoor investigations, and that time is summer!

It was good to have Diana Jarvis back with us, and also our new medium in training, Miss E. Like our previous investigation there using purely scientific methods, there was very little to report back on - nice for them to correlate even if it was to say there wasn't much there. Which is interesting in itself, given the amount of violent deaths there. Does this go to show that having the benefits of clergy in the last moments means the souls do move on, or that there are no ghosts...? Discuss.

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

York Ghost Festival: Saturday night details

2007-10-19T20:30:00.002+01:00

I can now release further details about Saturday night's Ghost Hosts event. Its a talk in three parts: one about ghosts and investigations from a paranormal historian's view, by yours truly; one about the scientific side of investigations by PSI's Chief Scientific Investigator James Littlewood; and celebrity medium Diana Jarvis will talk about investigations from a medium's perspective including interactive demonstrations on dowsing with rods and crystals, and a couple of seances thrown in for good measure!

It will take place at 8.30pm (doors open 8pm) at The Ruins Crafthouse, 34 Dale Street, York.

The Ruins Crafthouse is owned by Hugh and Isobel Bernays of the Auden Society, and they have developed a fascinating theory about ghost, which is a progression from the Stone Tape Theory. For those not familiar with it, that theory suggests that strong emotional events, or repetative events, leave a 'memory' behind in the very fabric of the stones around them, creating ghosts in buildings that are re-enactments of these events. These are the non-sentient ghosts that cannot be interacted with.

The new Bernays Theory is based on the homeopathic theory that water has memory (for details see the Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_memory): the water is retaining memories of people or animals, if the water then crystalises over time, it still retains that memory. When it returns to its liquid state, it resurrects the memory, hence there being periods when ghosts are seen in one place, then the sightings stop, sometimes to recur depending on the hydration of the memory.

Farfetched?

Consider this: I was advised years ago to buy a hygrometer to measure humidity at investigations, because many groups already take these readings with results that show increased paranormal activity in humid conditions - or that humid conditions increase with paranormal activity. I'm not saying this is an instantly provable - or disprovable - theory, but its one worth thinking about. It is also one we will be investigating further over the coming months.

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

York Ghost Festival 2007: Details at last!

2007-10-16T20:53:00.002+01:00

We're STILL waiting for confirmation from venues, but as its so close we're announcing details anyway.

Friday, October 26
10pm-6am: Overnight investigation, venue TBA. Sorry, no under 18s. Tickets £15.

Saturday, October 27
8.30pm-midnight: How To Conduct Paranormal Investigations: a Talk in Three Parts by PSI (including a seance or two), venue TBA. Sorry, no under 16s. Tickets £10.

More to be posted as its confirmed.

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

Return of the Psychic Museum - did you see it coming?

2007-10-15T12:51:00.006+01:00

Sorry, another bad pun to start things off AGAIN... I'll behave now. Possibly.

It was nice to see this report in The Press about Jonathan Cainer reopening his museum:

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/search/display.var.1741166.0.astrologer_cainer_puts_house_on_market_for_1_2m.php

I had some involvement with the museum the first time round, and fell in love with the building the first time they showed me round. Its a thing of beauty in itself, worth a tour just for the architecture, decor and the painted glass windows installed by former resident JW Knowles, famous York glazier who was responsible for preserving some of the windows at York Minster, amongst other places.

The people I met there were also lovely, JC himself being one of, if not THE, nicest person I've met during the years of doing paranormal work. I wish JC and his team every success in the relaunch of this venture, after the work he has put in he certainly deserves it.

As for the spirits in the building, there is very definitely some strange spots in there. For those that saw Derek Acorah's Ghost Towns, do you remember the room where he was dragged backwards out of a chair? I have spent quite some time alone in there, and nothing that exciting ever happened to me! There was a very definite feeling almost constantly of being watched, but not by something evil - watching, brooding, like having someone checking over your shoulder that you are doing your work right and that whatever you do, it won't be quite good enough. But not evil.

One very unnerving thing that happened there was on a warm summer's evening when a thunderstorm broke, and a leak appeared in that room. I raced down a flight of stairs then through most of the rooms on that floor looking for the only other person in the building to tell about it, my thoughts purely on the physical not the paranormal. I sped through one room and into the next, and as I went through the first door SOMETHING came through with me... I have no idea what, what I do know is that I felt something unpleasant right behind me, it even growled in my ear. I don't think I've ever crossed a room that fast in my life! I was straight through the other door and on to the back staircase, a lovely airey room that instantly calmed my fears although my heart was still racing! I frequently went back in there and never again had that feeling... maybe the deep carpets of the first room and my lifelong attraction of static teamed up to create that feeling, or maybe it was something else...

