It began when the stereo suddenly came on by itself. It was a startling moment but the young couple thought it was surely just an accident; a short circuit or malfunctioning button. Little did they know that this innocent event was just the start of a terrifying real-life mystery.
At the time, they were renting a terraced house in a quiet street off Holderness Road, East Hull. They were looking forward to starting a family and were soon blessed with a baby girl. Someone, or something, however did not share the happy sentiment.
Speaking to Hull Live 2011, the mother said: "One night I woke up and she was restless. I gave her a dummy and as I went back to bed I heard someone whisper "coochy-coo'."
The hair raising moment was only the first of many. Another night, the mum took her baby to see the room they had just decorated for her but explained "as soon as we went upstairs the lights tripped, which has never happened before."
Visitors to the house also recalled moments which could not be explained. The baby's grandmother complained she felt a choking feeling whenever she came to the house whilst a friend who once visited saw the reflection of an unknown baby in a mirror.
The three year-long disturbance seemed to move towards a climax. "It was really bad last week," the mother added. "Firstly, a picture on the wall started to swing. Then we felt this cold shiver."
The final straw came when they awoke one morning to find a sinister message scrawled into the condensation on their bedroom window. It simply said "move".
The couple fled with young dad adding: "I have never believed in this stuff. I don’t normally think this way, but I can’t remain here."
The exorcist
In the following days, an exorcist was called to the property. It followed an investigation by local ghost-hunter Steve Kneeshaw who said the haunting had "freaked" him out adding: "this is the worst one yet". The experience was so intense, one of Steve's party fled the house after apparently being slapped by a spirit.
A report by Mr Kneeshaw's team believed that the house was haunted by the "angry" spirit of a mother, as well as a baby. The report added that at one point a TV remote control was thrown at them.
The Rev Tom Willis, a retired Church Of England clergyman, was called in to exorcise the house.
Rev Willis said: “The first thing you need to do is diagnose what is causing it. Then I simply bless the house and pray what is there is removed. Hauntings are usually lonely spirits that have refused to move on. I don’t get scared by this as I’m not actually that psychic and haven’t seen an apparition in 50 years. What I do brings relief to both the spirit and those bothered by it.”
Banishing the spirit
A Hull Daily Mail reporter by the name of James Campbell attended the exorcism at the home with Rev Willis. He described that there was no Hollywood-style projectile vomiting or heads turning 360 degrees. Instead, Rev Willis calmly blessed the house as he went, dabbing the walls with holy water.
While the exorcism may not have been dramatic, the effect on the young mother who lived there certainly was.
She said: "I felt like sighing at the end of it. I’m not at all religious but I got a real sense of happiness and calm after the house was blessed. It feels strange, like I have my house back."
The Rev Willis, who had been exorcising ghosts for 50 years added: "It would have been nice to know the history [of the house] and whether it was suicide, murder or a fire. I sometimes get a feeling but, for the most part, I just let God deal with it."
