The Berini Haunting

A little girl, once a sister returns to warn a family of danger. A young boys’ apparition is seen dressed all in white. He asks the family “Where do all the lonely people go?” Then a violent poltergeist or demon terrorizes this family for months. This is one of the more aggressive hauntings recorded in recent years.

This haunting occurred in New England in the late 1970s and didn’t end until the 1980s. The family name “Berini” is just a pseudonym in order to protect their privacy--the exact location of their home has not been revealed for the same reason. *

Joe and his wife Rose--again pseudonyms--moved with Rose's two children from a previous marriage into Joe’s family ancestral home in the 1970s. Joe had not been raised in this home. At first, all was well but then unusual things started to occur.

Rose started to hear a disembodied voice of a child in the home. In her first encounter with this little girl she heard the following--“Mama, Mama, this is Serena.” Joe questioned his family as to who this could be--he knew several people had died in the home. He was stunned to find that he had a sister named “Serena” who had died at the age of 5.

The Berini’s reaction to this little girl’s presence was curiosity not fear. As it turned out each time the Berini’s heard Serena’s voice something bad happened to the family. They came to believe her appearances foretold danger. The day after Rose heard Serena for the first time her daughter was scheduled to have her tonsils out. Her heart stopped during the operation and she almost died.

The next time her voice was heard was just before Joe’s grandmother suffered a stroke. Then her voice was heard again a month later just before his grandmother died. After this Joe heard Serena’s voice one last time. He was woken up to the sound of Serena’s voice when he discovered Rose was choking in her sleep. She told him afterward that she had dreamed her ex-husband was strangling her.

All was quiet in the Berini home for several years then in early 1981 the couple started to see the apparition of a small boy dressed all in white. Again, Joe made inquires of his family and discovered his father’s younger brother, Giorgio had died in the home at the age of eight. He was buried in his all-white communion suit.

Rose first saw Giorgio’s apparition walking in the upstairs hall in the middle of the night. She was not afraid, upon seeing him she recounts she felt a strong sense of peace. She watched his apparition for over an hour before he disappeared. During this encounter Rose’s sense of peace was shattered when this young boy spoke to her.

He stated, “Where do all the lonely people go? Where do I belong?”

After this, Joe watched one evening as Giorgio’s kneeled on the hallway carpet. It appeared as if he was intently searching for something. Joe now curious pulled up the carpet in this area the next day. He found a religious medal on a broken chain.

Again, the Berini’s were not afraid of this young ghost.

Giorgio’s ghost made frequent nightly appearances. He always seemed distressed about something. He would often answer questions the Berini’s asked him. At one point he announced that Carlos, his twin brother--who was still alive and living nearby--had taken something from the house that belonged to him. The family could not figure out what this item was.

On another night when he appeared he announced to the Berinis, “My oldest brother is the only one that can help me.” This statement made Joe wonder if maybe Giorgio was confusing him for his father who had been Giorgio’s older brother.

After this, the couple took a friends advice and tried to just ignore this activity.

But after their last encounter with Giorgio's ghost the activity in the home became much darker in nature. That very night the phone in the Berini’s bedroom was flung off their bedside table by unseen hands. Over time this phone continued to be flung violently off this table--according to the Berinis over a dozen times.

Joe now concerned, called his parents to warn them that Giorgio might visit them. But as he discussed this apparent poltergeist activity with them-- every time he mentioned Giorgio’s name the phone went dead. Again, they tried to ignore the activity.

But in June of 1981 darker things started to happen that were very disturbing. This is when the third entity showed up.

The Berinis described this entity as a dark male that appeared as a hunchback. He had very large feet and a gruff voice. They bravely questioned this entity to determine who he might be but he always gave evasive answers telling them he was a “minister of God.” But it wasn’t long before they didn’t believe him.

The phone continued to be flung off its hook and the poltergeist activity increased in both frequency and intensity. Whenever Rose prayed with her rosary this entity would try to distract her with a string of obscenities. Religious items in the home went missing or were broken.

In various rooms in the home furniture was moved or rolled over. A daughter's desk was found violently pushed down the stairs.

Joe, Rose and a daughter were all hit by items that were thrown. Rose was the target of most of this abuse. A bedside lamp fell striking her on the head. Another time the freezer door was flung open hitting her on the head. While sitting at the kitchen table something twisted her arm behind her back and then her head was jerked so far to the side she started to choke.

Things worsened. Joe saw Rose pulled out of bed, she levitated above the bed and then she was dropped to the floor. After this attack bruises where discovered on her arms and legs where unseen hands had forcefully gripped her. Two months after the hunchback first made an appearance he became even more violent.

