A Truth Stranger Than Fiction

By Michael Bray

This is an INTERACTIVE experience. All evidence captured at each investigation is available to review as you read via a weblink to where it is stored. YOU decide the truth. 

 

Demonic entities. Physical attacks. Unexplained audio phenomena.

 

Not the kind of thing a sceptic would expect to encounter when setting out to shadow a Paranormal Investigation team as they travel all across the United Kingdom to visit some of its most haunted locations.

From the notorious Bodmin Jail to the home of Europe's most active Poltergeist, 30 East Drive, this is the true story of a sceptic who sets out to discover for himself the truth about the world of the Paranormal by logging his own independent evidence over the course of a year.

What he discovers along the way will shock and surprise him, as the project takes a very different direction from the one he expected, which will affect him personally in more ways than he could have anticipated.

Along the way, he will capture evidence which threatens to blow his sceptical viewpoint away, from disembodies voices, full-form apparitions captured on camera and a conversation with a demon.

And the best part is, you don't have to take the author's word for it, as every shred of evidence captured has been uploaded and made available for independent review for the reader as they make their way through the book, allowing them to make up their own mind on if it is paranormal in nature or not.

 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael Bray
• Release date: Oct 28, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393481065

Book preview

If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything. 

― Mark Twain

––––––––

To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure. 

― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

MARCH 28th 2018

The darkness is total and a sound from the back of the room tells me we’re not alone. All night, the sense of dread has grown, and although nobody has said anything out loud, just a glance into the eyes of those in attendance tells me they feel it too.

There it is again. Stealthy and on the edge of perception. I try to tick off things it could be, drawing from my memory of how this place looked in daylight and know there is no rational explanation.

The three of us draw together. In hindsight, perhaps this is a subconscious decision to protect against the sourness of the atmosphere. The sense of observation, of thousands of eyes watching, seems to grow by the second as if something is drawing on our fear. A thought, so stark in its clarity occurs to me as we huddle in the dark.

This isn’t how it’s meant to be.

To now my experiences had been good, but here tonight, in this place, everything feels different and unwelcoming.

It is here when I call out. Looking back, I think it was partly for wanting to hear a sound I could recognise as familiar. I speak into the dark, asking if there is anything there and if so, to prove it.

My tone is demanding, aggressive, perhaps fuelled by the fear creeping through me by the second.

I shouldn’t have done it. I was there as an observer and had promised myself I wouldn’t get involved. It was then, as I was contemplating this I felt it. A sharp burning sensation on the back of my hand. In more of a panic than I intended to show, I rushed across the windowless cellar to where I knew the light switch was, fumbling for it in the dark and eventually finding it, not that lighting this foreboding space helped. I looked down at my hand which was still stinging; the others joining me by the door.

There, plain to see on top of my hand were three scratches which were growing more and more prominent by the second.

This project which I had so far approached in a casual, almost light-hearted manner had just taken a very dark, very sinister turn, and one I never expected to take place back in January when this whole thing began. Who knew this event was just the start of something which would become more and more extraordinary as the rest of the year would unfold.

FROM FICTION TO NON FICTION

Fear has been my job for the last few years. Fear in fiction. As a horror author, I’ve been fortunate enough to have achieved some success. I’ve had a couple of bestselling titles, a film adaptation of one of my books which I also penned the screenplay for and two others optioned. From a writing side, I have built a strong readership over the years since I jumped into the author pool in late 2012. Because readers build up certain expectations from the authors they follow, my brief before starting a new project is to ask myself how I can scare my readers in new ways and keep them coming back for more. This isn’t as easy as you might think in a genre over-saturated with countless variations of ideas. Finding a unique angle is key to giving a reading experience unlike anything they have read before or an indifferent paint by numbers book which is unmemorable if competent.

My biggest success has been in the world of paranormal horror, more specifically my Whisper series of books. This tells the story of a young couple who but an isolated cottage in the middle of the forest to build a life and are soon plagued by all sorts of paranormal stuff. (Spoiler alert, they don’t have a good time).

I have always had a deep interest in the paranormal. It has been a part of my life, be it books or documentaries or seeking information for my own interests, and as I mentioned this interest in the unknown morphed into how I make my living. I devoured television shows which dealt with the weird and wonderful. The excellent Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected, The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits or Tales from the Crypt. Anything at all which dealt with things we cannot explain.

Fiction, however, has its limitations. In the turbulent world we live in today I think it’s fair to say that as good as a compelling horror story can be, Real life is so much more frightening. Take the most frightening film you’ve watched or book you’ve read and I would wager you would experience more horror just from watching the news.

