Sweden: The Haunted Vicarage

Old vicarage

There is an old vicarage located in the small village of Borgvattnet *in Jamtland County in Northern Sweden, it is believed to be one of the countries most haunted houses.

* Borgvatten Spokprastgard in Swedish

Several of the vicars that lived at the vicarage over the years experienced strange activity while living there. It is their accounts that have given the old house such a strong reputation for being haunted.

This old vicarage was built in 1876 but it wasn’t until ninety years later in 1927 that the first encounter with a ghost occurred. The chaplain, Nils Hedlund at the time experienced several things he could not explain.

One incident involved his laundry. As he made his way to the attic to gather more of his laundry he saw an unseen force outside tearing down his clothes from the line.

The next priest to reside at the vicarage in the 1930s was Rudolf Tangden. While he was sitting in one room he spotted an old woman wearing grey appear in a nearby room, he got up to ask what she wanted but as he entered the room she just vanished.

Tangden’s successor, Otto Lingren lived in the vicarage in the 1940s. He and his wife heard unexplained sounds and saw objects move. They heard disembodied steps in the hall and also heard music coming from this area.

One female visitor, Inga Flodin that stayed in the guestroom was awakened in the middle of the night with a feeling she was being watched. She saw three old women sitting on a sofa against one wall in the room. They all appeared to be crying.

Guest room

She quickly turned on the light and they were still there but now appeared blurry. When she had gone to bed the sofa had not been in the room and when she awoke the next morning it was not there.

Erik Lindgren, another chaplain assigned to the vicarage in 1945 recorded several unusual experiences including one that occurred as he moved in. Tired from unpacking he sat in a rocking chair and read a book.

Moving rocking chair.

Suddenly, this chair tipped forward and he was thrown out. Lindgren stated that when he sat down again he felt a strong force enter his body.

Today this rocking chair is seen rocking on its own.

In recent years the vicarage has been used as a small Bed and Breakfast, it is also a restaurant and café. Many of the guests that have stayed here report strange activity.

These reports include: shadow people, footsteps on the stairs, a woman screaming, someone crying, knocking sounds, and a Madonna is seen in one mirror.

One couple was making their way down the stairs when an unseen entity grabbed the husband’s arm. He was dragged down the rest of the steps and out into the yard.

This couple refused to reenter the house—they slept in a tent on the lawn instead.

Several guests have reported being awakened to find an unseen cold hand pressed to their foreheads.

Several theories have been put forth as to why the old vicarage is haunted. Many believe it is former vicars that haunt the house others recount stranger stories.

One of these involves a maid who worked at the vicarage. She found herself pregnant and out of desperation she killed and buried her baby next to the house.

Yet another one told involves one priest, Per Hedlund who lived at the vicarage. His wife Marta died while delivering their 11^th child.

Per took her body from the morgue and in a strange twist, the villagers had to convince him to bury her. It is said when he moved away from the vicarage he dug her body up and took it with him.

A strange side note about this story involves Nils Hedlund who was the first vicar to notice paranormal activity in the house, he was one of Marta’s sons.

Today, when people are willing to stay the entire night at the old vicarage—Bed and Breakfast--they receive an “overnight-stay-certificate” to honor their bravery and to prove they did it.

The following video has many interior shots of the vicarage including the mirror and a video of the rocking chair moving.

Stockholm’s Haunted Palaces

The Royal Palace

This palace located in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, has been used as the royal residence since the 18^th century.

It is one of the largest palaces in the world. It has 1430 rooms, 660 of them have windows.

Stockholm's Royal Palace

It is known to be haunted. Its two most famous ghosts are a White Lady known as vita fran and a Grey Man known as gra mannen.

A Harbinger

The White Lady is said to appear just before someone dies in the royal family. She, therefore, is a classic harbinger.

King Oscar ll

She was first made famous when old King Oscar ll wrote about her in his memoir.

She is seen dressed in a white dress, and a long white veil covers her dark hair. She wears dark gloves and carries a chain of keys in her hand.

As she walks through the palace, these keys are heard clanking together. Many Swedish royals and staff have seen her over the years.

The Founder of Stockholm

Another ghost seen at the palace is known as the Grey Man. It is said he has appeared before every reigning King at least once during their lifetime.

