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AIBU?

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Original poster

Did I see a ghost? Or am I going mad?

327 replies

SnotRags · 02/02/2022 09:45

This happened on Monday. It’s been playing on my mind since.

I work in a largely unused community hospital. Some days, I’m the only person working there other than reception and a security guard. I run a clinic and my room is down the end of a corridor - remember there is nobody else in the entire building, all other rooms unused. Just mine at the end with its little light on.

So anyway, I don’t believe in ghosts, never have. However this corridor is bloody spooky sometimes and on a number of occasions I’ve thought I’ve seen someone walking around a corner only for there to be nobody there. I’ve heard the sound of a Zimmer frame walking towards my room, gone out to greet my patient and nobody is there. My cupboard door in my room has had a random rattling handle on a few occasion. A pair of scissors weirdly left my trolley and ended up on the floor (I didn’t see how, just heard the clatter on the floor and saw them lying there). Now, not saying those incidents are ghosts but it was unnerving so I asked security if we could put the waiting room TV on a music channel or something just to make the corridor less silent.

Anyway, on Monday I asked reception where I could find something I needed. She said “that sort of stuff is upstairs”. I asked how I got up there (didn’t even know there was a second floor!) and she said “you can’t, it’s locked”. So I asked security to let me up. He laughed and said “you going up there on your own? Because I’m not coming with you!” … long story short he unlocked the door to the stairs, I went up - was sorting through the stuff I needed and saw a nurse walk past the room I was in (not a shadow or Victorian dressed character, just an actual nurse). Thought nothing of it. Went back downstairs and as security was locking the door again I said “you know there is a nurse up there? Does she have a key for this door?” He said “nobody is up there” and locked the door. I said “I literally saw her! You can’t just lock her in!” He maintained nobody was up there and we walked back to reception where he told receptionist I’d seen “Julie”. Lots of dramatic faces and gasps, they tell me Julie is a ghost - had an aneurysm at work and died years ago.

As I said I don’t believe in ghosts but I can’t stop thinking about it! I definitely saw someone, they even described her and it was the same person I saw. Only thing I can think of is it’s an in joke and there is a nurse who works up there?? (But no patients go up there so what is she doing exactly?)

YABU - it’s clearly an in joke and the nurse works up there, the others say she’s a ghost to freak people out
YANBU - it’s a ghost, why would a uniformed nurse be working on an unused floor on her own?

It sounds ridiculous even to me as I’m writing this but I just can’t stop going over it in my head.

OP posts:
littlerebellion · 04/02/2022 21:20

Savernake Forest was a belter. Believe by many to be fake, but still a bloody good read.

And yes to the man in the club. I need to find the original post relating to that. Spooky shit.

BellatrixOnABadDay · 04/02/2022 21:22

Yes, even if it was fake it was a great story.

I actually live quite close to Savernake. It is the only place I've been where I actually felt the atmosphere was 'off', somehow. I didn't feel comfortable there at all and was glad to leave.

littlerebellion · 04/02/2022 21:25

Ahhh I found the boy in the club story! After some Googling:

I've posted this before.

In the late 1970s/early 1980's the place to go was TOTS (Talk of The south), which was a Disco in Southend on sea.

We used to go every week.

I started to notice a young man with blond hair. He was always alone and always stood not far from the bar. I would catch his eye and he would stare back but it felt very uncomfortable. He didn't smile back which was very odd as back then I was a gorgeous young thing! ;)

He was there every week and although I was having a riot of a time with my girl friends, I did start to look out for him. No one else appeared to notice him as we were all having such a great time.

He was always dresses the same in shirt and trousers. He wasn't fashionable but he wasn't unfashionable. He was good looking and had a very clear complexion and wavy blond hair.

I chat to anyone but I always had the feeling of being fearful of him and not to approach.

I suppose I just got used to seeing him there.

Fast forward nearly twenty years later and my disco days were long over and my then partner who was in the music business told me that he had to meet someone at the former TOTS. I think there was a name change and instead of a disco it was now a nightclub.

I decided to go with him to see how much it had changed inside.

We got there and off he went to meet this chap, it was only a quick chat.

I strolled around, feeling rather out of place amongst the pretty young things and then wham! Straight in front of me about ten feet away was the boy/man I used to see all of those years ago!

Everything around me seemed to fade away and I could not tear my eyes away from him. He was angry, very angry I could feel his anger and I felt terrified. I was fixed to the spot and I cannot find the words to describe just how petrified I was.

I felt as if I was in grave danger. This young man, perfectly ordinary looking was exactly the same as I'd seen him before. He hasn't aged and his hair and clothes were the same.

All of a sudden, the world started rushing back into view and I could see and hear everything going on around me, I spun around and knew I had to get out of there as soon as I could. Thankfully my now ex had finished with the bloke he had to meet and I tugged on his arm to get us out of there.