One night after Joe left for work Rose heard a series of loud bangs on her bedroom wall. The walls literally shook. When her bed rose off the ground she tried to leave the room but the door slammed shut in her face. When she managed to open the door--her dog was growling at something unseen.

She went to her  children’s bedrooms but their doors shut violently on her, she then was knocked off her feet by an unseen force and dragged back to her bedroom. Invisible hands started to choke and scratch her. She managed to call Joe and he rushed home.

When he entered their bedroom he saw the bed lurching repeatedly off the floor. He found Rose curled up in a ball in the corner of the room clutching her crucifix.

The next morning as they entered their kitchen they saw a carving knife embedded in their kitchen table. They moved out of the house for a month. During this period they arranged for a priest to do a ceremony similar to an exorcism. This worked for when the Berinis moved back into their home they no longer saw apparitions or had poltergeist activity.

* Joe invited the (PRA) Psychical Research Foundation--based in North Carolina--to investigate the home. In this group's case summary they call this family Berini. This organization was able to verify many of the couple's claims. One reason being, many of the Berini’s friends, family and neighbors had seen the apparitions and witnessed the poltergeist activity.

Today this group is based out of Florida and is known as the American Institute of Parapsychology. 

Newport Ghosts: Anatomy of a Ghost Legend

Newport, Alabama is just across the Black Warrior River from downtown Tuscaloosa. A very popular ghost story was told in in this area in the mid 1980s. The catalyst for this story was residents began to see two ghostly figures, on foggy nights as they drove around a corner on Highway 171.

So many people witnessed this phenomenon that cars literally lined up down each side of this highway in order to see these large white figures that looked like two human heads. 

Before this unusual sight was first reported a local resident had two ten-foot tall white pillars on brick bases built on either side of the entrance to his driveway. Atop these two pillars were large white balls. 

So what people were seeing was just an optical illusion.

Like most good legends these two Newport Ghosts needed a good backstory so several were created to make these sightings even more exciting.

One story said these two floating figures were actually the ghosts of two war widows. It is stated their husbands died in the Civil War and that these two women waited impatiently for their husband’s bodies to be returned to them.

It seems these two ghosts mistook modern car headlights for lanterns on a wagon--which would carry their husband’s remains home. Hence they were seen floating near cars looking for this wagon.

Another story involves two Southern sisters. They both fell in love with Union soldiers. Knowing their father wouldn’t approve they arranged to secretly elope. It was decided that they would sneak out of their home one night and meet up with these two soldiers who would hold lanterns to light their way.

But tragically their father found out and killed these two men. It is said the ghosts of these two sisters move to car lights thinking they are their soldiers.

These two stories enhanced the “fright” people anticipated at the sight of these two floating ghosts.

At the height of this legend neighbors in the area often-encountered traffic jams at night--especially around Halloween--cars filled with people waiting their turn to see the ghosts.

A University of Alabama student newspaper even listed the Newport Ghosts as a must-see for students before graduation.

Unlike many ghost legends, this one has lost its “draw” in recent years. The local golf course across the street from this home’s entrance put in a street light that illuminates these two large pillars. The result--the illusion that two ghosts float across this highway is no longer seen.

But the ghost stories created to enhance this haunting are now firmly entrenched in local lore.

Pluckley’s Legends

Haunted St. Nicolas Church
Photo: Stephen Nunnery

Pluckley is a picturesque English village located in Kent. For years, stories have circulated about the ghosts that reside in and around this village. 

With time, these ghost stories have taken on a life of their own and the village today is literally seeped in stories about ghosts. As a result in1989 the Guinness Book of World Records listed Pluckley as the “Most haunted Village in England.”

Most of the ghost stories told in Pluckley today are legends. Many children in the area grew up hearing these legends--which have taken on folklore status. On the other hand, a few stories told are based in real sightings.

Frederick Sanders in 1955 wrote a book entitled Pluckley Was My Playground. His book told the ghostly tale of an 18^th century highwayman and a colorful local gypsy lady. 

A one-time resident of the village, Desmond Carrington admitted to stirring the pot further when he “concocted a whole string of stories” that were featured in a television article written by journalist Bill Evans in the 1950s.

Frith Corner, now known fittingly as “Fright Corner”, is where Sanders’ highwayman ghost is seen. It is said this unfortunate highwayman was ambushed. Some say by the law others say by other criminals. In the ensuing fight this highwayman was killed by a sword thrust through him. This sword not only went through him, it then lodged in a hollow tree behind where he stood--pinning him. This tree no longer stands.

