awakened by my dog, who was barking ferociously.  I sat up, fearing an intruder.  Immediately, I felt the sensation of being shoved sharply in my back.  I was then forcibly shoved across the bed.  I was wide awake, completely awake, at this point.  There was no one in the room."
    Avril Sumners, a former hostess at the house, had her own encounter with a hostile force.  "It was about May of 1993.  I was in the Tea Room, where the old stables used to be, and I saw a black sort of mist, almost sparkling looking, coming out of a crack in the corner of the wall.  At first it looked a bit like a chiffon scarf billowing out of the wall.  It formed into a large, dark, cloudlike mass and wrapped itself around me, and I couldn't do anything about it.  I tried, but I couldn't move.  I was actually physically restrained.  I don't know for sure how long it lasted, but the next thing I knew I was pushed out of it, like you would push a person away, and I got out of there.  That was the worst experience I've ever had."

Spirit Surveillance
    I subjected the manor to a barrage of high-tech detection and surveillance activity.  The equipment I used included night-vision cameras, magnetic and electrostatic field monitors, radiation counters, sophisticated video and audio surveillance sets, infrared intrusion detectors, and a thermal imaging camera.
    Psychic Maureen Conway immediately picked up on strong paranormal activity throughout the house, which she said radiated sadness.  Reverend Willis told me he sensed a definite negative presence throughout the house and was concerned about the safety of those within.
    David Furlong's detailed research and fieldwork indicated that the manor house rests at the intersection of five different ley lines.  Ley lines are invisible alignments said to have complex energy dynamics and seeming to provide links between many sacred places and magical sites.  Their convergence at Littledean Hall may have altered the area's natural energy fields, thereby causing or contributing to the supernatural events

in the area.  Furlong said that the ancient Celts were somehow aware of or sensitive to the energy fields in the Littledean area and established their temple site at what they interpreted as a magical location.
    Whatever walks unseen through the corridors of Littledean Hall avoided interacting with my detection equipment during the investigation.  Whether the forces were dormant or just skilled at dodging our specter-detectors, I did not record any unusual energy manifestations or fluctuations, with one exception.
    Nick Rose and I did detect an unusual, tightly defined band of electrical interference -- apparently suspended in space -- that traversed two ground-floor rooms at a height of about six feet.  The field was isolated and did not seem to emanate from any structural surface.  Checks of all surrounding walls, ceilings, and floors disclosed no power conduits or wiring in the area.  Just to b sure, we cut off the main power supply to the house, but the anomaly persisted.  We were intrigued but cautiously skeptical, not wanting to jump to any premature conclusions of paranormal activity.
    On our last day at Littledean, Reverend Willis approached Donald Macer-Wright and his wife, Janet.  Concerned about the oppressive presence he felt, he requested and obtained permission to perform a clearing ritual to exorcise whatever forces were present.  I was in the house doing some final monitoring and noted that the unexplained band of interference was still present.
    In the early morning mist, the clergyman completed the ritual as I left the house.  Everyone --including a skeptical film crew on hand to document the investigation -- reported an immediate, almost palpable, change in atmosphere, like a smothering veil had been lifted away from the house.
    As the Reverend walked away from Littledean Hall, I went back inside to check my instruments one last time.  The band of electrical interference was gone.