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Warwick University Ghost

 

The following event happened to me some years ago, the reason I am now submitting my story to this site is that due to going on a recent Ghost Walk around the City of York on my honeymoon (romantic I know) what happened has been brought back to the forefront of my mind and has been playing on my thoughts quite a lot recently. Ideally I'd like to hear back from anyone who has had a similar experience in the place where it occurred, the dorms at Warwick University, as this would reinforce my belief that it actually happened (and perhaps convince my friend that I didn't imagine it).

My best friend and I were around 18 at the time and we had travelled to Warwick from Manchester to attend a Japanese Convention over the weekend. I couldn't give the exact dates but I know it was in August sometime - I'd ask my friend but she's currently away in America and it's a little hard to get hold of her.

Instead of spending more money on a room each we decided to book just a single room and share the cost of that, being best mates we had stayed at each others houses plenty of times top-and-tailing in a single bed. The dorms were modern, the room small, simple and like every other room in the country meant for student living. As you walked in there was a bathroom door to your left, past that on the right a desk running along one wall and opposite that a single bed. It was a normal space, I didn't feel an atmosphere, it didn't feel cold and there were no unexplained smells.

The first two days passed without incident, absolutely nothing out of the ordinary occurred.

On our final night we had been out at the local student union having drinks with the people we had met, having a good time. We had been walked back to our building (not because we were too drunk, we spent a lot of time chatting about the convention and joking around with these guys). We went to bed as normal and promptly fell asleep.

At some point, I couldn't say what time, I awoke for some reason to find my friend had moved in the bed and was lay beside me (she moves around a lot so this didn't strike me as unusual). The only light in the room came from under the door as the lights on the outside landing were kept on through the night so I couldn't say whether or not she was facing me in bed. She then proceeded to get out of the bed and in those few split seconds between getting out of the bed and standing up I noticed something beside me. I was lay on my left side, against the wall and I could feel with my right arm something against my legs. I looked up only to see my best friend still lay where she normally would be, fast asleep. So what had been next to me?

Like I said, all this occurred over the space of just a few seconds, and after that realisation my body went cold. I looked up to see it backing away towards the end of the desk closest the door, all the while holding itself, moving its hands up and down its arms in the same way you might rub your arms when you're cold... And yet it wasn't the same, it was unnatural, it's whole body was shaking, twitching. I could only see its outline from the light from under the door - I couldn't tell you if it was male or female, what it was wearing, what its face was like, only that it was probably about 5 and a half feet tall and skinny.

Terrified, I turned away as far as I could and covered my face with my hands saying "Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God" causing my friend to wake up. I don't remember our conversation, only that she was half asleep and didn't pursue the matter when I wouldn't tell her what was wrong. I must have stayed like that for a long time and fallen asleep again.

The next day I was teased mercilessly by my friend, who forced me to recall what had happened to our other friends there who were creeped out by it and didn't really make fun.

Recently I've tried to go through it again in my mind, trying to rationalise it. I had had a few drinks, yes, but in the 8 years that I've been with my husband we've been on countless nights out and he has never known me to talk in my sleep, nor do I tend to have such vivid dreams (I usually fall into a deep, dreamless sleep after drinking) and I have never dreamt of anything while in this state that has terrified me so much.

That is not to say that I haven't had dreams which have scared me, of course I have, but I have always on reflection known that they were not real, there is always something that doesn't quite fit, like places or people being different. I was lay in the place where I fell asleep, so was my friend, the room was exactly the same and by freaking out because of what I saw I woke my friend up.

I've always been interested in Ghost Stories, I used to read them all the time when I was younger but on that weekend away ghosts couldn't have been any further from my mind.

Whatever it was, it seemed very unstable, like it was extremely paranoid or anxious - I thought maybe it was a former student that had perhaps committed suicide. However, I did a little bit of research on google and apparently at the Gibbet Hill Halls of Residence at Warwick University people have heard the sounds of someone sobbing hysterically and that it has been reported that these halls were built on a demolished building which had housed the bodies of people who had been exectuted (Gibbet Hill is so named as it is close to the place where people were hanged using a 'gibbet'). I therefore believe what I saw was a person sentenced to hang, cold and starving in a cell awaiting their fate.