At this spot this ghost can be seen re-enacting the fight that took his life.

Haunted Pluckley Wood

Sanders’ female gypsy apparition also known as “Watercress Woman” is seen at the crossroads bridge. She smokes a pipe and stands or sits on the bridge selling watercress from the nearby stream. Her figure is described as "misty" in appearance. 

She has haunted this area since she “burned to death.” Sparks from her pipe lit alcohol she was drinking --which caught her on fire. This bridge is often shrouded in nature's mists.

Another Pluckley ghost story has multiple witness accounts to back it up--one sighting happened recently. A phantom horse drawn coach is seen throughout the village. A couple driving home at midnight from babysitting their grandchildren spotted this coach being pulled by horses. Lights illuminated the coaches’ windows.

Another local resident driving a back road to return home saw this coach pass right in front of his car. A visitor to the village in November of 1977 heard wheels and horse hooves striking against cobblestones right outside his car window--the road he drove was a modern paved street--at one time it was cobbled.

Haunted Black Horse Inn

Think of any historical ghost stereotype and Pluckley has one. Besides the stories above the village has a ghostly schoolmaster and Colonel both said to have committed suicide. Pluckley also has two white ladies, a red lady, a miller who is seen as a black shadow and a ghostly monk. 

The village also has a haunted church and grounds, a haunted house, a haunted inn, a haunted hunting lodge, a haunted forest known as the “Screaming Woods” and a haunted bush known as the "Devil’s Bush."

Both thrill-seekers and serious ghost hunters visit this village. 

The following short Strange But True? clip highlights several recent witness accounts about Pluckley’s ghosts--including the phantom coach.

Time Slips

This is a paranormal phenomenon in which a person or group of people travel through time. It is not known how or why this happens. The result is many people discount these claims.

Petit Trianon in 2005
Where the incident occurred.

Charlotte Anne Moberly

The earliest and most famous time slip occurrence is known as the Ghosts of Versailles. 

In the summer of 1901 two English ladies Charlotte Anne Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain claim they stepped back in time to the French Revolution while walking near the Petit Trianon at Versailles.

I talk about their story in depth here. Rosemary Ellen Guiley includes an excellent summary of this case in her book, The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits.

Eleanor Jourdain

In the 1970s a more recent case of a time slip was featured on the British television series entitled, Strange But True? This case involved two English couples on holiday. The Simpsons and Gisby’s were driving through France on their way to Spain when they decided to stay overnight in a quaint, old-fashioned inn they found.

It was ridiculously cheap, and the food was good, so they decided on their way back they would stay at the same inn. But on their return journey, they could not find it--even though they spent time looking for it. Back at home, both couples had the photographs they took on this trip developed.

But all of the photos these two couples took at the old inn were missing when they picked up their pictures separately. Even both sets of negatives were missing. 

Here is a link to a video that the British television series, Strange But True? did about this story. It is the second story presented in this brief ten-minute clip about timeslips.

On Bold Street in Liverpool, a whole series of time slip occurrences have been recorded. Some consider them just urban legends. They began in the 1990s, and supposedly, they are still happening today. Here is only one of these stories.

The following was told by a Merseyside Policeman who traveled back in time in July of 1996, in Liverpool ‘s Bold Street area.

End of Bold Street, Liverpool
Photo: John Bradley

Frank, who was off duty, went shopping with his wife, Carol in Liverpool one sunny Saturday afternoon. At Central Station, the pair split up. His wife went to buy a book at Dillons and Frank went to look for a music CD he wanted. 

Afterward, he found himself on an incline near the Lyceum Post Office, which leads onto Bold Street. Planning to meet up with his wife he suddenly noticed he was surrounded by an eerie silence.

Out of nowhere a small box van that looked like something out of the 1950s, sped across his path, honking its horn as it narrowly missed him. Frank noticed the name on the van's side. Caplan's--but they hadn't been in business for years. 

Frank now confused, looked at his shoes to discover he was standing in the middle of the road. He quickly crossed to the sidewalk and saw that Dillons Bookshop now had Cripps over its entrance. More confused, he saw no books but a display of women's handbags and shoes.

He then noticed the people around him were dressed in clothing from the 1940s. To his relief, he spotted a young girl dressed in modern-day fashion. He smiled at her as she walked past him and entered Cripps.

He followed her into the transformed store but as he entered the building--it was once more Dillons Bookshop. As the young girl left the store, he caught her attention. He asked her “Did you see that?'” 

She replied, "Yeah, I thought it was a clothes shop- I was going to look around, but it's a bookshop."

Cripps and Caplan's were businesses based in Liverpool in the 1940s and 50s.