I am the Ghost of Balintore Castle

my mummy sleeping bag looked like this

One Sunday afternoon, very early in the restoration of the castle, I was digging out rubble as usual. I was getting rather cold and the only resolution at the time, in the absence of any heating, was to get into bed. 

This was the time when the Harry Potter books were being released, so I grabbed my copy of the latest one, and jumped into my mummy sleeping bag which was resting on top of a camp bed for some reading pleasure while I warmed up.  However, I found myself falling asleep and I rationalised that I must be rather tired after all and that 40 winks would be in order.

I woke up conscious of some movement at the window. It was a woman looking in, hands over her eyes squinting to see what she could see in the low light conditions. I deliberately hadn't cleared the cobwebs on this window because I didn't want to disturb the poetic ruin look.

When people came to the castle, I would always offer them a cup of tea and a look around. However, I was worried, that if I moved after sleeping I might startle the woman. "Don't be silly, David, get out of bed and offer this woman a cup of tea.". 

I got up but the woman disappeared, and I moved to the front of the castle, where a car had been parked but was just starting up its engine, The woman was in the passenger seat, and another woman was in the driver's seat. 

I waved through the glass to them and they rolled down the window. "We're just going! We're just going!" repeated the passenger seemingly endlessly. "Would you like to see round the castle?", I asked, "You obviously have come up the drive so you must have been interested.".

They took a lot of persuading, but finally relented. I wouldn't force anyone to do anything against their will of course, but the initial reluctance was a little puzzling.

Anyhow, I completed the tour and found myself alone with the driver of the car to whom I had been chatting during the tour.

"Is your friend OK?" I asked "She didn't say anything during the tour, and looks very pale.". The driver replied "When she looked into that room in the castle, she thought she saw a coffin on a trestle. When she saw a body that was not moving, she thought she was looking at a corpse. When you finally sat up, she thought she you were a vampire rising from the grave.".

It all suddenly made sense. The passenger had been scared out of her wits. A mummy sleeping bag is the same shape as a coffin, and only my sleeping face had been poking out. Through the cobwebs and the darkness, the woman's imagination has joined the dots in the context of looking through the window of a ruined and abandoned gothic castle. There was absolutely no indication of anyone being in residence.

This incident is one of my favourite dinner party stories as it captures well how people go into a different mind set when they visit a castle. The poor passenger obviously tells the story at her own dinner parties, as it has come back to me through friends, with a little bit of exaggeration IMHO in the scare department. 

Prior to this incident, I was rather sceptical about ghost stories and paranormal phenomena. After this incident I must shamefully admit how much enjoyment I got out of scaring someone so severely they turned as white as a sheet and were rendered incapable of speaking. Perhaps I could do this professionally? You couldn't have a better venue than Balintore. 

And in this public forum, I finally have the opportunity to apologise to this poor woman. From the above, it should be clear that I had absolutely no intention of frightening you. Please get in touch - I would love to read your version of events.