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

Roman ghosts? Its a bug's life...

2007-10-13T23:04:00.005+01:00

I've finally got round to watching the Outwood (Wakefield) video of what is thought to be a Roman ghost.

First question: why a Roman? Just going by the image, its a blob, nothing Roman about it.

Second question: what's the insect life like round there? As part of my day job I spend hours watching videos taken of roads and railways all round this country, and this image is very familiar.

A couple of months ago we captured a similar one and I jokingly called the screenshot of it "Ghostie." Playing frame be frame, you could see the 'ghost' rise up from the ground and end up in the middle of our screens, looking almost identical to the one on the clip.

The one we got was a lace wing. You can tell by the immobility of the object that it is on the lens, not on the path, I don't think its the same type of insect but its hard to tell as our recording quality is much clearer, and it is, at close inspection, obvious what it is. But I do believe in this instant it is not a ghost, but an insect - but if somebody can prove me wrong, I'd be interested! (And I do mean prove, not theorise, conjecture or argue.)

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

Its One Small Step For Man, One Giant Leap For GFG Kind

2007-10-10T00:23:00.003+01:00

Image via Wikipedia

And finally for tonight... (that's three blogs in one night, what's the chances of that happening again?! Somewhere between slim and zero).

On Sunday, October 21, yes that would be the weekend before the Hallowe'en Ghost Fest, I am, for some completely mad reasons, abseiling off the Forth Bridge. Some people would enjoy the sort of thing. But for me, the event holds nothing but sheer terror. Ah, and the chance to prove my father wrong as he doesn't believe I can do it.

Ladders scare me. I don't mean going UP ladders, I mean ladders. I can look at a perfectly harmless looking ladder on the floor and in a flash my brain has run a scenario of the ladder being propped up against something, me - or anybody else - going up the ladder, and me or that anybody falling off the ladder and being very hurt. The thought of 168ft off the floor on the end of the rope gives me the willies to say the least. It turns my knees to jelly thinking about it. I hope there are some very grateful animals at Edinburgh Zoo (especially the big cats, given my last blog), I hope they fully appreciate what I am putting myself through to raise funds for them... SPONSOR ME PLEASE! :-)

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

Cat-egorically The Last Cat Pun

2007-10-09T23:24:00.003+01:00

Had to get one pun in, now I'll stop.

Now how surprising is this: I said I'd post again, and I have within six months! That has got to be a first!

I've added a new string to my bow: big cat spotting. I first saw one several years ago, and reported it to one of the many groups that keep logs of sightings and look for them on a regular basis.

The first sighting, made on August 27, 2004, was also the basis of an article for Vision magazine, such was my enthusiasm for the subject at the time. I had been on holiday with my family in Scotland and amongst the varied wildlife we saw there was a large black cat, which we are unsure as to what exactly it was. There were four of us travelling in a car at about 10.30pm, going from Pitlochry to Kirkmichael on the A924. We had been travelling at a reasonable pace but were slowing down for a village, I judged us to be about a mile from Kirkmichael, which would put us at Milton.

My daughter was asleep and missed all the excitement (typical!), the others are divided in their opinion as to what it was (namely my mother, who had the worst view of it, thought it was a very big domestic mog, my father and myself who had front row seats thing it wasn't). The first house on our left as we approached the village (if I have misjudged the distance, then we were at Enochdhu) had a dry stone wall with a wire and post fence on top, with some sort of large shrub growing behind it. The cat we saw was slinking along the verge but went over the wall (under the wire) as we approached - it stopped briefly on the top of the wall and looked straight at us with a snarl, I could see it quite clearly as I was nearest.

It was black and looked incredibly sleek, moving very fluidly. The ears were level with the head (as opposed to on top), and it had a long tail (unlike a wildcat). As it was looking at me I didn't see the shape of its head, unfortunately. In size, it was far bigger than a domestic cat, but not so big that it could have been a black panther. I hadn't heard of a Kellas Cat until I did some research on the internet, and the descriptions I have seen fits what I remember seeing. Therefore, I declare my first sighting a Kellas!

