Embracing the Spirits: True Stories of My Encounters With the Other Side (13 page)

met, with no doubt at all that the boys were close by. And as

much as I expected to see them in the photo, I was overcome

with emotion to see their shining orbs.

100 The Boys

I felt a wrench as I walked out of the schoolroom. And just

as I reached the doorway, I turned towards the emptiness, sur-

prising myself by the words which flew from my mouth.

“I love you!” I called out. “I promise I’ll be back!”

As I ran inside for a final farewell, I asked the boys to

show themselves one last time. With one quick snap,

there they were; sitting on the floor in front of the lounge.

As we pulled out of the long, dusty driveway, I had no

doubt whatsoever that the boys and I would meet again. And I

just couldn’t wait to introduce them to Paula

H a u n t e d T h e a t e r s

Three months after the investigation in Carinup, I was lucky

enough to have another opportunity to attend a ghost hunt

with Tony G. The evening was arranged by a reporter from

the West Australian newspaper, Matilda. I had met Matilda

a couple of months earlier, when she came to interview me

about the poltergeist encounter in Carinup. That meeting set

into motion several encounters with Matilda’s father, Matt,

who passed away five years earlier. As such Matilda and my

friendship was fast-tracked, we bonded much more quickly

than new friends usually would. Now here we were, ready to

initiate contact with the spirit realms once again.

Completing the investigative team were Tony’s business

manager, Glenda, my husband Stuart and Matilda’s friend Elea-

nor.

Matilda selected two locations for the investigation, both

old theatres with reports of paranormal activity. It is thought that theatres commonly attract ghostly energies, as the ghosts 101

102 Haunted Theaters

thrive on the bustling atmosphere and the steady influx of

patrons. It’s also thought that those who were passionate

about their theatrical pursuits in life, continue to nurture this passion after death. As such, old actors and theatre buffs often choose to remain in the environment which gave them so

much joy.

We met at the Garrick Theatre just as it was getting dark

and were greeted by the president and two young committee

members. They proceeded to tell us about some of the strange

occurrences which seem to frequent the theatre. They were

convinced that it was haunted; possibly due to the fact that one of the star actors had suffered a heart attack and died on the stage several years ago. Their account gained all the more credibility as I photographed the stage; a large orb hovered above one of the young men’s head’s as he spoke of their suspicions.

In accordance with Tony’s usual approach to investigat-

ing a haunting, he set off to scope the building and gauge the energy in each room. He returned some minutes later, confirming that there were numerous entities lingering towards

the rear of the building. Since Matilda would be reporting on the evening’s events in the newspaper, Tony invited her backstage. Her voice-recorder and camera were primed, ready to

capture any evidence of paranormal phenomena.

It was a good twenty minutes later that we heard loud

footsteps, as Matilda hurried back to the front of the stage. She was flushed and breathing quickly.

“He was throwing things off the shelves! And he was

touching me …” she shuddered.

Haunted Theaters 103

Could this spirit orb be connected to the actor who died on stage?

Tony followed Matilda out from backstage and filled us in on

what had happened. The energy who had gravitated to Matil-

da’s side was not pleasant. Jimmy was a slight and wizened Irishman and had been a paedophile and alcoholic. Although he had

passed some seventy years ago, had not shaken his predilection for young girls. As an eighteen year-old, Matilda just managed to squeeze into his preferred age range, whereas as
forty-somethings
Glenda and I were seemingly quite safe!

Matilda recounted that a hot uncomfortable energy moved

in beside her and described how her entire right side had felt as though it was burning. She said that the physical sensation was accompanied by an innate sense of
creepiness,
and the desire to get away. The objects flying off the shelves added to her alarm, and she was torn between staying for the sake of her story and 104 Haunted Theaters

bolting to safety. The latter won out and she returned to the

front of the stage.

Deciding we had fraternised with Jimmy and his cohorts

for long enough we bundled into our cars and set off for our

next destination; the Roleystone Theatre.

Since were running ahead of schedule, we stopped at a

secluded location along the way. We parked at the end of a

cul-de-sac, which led towards a bushland track bordered by a

dry, grassy field. Unbeknownst to Tony, it was where my hus-

band discovered the remains of a murder victim almost three

years earlier. The experience had left Stuart deeply shaken. He often wondered whether the spirit of the young woman in

question had managed to move on.

Tony and Stuart headed down the bush track, whilst the

rest of us remained close to the car. An eerie stillness seemed to settle around us.

