I went on a local ghost tour a couple of weeks ago. I like most things creepy, and ghost tours, to me, are essentially history tours about bad behaviour and murder. You don't actually expect to see ghosts on them, do you?
I sure didn't expect to. But I shit you not, on Lantern Tours' Williamstown tour, I did. Not once, but twice! I wasn't even the only person to experience things on this tour, but neither of us really said anything too loud. It's not like we crowed to the tour guide or other two dozen people with us wandering the foreshore and streets of historic Williamstown, Victoria that we'd just seen something with our own eyes (me) or felt someone holding their hand as we stood in silence in an old morgue (her).
I didn't say anything because I couldn't quite believe my eyes. I thought surely I was imagining it, my mind was playing tricks on me or I was going mad. Or all of the above?
I sure didn't expect to. But I shit you not, on Lantern Tours' Williamstown tour, I did. Not once, but twice! I wasn't even the only person to experience things on this tour, but neither of us really said anything too loud. It's not like we crowed to the tour guide or other two dozen people with us wandering the foreshore and streets of historic Williamstown, Victoria that we'd just seen something with our own eyes (me) or felt someone holding their hand as we stood in silence in an old morgue (her).
I didn't say anything because I couldn't quite believe my eyes. I thought surely I was imagining it, my mind was playing tricks on me or I was going mad. Or all of the above?
So What Exactly Did I see? Sighting #1
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Entering the old SeaWorks building off the Williamstown docks, we learned that not only is it currently used as an opium den film and TV set, such as on Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, but it was in fact an actual opium den back in the day. Not only that, but, as you would expect from a venue on a ghost tour, there had been some deaths there, including a sailor who was hanged from a beam above our heads.
As we wandered around the dark building, lit by nothing but the moonlight, I stood looking around the walls, and on the wall in front of me was the shadow of a head with short, but messy hair. But it wasn't me, and no one else was standing with me. The face was larger than life, like it was standing a little away from the wall it cast the shadow on.
As I stood, watching the silhouette of this head - not full body, just the head - another tour attendee walked past, between me and the wall I stared at, and the shadow was gone.
Did I really just see that? Or could it have been matrixing?
As we wandered around the dark building, lit by nothing but the moonlight, I stood looking around the walls, and on the wall in front of me was the shadow of a head with short, but messy hair. But it wasn't me, and no one else was standing with me. The face was larger than life, like it was standing a little away from the wall it cast the shadow on.
As I stood, watching the silhouette of this head - not full body, just the head - another tour attendee walked past, between me and the wall I stared at, and the shadow was gone.
Did I really just see that? Or could it have been matrixing?
What is Matrixing?
According to NJ.com's Paranormal Corner,
Grant Wilson, co-founder of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) featured on SyFy's Ghost Hunters, said matrixing is a term used to describe the human mind's natural tendency to find familiar shapes in complex shapes or colors
I am 100% on board that the first thing I saw that night could totally have been that. But then again, it might not have been.
And then there was the second thing.
And then there was the second thing.
Sighting #2
On our way to the last stop for the evening, an old, disused morgue, we entered through a chain link fence (that had been padlocked for the weekend until we arrived) and walked between some old, disused buildings with broken windows and an abandoned air. Keep in mind, there was an open area with some chairs and tables set up, like the craft services section of a film set, so perhaps they had that disused look on purpose.
Anyway, it was dark, we were all alone and as we walked by an alleyway between two buildings I saw the shadow of a man. A really black shadow, the blackest, densest shadow I have ever seen. The shadow man had close-cropped hair, was of average height, and was a little bit hunched over, watching us walk by. I didn't particularly think anything of it at first. There was a guy in the alley. His shadow was so dark, though. Not his shadow, him. There wasn't a speck of light bouncing off him. I'd never seen a shadow like it. I've seen on paranormal investigation shows they often talking about shadow people, and how the shadows are darker than dark, like ink. But I couldn't really grasp that idea until I saw one for myself.
This guy had no features, he was just blackness. Then he sidestepped into a shadow cast from the building and as I continued walking, continued looking at him, I could see into that shadow from the building and there was nothing there. He was completely gone.
Dafuq, am I right? This was as we were walking toward the supposedly haunted morgue, it wasn't the entire area that was supposed to be haunted; we hadn't even arrived at our destination yet.
Before this night, I would have expected that both of these experiences individually would be scary, that seeing ghosts would make me freak out. But neither did. There was nothing menacing about them, and the experience was more confusing than scary; I spent my time second-guessing myself instead of fleeing, telling myself surely I couldn't have just seen what I'd seen.
I guess I preferred to think I was making it up than believe it was real, and by the time I could take a second look it was all over. I now understand why people can live with hauntings in their homes and workplaces for years before deciding they need to do something about it. You dismiss it. You debunk it. You come up with other more rational possibilities that could have caused your experience and you get on with your life not believing that it ever really happened.
But maybe, just maybe, it did.
Do you believe in ghosts? Have you had an experience with the paranormal? I'd love to hear all about it.
You can book your ghost tour around Williamstown and potentially see ghosts yourself at www.lanternghosttours.com or call 1300 390 119. A couple of other attendees had experiences as well, one woman felt someone hold her hand as we stood in silence in the morgue, so you just might, too.
Anyway, it was dark, we were all alone and as we walked by an alleyway between two buildings I saw the shadow of a man. A really black shadow, the blackest, densest shadow I have ever seen. The shadow man had close-cropped hair, was of average height, and was a little bit hunched over, watching us walk by. I didn't particularly think anything of it at first. There was a guy in the alley. His shadow was so dark, though. Not his shadow, him. There wasn't a speck of light bouncing off him. I'd never seen a shadow like it. I've seen on paranormal investigation shows they often talking about shadow people, and how the shadows are darker than dark, like ink. But I couldn't really grasp that idea until I saw one for myself.
This guy had no features, he was just blackness. Then he sidestepped into a shadow cast from the building and as I continued walking, continued looking at him, I could see into that shadow from the building and there was nothing there. He was completely gone.
Dafuq, am I right? This was as we were walking toward the supposedly haunted morgue, it wasn't the entire area that was supposed to be haunted; we hadn't even arrived at our destination yet.
Before this night, I would have expected that both of these experiences individually would be scary, that seeing ghosts would make me freak out. But neither did. There was nothing menacing about them, and the experience was more confusing than scary; I spent my time second-guessing myself instead of fleeing, telling myself surely I couldn't have just seen what I'd seen.
I guess I preferred to think I was making it up than believe it was real, and by the time I could take a second look it was all over. I now understand why people can live with hauntings in their homes and workplaces for years before deciding they need to do something about it. You dismiss it. You debunk it. You come up with other more rational possibilities that could have caused your experience and you get on with your life not believing that it ever really happened.
But maybe, just maybe, it did.
Do you believe in ghosts? Have you had an experience with the paranormal? I'd love to hear all about it.
You can book your ghost tour around Williamstown and potentially see ghosts yourself at www.lanternghosttours.com or call 1300 390 119. A couple of other attendees had experiences as well, one woman felt someone hold her hand as we stood in silence in the morgue, so you just might, too.
This post is not affiliated with Lantern Tours.
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