The second sighting I am not so sure about. On March 14, 2007, I was at a school in Morpeth for a weekend, when we saw a very unusual cat from only a few feet away. It was fawn coloured with stripes coming from a black dorsal line, reaching about half way down the body; it also had black spots on the fawn colouring, with a white underside. The ears were black and tufted.

It wasn't huge, being only 18 inches at the shoulder, two foot long body from nose tip to tail base, four feet including tail. Between 5pm and 6pm we went outside to speak to somebody camped outside, I noticed the cat walking next to one of our cars. I made a noise and it saw me for the first time and visibly jumped then slunk very quickly under the nearest car. I called my then partner over and he saw it too, as a gamekeeper and countryside ranger he has experience of tracking animals and also noting details of them quickly and accurately.

The cat came out from the other end of the car, about six feet away from us, and paused briefly to look at us. It was stood in sunlight and so we both got a very good look at its colouring. At this point it bounded away at speed: we had been discussing what it was as the colouring was so unusual, its movements when running away we both also commented on as it bounded like a large wild cat (the two halves of its body looked like they pivoted in the middle) with its tail straight up and kinked over slightly at the top. As it ran off, my then partner pursued it across the school grounds, at one point it turned and hissed at him, then it dived under a hedge which was the last he saw of it.

Since I first reported the sighting, I have seen photographs of Bengal cats - domestic, not the tigers! - and there are some similarities: the spots, and the fawn colouring, which makes me think it could possibly be a Bengal cross, if this is the case I'd love to hear from the owner just to lay that one to rest!

And finally, on Sunday, August 5, 2007 at about 7pm we were driving along the B4520 between Brecon and Little Chapel when we saw a very odd looking cat, as we were bombing along we didn't have a hope in hell of stopping to investigate further but from the quick glance I got it was near a settlement (can't remember which one), a noticeably bigger than a domestic cat, in a reddy brown colour. The hair looked quite long, I think it had a dark dorsal stripe with other stripes coming down the sides... sadly that's all I can remember as we were doing about 70mph at the time.

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

"Smile" they said "it could be worse" I did and it was

2007-10-09T22:54:00.006+01:00

I started this blog about an hour ago. In the last hour, it has taken most of the time to try to log in (must remember to re-enable cookie blocking once I've published), then the tab decided to close down taking my blog with it, unsaved. So much for automatically saving drafts.

Its been one of those years, really. In fact, I was working up to a good whinge on that topic when it went, maybe I should take that as a hint and shut up... FAT CHANCE! ;-)

Its been a bad year. Something about this run up to the festival makes us take stock: last year it was personal upheavals in the way of work, relationships and health. This year, more bad health, more relationship problems, more work changes... and for myself, four deaths in the family, most recently my grandmother; also several former colleagues, and several friends in the re-enactment world including the woman who had become my greatest friend in that sphere. Given that I have always advocated NOT attending seances etc looking for recently deceased, I have shyed away from them myself: if you believe, then you may be holding back a spirit that wants to pass over, if you believe or not, its hanging on to grief in an unhealthy fashion. And personally, its been too raw to even think about it, I too have been guilty of wanting to contact one of them, and have had to learn to let go. Its still raw, but its passing.

Personal whinge over.

In terms of PSI and the Ghost Fests, our usual curses still haunt us - pun intended.

The Winter Ghost Fest, timed to co-incide with Residents First Weekend at the end of January was cancelled at very short notice due to ill-health at the venue.

The Spring Ghost Fest should have been at Easter, but we had no luck again getting a venue, plus I wasn't in York for a lot of the Easter holidays making it difficult to arrange anything.

The Midsummer Ghost Fest was a very small event, something I was thankful for as it was the quitest investigation we have ever done! We went to York Tyburn, at the side of York Racecourse, as we thought all that pain and suffering might have left some imprint on the fabric of time. After several hours absolutely nothing had occured... except for one of the team accidentally stumbling across a humpty back monster in the long grass at the side of the racecourse fences!!! He must have been the only person in York not aware it is a popular courting ground, bless him he thought somebody had hurt themselves and offered to help. We have on camera the moment when he realised the 'person' had eight limbs and not much clothing on...!

