Embracing the Spirits: True Stories of My Encounters With the Other Side by Barbara Parks (best ereader for graphic novels txt) 📗

that there were ninety five people in the basement, most of whom were hanging around for the beer! It was obvious that

we hadn’t imagined the party atmosphere, the bowels of the

building were well and truly buzzing.

When Rose asked Mary if she thought the renovations

were pretty, she responded with an emphatic no; she had preferred the hotel as it had been in the 1920’s. Mary also con-

fessed to blowing in the workmen’s ears, but rather than trying to scare them, she had only been trying to get their attention.

We asked Mary if she and her friends would like help to

move on, but the young ghost assured us that they were all

more than happy. I suggested that perhaps we could at least

show them the way to the light, so that they could consider

crossing over when they felt ready. Mary half-heartedly agreed, perhaps more to humour us than as a result of any real intention to move on.

As the evening drew to an end, we were all filled with a

happy sense of accomplishment. Not only had we given Mary

the attention she was craving, but we’d managed to estab-

64The Heritage Hotel

lish a rapport with a large group of delightful ghosts. Nights like these go a long way in reinforcing my belief that there is little to fear from the spirit world. The dead are no different to ourselves; their personalities, attitudes and passions don’t suddenly alter just because they’ve died. It’s a life-enhancing realisation, and the more I embrace it, the more my clairvoyant abilities grow. Life, and death, are indeed incredible journeys …

chapter nine

T h e K a l a m u n d a

H o t e l

Built in 1902, the Kalamunda Hotel has long been believed

to be haunted. It is a grand expression of Victorian architecture, with its upstairs balcony coursing the entire length of

the building. It boasts a gracious, central staircase which dominates the foyer, and its ceilings are decorated with intricate plaster work. Crystal chandeliers add a further touch of opulence, harking back to a time of elegance and style. It’s a privilege having such a fine old building as my local hotel.

Despite its beauty, the Kalamunda Hotel hides a sinister

history. Given its advanced age, it’s perhaps not surprising to discover that it has been the scene of many a premature death, including suicides and murder.

65

66The Kalamunda Hotel

The Kalamunda Hotel

Adding further intrigue to its chequered reputation, are the

dramas surrounding its most notable owner; Mr Paddy Con-

nolly. Paddy was already well-known throughout the State

when he bought the hotel in the 1920’s. His racehorse, Blue Spec, was the first West Australian horse to win the prestigious Melbourne Cup. Paddy was extremely wealthy as a result of

the 1890’s gold rush, and also had the dubious honour of win-

ning the state’s first Ugliest Man competition.

Despite his apparent ugliness, Paddy still had a certain

charm with the ladies. This led to a clandestine love affair with one of the hotel’s young chamber maids, which resulted in an

unwanted pregnancy. Paddy was quick to deny any involve-

ment, prompting the young lady to throw herself to her death

down the hotel staircase. She is thought to still roam the

hotel’s corridors to this day.

Paddy soon found himself to be the focus of an unrelent-

ing campaign of intimidation, to the point where he feared

for his life. Threatening notes began to mysteriously appear

almost daily; on the bar, in his letter rack or on Paddy’s desk.

They contained messages such as “Tonight you die … Slowly”

and were signed The Black Hand Gang. It’s unsure whether the The Kalamunda Hotel 67

threats were from disgruntled business associates or related to his unsavoury reputation with women. Regardless, Paddy was

terrified.

Paddy became so obsessed with his safety that he hired

a body guard. He felt increasingly vulnerable in his beloved

hotel, which prompted him to build a bullet-proof hovel a few

hundred meters away. It was secured by a padlocked gate and

surrounded by a barbed wire fence. Paddy was determined to

stave of his tormentors at all costs, even if it meant forfeiting his quality of life.

Paddy ultimately passed away at eighty years of age, dying

from natural causes in 1946. Despite the Black Hand Gang not actually killing him, they certainly destroyed any semblance of peace and normality in the last years of his life. It’s thought that the fear-ridden angst that tainted Paddy’s final years is now keeping him earthbound. Paddy did his utmost to avoid

death whilst he was living, and in death, he is continuing to

fight it. It seems he is resisting the natural transition to the higher realms of the spirit world, preferring to inhabit the

rooms and hallways of the building he held so dear.

Also notable is the ghost of Room 24, the scene of a murder

in the 1940’s. As the story goes, a woman had arranged to meet her secret lover for a romantic rendezvous and was caught in fla-grante by her boyfriend. The enraged boyfriend hurled himself at the poor woman, throttling her until she was dead.

The unfortunate woman’s ghost is reported to linger in an

upstairs hallway, clad in a long, white nightgown. So palpable is the haunting, that Room 24 has been permanently locked

and hasn’t been rented out since.

An unsuspecting cleaning woman chanced upon the dis-

traught ghost early one morning whilst going about her duties.

68The Kalamunda Hotel

The cleaner was so disturbed by the encounter that she handed

in her resignation the next day. Current employees report that footsteps, apparitions and the clinking of glassware are com-monplace. Sometimes an errant glass spontaneously shatters;

it’s something they’ve just all learned to live with.

Whilst sitting in the hotel’s foyer sifting through the archives, I was struck by a case of synchronicity. My mobile phone rang; a young lady wanted to speak with me regarding the ghosts of

the Kalamunda Hotel. Katinka had worked at the hotel for five

years, and wanted to know whether I was interested in hearing

about