On trail of ghostly goings-on

David Scanlan took it as a challenge - and investigated.

"We noted various unusual occurrences including the supernatural voice of a female child saying 'He's coming' that was captured on a dictaphone", David says.

There were also unexpected variations in the electronmagnetic background, sensations of being touched and an unusual feeling that one cell in particular was "pulsing".

All grist to David's mill.

Just across the way, the afterlife is similarly thriving - though perhaps in an unexpected way - at Arundel Castle.

"Surprisingly there are no ghosts of kings, queens, lord or ladies, but the restless wraiths of average, everyday folk and even an animal.

"Possibly the most famous of Arundel Castle's ghosts is that of a kitchen boy.

"Many years back the young lad worked in the kitchen of the castle and it's alleged that his superior was not very kind in his treatment of the boy, his abuse pushing the child into an early grave.

"There have been reports of people hearing the banging and crashing of pots and pans as the juvenile kitchen assistant furiously cleans the never-ending piles of dirty cooking utensils."

All tales which David tells in his new book Paranormal Sussex. Published in a handy A-Z format, it features accounts of well-known hauntings, as well as many previously undocumented locations.

Things definitely go bump in the night at Midhurst's Cowdray ruins; Worthing's Connaught Theatre isn't immune to the odd spectre; and the dead seem to walk at Racton ruin near Chichester.

"Local legend states the area surrounding the tower is haunted by the ghost of a young girl, in her early to mid-20s, who has been seen wandering the lanes leading up to Racton Ruin.

"Who she is and why she chooses to haunt such an ominous place no one knows..."

Paranormal Sussex is published at 12.99 by Amberley Publishing, of Stroud, Gloucestershire (ISBN 9781848684621).