If things were quiet, we had planned to split the night between ghosts and cats, and so switched sides of the road to look for the Beast of Hob Moor (more on my next blog about cats). Its amazing how many people were on Hob Moor at 3am, not surprisingly with all that activity there was no sign of any big cats, just a small black mog. On the way back to civilisation, we had the only excitement of the night: we had to bodily carry a woman out of the middle of the road where she was trying to conduct an argument AND sleep on the road, and was amazingly succesful about both. Furious at her partner for neither helping nor calling an ambulance for a near comatose woman, I stopped the first police van we saw and directed them to her in the hope she'd been taken somewhere to sober up safely. So that's two Ghost Fests now ended up with me talking to the police, the last time it was to prevent a suicidal woman from throwing herself in the cold, fast flowing, flooded River Ouse. Is it some sort of synchronicity that puts us in places to do these things, I wonder?

Well, that brings us up to date with the bad stuff, I'll blog again with better news.

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

Life, The Universe and Everything...

2007-01-29T21:54:00.002Z

That first one there's important, I have a life outside of the paranormal...!

As my re-enactment season gets longer (as it did in 2006), it doesn't mean its going to interfer with my paranormal activities, in fact this year, 2007, is going to see the big re-launch of PSI, the GhostFest, ME! That's the 'everything' part covered then.

Now, as for the universe... we are also planning this year to expand PSI beyond the usual spirit-searching, we've always had interested in other paranormal activity but haven't done anything about it. This year will see our first UFO watch, and we have plans revolving round ABCs but that's still under wraps. You may have seen my article in Vision magazine on Kellas Cats, that wasn't a one-off piece, I still want to do more work in that area and hopefully that will be seen this summer.

I also promise to blog more, I'm sure I've said it before but this time I will, honestly!

And finally, good luck to the MD of Vision, Sammi, on her impending new production... I hope the birth goes quickly and relatively painlessly, and you have a lovely healthy baby.

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

York Ghost Festival 2006: Full Details

2006-10-26T13:01:00.005+01:00

As well as the usual local newspaper pieces on us, this year we're featured on Calendar (ITV Yorkshire region) in their What's On section on Friday evening. I get to call Gaynor Barnes a "great big numpty" whilst stuck in a lift with her, which was quite fun although she didn't deserve it as she's one of the nicest people I've filmed with.

Well here it is, still tickets left for Saturday if anybody wants some:

Friday, October 27
Overnight investigation at Lendal Water Tower - sorry but we're already full.

Saturday, October 28
7pm: Necropolis: City of the Dead – Historical not Hysterical Ghost Walk with York’s Ghost Finder General. Runs to and from Thomas’s Hotel, Museum Street, York. Adults £3, concessions £2 (under 16s and over 60s), families £7 family (2 + 2 or 1 + 4, extra children £1).
10pm-6am: The Second Investigation: Thomas’s Hotel, Museum Street, York. No under 18s please. Tickets £10. Booking essential.

AFTER THE GHOSTFEST WE WILL BE MAKING SOME BIG ANNOUCEMENTS ABOUT FUTURE PROJECTS - WATCH THIS BLOG FOR DETAILS!

Although the first major change I can already tell you about: due to being involved with the Parafest in Cambridge Diana Jarvis won't be acting as Chief Medium this year, she recommended a replacement who will be making her debut at the ghostfest. We've already done reccys at both venues and at both of them Clare was already picking up vibes, some very strongly, which bodes well for a interesting weekend!

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

York Ghost Festival 2006: First Announcement

2006-10-03T23:05:00.004+01:00

Saturday, October 28 we're at Thomas's Hotel, Museum Street, York. Its a big place with a history of hauntings, but I believe we are the first people to investigate it.

The much larger, non-pub venue has been shelved for now, but it looks like I may have somewhere a little different in a very old building for us to do... more updates later this week!

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

I am having a festival, honestly!

2006-07-18T16:48:00.002+01:00

Ok so I got a life and have other things to do, but announcements are imminent, no, really!

I have a meeting to discuss getting a novel venue for one night of the festival, but due to other commitments it isn't going to happen until the beginning of August. Its not a pub for once, somewhere a bit bigger than normal.

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.
Rachel LacyGhost Finder General

Eeek! Bright Lights!

2006-07-18T16:39:00.003+01:00

Last night (17/07/2006) at 22:30 something appeared in the skies.

Starting south-south-east, about 50-60 degrees over the horizon (from my back door it came from over the uni) headed north but not straight, was coming more over to centre.

Started off very big and bright, at first I thought it was a plane but there was no noise. Next choice, a BIG shooting star: especially as it started waning like a shooting star burning up, but then got brighter again.

I watched it for about 20 seconds, during which time it varied from faster than a satellite (when first seen) to almost stationary. Evenutally waned and vanished in a cloudless area of sky.

