Time moved slowly in Llanada Villa, if at all. Footsteps echoed along the corridors and up stairwells, but the sound seemed muted and out of synch with any motion amidst the shadows. It was dark out when my eyes fluttered open. Evening sunlight slanted across the countryside in a blaze of copper. Llanada Villa was hidden by trees and set in large Victorian gardens, the elegant mansion could only be glimpsed by walkers. Red roses bloomed on the trellis by the from doors. A cool breeze stirred the leaves of the shrubbery. If beauty really went on decaying, as the ancients say, by this time there could be no beauty left. Those who had the powers to see beyond the beautiful flowers, trees and towers, the inviting lawns, or the richness of the interior, when the doors are thrown open, knew my home harboured a terrifying evil and those who lived within its walls faced unspeakable dangers. A sound pierced the stillness like a clap of thunder. My heart raced, but I walked through the downstairs parlour and up the stairs. At the top of the landing, I pushed open the door, and my eyes still adjusting from the darkness to the light, walked down the long halls, dark, wining hallway past several bedrooms, turned the corner and headed toward the Grand Ballroom. As I rounded the corner, I stumbled over something on the floor. Heinz Bongartz, one of the carpenters, lay face down on the mahogany floor, his whole body scratched and bruised, his skull smashed to pieces, and blood everywhere.  Someone had taken this man straight to the Devil. No one—no one—could imagine my fear. I was struggling with my own conscience about what to do. #RandolphHarris 1 of 5

Poor weather seemed to deepen my malaise: the winds that buffeted the house, shuddering the windows and ratting the doors, inflicted particular torment.  If I was alone in the house, I did not know. I gingerly stepped around Heinz, and fled down the hallway, toward the front of the house, through the morning room. From the window, I could see huntsmen mounted on horses as black as the Devil, wrapped in black cloaks. Hoods drawn right over their faces. Eyes glowing red. They give me a scare causing me to shiver. I felt my heart pounding, felt the blood stirring in my body, and began shuffling away from the wind, deeper into a passage. I walked toward the glow and away from the light. That is when the screaming started. At first, it was so loud that I thought it was some strange, high-pitched thunder from the storm that was still darkening the sky beyond the windows. However, it was too high, too shrill, and lasted too long to be part of the storm, even though it sounded like nothing human. The noise seemed to come from above…from up the stairwell on the darkened third floor…but it seemed to echo from the walls, from down stairs, even from the pipes and metal radiator. It went on and on. I froe and turned toward the doorway and stared at it for a full moment after the terrible noise stopped, expecting the source of the scream to appear there. A dark shape appeared in the gloom of the doorway. When I narrowed my eyes to make out the visage, I gasped, for was this not the same countenance that I had seen in the mirror the previous morning, the reflection of my own late mother? My eyes were swelled with crying. #RandolphHarris 2 of 5

It was so cold, forcing me to wrap a shawl more closely around my shoulders. I shivered and longed to return to the warmth of my bed. It was not Mother, of course, how could it be? The rain began almost immediately then, falling heavily, great drops tumbling on the roof. I shivered again; a ghost walked over my grave terrifying me into the depths of my very soul. I began to fear that I might not sleep this night, so certain was I that I was surrounded by the spirits of those who had left their corporeal form being but had not yet been admitted through the gates of Heaven and so were left to trawl through my home, crying aloud, desperate to be heard, causing disarray and torment wherever they went, uncertain when they would be released to the peace of the afterlife and the quiet promise of eternal rest. I was terrified at the horror I knew was sure to come my way. It was dark in the room and illuminated only by the glow of the reddened coals with the colour of the sporadic flames. I fell asleep quite soon after going to bed but it was a fitful and unhappy sleep. My dreams were supplanted by nightmares. I encountered spirits where I should have undertaken adventures. My landscape was dark graveyards and irregular vistas rather than mansions and castles. However, nevertheless I slept through the night, and when I woke, feeling groggy and out of sorts, the morning light was already coming through my curtains. I looked at my clock; it was almost half past seven and I cursed myself, knowing that I would certainly be late for breakfast. Plucking up all my courage, I put my bar feet out of bed. It was cold in the room. The chill seemed to have entered into my very bones. I pushed the covers aside. Very quietly, I cautiously tiptoed to the door in case the floorboards creak. #RandolphHarris 2 of 5

