Do you believe in ghosts?

Some admit to a spooky feeling, others will say they have felt something touch them, or they shiver for no apparent reason, saying that ‘someone’s just walked over my grave’ (which is a bit weird as they aren’t even dead yet).

I went to Mary Kings Close in Edinburgh once, a warren of streets running under the city, abandoned when the new Royal Mile was constructed above, and it’s full of history and stories of hauntings. Part of the experience is in pitch black, something we rarely experience these days, which heightens the fear immediately, and your imagination and hearing start playing tricks.

Even in Portugal, there are supposedly haunted places - the beautiful Almourol Castle is one, located in the middle of the Tagus River, said to be haunted by the ghost of a lovelorn princess.

The Various Chapels of Bones give me the shivers - all those people in there had lives at some point, had homes, ate food, laughed, cried – just as we do, but here are their bones on display – artistically no less - for all to see.

Sanatório de Valongo - it’s an abandoned sanatorium, build in the 20^th century to house TB patients, and the hundreds of people who died there are said to still haunt the place today. Bizarrely, despite its creepy reputation, the spot now hosts paintball matches held against this chilling backdrop.

The Castelinho de São João do Estoril, has been for sale several times, and it is said many prospective buyers change their minds after visiting. Apparently, a girl threw herself from the cliffs nearby, and since then, a few people have mentioned seeing a small girl and feel the urge to jump off the cliffs while visiting the property.

This one definitely gives me the creeps - Termas de Água Radium. In the early 20th century, this was a spa resort in the centre region of Portugal, designed around natural spring waters that were believed to contain healing properties for skin conditions. Years later, high levels of radium were discovered and the spa was shut down. Locals now believe the property to be haunted by the souls who died due to radium poisoning.

Across the world, there are other places - The Catacombs, Paris is one - buried 20 metres underground, is a labyrinth filled with the remains of millions of Parisians. The tunnels were the result of 13th-century mining, that became a mass grave in the 18th century when the cemeteries in Paris began to overflow. It’s said that if you’re inside the tunnels after midnight, the walls begin to speak…..

In the realms of the paranormal, Hoia-Baciu Forest in Romania is where a military technician captured a photograph of a ‘UFO’ hovering over the forest in 1968. Some now believe the area is a portal that causes people to disappear.

Do ghosts really exist?

The existence of ghosts is a huge controversy, with some believing there is no way a spirit can make itself appear, others believe that spirits can show up on a regular basis. Evidence gathered over time - mostly personal accounts - might prove the existence of ghosts. Some are photographs, personal experiences, and even scientific evidence. Photographs have been taken over the years where a ‘ghost’ has shown up in the picture after processing, not seen at the time of the shot, or people see seemingly innocuous items levitating into the air on their own, or plates and cups throwing themselves around - this is known as ‘poltergeist activity’.

A sign of a ghost’s presence could be cold air or strange lights, and sounds include laughter, crying, and footsteps - or they might slam doors and windows and move objects around.

The author Michael Ende wrote in his book The Never Ending Story: ‘Maybe all the people who say ghosts don’t exist are just afraid to admit that they do.’ Who knows!

Marilyn writes regularly for The Portugal News, and has lived in the Algarve for some years. A dog-lover, she has lived in Ireland, UK, Bermuda and the Isle of Man. 

Marilyn Sheridan