No satellites were due over at this time, no comet (in this area), no metor showers: any ideas?

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

#I'm Blogging, By Myself...#

2006-04-17T00:08:00.004+01:00

Its gone midnight so it feels like I am by myself in the cyber world, sorry to say the website updates are not yet ready. I have been making up for lost time, no amount of saving seemed to have protected me from a powercut, everything done so far today went when the power did. I'm already behind on my schedule after a ten day break, nothing to do with the paranormal this time but that is probably why I have come back feeling so refreshed. I also found my sea legs for the first time in years, now I am struggling to cope with floors that don't rock with the waves.

Back to the power cut... you'd have thought I was used to being alone in the dark by now, what was scary was NOT being alone in the dark. Two of us stumbling about looking for the candles (all carefully packed away as the rental contract stipulates no candles), and only one torch between us at twilight (my small torch was left behind in somebody's car after an investigation and my tiny torch and big torch both have flat batteries... let that be a lesson to all investigators to keep torches ready for use), was turned into a disturbing experience by Odin. No, not the Norse God, but the local beaten up old Tom cat with only one eye and almost two ears, who decided that now was a good time to really have a good look round my house in the dark. Being black and white meant that his white patches showed up, but it was a mean trick leaving his tail on a different step so that just when you thought you had got past him on the stairs... there's an evil streak in that cat some days.

So, nothing major to report except that discussion are now well under way as to what we will do at this year's ghost festival. Well, I suppose they have been well under way for a while now, but definite ideas are now being agreed on, rather than being floated on the ether, and nobody will be surprised that these ideas involve pubs.

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

In the beginning... April Fools' and beyond

2006-04-03T12:38:00.012+01:00

Image via Wikipedia

I was going to start this on April 1, it seemed appropriate, but I was away from the computer for the weekend - doing paranormal things I am glad to report.

I think a lot of people wonder how committed I am to doing investigations, the festival, etc as I seem to vanish for weeks if not months at a time, so this is my chance to show people that I am still in the land of the living (mostly), and I can keep people updated without cluttering up their inboxes.

Now I'm out of hibernation, the month is off to a flying start. I started Saturday, April 1 90 feet up in the gallery/Gods of Newcastle Theatre Royal, and ended it in Newcastle Keep, via Marsden Grotto. Sunday started at the Keep, and ended back home, building the new York Ghost Festival website and overhauling the PSI-Chicks one.

I won't comment much on the investigation at the theatre, as I was there as a guest of the Visionaires from Vision magazine, so if you want the full report you'll have to buy the mag. Lots of orbs on photos - very high percent of them in my opinion are dust, but there are a few that I need to know more about:

a photo of more orbs than I could be bothered to count, in itself gut instinct says dust, taken in sequence it is weird. Orb free photo, two seconds later orb shower, two seconds later orb free;
strange glowing green shapes in front of one of the boxes, I am almost certain it is just the light picking up a moulding on the front of a box in an odd way;
green orbs;
an orb that lights things up - my favourite, as I cannot find a logical excuse for this one, but if anybody reading this knows why it happened... photos will follow on here, once I know which, if any, Vision want to use. Their event, their call, I am not stealing thunder when I am an invited guest.

A rare treat after the investigation - comfy beds and nobody disturbing us as we caught up on sleep, we even had a bathroom with a hot shower. I went out for a drive with Vision editor Diana Jarvis Saturday afternoon, and not for the first time we had one of those journeys with fate. We originally planned to go to Tynemouth, but feeling that we may not have enough time, we headed for the coast at South Shields (as we were already south of the river Tyne) as I knew there was a haunted pub there in the cliff, which was one of the first ghost stories I heard and logged in my succession of notebooks. As we passed the sign for Marsden, Diana mentioned that she had heard of a haunted place there called Marsden Grotto... yes, we were both talking about the same place. We didn't see a sign for the grotto but fate led us to the car park above it, we parked within sight of the entrance on the cliff top, and so we stumbled upon it.

One drink later and we have talked to the incoming manager about his ghosts, taken a number of photographs including one with an orb on, and were blowing away any remaining cobwebs by wandering up and down, in the bracing wind, along the rocky shoreline as Diana looked for witch stones and I tried not to fall in while skimming stones and counting waves. Sometimes we need that break to do something simple...

