Haunted bank
My line of work takes me into all sorts of establishments, banks included and I get access ALL areas wherever it is I'm working, which can be fascinating in itself.

One day earlier this year I had a couple of hours work to do in a bank (sorry - I'm not saying where but I promise you this is 100% true). I showed up and after the usual security pass issues I told one of the nice ladies exactly where I needed to go, pointing out the particular places on the plans I had, one of them being on the third floor.

At this she gave me a funny look and said she'd have to get me some keys as the bank only used the ground and first floors and that I would have to find a door in an unused office that had what looked like a cupboard door in the corner, behind which I would find a flight of stairs.

I didn't find this to be unusual as you wouldn't believe how many wasted spaces there are above, behind and below all sorts of commercial spaces throughout the country (I've come across what was once a beautiful art-deco ballroom above a shoe shop in the past).

Anyhoo, this was a very old building, (originally Tudor judging by the upper levels outside) and although it'd had some major refurbishment done over the years, the higher you went the more delapidated and the more long and narrow it became.

So I made my way up the rickety old staircase at the front of the building with quaint leaded windows letting the sunshine in, checking the plans I had along the way. I found the winding corridor to the room I had to get to and within two corners I was in complete darkness. "No worries" thinks I, I had the trusty £25 "advanced LED" torch I'd bought from Tesco and continued on my way.

At this point I must add that I'm not of a nervous disposition and I'm not one of these people that is easily freaked and despite having an open mind I don't generally consider paranormal shit.

However, as I walked along this dark, crooked corridor I got a seriously uneasy feeling. The only thing I can equate it to would be walking into a pub full of moody skinheads who all turn round and give you a dirty look (this has happened to me and although I'm white I had a bit of a long haired hippy type look going on at the time) - but it was much more intense than that, the hairs on the back of my neck and on my arms really did stand up.

I then walked past a room and my torch lit up a row of dank concrete shower-stalls (strange in itself being the long-unused third floor of an old building) and judging by my plans the room I needed to go to was the next one along.

There was another stairwell just beyond the door I had to go in (which was all pitch black) and as I went to the back of the room and checked out what I needed to I heard a weird sound coming from the stairwell and decided to leg it FAST, not daring looking back. A job that should've lasted a few minutes took me about two seconds - long enough to take a photo.

Over the years I've worked in some pretty spooky places, including a derelict mental asylum that "Most Haunted" have filmed in. I've also sat in apparently haunted rooms in haunted houses and thought "What a load of bollocks", ...but this was different.

When I got back down to the busy banking hall to hand the keys back in I mentioned to the young lady "Its a bit spooky up there isn't it!" she replied that she'd never dare go up there, at which point the manager overheard me and came over to say that a number of contractors had been up there to do maintenance etc. - done the job in record time and refused to ever go up there again.

She went on to say that one of her customers was a catholic priest and a few months before she'd asked him to go to the upper floors and see what he thought. According to her he reckoned there was "at least one unfriendly presence upstairs that didn't want to be disturbed, don't go up there if you don't have to."

Once again, I'm not easily frightened and I'm a rational, logical bloke that spends half my time time in dank and dingey places - but this place was tangibly unpleasant. There were another two floors above where I went and if I'd been required to go there I wouldn't have gone - I would've said the stairs weren't safe.

Far more frightening than being sold house insurance I assure you.
( Twizla ...a shrew living on the edge of a bog, extinct on, Fri 17 Jul 2009, 1:28, 2 replies)

That
is quite terrifying. I had to (in a similar capacity) navigate my way through the ante-chambers, cellars and attic spaces of some of the oldest buildings in Scotland (National Portrait Gallery, The Mound, etc). I just about crapped myself in the roof of the Portrait Gallery one day - place was like a set-piece from an Indiana Jones film, with vibes to boot.

Logical bloke like yourself, but some of those old buildings give me the proper shitters.

Incidentally, have you ever watched Rec?
(mymilkshakebringsallthemongstotheyard poison hearts, poison minds - joining hate, Fri 17 Jul 2009, 2:08, closed)

I haven't seen it no
but I've just looked it up on IMDB and I'll give it a watch when I get time. Cheers.
( Twizla ...a shrew living on the edge of a bog, extinct on, Fri 17 Jul 2009, 18:15, closed)