Haunted: Scariest stories from the UK's no. 1 psychic. Derek Acorah

      HAUNTED

      DEREK ACORAH

      Scariest Stories from the UK’s no. 1 Psychic

      Dedicated to the memory of all those whom we have loved who are no longer with us. We will meet again.

      Contents

       Acknowledgements

       Introduction

       1. Channelling

       2. My Beloved Mother

       3. One Night in Blackpool

       4. A Faithful Friend

       5. Down Memory Lane

       6. A Fright in St Albans

       7. Liverpool, Capital of Culture

       8. A Poltergeist in Hastings

       9. An Unwanted Visitor

       10. The Old Hall Hotel

       11. A Very Big Mistake

       12. Kensal Green Cemetery

       13. Spanish Surprise

       14. Locke’s Distillery

       15. An Old Theatre

       16. A Loving Family

       17. Victoria Baths

       18. The Man Who Couldn’t Say No

       19. Land of the Pharaohs

       Copyright

       About the Publisher

       Introduction

      My name is Derek Acorah. I am a spirit medium. I am clairvoyant, clairaudient and clairsentient and I use my gifts to connect the physical world in which we live to the world beyond to which we are destined to go. When we pass over to the heavenly state, we will be reunited with the loved ones who have passed away before us, be they friends or family, neighbours or members of the animal kingdom who have been special to us during our earthly lives.

      Although I was in my thirties before I commenced working for spirit professionally, I realized I had psychic gifts when I was a small boy. I was a mere six years of age when I had my first experience of spirit when I saw my grandfather on the stairway of my grandmother’s home. He had passed over to the world of spirit some years prior to my birth.

      Over the years I worked first as a medium conducting sittings for people on a one-to-one basis and then progressed to taking part in radio programmes in the days when media mediumship was in its infancy. I went on to appear on television programmes, principally The Psychic Zone, Livetime, Psychic Livetime and Derek Acorah’s Predictions with Granada Breeze, the satellite arm of Granada Television based in Manchester.

      Just before Granada Breeze ceased to broadcast, I agreed to take part in a pilot programme provisionally named ‘Haunting Truths’. That programme went on to become known worldwide as Most Haunted and is owned and aired by LivingTV. After appearing in almost 100 programmes and numerous Most Haunted Live broadcasts, at the end of series 5 I decided to move on. I agreed to take part in one last series and three more Most Haunted Live programmes and completed my commitment to the programme in October 2005.

      By that time I had already commenced filming a new programme for LivingTV. It was known as Derek Acorah’s Ghost Towns. Working with Danniella Westbrook and Angus Purden on the first two series and with Myleene Klass and Rhodri Owen on the third series, I had a wonderful time travelling up and down the country visiting reputedly haunted locations. Unlike the format of Most Haunted, these locations were not well-known historic buildings but homes, shops and other more insignificant places. Nonetheless they were often exceedingly haunted in their own right.

      The summer of 2007 brought the realization of an ambition I had had for many years when LivingTV commissioned, through Ruggie Media, a new programme. It was to be named Paranormal Egypt. Making eight programmes covering Egypt’s incredible history and visiting locations not normally open to the public was a real privilege. The memories will remain with me for the rest of my life.

      I am still working hard and have many projects in line for the future. I am continuing with my theatre tours, which encompass the whole of the UK and Ireland, and have plans to work further afield this year. I have made many new friends and I have also been fortunate in rekindling some old friendships. I am looking forward, as I write this in January 2008, to many more years of working for spirit.

       CHAPTER ONE

       Channelling

      First of all, I would like to say a few words regarding my work as a spirit medium.

      For those who do not understand what a medium is, I would like to explain that a person with mediumistic gifts is someone who is able to communicate with people who have passed away – passed over to the spirit world or, as I like to call it, to the higher side of life.

      Mediumistic communication with spirit people is achieved through clairvoyance, clairaudience or clairsentience. The word ‘clairvoyance’ literally means ‘clear seeing’, i.e. a person who is clairvoyant can see, either subjectively (in their mind’s eye) or objectively (with their physical eyes), a spirit person or a symbol passed on to them by people in the spiritual realms. Clairaudience is the gift of ‘clear hearing’. This happens when an individual receives verbal communication from people in the spirit world. Clairsentience, or ‘clear feeling’, is when a person feels energies. These are not necessarily energies from the spirit world; they may be energies from the living too.

      All mediums are deeply psychic and clairsentient. Many are both clairsentient and either clairaudient or clairvoyant. Others, such as myself, are gifted in all three areas.

      A medium can also often see the auras of people or animals. The aura is the individual energy field that surrounds every living being.