STORYTELLER DAVID PHILLIPS: Spirits seem to like my stepdaughter - honest!

Over recent years, my stepdaughter, Vicky, has had several unusual experiences that could be labelled paranormal, or are maybe signs that she is developing a sensitivity towards spirit, as a result of spending time with myself and my investigation group.

I came into her life back in 1987, when she was aged 12, after I moved in with her mother.

When I set up TIP in 1995, with my friends, Dave and Adrian, Vicky, and some of her friends were amongst the first to join us at our meetings and on investigations.

Some of her experiences include hearing her friend’s name spoken over her Alexa device, by a voice not dissimilar to the recently deceased mother of said friend...

One Christmas, she had put out her decorations, which included a musical biscuit tin with miniature polar bears on the lid, that moved as the music played. As she sat looking through some photographs of another friend that had recently died, the tin started to play and the bears moved all by themselves...

The other week, having recently moved to Bath to start a new life for herself, she was relaxing in the lounge of the house where she is currently residing, when all of a sudden there was an almighty crashing sound, coming from a glass cabinet, where her landlady displayed a collection of ornamental elephants. Going over to investigate what damage had just occurred, she was astonished to find that everything was still intact. By coincidence, a friend from back home in Torbay had recently passed, after a short illness. They had spoken a couple of days before he died, so he was aware where she was now living. She took the disturbance as a dramatic way for him to say goodbye, and to let her know he was still around.

Two other experiences have left her feeling rather puzzled, and even slightly freaked out, for she can’t explain them away as being caused by people she knows.

The first happened in one of the care homes she used to work in, in Torbay. One morning, she was just going to check up on one of the residents, when she noticed what she thought was one of her fellow carers climbing the stairs towards his room. Expecting to be able to greet them both, she was stunned to find no one present. When she enquired after them, she was told the resident was already downstairs having breakfast, and the carer was engaged in looking after someone else in another part of the building. No explanation to who she had actually seen was ever forthcoming...

By far her 'best' experience to date, happened just the other week, and she was desperate to share it with me. When she told me the details over the phone, I was inspired to write this article...

She has just started a new job as a chambermaid in a restaurant cum hotel, just out of the centre of Bath. Having had a dodgy start in other local establishments, she has quickly found her feet in this latest one. Her and her new boss seem to make a good team, and Vick is really enjoying herself. The other day she was following her colleague along the landing where the rooms are situated, when she lost sight of her around a corner.
Just then Vick’s attention was drawn to what she thought was a guest entering room 6 just ahead of her. She could clearly see it was a female wearing a green, calf length dress, bare legs and heeled shoes. She didn’t get to see the rest of the figure, as, by the time she drew level with the room, the door had already closed behind the 'guest'.
Finally catching up with her boss, she informed Vick that they had to freshen up room 6 at the occupants request. Vick felt that might be a bit awkward as she had just seen the guest return to their room, but her boss was adamant that she had just seen them heading out for the day. Returning to room 6 together, they knocked, and when they got no reply, they let themselves in to do their work. They found no one inside, and Vick was quite shaken, as she could describe quite distinctly what she had seen. Her boss then told her that room 6 used to be a dining room, and, many years ago, an old member of staff had gone into that room and hung herself. This story, and some of the details, were corroborated by older members of staff, who were working there at the time.

Vicky is now starting to come to terms with the fact that spirits like her, and seem to want to scare her to death. I will let you know if she has any more similar experiences...