Many families preserve their own stories or traditions of a ghost. Dr Christopher Laursen from Canada comments: “There are far more occurring than we will ever know about, and most are probably very weak or minor in scope, lasting a very brief period, or resulting in very minor manifestations that remain as part of family lore, and nothing more.” (Daily Grail, online 14 Aug 2014)
Reflecting on this during the Christmas season makes me think of my own family and some personal stories and anecdotes related by them in my childhood during the 1970s.
For some reason I was always interested in ghosts from a tender age, but I must stress this was not due to anything my family deliberately or consciously imparted to me during my formative years. We lived in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk and none of my close family expressed any interest in ghostly matters. My family read a lot, enjoying a mixture of factual and fictional books, but certainly nothing on psychic or fantastic topics. If ever the subject of ghosts came up (usually raised by me), I was told there were no such things. Nor can I recall any puzzling personal experience of my own.
Regarding the afterlife, my mother, Janet Murdie, an infant school teacher, was a conventional Anglican and a regular churchgoer, but definitely a non-believer in ghosts, at least before I was 12. My father, Keith Murdie, was a fireman and
