With Halloween just around the corner, award-winning storytellers, tour guides and paranormal researchers – Mostly Ghostly – are preparing to present a brand new event at The Brigend Theatre. Close Encounters of The Eerie Kind manifests on Saturday 12th October, seeing the team take to the stage and open their case files to reveal a personal collection of eerie encounters spanning the past sixteen years; quite fitting on the cusp of their spooky sixteenth birthday!
Mostly Ghostly launched their paranormal research project at Scotland’s oldest working theatre – the Theatre Royal in Dumfries – on 31st October 2008, establishing themselves as the region’s first official supernatural sleuths and since then, have researched numerous fascinating places, including the A75 Haunted Highway, the old Mount Sydney Inn and Closeburn Castle, with many strange and thought-provoking results.
Looking ahead to Saturday, Team Founder Kathleen Cronie reveals more:
“Close Encounters promises to be an eerily entertaining evening and is the first event of this kind we’ve held. We’re super-excited at the prospect of welcoming our guests, reflecting on the early days, and revealing insights from our most baffling cases. We’re often asked about our personal experiences; have we seen a ghost, felt a presence, witnessed an object move – people have an enduring fascination with the paranormal, and Close Encounters gives us an opportunity to share our most curious and unnerving experiences first-hand.”
And in terms of ghostly experiences, Kathleen will never forget her very first investigation at the Theatre Royal…
“I witnessed what I believe to be my first ghostly encounter. While gathered on the old staircase adjoining the foyer and balcony, I stood in awe, listening, as the sound of deliberate, measured footsteps walked across a wooden floor. Nothing strange until you consider there was only four of us present, all standing together, with the theatre manager tucked comfortably away in his office!”
Guests will discover eerie, unsettling accounts from the team’s diverse range of investigations, featuring stories from: Threave House, Garlieston Road, and Lochmaben Castle, where Team Member John Hill was confronted with a chaotic scene near Castle Loch:
“I had gone for a walk with Kathleen and Mary along the loch, when all of a sudden I could see a group of men on horseback, and beneath them, women and children running around with no purpose or direction. I stood, quite mesmerised, and realised the scene was repeating itself, like a loop, the same people running backwards and forwards, as if being chased by the horsemen.”
Team Members Kenny Murray and Mary Wood are keen to share their stories too:
Describing an encounter on a sunny Thursday drive between Dalbeattie and Castle Douglas, Kenny said:
“I had just crossed the bridge before you get to the quarry, when I sensed a strong presence coming from the back seat of the car. I was working in my other role as a taxi driver at the time, and this passenger was a bit different from most! I couldn’t bring myself to look in the rear view mirror for fear of what I might see, and a bit further along, the sensation disappeared as quickly as it came.”
In another quarry-related incident, Mary witnessed a forbidding presence close to the A75 Ghost Road…
“Near the old Kelhead Quarry, I was overcome by a heavy dark feeling, as if something terrible had happened there. It was the middle of the afternoon, not the stereotypical dark and windswept night, and I was in good spirits up until that point. When I returned to the car, John and Kathleen noticed straight away something was wrong.”
The team plan on welcoming two special guests to the stage to share memories of mysterious goings-on, and actively welcome any theories that seek to explain seemingly uncanny accounts with a rational explanation, which the team find every bit as exciting and satisfying as drawing an as yet, unexplained conclusion.
Summing up, Kathleen said:
“We hope Close Encounters will highlight the richness of our supernatural heritage and show a different side to the team, exploring our personal feelings on the intriguing subject of the paranormal and the profound effect of what we’ve seen, felt and heard in our years together. We hope the evening will stimulate lots of discussion and encourage people to reach out with their stories from Dumfries and Galloway and beyond.”
- Close Encounters of The Eerie Kind takes place at the Brigend Theatre, Market Square, Dumfries on Saturday 12th October at 7pm.
- Tickets are available online at Ticketsource and at the Midsteeple Box Office in Dumfries.
