We continued to investigate the strange phenomena which disturbed a couple of otherwise ordinary mobile homes. Over time it became evident that Annie (not her real name), the couple’s 10 years old daughter, was the focus for the most unsettling aspects of the haunting. Her father had recently built an extension to their dwelling so that she could have her own bedroom; Annie initially enjoyed being in her new space and using the large collection of entertainment devices that it contained. Her doting parents provided a large TV (with video and DVD players plus a a cable service connection), a computer and a Play Station. The furnishings of her room were as expensively luxurious as the electrical equipment. Thus you can easily see that her bedroom was attractive, comfortable and a genuinely fun place to while away her free time.

However, it soon became evident that she was avoiding her room even during the daylight hours. When asked about this sudden change in her attitude, Annie was uncommunicative and refused to explain; if pressed, she became frustrated, even angry. When her parents got tired of arguing with her at bedtime, she had tantrums and offered plainly contrived excuses to avoid going to sleep in her room. Her family were regularly ripped from their slumbers in the early hours by her terrified screams. These cries and shouts were loud enough to be heard several homes away; Annie wanted to sleep in her parent’s bed and was prepared to make a scene in order to achieve that goal. They were anxious not to disturb their neighbours and (as any people with young kids will understand) worried that Annie’s brothers would wake up and have to be settled down all over again. Annie was well aware of these factors and cunning enough to employ emotional and practical blackmail. Since the parents were unable to provide efective discipline and they lacked the skills necessary to get to the heart of their daughter’s difficulties, the problem remained inexplicable and showed no signs of curing itself.

Only when the rest of the family became aware that they were not alone in their home did possible reasons for Annie’s tantrums begin to emerge. Asked directly if she could sense the presence of something frightening in her room, the little girl confirmed that she had heard and seen ‘a man’ - but not a living person. In her bedroom, Annie saw a mostly transparent male entity with a leering face; he walked through her room (sometimes emerging and exiting through its new-constructed walls) and called her by name in a whispering, rasping voice...not just at night, but frequently in the late afternoon too.

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