Derek Acorah’s Ghost Towns

Other spirits know they have passed over but are afraid to move on because they have performed wicked deeds and they know they will go to the lowest of the seven spirit realms. This isn’t a nice place. It isn’t the Christian idea of hell, with fire and brimstone, but it is a place where they will receive the justice they may have escaped on Earth. So they prefer to stay where they are.

Other spirits may have suffered some injustice in their lives and want to stay to see justice done. Sometimes justice has been done but they are not aware of it and they remain in a state of limbo.

Suicide is another reason why a spirit might not move on. Some people believe they will be punished if they take their own life, so again they are afraid to go into the light when they pass. In fact suicides are helped towards understanding and healing in the spirit realms – this may be a painful process, but it is not meant as a punishment.

Whatever reason has led to a spirit being grounded, if they wish to move on, I can help them to do so. This is a very important part of my work as a medium. During the Ghost Towns investigations, if I find that a spirit is trapped I will always help it to move on. The cameras may not always show this, but it is always done.

‘My name is Alice, my name is Alice.’ It was a quiet spirit voice in my ear.

‘Who are you, Alice?’ I asked.

‘Oh, I feel so weird,’ Janet said suddenly. ‘Really sad.’ She was breathing heavily, almost breaking into sobs.

‘Is it a lady?’ Danniella asked.

‘Yes, it’s a lady.’ After a while Janet gathered herself together and went on, ‘She can’t leave. In her life she couldn’t leave. She was confined here. She’s so sad…’

‘What’s the reason for her sadness?’Danniella was concerned.

‘They won’t let her out.’

‘Who?’we asked.

‘It’s her family.’

Then the spirit stepped back. That was all she could communicate for now.

The next moment we all heard a knock. Spirit activity was coming thick and fast now. Jo heard whispering in her ear and was aware of spirit energies swirling around her. She had talent as a medium and I encouraged her to develop this further in a safe and disciplined way. Janet assured me that that was what they had been doing.

We closed the circle, pleased with the results of our combined efforts. The effects of the energy were still being felt. Danniella felt as though she had a spider crawling down her neck, while Janet was really hot. She wiped her brow.

‘Your hands are really hot,’ Danniella told her.

She nodded. ‘The amount of energy that’s coming – it’s just enormous.’

‘The best part of the investigation for me was confirming things that we already felt and saw. Derek’s just confirmed what we already felt, but his energy was so strong and he came through with much more detail than we picked up before. So that was good.’

Janet

‘It was a great opportunity for three mediums, of different levels, to work together.’

Natalie

Doorstep Divination

‘As soon as I opened the door, I thought it was a wind up.’

Barry Hunt

As we were on our way back from the Crouchs’ home to the Ghost Truck, I felt a sudden pull towards a property. As we carried on down the road, the feeling lessened. ‘Can we turn around?’ I asked.

‘You got a feeling, you gotta go with it!’ said Danniella.

We got out and went up to the house. It was a former pub. This was our very first doorstep divination. Someone was about to get a big surprise!

‘With the doorstep divination what amazes me is people’s reactions. They have no idea we are coming and yet most of them are so calm – and they let us in. Why would you just let an unknown group of people into your house – with cameras?’

Natalie

A pleasant-looking middle-aged man opened the door. He was casually dressed and had probably been enjoying a quiet evening at home. Danniella quickly explained who we were and asked if I could do a reading. Looking rather shocked, the man said, ‘Hang on a minute,’ and motioned for us to stay on the doorstep while he stepped back into the house.

After a brief pause he returned with his wife, a slender brown-haired lady. She was polite but not too keen to get involved. ‘Well, I’ll stay out of it but you can do it,’ she said to her husband. Rather cautiously, he agreed.

‘To start with I was not too sure, because I’m extremely sceptical. But I thought, well, it wasn’t going to hurt.’

Barry

Sitting on a sofa with Barry in the couple’s elegant home, with Danniella looking on, I had the very strong impression that Barry was entering a phase of redirection – not spiritually, but in his day-to-day life. ‘It could be in your business affairs,’ I told him. ‘I know it’s been very tiring and it seems as though you can’t find much time for relaxation.’

Barry blinked at me from behind his round glasses, looking rather bemused.

A man from the world of spirit was drawing close to us. Sam told me it was Barry’s uncle. This gentleman had suffered problems with his heart. But did any of it mean anything to Barry?

‘Alarmingly, quite a lot!’ He was smiling, but was obviously quite surprised at what was taking place. He shook his head in amazement.

‘He didn’t know anything about me, didn’t know what I do – and still doesn’t – but there were certain things there that only somebody who knows me and knows what I do should know.’

Barry

‘Who’s Peter?’ I continued. ‘Not in spirit, I’m talking about business, people you know.’

Barry thought for a minute. ‘There is a Peter I know,’ he confirmed.

The spirits were telling me that Peter would have unbelievable news for Barry in the next couple of days. ‘Watch for the telephone connection!’ I told him. A little unsure, he smiled and nodded.

A woman in spirit was making herself known, someone who had suffered a great loss of body weight before her passing. ‘There was somebody, yes,’ Barry agreed.

This woman was pouring out feelings of affection and motherly love towards Barry. Along with the other souls gathered there, she had come because he had felt he had had the world on his shoulders and was battling on alone. Now I understood why I had been drawn to this house. I had to show Barry that there were people in the spirit world who were behind him, supporting him through this difficult time.

The spirit people had been listening in on conversations about having to rearrange a youngster’s education. I had Barry’s full attention now. His bright brown eyes rarely left my face. He smiled rather ruefully as he accepted what I was saying. ‘Oh God!’ He ran his fingers through his hair.

The spirit people were pleased with what he had done. ‘You’ve done very well there,’ I told him.

‘I hope so!’ he replied with a grin. Though he was smiling, I was aware that it had been a serious matter and of great concern to him.

‘Mentioning education was a bit of a sore point. We’re going through some interesting stages with my son and we’ve had some issues that we’ve had to deal with with his education – which are now dealt with. And that was the second lot of goosebumps, I think, because that was very recent.’

Barry