I was invited to spend a weekend with my family in North Norfolk. My sister Mary had rented a wing of a large old house, which was over 200 years old. Many of the cottages including the wing of this house were rented out as holiday accommodation. Five of us were going to share the house for the weekend and we were all looking forward to being together. When we got to the house late on Friday afternoon, we all felt uneasy just walking to the door of the house. The energy of the place did not feel very inviting at all.

When we went upstairs to look at the bedrooms, none of us wanted to sleep in the room that had the big four poster bed. However, we dismissed our feelings and went out for a walk with the dogs while it was still light. That evening we lit a big log fire and had supper on our knees and chatted away: it all seemed very normal. The next day we discovered that none of us had slept very well, having had disturbed dreams. We had breakfast and spent the day out on the marshes where the birdlife was spectacular. We all chipped in to make supper and this time we all sat round the big table enjoying each other’s company. Then we sat round another roaring fire before retiring to bed, as we were all tired from a day spent in the fresh air.

I was sleeping in one bedroom and my sister Frankie was sleeping in an adjoining room. There was a connecting door to both rooms, which we kept open. There was also a small light, which we kept on.

I woke in the early hours as I was a bit uncomfortable. I turned over onto my right side and looked at the clock, which read 2:30 am, so I snuggled down to go back to sleep again. I then felt a very heavy weight all down my back on top of the bed and it moved over me, so that I felt encased as if in cling film. It felt extremely heavy and I could not move. My natural instinct was to tell it, whatever ‘it’ was, to leave me alone and I tried to call out to my sister.

Time seemed to stop as the heavy weight pressing down seemed to go on for ages. At last my sister came into the bedroom and pulled back the covers of the bed. She said I was crying out like a wounded animal. Frankie helped me out of the bed and I went to sleep with her in the adjoining room. She was very shaken by what she had witnessed and so was I, as I have never experienced such a force before.

The next day at breakfast we all talked about what had happened in the night and had a discussion about ghosts and the unseen energies called entities, and I could feel that it was definitely an entity that was pinning me down in the night. I had heard other people talk of their experiences with this force that pins you down but honestly, I had never really believed what they had said and thought it all rather far-fetched. Now having had this happen to me – which left my whole body on edge – I can say it is very frightening and leaves me wondering if it will happen again.

For the rest of our stay at the house I slept in the bedroom with my sister and we all couldn’t wait to leave, which we did early on the Monday morning. I found people to be very supportive as they had an understanding of my experience and reassured me and helped me to understand that I should not be frightened of such entities.

By Pat Claridge, Age 73, Southern Spain