Partofthejobofaseriouswriteronghosts
should be to quashexaggerated rumours
and hysteria concerning alleged hauntings,
seeking the truthrather than feeding
sensation and fear.This is particularly so
with claims of hauntings in burial grounds.
The generalviewamongst serious ghost
hunters in Britain is that cemeteriesare
largelyunhaunted.Very few people have
been known to die in graveyards and
credible reports of paranormal phenomena
are infrequent. This is despite cemeteries
being visited by bereavedpeoplerecalling
their deceased friends and relatives.In
actuality, youare more likely toexperience
the ghost ofaloved one inyour home than
any burial groundinwhich their remains lie.
Asveteran investigator Andrew Green
(1927-2004)often pointed out,because
of the association made between graves
and the ghostly in many people’s minds,
quite normal occurrences at burialsites,
or within new buildingsconstructedupon
them“are often assumed to be paranormalphenomena”.(GhostHunting:APractical
Guide, 1973 ,2016).Pseudo-experiences
maybegeneratedby theexistenceof
tombstonesorothersignsofburial,evenif
none has ever taken place.
Greencitedacase concerningafamily in
Guildford.Aman had clearedachurchyard
in Abinger,Surrey,in1968, andremoved
two lorry-loadsofbroken tombstones to
constructapathinhis owngarden near
Guildfordsome milesaway. Thiswasdone
quite effectively,but in 1970 the new
ownersofthe property,although delighted
with the general appearance of the path,
becameworriedbythe fact that the previous
owner had laid the stones face uppermost,
so that the fragments could be read. Being
so disturbed by thisthey uprootedall the
slabs,reversing themand then laying
them back face down. One complete stone
wasdeliberately broken into fragmentsas
“noonewouldwalk on it”because one
young member of the household“had felt
apresence whenevershewasnearthestone”. Greenproposedatest whereby she
wouldwalk blindfolded alongthe path to
see if she could locate the offending stone
without seeing it, but this suggestionwas
not taken up.
Green stated:“The general attitude
seemed incredible to me,for the stone
in question had never been used: itwas
merelyasparewaiting fora‘customer’. This
providesagood illustration of the power that
imagination can sometimes have.” He also
sawthe potential for confusion if the site
waseverexcavated in the future considering
“archæologistsmay well be puzzled by
finding what appears to bea19thcentury
graveyardinanarea marked on the map as
‘flood fields’and which has beenthe back
gardens of property since 1961”.
Green’s own theoryofghostexperiences
wasthat they were generated by the
unconscious mind, occasionally involving
psipowers of the living, or accumulations
of electromagnetic energy.Soonthis basis
therewasnoreason toexpect hauntings18 FT389Whistling past the graveyardShould weexpectto find ghosts in cemeteries? Or evenvampires?ALAN MURDIEinvestigatesHAIDA
RH
AMDANI
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ABOVE:Aview of theWadi-us-Salaam (‘Valleyof Peace’) in the holy city of Najaaf,Iraq, reveals thevast scale of this reputedly haunted burial ground.GHOSTWATCH KEEPING AN EYE ON THE HAUNTED WORLD