Tony made a bee-line to where my husband discovered the

body, describing how Stuart had needed to remove overlying

logs to discover the remains. This was true, as the murderer

had tried to dispose of his victim’s body by placing it in a log-filled pit, which he then proceeded to set alight. Indeed it was his clumsy attempt at covering his tracks which were to be the murderer’s undoing, as the grass-fire which ensued attracted

the attentions of the local fire service.

Stuart was the fire fighter dealing with the smouldering

pit. Just prior to his grisly discovery, he was systematically removing the logs which obscured the body hidden underneath.

Tony went on to describe several details related to the

case, including the first initial of the victim’s name, all of which Stuart confirmed. It was heartening to discover that the Haunted Theaters 105

woman had guided Stuart towards discovering her remains,

and that she was grateful for the role he had played in bring-

ing her killer to justice. Tony also confirmed that although the woman had initially been earthbound, she had now crossed

over and was very much in the light.

Our detour proved to be an enlightening diversion. Firstly,

it cemented our belief in Tony’s abilities as a medium. Sec-

ondly (and perhaps even more importantly) it provided Stuart

with closure to what had been a life-changing and profoundly

disturbing event.

Next on the agenda was the Roleystone Theatre, a half

hour drive away through undulating hills. The old theatre

was set well away from the road; a secluded haven for restless ghosts.

We were greeted by the current president Zyg; a high-

energy, torch-yielding gentleman who made us feel extremely

welcome. So much so that he was to leave us with a free run

of the building for as long as we needed, under the proviso we locked up securely before we left.

Zyg filled us in on some of his own his ghostly encoun-

ters, including seeing a ghost so densely life-like that it almost looked as though a living person had walked across the room.

The give-away was that the figure had no feet and seemed to

glide above the ground.

Zyg told us that a group of paranormal investigators had

recently spent the night there, capturing a photograph so dis-

turbing it still gives him chills. The photo clearly showed one of the past theatre presidents descending the lighting room

staircase, a menacing look on his face.

“I don’t think he was happy about strangers intruding on

his territory,” said Zyg.

106 Haunted Theaters

Zyg described another encounter, whereby a female actress

dashed into the male dressing room for a quick costume

change.

“Get out,” said an angry voice. “You’re not supposed to be

in here!”

The entity she described looked very much like Jock, the

theatre president who had appeared on the stairs.

Needless to say, the poor lady in question bolted out of the

dressing room in two seconds flat.

Thus regaled by Zyg’s ghost stories, he left us to our own

devices.

Tony felt that the ghostly energy was concentrated around

the stage area, so we trundled into the theatre whilst Tony

began to tune-in. He stepped behind the curtain, his reaction

setting us instantly on edge.

“OK, this is really creepy,” he said. “I’m not liking this at

all …”

He asked us to step behind the curtain with him, as there

was a remarkable temperature gradient once you got back-

stage. Despite it being an uncomfortably warm summer’s eve-

ning, the chill backstage was unmistakeable. There was no

rational explanation as to why it would be so cold, whilst the rest of the theatre remained warm. There were no open windows or drafts. The suddenness made it all the more unset-

tling.

The girls in the group didn’t remain backstage for long, it

was way too scary. We went and sat in the front row of the

theatre, waiting for what would happen next. Stuart and Tony

remained behind the curtain, trying to establish contact with

the backstage ghost.

Haunted Theaters 107

“Come on mate,” said Tony. “We know you’re here. Just

make a sound for us.”

Stuart reassured the ghost that we hadn’t come to make

trouble, and that we would just like some proof of his pres-

ence.

Suddenly there was a sharp clattering sound, like metal hit-

ting the floorboards. The ghost had responded by throwing a

screw ; it looked very much as though it had been thrown in

Stuart’s direction.

The two men emerged from behind the curtains, con-

vinced there was more activity to follow.

We began taking photographs of both the stage area and

the audience seats, both of which were replete with orbs. The

darkened theatre was dotted with bursts of light and shadowy

figures; it felt as though we were surrounded. We were well

and truly outnumbered by ghosts.

Tony walked up to the stage, eager to take things further.

“OK!” he called out into the darkness. “I’d like all spirits

here to come and join me on the stage. Move in nice and close

so that we can take your photograph …”

I took the photo immediately and gasped at what I saw. I’d

never seen anything like it. There was Tony, a solitary figure on the stage, surrounded by more orbs than I could even begin

to count. They made for a spectacular display! They were

varying sizes and intensities, and all manner of colours.

One in particular stood out more than the others, an

intense orange orb just to the right of the stage. Whereas

most of the others were a radiant variation of white, this one stood out as a more intense, vivid energy.

It has been hypothesized that the reddish/orange energies

correspond to earthbound entities and may relate to the sim-