My Year in the Haunted House

Article originally appeared in author Jay Raven's December 2018 Newsletter

“Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.” Shirley Jackson Famous lines describing one of the most well-known, but fictional haunted houses in existence. However, all is not always silent nor alone inside a modern-day haunted house surrounded by and built on the grounds of history. I was recently blessed to have spent a year working in The Philip Williams House, Winchester, Virginia. My addiction to this house began the moment I walked thru her grand oak doors. I’ve been sensitive to the spirits for as long as I can remember so the opportunity to work in a house suggested by others to be “haunted” was a blessing in disguise. During my time in the Mansion, I encountered multiple spirits, including two that went beyond EVPs and visuals. My first paranormal thrill ride inside this house occurred within the first few days. In my excitement, I arrived early one day to photograph the house. Other employees cautioned me about the basement, but I was too absorbed in my own adrenaline rush to consider the possible danger that may come with disturbing the entities who were said to lurk beneath the spaces taken up by the living. After exploring and capturing, with my digital camera, a dark shadow moving upward on the main level, I found myself lifted and pushed headfirst down the main staircase. Upon video review, it appeared as though my body had been tackled and lifted by an invisible linebacker. It was rather unnerving to watch as my left shoulder twisted, my back arched, and then my body slid headfirst down 8 feet of stairs. My next physical encounter occurred during an overnight paranormal investigation. I was overcome by an excessive and aching burn gripping my left knee. I was unable to walk. I attempted to take a simple step, but it was as though I had no lower leg. Was I experiencing the physical manifestation of an injured soldier? The psychic medium placed her hands on my leg, shook her head, and commented on the depth of heat emanating from lower leg. She was able to draw out the energy, however, the pain returned the following day. I used the visualization tools she shared with me, and after several bouts of severe pain during the course of the next 48 hours, the pain vanished. My other spirit interactions were less invasive, such as with the lady who would drift behind me on the staircase. She was of a gentle nature with dark, up-swept hair and clothed in a long dress. At times I would catch a glimpse of her as she drifted in and out of my office on the third floor. Always silent in her hovering movements just above the creaking floorboards, as though she was tending to her house. And, there was the apparition who would linger at the entrance to the second floor room ballroom (where soldiers once lay and died). Was this the famous Confederate in the Window? Or, as I have come to believe Mr. Williams, who died while on trial for treason. It was in this room where the chandeliers swayed on frigid rushes of air, a young woman would often glide by, and the tap, tap, tap of a child, possibly playing with a ball, could be heard running to and fro. My heart broke the day I learned the house was placed “for-sale” and that my time with the spirits would soon end.I will always hold deep within my heart the visuals and my recorded EVPs. My addiction pulls on me at times and I find myself driving by the house only to return home to listen the recordings of the spirits speaking my name and bidding me, in my last EVP session, “Have good day.” (click hear to hear the EVPs for a limited time only on author Jay Raven's website ( http://www.jayraven.co.uk/?page_id=502 ) Ghosts are real.