Fate hadn't lost that quirky sense of humour: we returned to where we were staying, with Michael Hallowell, to find out he is the local expert on Marsden Grotto! Michael, incidentally, is a lovely bloke, first time I had met him other than in passing at the launch of Vision magazine. We meet so many genuinely nice people pursuing the paranormal, this blog will at least give me a chance to thank such people: Michael and his wife made us very welcome over the weekend, supplied us with coffee (one of life's essentials!) and good conversation.

Saturday night and its back over the river to Newcastle Keep for a charity fund-raising investigation, this time Diana, Michael and myself were guests of North East Ghost In-Spectres, along with Mark Webb from Haunted Homes. Its not often we get to work with other groups, so there was - naturally - some trepidation about fitting in to somebody else's style of investigation. It was thankfully completely unneccessary to worry, Darren Ritson and his team were fanastic: very welcoming, great senses of humour, they have a professional approach to how the evening was run which was better than anything I had managed with large groups! Sorry AGAIN to Molly for me being a klutz, it was a rather loud bang when I tripped over the wooden plinth with my clumsy great steel toe caps, and it was a very impressive distance you jumped!

Photos will follow from me once I have shared what I have with Darren, again it was North East Ghost In-Spectres' night, and so I want them to see what I have first. There are the usual orbs, but not many, which gives me more hope of them being worth talking about, especially the bright white one taken with seconds of an audible bang from the same direction, and the sequensiatal photos of two orbs appearing, growing and going their seperate ways. Nothing though compared to their black shape captured coming up a staircase, its on the web with the usual detractors' comments but so far they're clutching at straws - "its someone on the stairs" etc I know to be untrue seeing as I was there when it was taken! The original news story is this blog's featured link.

After another decent amount of sleep Diana and myself headed back south to York, amazingly we have found somewhere to eat on the road that was rather good - an OK Diner. Helpful tip for other groups/people on the road, they are one of the better services we have tried.

A good weekend gave me the mad idea that I had the energy to keep going all night while I worked on the websites, more to follow when I have finished at least one of them.

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

The Dead Hours

York Ghost Festival 2011

Don't let the Sun dazzle your eyes

In The Eye of the Beholder...

More Things Going Bump In The Night: Haunted Live & Extreme

Scream Until You Like It

Illuminating Time in York Dungeon

New exhibition at York Dungeon for Hallowe'en: the history of Jack O'Lantern. I was invited to the launch evening, and despite knowing the route and what happens, even I jumped a couple of times!

I can't give you all the details because that would take the fun out of it, so the only way to find out what happens is to go yourself.

York Dungeon is also running a Hellowe'en competition, see their Hellowe'en on Facebook for details: upload photos of your costumes, carved pumpkins etc for a chance to win some great prizes.

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.Rachel Lacy Ghost Finder General

Its life Jim, but not as we know it

A Bit of Light Relief

I thought I'd share this moment of insanity just to show how surreal the life of a professional ghost hunter is.

Earlier this year I had a night out that had to take the biscuit as being the most surreal night out ever. The biscuit, incidentally, being teapot shaped and pink, with shiny tasty things on it. I have wondered since exactly what sort of biscuit it was...

Even though they have my details they haven't been in touch. I wonder, now, what other delights I have missed out on since?

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.Rachel LacyGhost Finder General

P.S. If you're one of the pirates reading this, do please get in touch! If nothing else, I'd like to see how the photos turned out.

Facing the Past

York Ghost Festival 2010 - biggest so far!

The Face at the Window

Flushed With Success

Its Not All Done With Smoke & Mirrors

A Trick of the Light?

The Lights Are On, But Nobody's Home

Welcome to The Vault

York Ghost Festival: 'Orribily Original 2009

Something To While Away The Wee Hours

Stand By Your Beds...

A Call to Arms

Media Tart? Who? Me?

Midsummer Madness

Something and Nothing

York Ghost Festival: Saturday night details

York Ghost Festival 2007: Details at last!

Return of the Psychic Museum - did you see it coming?

Roman ghosts? Its a bug's life...

Its One Small Step For Man, One Giant Leap For GFG Kind

Cat-egorically The Last Cat Pun

"Smile" they said "it could be worse" I did and it was

Life, The Universe and Everything...

York Ghost Festival 2006: Full Details

York Ghost Festival 2006: First Announcement

I am having a festival, honestly!

Eeek! Bright Lights!

#I'm Blogging, By Myself...#

In the beginning... April Fools' and beyond

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General

Remember: keep your equipment dry, and your coffee strong.

Rachel Lacy
Ghost Finder General