OUR HAUNTED WORLD

by Liz Green

Ghosts and ghouls and strange happenings abound all over the world. Every country has it's own weird tales to tell - all are reported to be true, told by people not given to wild flights of fancy. What do you think?

FRANCE

Time Trippers

In 1901 two English women, Anne Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain, visited the Palace of Versailles. It was over a hundred years after King Louis XVI of France had lived there, but the women became quite convinced that they had slipped back in time. While looking for a pavilion in the gardens, Anne and Eleanor became lost. They saw and spoke to several people who appeared to be wearing clothes that were in fashion when King Louis XVI was alive.

As Anne and Eleanor walked through the gardens, they were overcome by a strange feeling of sadness. Eleanor felt as though she was sleepwalking. They were frightened by a cloaked man with a face horribly scarred by smallpox, but were directed away from him by another gentleman. Later they discovered that their guide had appeared through a door that had been blocked up for years. Finally, Anne saw King Louis' wife, Marie Antoinette, sketching. History books show that the gardens the women walked through were just as they had been in the late 1700s. Had the two women really travelled through time? Or could they have experienced a time-slip?

Furry Friend Forever

In 1954, seven-year-old Rene Leret, from Sampier, near Lyon, was given a little white kitten, call Jacques. The kitten followed him everywhere, but, tragically, just one month later, the kitten was run over and killed. Afterwards, Rene behaved very strangely. He said he did not want another pet because Jacques was still sitting at the window. Rene then started putting out food and opening the door to let the dead kitten in. Even more freaky were the newly developed photos which Rene's mum brought home. Posing with Rene was his little white kitten, weeks after it had died. Ghostbusters sensed a strange presence in the house and even found claw marks on the newly painted door, but they said they couldn't make head nor tail of the case!

Things That Go Bump

Calvados Castle in Normandy was the scene of such serious poltergeist activity in 1875-6 that it's owners were driven from their home. With banging noises at night, the sounds of someone running up and down the stairs, ear-splitting trumpet blasts and a woman apparently screaming for help meant that the residents got no sleep at all.

The cries of a woman sobbing and the loud notes of a locked-up organ being played added to the resident's problems. Furniture and other items were often thrown about the castle by unseen forces!

When various ceremonies to exorcise the poltergeist had no effect, the owners sold the 10th century castle and moved away. The spirit causing all the bother was believed to be a previous owner, an angry woman, who kept coming back home to cause havoc. Whoever it was, there is no doubt that any house, or even a big castle, which has a poltergeist can seem very crowded.

Beastly Slaughter

The Gevaudan district in Lozere, south-east France, was the scene of a series of horrific murders between 1764 and 1767. The victims tended to be women and children whose bodies were ripped apart and sometimes devoured. The suspect was a huge, wolf-like creature. As panic spread, master huntsmen were despatched to destroy the creature. In 1765, a massive black wolf was slain, but relief was short-lived as the ghastly killings continued. The horror finally ended when another huge wolf was killed at Mount Chauvet in 1767. Was it a real wolf - or could it have been a werewolf? The Chauvet wolf had been shot with a silver bullet blessed by a priest - said to be the only sure way to kill a werewolf!

The Visionary Count

Back in the 18th Century, Count Alessandro Cagliostro was fascinated by the bizarre and the strange. He used potions and crystals to help heal the sick and believed that the letters in anyone's name could be used to tell their future. His method proved frighteningly accurate. He correctly predicted that King Louis XVI would have a violent death at the age of 38; that his wife, Marie Antoinette, would be 'prematurely wrinkled through sorrow', that she would be imprisoned and finally lose her head on the guillotine. Banished from France for being framed for the theft of a necklace, Cagliostro continued his predictions in Rome, where a worried French diplomat reported him. The count was imprisoned and tortured, but he refused to retract any of his predictions, all of which turned out to be true.

The Man in the Iron Mask

King Louis XIV imprisoned many of his enemies. One man was held in conditions of particular secrecy. He was taken into custody in 1669 and remained imprisoned until he died 34 years later, during which time he was incarcerated in four different prisons. To prevent his jailers recognising him, he was forced to wear a velvet mask fastened with iron clips. The French writer Voltaire was imprisoned in the Bastille in Paris some years after the mystery man died there. He called the mystery prisoner "the man in the iron mask" and the description has stuck. Alexandre Dumas wrote a novel called The Man in the Iron Mask, which fixed the idea in people's minds, but now historians are more interested in who the man was and what crime he had committed.

Since the late 19th century, evidence has grown that the masked man was a valet, Eustache Dauger. Historians of pieced together some interesting facts about the life of Dauger. He was born in 1637 into a wealthy family and was a childhood friend of Louis XIV. He led a wild life and ended up penniless. At Louis' request, Dauger went on secret missions to see King Charles II in England, and was arrested in Dunkirk in 1669 on his return. He died in 1703 in the Bastille and was buried under the name of Marchioly.

What did he know? The details of Dauger's life and death match those of the masked man. He probably knew a secret which would damage the king if he revealed it. There were several things he could have known, gained during his missions to England. Charles II was a catholic in a largely protestant country, and wanted money from Louis XIV who was also a catholic, to promote the religion in England. It may be that Dauger learned too much about these sensitive matters. Illegitimacy probably had a large part to play too. There are theories that Dauger was the illegitimate son of Louis XIV's father, and Marie, Dauger's mother, although this seems unlikely as Marie would probably not have betrayed her husband, or that Louis XIV was the illegitimate some of Dauger's father, Francois and Louis XIII's wife, Anne. This could be more likely, as Louis XIII and Anne were childless for many years. It may have been that the king felt unable to father a child, so turned to someone else to provide him with an heir. It is possible that Louis XIV knew this and threw his half-brother into jail so he could not contest the claim to the throne. The identity of the man in the iron mask remains uncertain. Historians are continuing to investigate.