When I think of it I still get that feeling of horror, I feel almost as if I'm about to cry and I get a sick feeling. I've never seen anything like it in my life and although I do believe in ghosts it is only to a certain extent - I just can't put it down to a bad dream, or being drunk, I truly believe that what I saw that night was a ghost and I really, really hope that I never experience anything like it again.

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Comments about this paranormal experience

The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, MrsB1509, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

Stevep74 (1 stories) (1 posts)
 
2 years ago (2021-11-16)
Hi there.
I just posted an experience that also happened to me in a room at Warwick uni complex.
I posted it after I read your story. You're definitely not crazy and you didn't dream it!
Stevep74
MrsB1509 (1 stories) (3 posts)
+1
11 years ago (2012-10-11)
Thanks for the comment sds, it's nice to know that it's not just my husband that believes me about this, my friend still makes fun but does admit that I woke her up when I was freaking out.
I think it would be pretty hard to get any decent information on it to be honest, with it being a university everything comes up about that and I haven't yet found anything relating to these dorms. Plus it was 6 years ago now and I didn't keep in touch with any of the people we met there. I definately think it's one of those theories though, I just think it's sad when their spirits linger, it honestly looked so tormented - but hopefully with new people staying in these dorms each year someone may experience the same thing and find my story and realize they're not imagining things!
...Or better yet they may not have to experience it at all!
sds (14 stories) (1436 posts)
+2
11 years ago (2012-10-11)
MrsB1509, I feel that it is a paranormal experience for sure. But unless you do some research not by searching the net but through interviews, contacts, speaking to people in person, it would be difficult to say who or what entity it was. Definitely the experience would have been scary that too when you were 18 years of age. I initially thought it was a doppelganger of your friend. But as I read through the narration, it was more clear that it was a spirit or entity. It might have been the person executed in the past or some one, who committed suicide in the room but we may never know.

Nice narration and thanks for sharing.

Regards and respects to you.

SDS
Crestal126 (74 posts)
 
11 years ago (2012-10-10)
Hey I just said that because I read another story that the lady was on drinking and when she quite they were hurting her! Sheesh you guys
MrsB1509 (1 stories) (3 posts)
+2
11 years ago (2012-10-10)
I thought for a long time that it was a previous student, but the dorms are relatively new and there's a lot of help around these days in universities for people who are struggling so it just made more sense to me that it was someone who had been executed, but like you say Jerryhend1 I will never know.
I agree Siskakes, I think a demon would have been way more terrifying and from what I've read they usually present as dark forms or shadows (I could be wrong). But if demons were out to punish people for drinking I think there would be waaay more sightings of them!
Siskakes (4 stories) (68 posts)
+2
11 years ago (2012-10-10)
MrsB1509 - Ignore Crestal, I don't think they have the correct understanding of ghosts and demons lol punishing you for drinking? Heck demons would probably celebrate and encourage it! 😆
jerryhend1 (3 stories) (136 posts)
 
11 years ago (2012-10-10)
It sounds like you differently felt something, just what and who, I guess will remain a mystery, but my best guess would be it was a student at some time, the hangman's gibbet I think would have a different feel to it.
MrsB1509 (1 stories) (3 posts)
+2
11 years ago (2012-10-08)
Yeah it was pretty scary but it's easier to deal with because I never have to go back there, think something would scare me more if it happened in my home.
Plus I'm thinking if this person was executed they probably did something worse than drinking so they shouldn't be 'punishing' me!

This comment from Crestal126 is hidden due to low rating. Show comment

paranorm12 (11 posts)
+1
11 years ago (2012-10-07)
OMG, that sounds really bad. If I was you, I would be scarred for life

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