VIDEO: Office worker is stalked for a year by a violent spirit but finds love moonlighting as a ghosthunter and now enjoys paranormal dates
An office worker who was stalked for an entire year by a troubled spectre that spied on her and even dragged her down the stairs faced her fears by moonlighting as a ghosthunter and met the love of her life who she takes on paranormal dates.
Now an experienced investigator of everything from haunted castles to dungeons and tunnels, when Debbie McAll, 51, first realised a spirit had “attached” himself to her in late 2012 she even asked a church to “banish” him, to no avail.
Finding more understanding from a medium, who listened to her terrifying tales of being pushed and shoved and advised her to let go of the negative energy that was attracting it, the development coordinator, of Portsmouth, Hampshire, says pursuing her interest in the spirit world helped her “regain control” of her life.
It also led her to her soul mate, Emily Cowell, 38, a service manager, who she met at a séance in Fort Widley in 2020, saying: “She has the same passion for the paranormal as me and whenever we can, we work together.
“Our date nights are paranormal investigations instead of dinners – we prefer them!
She added: “Going on these investigations has completely changed my life and I’ve never been happier.”
Since Debbie created Ghost2Ghost, she has gone on more than 120 haunting excursions, taking a mixture of believers and sceptics.
Debbie and a group of 24 ghost hunters ventured into the coal tunnels beneath the reputedly haunted building, only to be frightened witless by a thunderous roar that reverberated all around them at 2am.
Despite her vast experience of investigating the paranormal, even Debbie was shocked to the core by the degree of “aggression” she says it conveyed.
She added: “It was so loud. It was giving a terrifying message.
“I think the spirits wanted us out of the tunnels. They wanted us to run out and we did!
Debbie first became aware of her psychic senses as a child, when she would often feel a presence.
But she began to have “visitations” during the night when she was in her twenties, that became concerning.
She added: “It was scary at times, but other times it just wasn’t.
“I would just brush it off and then the spirits would move on.
Debbie added: “I would see rows and rows of people as far as the eyes can see, but I could never see their faces and they were all white and cloudy.
“Nothing was ever defined, but you could tell they were people. And they were always jostling and demanding my attention.
Then, in November 2012, Debbie’s life changed forever after a spirit “attached” itself to her and refused to leave her alone for over a year.
She actually feared for her life, as the spirit – which was initially invisible but eventually turned into an ominous shadow – would taunt her by moving items around and eventually became aggressive and dragged her down the stairs.
She said: “This spirit just wouldn’t go away. The haunting got particularly bad and it was poltergeist haunting – a spirit that causes physical disturbances – so objects would be moved. Things would fly around and I even got attacked.
“I was pushed down the stairs and dragged by my ankles. That happened four or five times.
She added: “I was literally stalked for over a year.
“The spirit was a bit taller than I was – around 5ft 7in and quite wide. There was a weight to him, which is funny to say about a spirit.
Desperate to escape being tormented by the spirit, she went to a medium and realised that she needed to “let go of any negative energy” that was keeping the spectre latched on to her.
Thankfully, by the end of 2013, the spirit left her in peace, but there was no turning back for Debbie, who became intensely passionate about the paranormal.
She added: “He’d start moving objects to scare me and get my attention which was witnessed by friends and even colleagues at work.
“They couldn’t believe what they were seeing, they were just shocked.
Debbie added: “I believe these things happened for a reason.”
Still working in a conventional nine to five office job, in 2015 Debbie decided to join a paranormal group, before going on to start Ghost2Ghost.
She added: “I spent years trying to process and understand what I went through with the attachment.
“By going on paranormal investigations and making contact with spirits, I feel like I am finally getting answers and making sense of things.”
She said: “I’ve had a spirit telling me to, ‘F**k off,’ before now. I’ve even been called the ‘c’ word.
“Sometimes there is a lot of humour in it, though. I’ll hear them laughing.
Debbie added: “I have seen spirits do ‘peekaboos.’
“You never know what you will get until you go on an investigation. It all depends on the energy of the group.”
She said: “I’d invite anyone who is sceptical to come to one of our paranormal events and ask them to stay open minded.
“It’s a truly remarkable experience and we’ve had plenty of people who didn’t believe when they arrived leave thinking differently.”
She said: “Emily and I met Bev and Tony a few years ago after they came to one of our events and we all became best friends.
“We do a lot of investigating with both of them and since we became friends we do little investigations just us four and it’s amazing.
“The energy with them on board increases dramatically. They’re such lovely people and they’ve really opened the door for us.”