A Ghost Of A Fear

The first ghost tour I ever attended was a haunted theatre tour of the Arts Centre Melbourne on Friday the 13th in 2016. My second was only a few weeks ago. The reason they have been so few and far between is that I haven’t been able to find the right ones. I’m not interested in tours of prisons, asylums or visiting the streets and haunts of serial killers. When I think of ghosts one thing immediately comes to mind – Haunted Houses!

I’m not sure what I believe in relation to ghosts but I’m pretty sure I’ve lived in a few haunted houses. One of my childhood homes was a place of terror for me as I was sure the ghosts of the two old women who previously lived there hadn’t quite left the building. They seemed to be having a good time though, as I could hear them laughing most nights.

Another place I lived in was a lovely old home that wasn’t haunted inside. But the moment you went into the backyard you could feel something malevolent. Unfortunately it was such an old home that it didn’t have an indoor toilet. I was living with a group of punks and we were pretty fearless – except when it came to using the toilet in the haunted backyard. I’ll always remember the sound of Doc Martens running down the pathway and the looks of surprised terror on the faces of visitors after using the toilet. It’s no coincidence that we were the fittest punks in our group.

heritage park, san diego

When I discovered that Lantern Ghost Tours were doing a tour of Altona Homestead, I couldn’t wait to book. I’ve been to the homestead many times during the day. The homestead hosts a monthly Devonshire tea during which you are free to roam the historical home. It’s a beautiful house and I’ve often wondered what it would look like at night. Thanks to the ghost tour, I was about to find out!

The tour started outside the house and was led by a woman in a black cape holding a lantern. We began with a walk to the pier to hear stories of drownings and waterlogged ghosts. We then walked down a few streets with ghostly significance before returning to the house. Our guide opened the door and told us that once we all entered the house she would be locking us in. Awesome! 

After a brief introduction to the history of the homestead and it’s original occupants, we entered a room that I had visited many times before. It has a beautiful bedwarmer on the bed which reminds me of the bedwarmer in Bewitched. After saying hello to the bedwarmer, I turned to see our guide standing in front of a wardrobe. The wardrobe was not originally part of the house but had been brought in from another historic home. It fitted in with the decor and came with an added extra – the ghost of a young boy.

The guide was going to open the wardrobe door and wanted someone to stand in front of it. I had an awful feeling she was going to pick me. Just because I was the only person on the tour who knew about Victorian Death Photography and was dressed in head to toe black, didn’t mean I wanted to stand in front of a wardrobe when the door opened to let out a ghost. But when she pulled out a pair of dowsing rods I couldn’t resit.

the haunted wardrobe

As I stood outside the open wardrobe I had a moment of fear. Ghosts are scary, but child ghosts are much scarier. Using my witchcraft training I quickly set protections around myself. I was glad I did as the dowsing rods started moving. I didn’t think I was moving them but was sure there was a rational explanation. Moments after I reached that comforting conclusion, someone on the tour panicked and asked to be let out of the house. The guide left the room to escort her to freedom leaving me with moving dowsing rods, people staring at me and a possible ghost behind me. I was relieved when the guide returned. She explained that the woman had seen something scary in the room and had to leave. Okay – no longer quite so relieved.

The dowsing rods continued turning until they crossed over each other. The guide had a few questions for the ghost and then asked if they would uncross the rods for us. I didn’t know if I was more scared of them uncrossing or not uncrossing. I watched and they slowly began uncrossing. I was told to wipe the rods on my jacket to break the connection which I did very thoroughly. My job done, it was time to continue with the tour, this time as a spectator. 

As we went room by room many tales were told of haunted happenings at the homestead. My favourite was about the dolls. Apparently staff say they keep moving position and moving rooms. One staff member said they once found all the dolls in one room facing the wall. Even the guide thought that could be the work of another staff member with a mischievous sense of humour. But my favourite doll story was about the staff member who came to work and found the dolls scattered about the house. After putting them in the right rooms they heard a knock on the window coming from the courtyard. When they looked out the window there was a doll. That’s the courtyard where we have our Devonshire teas!

another cup of tea?

The tour ended with a warning from our guide to check our rear view mirrors before we drove off in case something had decided to come home with us. Before getting in the car I dropped my jacket in the back of the car. I didn’t want to bring it into the house that night after wiping dowsing rods on it. I looked at the Moon and asked it to cleanse my jacket overnight. I then hopped into the car and checked all my mirrors.

I’m really excited about our next Devonshire Tea at the homestead. I’m kind of hoping there’ll be a doll sitting at one of the tables.