CHILLING DEED BY SPOOKS Closes British HAUNTED HOUSE

From a story in England ...... Too weird

Date : 06.01.06

One of the most haunted houses in Britain has been closed to ghostbusters because the temperatures in the ancient building have plummeted to a demonic new low. "I have had to shut now because the cold here is so awful, " said John Humphries, 78, owner of the former Ram Inn at Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, which features prominently in a new ghost guide in a national magazine. "Ghost-hunters say they are used to the cold, in castles, barns and places like that, but I've something here which is terrible, " he said. "The cold here is something different from normal cold. It gets right into you." John lives in a small part of the rambling house at Potters Pond - "apart from them", he told me, referring to the ghostly companions which have made him something of a media celebrity over the years. "They let you know who actually owns the building, " he said. "I'm only a lodger." He added: "I'm not allowed to have central heating because the building is nearly a thousand years old and it would ruin the timbers. I have one part which I can keep heated." Wayne Dietrich, from Swindon, a ghost-hunter visiting the house this week just before the closure, said: "If you think it's cold outside, it's even colder inside. The time of year doesn't make much difference." John will blithely recount stories of his many encounters with the ghosts that share his home, parts of which date from the 12th century. He has been thrown across rooms, rocked violently on chairs, and witnessed people and furniture hurled down stairs. It's often thought the reason for all this is that the house is built over an ancient burial ground. Visitors describe its atmosphere as oppressive, even evil. Tales abound of devil worship, mysterious deaths and exorcisms, cold spots and strange flickering lights. Phantoms include a cavalier, a witch, a monk and a black cat. There's also a "black shape" which John equates to an "incubus", an evil male demon which preys on women. And the eerie Bishop's Room is a particular challenge for anyone braving the supernatural by staying over night. JOHN, a former train driver, bought the property from Whitbread's in 1968 when it had been empty for three years and was near derelict and facing demolition, despite being regarded as the oldest inn in England. "I couldn't believe they were going to knock it down - it's here only because I bought it, " said John. "But I didn't know it was haunted then."