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Original poster

Is my B&B haunted or am I losing the plot?

26 replies

wishIhadrubyslippers · 20/07/2021 18:08

I am usually a rational person although I would say I have an open mind when it comes to all things woo, believing that there are some things science can't explain (yet).
I have never 'seen a ghost' or had anything of a supernatural nature happen to me but I am quite intuitive and in touch with 'vibes', however wanky that sounds.
I'm currently staying in a B&B (in Europe where I live) with my 13 year-old ds and the weirdest thing happened to me last night which has actually freaked me out.
It's an old stone farmhouse/manor house which was built in the mid 16th century. Lots of character, beams, huge fireplaces, including in our room, spiral stone staircase to get to it, that sort of thing.
There's a double bed which I let my son have and a single pushed up against one internal wall.
We had a great first day yesterday and went to bed tired and happy and not at all having woo things on my mind.
Some time in the middle of the night (still pitch black) I was woken up by what felt like someone trying to push me out of bed, from the wall side of the bed. I thought I had dreamt it but then it felt like someone was pulling my legs from the other side of the bed. By now I was wide awake and freaking out, when I felt like I was being pushed again from the wall side.
I remember thinking/mentally verbalising 'No! Leave me alone. I want to go to sleep!' and didn't feel anything else for the rest of the night ( nor did I get much sleep!)
At breakfast I asked the owner if the house was haunted and she laughed and said of course not. At this point it was just my son and I and one other guest at the table, but after she (the other guest) had left, the owner came back and told me that she had had weird things happen in one of the other buildings ( big old farm with outbuldings converted into gites): lights she absolutely knew she had turned off coming back on again more than once.
When we went back upstairs to brush our teeth I noticed that there is the faint outline of a door behind the outrageously kitsch floral wallpaper on the wall the pushing seemed to come from.
My mind has been going into overdrive and my dc has spent the day alternately teasing me and telling me ghost stories, and I am ashamed to admit that I'm scared.
Could someone please talk me down from this and come up with a rational explanation so that I don't have to sleep in my car tonight?!

OP posts:
UKmumtobe · 20/07/2021 18:14

Oooh I don't know what to believe when it comes to the supernatural but I definitely believe what you have experienced! I hope your night tonight isn't disturbed. Please to update on any more experiences!

Dotoallasyouwouldbedoneby · 20/07/2021 18:15

I don't believe in any woo stuff but probably would move my accommodation if I honestly believed I had experienced that.
Could it have been sleep paralysis? What happens during sleep paralysis
'During sleep paralysis you may feel:

awake but cannot move, speak or open your eyes
like someone is in your room
like something is pushing you down
frightened
These feelings can last up to several minutes.' (NHS website)

MrsReacher85 · 20/07/2021 18:17

Well, regardless of what you believe, if your son is taking the piss, I’d suggest swapping beds with him! Grin

Interested in this thread?

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Holidays Spooky & paranormal
DanceWithYourBalloon · 20/07/2021 18:19

Could you physically move or speak? If not you might have had an episode of sleep paralysis.

I've had it before and it felt like I was being pushed down by a dark figure. Apparently it's quite common!

Phyllis321 · 20/07/2021 18:25

Logically, sleep paralysis is the reason, but I’d be scared too OP!
However, I firmly believe that IF there is ‘another realm’ its inhabitants aren’t going to fart about deliberately scaring mortals.

willowmelangell · 20/07/2021 20:24

So a spirit tried to walk through an old doorway and you in bed were in the way?
Sleep in the double with pillows down the middle.
Can you leave your phone on the single bed, on 'record', you know, just in case something else happens?

ShaneTheThird · 20/07/2021 20:28

Whatever you do dont read the woo threads on here Grin

Original poster
wishIhadrubyslippers · 20/07/2021 21:57

Mmmmmm. Sleep paralysis could explain it, I suppose.
I think I'm going to go with that as a rational explanation (but I have already negotiated one side of the double bed with the bolster down the middle!)

We've just got back from going out for dinner. Ds phoned dh while I was driving back and put him on loud speaker. He was loving telling him that I've lost the plot and neither of them believe me, obviously, so thank you for not laughing at me!
I will definitely update if anything else happens but I hoping that it won't.

I'm sat here looking round the room calculating how long it would take me to get dressed and packed and leg it out of here in the middle of the night if need be. I think 10 minutes max should do itGrin

OP posts:
TrueRefuge · 20/07/2021 22:26

I've never had any ghostly happenings but totally believe that other people have. It sounds like it could have been sleep paralysis, definitely that's a possible explanation.