Birger Jari

He is believed to be the ghost of Birger Jari. Jari was the founder of Stockholm. He built a fortress with a core tower in the 13^th century. This site evolved into the royal palace that was completed in the 1830s.

A Haunted Mansion

The Palace of Scheffler is considered to be the most “haunted house” or Spokslottet-- in Stockholm. For this reason, people often refer to this palace as simply the Haunted Mansion.

Since the 1920s this palace has been owned by Stockholm University. It is used mostly today just for storage and occasionally for conferences.

A merchant, Hans Petter Scheffler built this mansion in 1690.

Palace of Scheffler

Ghost stories about this home have circulated since the 18^th century. Witnesses have reported strange singing and music coming from this building when it was unoccupied.

Mirrors and windows in the mansion have broken simultaneously without a known cause.

One story points to a former owner of this palace as the cause of this strange activity. Jacob von Balthazar Knigge was said to be a devil worshipper. He mysteriously disappeared in 1796.

At the time, witnesses stated that he was taken away in a black carriage with a coachman who had horns and a tail.

Another possible cause for this activity involves several deaths connected to the mansion.

Gustaf Sandstrom, an opera
singer, once rented a room in the palace. He committed suicide in his room in 1879.

A young married couple were murdered in the mansion and then bricked-up behind a wall in the basement.

In the mansion’s garden, a grave was discovered in 1907. These remains were removed to a cemetery. It is believed more people are buried in this garden.

Swedish National Heritage Board
Mansion in the early 1900s.

One legend connected to the palace is about a priest who was brought in to rid the home of this unwanted activity.

In one version of the story, this priest fled the home in fear before he finished the job.

In another version, it is said an angry spirit tossed him out of an upper window. There was no one in the building but him at the time.

Some believe all this unwanted activity is the reason why the university uses this beautiful old palace for storage most of the time.

The Stockholm Metro is also said to be haunted. A ghost train known as the Silverplein is seen. My post about this haunting is here.

Sweden’s The Spirit in the Glass and Black Madame

The Spirit in the Glass is Sweden’s version of a Ouija Board. Teenagers mostly participate in this activity. A large piece of paper or cardboard is used as the surface. A glass is used as a template to draw circles, within these circles are placed the letters of the alphabet and the numbers 0-9. The words: Yes, No, I Don’t Know, Start and Finish are written as well.

This glass is then used as the plancette. Before starting this glass must be warmed up. The teens do this by rubbing it between their hands, breathing on it, or warming it with a candle that has been lit.

It is warned that this activity should never be done in a room that has mirrors for the spirit can appear within this mirror--which will upset it.  This spirit then will shatter the mirror into pieces.

The teens place The Spirit in the Glass in a dark room with only candles for light. The young participants after warming the glass take turns asking a question by placing the open rim of the glass next to their mouths and whispering their question. It is then placed open rim down on the paper.

The participants place their fingers on the bottom of the glass as the answer is spelled out. If no answer is given the glass usually just tips over.

There are strict rules as to what question can and cannot be asked. For instance, the participant should never ask, “When will I die?” or “Can I speak to the devil?”

One legend is told about a young man who broke one of these rules. He asked when he would die--the glass moved to the number “4” and then to the number “0”--so 40 years old. Eerily years later to the day he died when he committed suicide by hanging himself at the age of 40.

Black Madame, Come Out!

Black Madame is the Swedish version of “Bloody Mary.” But “Swedish children are more dismissive of spirits” so their version of this game is not as scary.

The traditional game involves Black Madame or in Swedish Svarta Madame appearing after a child stands in front of a mirror and states 12 times “I don’t believe in you, Black Madame.”

Yet another version involves them chanting into a bathroom mirror “Black Madame, Black Madame, daughter of the devil show yourself.” As they chant this phrase they splash water on the mirror.

This chanting is most often done on a “dare” just like Bloody Mary.

If Black Madame appears in the mirror it is said she has green hair, red teeth and luminous yellow eyes.

Other names for her include: Bloody Black Madame, White Madame, Dirty Madame and Creepy Madame. In the 1970s some Swedish children adopted the European names of “Mary” and “Black Molly”--but the term Svarta Madame is still used widely in Sweden.

This game actually originated in Europe centuries before the European, Swedish or American children’s versions. It was a fortune-telling game--which involved “mirror gazing.”