The morning fog was beginning to descend on the garden and a persistent wind was forcing its way down the chimney, tracking a path along the stonework. I gradually learned about the horrific murder of Heinz Bongartz. However, my heat bleed for this distressed, and the temptations I was exposed to. I resolved to tarry to see how things went. “Mrs. Winchester!” Millicent, the housemaid’s voice interrupted. As I made my way to the breakfast room, Millicent obediently stood next to the to the door. As Millicent opened the door, “Mrs. Winchester, you’re getting a late start. Maybe you need to stop consulting the spirits so late a night?” she said. “And so I am to be exposed, in my own house, and out of my house, to the whole World, by such a sauce-box as you?” I replied. “No, Mrs. Winchester, and I hope your honour won’t be angry with me; it is not I that exposed you, if I say nothing but the truth.”  Millicent, I am very much displeased with the freedoms you have taken with my name.” Millicent silently went over to the table and delicately placed my meal before me. Then she went to put another log on the fire. Millicent, serve the tea, and then you can go. I will probably have a little rest after you leave, so you do not need to return until four.” Millicent bobbed a curtsy and went over to a table covered in burgundy velvet that was located near the door to pour my cup of she. She also removed a thick linen napkin, revealing a plate piled high with slices of ham, Swiss cheese, and soft rolls. Millicent signed, since she knew that even the tea would remain untouched by me as long as I was handling the delicate satin material, but she did appreciate the gesture. Thank goodness for the excellent breakfast served this morning. #RandolphHarris 3 of 5

Later that evening, a peculiar incident occurred. At about midnight, I heard a chanting ritual whose weird cadence echoed unpleasantly through the house, there came a sudden gust of chill wind, and a faint obscure trembling of the earth which everyone noted. At the same time, Zip exhibited phenomenal traces of fright. This was the prelude to a sharp thunderstorm, anomalous for the season, which brought with it such a crash that I believed the house had been struck. Daisy and I rushed upstairs to see what damage had been done, but Millicent met us at the door to the attic; pale, resolute, and portentous, with an almost fearsome combination of triumph and seriousness on her face. She assured us that the house had not really been struck, and that the storm would soon be over. We paused, and looking through a window saw that she was indeed right; for the lightning flashed father and father off, whilst the trees ceased to bend in the strange frigid gust from the water. The thunder sank to a sort of dull mumbling chuckle and finally died away. Stars came out. A chill shot through me and threated to reduce me to the very state from which I was emerging. It was of a quality profoundly disturbing to the soul. Ever since I had been in my home, I had known that something was amiss, and at last it dawned upon me what it was. I just remember I got my chamber for I knew nothing further of the matter till afterwards; for I fell into a fit with my terror, and there I lay. #RandolphHarris 4 of 5

The following day, I took a turn or two in the garden, but in sight of my home, for fear of the worst; and breathed upon my hand to dry my eyes, because I would not be too disobedient. Close upon this, there was a thundering and with it came a momentary darkening of the daylight, though the sunset was still an hour distant. A second later all previous memories were effaced by the wailing scream which burst out with frantic explosiveness and gradually changed from a paroxysm of a diabolic and hysterical laughter. I ran back into my home and was greeting by Daisy. We traversed up the stairs just in time to see a cryptic soul creep through an opening in the door to nowhere, as we glimpsed the frightful vista of the void beyond. There was something hideous, blasphemous, and abnormal about it. As it was, I was seized my niece in her arms and bore her quickly downstairs before she could notice the voices which had so horribly disturbed me. Even so, however, I was not quick enough to escape catching something myself which caused me to stagger dangerously with my burden. The cry had been evidently heard by others. Every minute, as it grew near, my terrors increased; and sometimes I had great courage, and sometimes none at all; and I thought I should faint. “Answer me then, I bid you!” I shouted. And it did. However, the voice had a depth and hollowness which I could not comprehend. “Aunt Sarah, all of this must be stopped or you will be made ill and the keeping of servants become an impossibility!” In our tracks, however, I paused at the sounds which I heard proceeding from the now disused library. Books were apparently being flung about and papers wildly rustled. For the fright of fainting, Daisy rushed me to the Crystal Bedroom. The strangeness was a poignant sensation, and almost clawed at my chest as I strove to see just what was wrong around me. Something was indeed wrong, and tangibly as well as spiritually so. #RandolphHarris 5 of 5

The Winchester Mystery House

It can happen to anyone: Ghost are, after all, people who had unfinished business on their minds when they passed on. Ghosts are not figments of the imagination. Those who have studied parapsychology have come to understand that human life does continue beyond what we commonly call death. Once in a while, there are extraordinary circumstances when death occurs, and these exceptional situations create what we popularly call ghost and haunted houses.

Come and enjoy a delicious meal in Sarah’s Café, stroll along the paths of the beautiful Victorian gardens, and wonder through the miles of hallways in the World’s most mysterious mansion. For further information about tours, including group tours, weddings, school events, birthday party packages, facility rentals, and special events please visit the website: https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/

Please visit the online giftshop, and purchase a gift for friends and relatives as well as a special memento of The Winchester Mystery House. A variety of souvenirs and gifts are available to purchase.  https://shopwinchestermysteryhouse.com/