Talking About the Revolution

During the French Revolution at the end of the 18th century, Madam Marie Tussaud was imprisoned and forced to make wax masks of the faces of people who had been beheaded on the guillotine. In 1802, her waxworks exhibition came to London.

Nostradamus

Most people have heard of Nostradamus and his predictions. He was born in Provence, as Michel de Nostradame, on 14th December 1503. He spoke many languages and studied philosophy, astronomy and medicine. He earned his name as Europe's plague healer when a plague swept through France, but was ruined when the plague struck again and he failed to save the lives of his wife and children. He spent the next six years wandering through France and Italy, before returning to a secret place in Provence to write his book of prophecies, known as "The Centuries". He was a master at making things sound vague, and to make things trickier, he wrote in French, Greek and Latin. Over the years many of the quatrains have appeared to come true:-

The Great Fire of London in 1666 The rise of Adolf Hitler in 1939 The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 The assassination of J.F. Kennedy in 1963 Halley's Comet in 1986 He even predicted his own death in 1566!

Nostradamus even described things which weren't invented until centuries later - fighter planes, submarines and nuclear arms, for example.

Over the years, people have interpreted his riddles in entirely different ways to suit the events which have happened or are happening . Then, with the benefit of hindsight, Nostradamus is proclaimed as predicting the future - again. His riddles make interesting reading, but understanding or applying them can be extremely difficult!

Weird Happenings on the High Wire

In 1973, an eccentric Frenchman called Henri Rochatain spent six months living on a high wire 25 metres above the town of Saint Etienne. Whilst he was up there, Henri walked 500 kilometres up and down the wire to keep fit. Most extraordinary of all, however, was how he managed to sleep on a board that was not fixed in any way, but simply balanced on the wire. Rolling over in his sleep would have been enough to send the highwire supremo plunging to his death, but he slept peacefully, even though thunderstorms and high winds!

Death Down the Wire

In 1984, an electric storm brought death 'down the wire' to two unlucky people in Toulouse. When lightening hit a telephone wire, a fireman, who was on the phone to a colleague about storm damage, literally got it in the ear and died. Another girl who was calling her boyfriend was fatally knocked out. Though it is a rare occurrence, telephone wires can occasionally conduct all the power of an electric storm and deliver a deadly shock to whoever is at the end of the line.

A-Maze-ing

Researchers claim to have recorded strange energies in ancient monuments, such as the 13th century cathedral at Chartres. The labyrinth maze design on the cathedral floor is known as a penance path, and people used to walk it barefoot as a punishment. Supposedly, this was a direct way to absorb the Earth's natural energies. Incidentally, Chartres was a sacred site for the Druids and later the Romans.

Talking of shocking things and unwelcome visitors:

Holiday Howler

Claire's parents had bought an old cottage in the French countryside and she and some college friends decided to visit it. Claire had a rough map of how to find the cottage and a key. But her parents warned her the lock was very stiff.

It was a long drive from Paris, and it was pitch dark by the time they needed to use the sketchy map. They turned on to a rough, winding track and bumped along with only the headlamps to guide them.

Suddenly they spotted a cottage, set back from the road, just as it was shown on the map. With relief they piled out of the car. Claire struggled to turn the key in the front door, but couldn't get it to turn. Her friends all tried, but no-one could open the door.

They were just being to despair when there was a shout from the back of the cottage from one of the others. He had managed to prise open a window and announced they could easily climb in.

Inside, they discovered that the cottage was far more luxurious than any of them had been expecting. From the kitchen they found the makings of a midnight feast. Then they all took hot baths and fell into bed.

Early next morning, Claire was the first to wake. Downstairs the place was a mess, but she decided to leave it until later and go exploring.

Just down the road, she discovered another cottage. Building rubble was piled outside and when she peered through the dusty windows she saw that the rooms were bare. A horrible thought dawned on her. She felt in her pocket and found the key from the night before. She tried it in the lock and found that it turned quite easily.

Inside, she found a note from her parents, warning her about the wealthy and very unpleasant neighbours. As she read it, she heard a car coming up next door's drive..........

When you've gotta do what you've gotta do........

Dead Fluffy

John was staying near Paris with his friend, Pierre. He got on well with the whole family, and even made friends with their elderly Rottweiller, Bonbon.

The next door neighbours didn't like dogs, but were very fond of Frou-Frou, their daughter's large white rabbit.

One morning, the boys were left alone in the house. Pierre's parents asked them to keep an eye on Bonbon, but the boys got so wrapped up in a computer game that they didn't see Bonbon go into the garden.

He came in half an hour later and dropped a very dead Frou-Frou at their feet. The horrified boys peeped next door. The rabbit hutch was empty. So was the garage - at least the neighbours were out!

They got to work shampooing the rabbit, then blow-drying its long hair. Afterwards it looked a lot fresher than when Bonbon had brought it in, more like a sleeping rabbit than a dead one.

They sneaked into the next door garden and placed Frou-Frou in the hutch. Happy with their cover-up job, they waited for Pierre's parents to return home. They arrived looking very up set and puzzled. Their neighbours had just told them that some sick person had dug up their pet rabbit, who'd died and been buried two days before..... and, as if that hadn't been bad enough, the sicko had thought it funny to give poor Frou-Frou a wash and brush-up and put it back in it's hutch!

I hope you enjoyed that little lot - but that's all for now. Next issue, we'll be taking a look at strange happenings and other weird stuff in South America. Bye, sweet dreams.