I have no idea what or why I saw this young man and why he should be so menacing.

Another poster did suggest that a teenager had been run over and killed nearby but it doesn't explain why this presence would want to scare the crap out of me!

He was so scary because he was so normal looking and whatever it was about him had the power to give off the very strong vibe of anger and danger.

littlerebellion · 04/02/2022 21:27

That post was from this thread, in case anyone fancies shitting themselves tonight:

Give us your eerie stories www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_unexplained/2161707-Give-us-your-eerie-stories

BellatrixOnABadDay · 04/02/2022 21:28

Good work @littlerebellion ! That one really gave me the creeps

QueenPeony · 04/02/2022 21:47

in case anyone fancies shitting themselves tonight :o

Thing is I really don’t fancy that, but I can’t resist! Why do we find this stuff so compelling?

VenusClapTrap · 04/02/2022 21:58

On my way home driving anti clockwise at around the junctions for Leatherhead and roads for A3 and then A24 I often had a real feeling of loneliness and melancholy for no obvious reason. Later on once I got to M23 junction I'd feel fine again. It was very strong feeling and I did the journey on and off for seven years. I'm just wondering about that now and whether there could have been bad RTAs at that point.

There’s a stretch of the M23 that always used to make me feel creepy, together with a sense that I should slow right down. Eventually I googled and discovered there was a horrific RTA there about a hundred years ago.

There was a great thread on creepy stretches of roads actually, some time ago.

bellabride · 04/02/2022 22:19

I’m a nurse and was hoping to be able to look forward to some time off work after I’m dead.

sanpell · 04/02/2022 22:21

@GoldenOmber

Lol so true!! Imagine being trapped as an nhs worker for eternity 😂 they would probably still say you weren’t entitled to breaks 😂😂😂

“Well I’m sorry, Julie, but we’ve done the leave rota now. Yes I know you’ve died but that’s no excuse, you’re still coming in.”

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 literally howling at this, please may this also not happen to me
Imissmoominmama · 05/02/2022 07:11

What I don’t understand is that the security guard had unlocked the door to let you up there, there were no patients up there, but you weren’t surprised enough by her presence to say anything to her… like, ‘Ooh, I didn’t know anyone else was here!’ I’m not disputing that you saw her, I’m just wondering why you didn’t speak to her.

Cissyandflora · 05/02/2022 08:08

@bellabride

I’m a nurse and was hoping to be able to look forward to some time off work after I’m dead.
Well you can try to get the time off but it isn’t guaranteed
BellatrixOnABadDay · 05/02/2022 08:09

If the tories thought it would be a possibility to get dead doctors and nurses back to solve the current NHS shitshow, you know they'd try 😁

Boris seems increasingly unhinged, let's wait and see 😂

DePfeffoff · 05/02/2022 08:35

The security guard suddenly decided to tell you there was a ghost up there before you went, you saw a nurse, he and the receptionist then told you that was a ghost when you came down? You were set up, OP. It's not surprising if they could describe the person you saw if she was their mate who helped with the joke.

CorsicaDreaming · 05/02/2022 08:51

@VenusClapTrap

On my way home driving anti clockwise at around the junctions for Leatherhead and roads for A3 and then A24 I often had a real feeling of loneliness and melancholy for no obvious reason. Later on once I got to M23 junction I'd feel fine again. It was very strong feeling and I did the journey on and off for seven years. I'm just wondering about that now and whether there could have been bad RTAs at that point.

There’s a stretch of the M23 that always used to make me feel creepy, together with a sense that I should slow right down. Eventually I googled and discovered there was a horrific RTA there about a hundred years ago.

There was a great thread on creepy stretches of roads actually, some time ago.

Was it that stretch of M23 that had pine trees either side and a real kickback kind of curve in it? Going slightly down the hill on way to Brighton. Quite near Nymans National Trust place?

That is interesting you didn't like it because I used to love that stretch of road as it felt like driving in Scotland and was quite an exciting bit of road compared to the rest of the very boring motorway driving. But I can imagine that there could have been a really bad RTA on it as it really was quite technical compared to a straight normal road just before.

They have now completely straightened it and got rid of all the trees, which is much much safer - but I still miss the Scottish feeling of the route through the trees it was before.

QueenPeony · 05/02/2022 09:43

The security guard suddenly decided to tell you there was a ghost up there before you went, you saw a nurse, he and the receptionist then told you that was a ghost when you came down? You were set up, OP. It's not surprising if they could describe the person you saw if she was their mate who helped with the joke.