It is this notion that the horror I write about may not be accurate which brought me around to thinking about the first seeds of the idea which would become the book you were about to read.

I had watched the TV shows. I had read the books. I had speculated on theories and evidence which had been presented, but I didn’t know the truth for myself. It was taking the word of someone else who may have had a different motive for presenting evidence in the way they have.

A prime example is the countless television shows covering the subject of paranormal investigation. To me, they always feel as if they were more interested in sensationalism and pushing for TV ratings rather than discovering the truth.

It was hard to know what a real experience was and what may have been changed or edited with ensuring viewers tuned in the following week.

I had an idea about seeking out a paranormal investigation team and shadowing them on their investigations as an independent observer. I would draw my own conclusions having no other motive to do so other than to deliver the facts.

But wait, I hear you ask. Isn’t book sales a motivation? Surely capturing evidence is better for you than nothing happening at all?

Well, no, it isn’t. The intention of the book isn’t to prove or disprove anything. It would be about the truth. If it meant no evidence would be captured, then so be it. On the other side, if we captured evidence, then I would know it was genuine and I would have all the original hard evidence of my own should it need to be further validated.

No matter the outcome, I have the content for my book. I have no particular reason to believe or disbelieve anything which gives me an advantage in that I can report on and log events without the rose-tinted glasses of sitting in the believer camp.

The biggest potential issue would be in finding a team willing to allow me to do this. After all, who would want a self-confessed non-believer to debunk their efforts to prove the paranormal exists?

The question is fair. Most sceptics seem unwilling to accept that things can happen beyond the realms of known science. Those who believe in the paranormal are often difficult to sway from that opinion and I have read accounts of cases where there is an almost tunnel-vision approach to believing no matter what.

Although I am a sceptic who believes in evolution and science, and that life and death are all part of the cycle of nature, I am more than prepared to be proved wrong. There are far too many reports of unexplained things to dismiss that such things could exist and happen somewhere beyond the limits of human perception. Let’s call it the great ‘what if’. The answer to the longest unanswered question in human history:

Does life continue after the physical body dies?

A question which intrigues and causes fear in us all, which brings us nicely back to where we began.

Fear.

Not fictional fear like the sort I’m used to creating, but real fear. I am of the belief that fear works on many levels.

The fear when reading a good book, no matter how well written will differ from the fear of hearing someone break into your house at three in the morning when you are home alone.

Again this project represents another different type of fear, which is the fear of the unknown, or if you prefer, the fear of truth.

What if there is life after death?

What if the world knows it is a lie?

What if those we have loved and lost go on, and the same fate awaits every one of us when our mortal bodies cease to exist?

The idea to do some kind of book around this remained as a seed I thought would never grow as I was certain finding a team willing to give the access I would need to do it justice was slim to none.

That all changed in January 2018. My sister and Brother in Law had started working with a paranormal investigation team called Gatekeepers Paranormal the previous year along with founder Christina Reddish, running several events open to the public and raising money for various charities and good causes.

Even then, the thought of doing something together never occurred, because of my schedule of the best part of 2017 being hectic with writing commitments and production on a feature film taking up most of my time.

With the shooting of the film concluding mid-January 2018, I was free to pursue other projects.

As my sister knows I’m the ultimate sceptic when it comes to the paranormal, she had been badgering me (I’m sure she won’t mind me saying that) to come along to an investigation with the team, as there were some coming up close to where I live.

What if it was them I shadowed? As their focus was on truth and also raising money for charity, it seemed like a perfect fit. I mentioned the idea to my sister over text, not expecting anything to come of it as I wasn’t sure how welcome it would be.

Fortunately, they agreed and the seed of an idea I had been carrying around for the last few months looked as if it was about to happen. I would be present as a neutral. Sceptic, yes, but also open to accepting something beyond what would be deemed as normal. That, in part, is why I am writing this foreword now before I have attended even a single investigation as I am curious to see if my outlook has changed for writing the afterword when the last investigation has been attended.

All I can say is that the accounts you are about to read are delivered with one hundred percent truth and honesty with no ulterior motive.

In closing, there is a sense of excitement and nerves and that old friend, fear.

Not the types we’ve already mentioned like the kind when reading a good book or hearing someone try your door handle in the middle of the night.

This is a good fear.

The fear of the unknown and what may be out there in the dark corners of the world.

I think it would be special if we discovered that together, don’t you?

As involving the reader is key, and individual opinion is so important, any evidence captured is to be made available for you to review and examine yourself at your leisure. I will note within the book where evidence I talk about is available to be examined by using the following key:

(V): Video Evidence

(A): Audio Evidence

(P): Photographic Evidence.

