Lias Ghost story (If anyone has access to the Art Bell Website, I told this story on his “open lines” night back in 2003)

When I was a little girl about the age of 10 we lived in a fairly old house in North Beach , this house is no longer there, but the address is 13 Edward St, North Beach.

The number 13 thing never worried me as my birthday is the 13 th of January and my birthday also periodically falls on black Friday, so Im not superstitious about this day.

This house was just plain weird, we all had experiences (my brother, mother, stepfather and I) my personal experience was the absolute certainty that at night someone was standing right over the top of me watching me, I could feel their eyes burning into me, they were annoyed I was in their house and probably their room and perhaps even a little confused. Every night I would awake and know that someone was standing over me watching me. It creeped me out and I mentioned this to my mother, told her I know someone is watching me.

My brother slept in the back of the house in an additional bedroom off the laundry, there was a door in the laundry that opened to the back of the house, every morning this door would be open. My brother had occasionally been prone to sleepwalking so mum got worried and had my stepfather place a screwdriver under the door, every morning this door would be opened and the screwdriver removed. My brother sleepwalked maybe 4 or 5 times total in his life, not every night!

My stepfather one night got up to go to the loo and passed a woman in the hallway, he did his business and went back to bed. On the way back to bed, he passed my mother who he had woken who had now decided to get up herself and go to the toilet, Pete said “where are you going?” mum said the toilet! He said “you just went” she said no I didn't he said “you did, I passed you in the hallway!” Not me she says…..that freaked him out. He was also awoken to a woman standing at the end of their bed, he said he woke up and was so frightened, he woke mum up and said “can you see her” she said who? He said the woman at the end of the bed! Mum could not see her.

With the accumulation of all of these happenings Mum started to wonder and in conversation with the neighbour brought up the subject of perhaps was the house haunted? The neighbour told mum that there were 3 deaths in the house. An old lady who died peacefully in her sleep. A man who commited suicide in my room! In the walk- in wardrobe and a soldier who was obviously depressed, he lived in the house with 2 other friends and was asked to or for whatever reason decided to move out. He rang these 2 former room mates and asked if he could come over and they all go to the beach, the 2 men agreed, but eventually decided to leave and go down the beach, leaving him a note that they were down their and to meet them there. (This house was one street back from the coast, a 5 min walk) The soldier took a gun and killed himself, which would explain the large 1 metre square carpet in the corner of the room that had been relaid, the colour didn't quite match the old stuff, it was a different brown to, the original brown covering and we used to put a chair over that section to conceal it as best as we could. When they found him, there were 3 bullets in the gun, it appears he had probably been going to kill his friends as well but when finding them already left, took his own life instead.