Noooo, they’d have to have their mate hanging around ready to hide up there just when OP happened to ask for something - and walk around pretending to be a ghost to give someone they don’t even know the heebie jeebies - and there’s a good chance op would have interacted with them / seen them up close in a non-ghostly way. Plus a prank isn’t much fun if you don’t reveal it and have a laugh. Or is this long-suffering mate going to keep coming back to play Julie on other occasions? And the patient was in on it too?

I’m not ruling out that it could have been a real person and not a ghost, but not convinced it was a set-up.

OP have you checked the building from the outside? Maybe it really DOESN’T have an upstairs! 😱 wooooooooooooo :o

VenusClapTrap · 05/02/2022 10:10

Corsica yes, exactly that bit. Handcross Hill. It was in 1906, an open topped charabanc type bus full of volunteer firemen and their families going to Brighton for a day trip. The brakes failed as it ran out of control down the hill and it hit a tree, killing ten people and injuring many more.

I agree it was very scenic! I’m not normally remotely prone to feelings of doom or anxiety driving on curvy bits of road, but I always had such a weird feeling there. Now that it’s been widened and the trees felled it has a completely different atmosphere. I was sad about the trees when they did that though!

DPotter · 05/02/2022 14:12

JohannSebastianBach
Yes Luibeilt was great. The pictures online were pretty scary too.
There are pictures....?

Corsicadreaming
*I used to travel around the M25 for work a lot.

On my way home driving anti clockwise at around the junctions for Leatherhead and roads for A3 and then A24 I often had a real feeling of loneliness and melancholy for no obvious reason. Later on once I got to M23 junction I'd feel fine again. It was very strong feeling and I did the journey on and off for seven years.*

That section does have quite a different feel to it, than the rest of the M25 - sort of further away, more isolated.

littlerebellion · 05/02/2022 19:47

@DPotter

JohannSebastianBach Yes Luibeilt was great. The pictures online were pretty scary too. There are pictures....?

Corsicadreaming
*I used to travel around the M25 for work a lot.

On my way home driving anti clockwise at around the junctions for Leatherhead and roads for A3 and then A24 I often had a real feeling of loneliness and melancholy for no obvious reason. Later on once I got to M23 junction I'd feel fine again. It was very strong feeling and I did the journey on and off for seven years.*

That section does have quite a different feel to it, than the rest of the M25 - sort of further away, more isolated.

This section is really quite unique, there is a huge distance between junctions with very little either side of the motorway. It always reminds me of bleak Sunday evenings.
Dogsaresomucheasier · 05/02/2022 20:06

I know that bit of the M23 quite well. My father witnessed a fatal accident on it in the 1980s. It has always given me the creeps, too and I thought that was why. Interesting to hear it has that effect on others.

eatyourcrustspls · 05/02/2022 20:10

I've worked in similar buildings... always stray buzzers going off. Freaks me right out.

JohannSebastianBach · 06/02/2022 07:40

@DPotter
Google it. There's graffiti saying This House is Haunted Shock

3Daddy31982 · 06/02/2022 07:41

Poor Julie to be earthbound.

I saw a little blond lad smiling and sat in 70s blue plastic mac and jeans in the garden.

Ghosts happen. It's OK.

I was hit by a van as a child. I ended up in ICU.

More sleep would help. Melatonin?

DePfeffoff · 06/02/2022 09:06

Noooo, they’d have to have their mate hanging around ready to hide up there just when OP happened to ask for something - and walk around pretending to be a ghost to give someone they don’t even know the heebie jeebies - and there’s a good chance op would have interacted with them / seen them up close in a non-ghostly way. Plus a prank isn’t much fun if you don’t reveal it and have a laugh. Or is this long-suffering mate going to keep coming back to play Julie on other occasions? And the patient was in on it too?

Or the guard happened to know a visiting nurse was up there and thought he'd play a prank?

bevelino · 06/02/2022 09:09

@SquidWordle

Fucking awesome
This

I love a good woo story.

BethAfra · 06/02/2022 10:15

Talking of places with a weird atmosphere: years ago I went for a bike ride with my then BF in Sherwood Forest. There are trails all over and we went to see the oak tree that everyone visits and then went off on the trails through the forest.
Everything seemed really normal until we stopped for a break. We'd leant our bikes up against a tree and were perched on a log to eat our lunch and this feeling crept over us of something not being quite right. The longer we sat there the more depressed or maybe oppressed we felt. In the end we stopped talking and started looking around, trying to figure out why all our spidey senses were jangling. In the end I realized it was the total silence. We couldn't hear any of the normal things you'd expect - other people in the distance (it was the summer holidays, the car park has been packed) etc and NO birds, not a single one. It was creepy and we stood there waiting for something, just one bird to tweet in the distance, but there was only silence. We got out of there pretty quickly after that.
We talked about it afterwards and we both said it was as if that part of the forest was terrified.