Wherever you see the above symbols, you can review the evidence in question by visiting:

https://www.michaelbrayauthor.com/evidencereviewThere you will be able to explore the evidence at your leisure as you read (although I strongly recommend not jumping ahead and look at it all at once. It’s better to review each website evidence section after you’ve read that particular chapter). I’m more than happy for you to challenge it if you don’t agree or let me know your interpretation. Share it with your friends, see what they think.

The more people involved in this, the better.  Remember, this book is just one man’s opinion. Yours may differ from mine and it will be easier to find the truth if we do this together. I don’t know about you, but I find that pretty exciting.

Michael Bray, January 24th, 2018

INVESTIGATION ONE:

LEEDS TOWN HALL

LEEDS - 17/02/18

Hello.

My name is Michael, and I'm a sceptic.

I suppose that is the best introduction I can give to this book as the eve of my first ever paranormal investigation draws closer. Since the idea formed, and the arrangements were made I have been filled with nervous excitement about what might happen. Hey, I might write horror for a living but I'm not above admitting that there were a few butterflies in the belly as the team arrive to pick me up for the short drive to the location.

It's nice that this first investigation is in my home city of Leeds. I feel comfortable here and cast in the pre-dusk glow of a setting sun, the Town Hall seems larger and more foreboding than I remember. It is ominous and seeped in history; the stone stained black from years of exposure to passing road traffic emissions. Outside, flanking the stairs leading to the entrance are two huge ornate stone lion statues. True, age has eroded the features, but they are still recognisable and add to the atmosphere. I must have walked past this building hundreds of times over the years and never given it much attention. It is only now as I stand and look at it I can appreciate the architecture.

Despite how it appears from the outside, the location is much bigger than it seems, with an entire underground level off-limits to the public housing several Victorian-era prison cells which will be the prime focus of the investigation. For as much as I know Ann-Marie and Rob because of their family connection, this will be my first time meeting Chrissie. As a sceptic, I’ve always been dubious about the claimed ability of a person to communicate with those who have passed, and I hope that during writing this book I will experience something that will change my opinion. As a person, Chrissie is friendly, small in stature, and in her fifties, she welcomes me to the venue and tells me she will show me how they prepare for an investigation. An absurd desire to laugh overcomes me and, not for the first time, I wonder what I'm doing here.

The team has full access to the old Victorian cell block, the modern cells built above them and the courtroom and surrounding halls on the lower floor.

As the team unpack, I do my best to keep out of the way. I'm told the first step of any investigation is to do a baseline EMF sweep. Using handheld devices called K2 metres which measure electromagnetic fields from things such as wires or power switches and is the same energy spiritual entities are said to comprise.

Using these devices, the team will sweep the building, making a note of the areas where natural electromagnetic signals are present so that, later, during the investigation, they can be explained for what they are if any sudden spikes should occur. 

The K2 metre will, on detecting an electromagnetic signal illuminate, a series of LED's ranging from green (low) to orange (mid) and red (high) levels of electromagnetic energy. I am invited to join Rob and Chrissie on their sweep of the building and to my surprise, I'm handed one of the two K2 metre so I can verify the results as we walk the building. I give this a quick test, holding it to a light fitting in the base room and watching three lights illuminate, then as expected revert to zero as I pull it away. Satisfied the device works as intended and keen to get started, we head off to do the sweep.

I get no sense of anything unusual as we walk the dreary green painted halls below street level. It’s all a little underwhelming. Perhaps sensing this, Chrissie tells me things will feel different when the lights are out and I can only hope she's right. 

****

The paranormal activity in Leeds Town Hall is said to take place in the old Victorian cells, most notably by one particular former prisoner by the name of Charles Peace (14 May 1832 – 25 February 1879). Unlike his name, Peace was a notorious burglar and thief from Sheffield.  On October 10th, 1878, Peace was disturbed during a burglary and attempted to flee, resorting to his usual method of shooting at his would-be captors. However, despite being hit by one of Peace's bullets and wounded, the officer caught and restrained him until help arrived.

On February 4th, 1879, Peace was found guilty of the murder of a former colleague of his, Arthur Dyson and sentenced to death. Before his execution Peace also confessed to the earlier murder of a police officer and was hanged for his crimes.

It is said his restless spirit still inhabits his cell in the bowels of the town hall, the one place he could not flee from, with many reports of him being seen and heard by staff over the years in and around the cell block area.

It makes for an interesting story and I'm curious if he will appear tonight.

2

As we entered