Try and remember that it ghosts do exist, they're not like in the movies. They arent going to kill you, or even hurt you. They're probably just trying to have some fun, or process some unresolved business you know? If anything else happens, just try and keep calm and send some positive vibes and well wishes to your visitors.....

And definitely don't read the Woo threads!!!

Hope you have an uneventful night; it does sound really scary and I'm sorry they're just laughing at you!

October2020 · 20/07/2021 22:33

I had an episode of sleep paralysis once where a man was stood at the end of my bed pulling my feet really hard but I couldn't kick away. I eventually just drifted off to sleep again (which clearly wouldn't have happened if he had been real!) and so when I woke up I knew it had been sleep paralysis. Absolutely terrifying.

FreeBritnee · 20/07/2021 22:42

I’ve had sleep paralysis quite a few times when I’ve gone through a time of extreme stress. It’s genuinely awful and I honestly believed there were dark spirits involved at the time. Twenty years on I now understand that I was extremely stressed, on the brink of a nervous breakdown and my body/brain was in constant fight or flight.

My question to you would be how are you mentally at the moment? Relaxed and happy or stressed and anxious?

FenceSplinters · 20/07/2021 22:45

Will you ask the owner about the doorway shape?

winewolfhowls · 20/07/2021 22:48

Oh my word I would be scared, i think I'm more scared of sleep paralysis than a ghost. have you changed any medication lately and this could be a side effect?

irresistibleoverwhelm · 20/07/2021 22:53

Sleep paralysis is the most logical explanation - I know I’ve had dreams like that where I have thought someone has been bending over the bed - but I was definitely a dream in retrospect. Nevertheless, I’m really sorry you’re feeling so bad - it’s completely understandable to be scared and upset by it and I would be too!

Reassure yourself that you don’t often hear of women murdered by ghosts in European B&Bs, especially while their son is in the bed, though…

Original poster
wishIhadrubyslippers · 20/07/2021 22:56

Will absolutely stay away from the woo threads!

FreeBritnee I feel fine, mentally (as fine as is possible in the current context) but I did have a long day yesterday involving a long drive and quite a lot of sun so may have been over tired.

It's reassuring to hear that others have experienced somerhing similar and were sure it was sleep paralysis. I didn't try to speak out loud but I do know that I moved maybe not immediately but quite soon after because I pull the covers over my head to hide Blush

TrueRefuge I thought about saying a few peace-making words tonight before turning in but feel like a loon writing this. I clearly need to get a grip!

OP posts:
Original poster
wishIhadrubyslippers · 20/07/2021 23:03

Will definitely be asking about the concealed door, although I may wait until the morning we leave in case the truth makes me feel even more scared...Shock

OP posts:
stayathomegardener · 20/07/2021 23:04

Don't people sprinkle salt in the corners of rooms to cleanse them?
Or burn sage... salt may be more accessible.

Original poster
wishIhadrubyslippers · 20/07/2021 23:05

Do you think essential oil insect repellant will do the trick?!

OP posts:
jobsagudden · 20/07/2021 23:07

I would have crapped myself OP. If you managed to go back to sleep afterwards sounds like sleep paralysis. Hope you have a better night tonight!

TheSkatesOfCoachBombay · 20/07/2021 23:18

I worked in one of the "most haunted buildings" in the UK.

Loads happened I couldn't explain, but so many mediums would come and go on daily basis, anyhoo one said to me, just tell them to leave you alone and they will.

Maybe try that OP.

Me I'm on the fence about it all still.

Unsure33 · 20/07/2021 23:36

I am not a believer at all but had a really bad experience in a modern hotel abroad . So much so,that I had no sleep,and I was Googling in the morning for murders that may have taken place there .I was in bed and could clearly see black spirits in the room but I could not move . But it went on for ages.

In the end I put it down to some kind of food poisoning or hallucinations from the food I had. But it was terrifying.

ThatOtherPoster · 20/07/2021 23:44

Yikes!! Watching this thread!

Good luck, OP. Definitely sleep in the other bed.

I wonder if they pushed the single bed up against the old doorway to keep something out..? 👻

Yamaya · 21/07/2021 08:29

How was your night OP? Anything else happen?

Original poster
wishIhadrubyslippers · 21/07/2021 09:18

Thanks for asking, *Yamaya.
Nothing inexplicable happened but I didn't get much sleep because I couldn't relax.
Feel like crap now, and very silly.
Oh well, only one more night to go!

OP posts:
TheCarryingBag · 21/07/2021 10:46

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