at the old Lunatic Asylum

I am home from Fremantle Arts Centre. Big thanks to the staff there and Jim Cathcart who really went out of his way to support the Ghost Poetry project. Thanks mate. You’re a star.

Things were much as I expected. There were corridors, stairwells and creaky floorboards. I spent the night in the Painting Studio on the first floor where another sighting took place only two months ago. A life-model was posing for artists but started to become agitated. The teacher asked him if he was all right and he said there was a figure of a woman up the back, at the far window, looking at him. Her arms were folded and she apparently said : I know that you can see me.

There have been many reports of this woman, who was admitted to the lunatic asylum following the abduction of her child. She eventually committed suicide by throwing herself from the Painting Studio window. So with that little gem on my mind, I shut the door, snuggled down and waited for the morning to arrive. I did a couple of tours through the building over the course of the evening… and all proved extremely freaky.

Next month I am spending Friday the 13th in Richmond, Tasmania, apparently the most haunted town in Tassie. Special attention will be given to the three ghosts of Richmond Bridge. More details soon.

Fremantle Arts Centre

Stop number five (out of ten) on the Ghost Poetry project is Fremantle Arts Centre.
Built out of local limestone by convicts, Fremantle Arts Centre is a glorious example of gothic architecture and was originally a lunatic asylum. It is said that the building is home to three or ten ghosts… depending on what you read. Some say it is the most haunted place in the Southern Hemisphere and others say it is only the most haunted building in WA. (The Fremantle Prison must surely be a close second if that’s the case.)

Anyway… check out this link for a pic and some more history on the building.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fremantle_Arts_Centre

I will be sleeping on the floor in some corridor at the bottom of some stairwell waiting to meet an apparition who is still searching for her baby. It is believed that when she gave birth her child was taken off her and she subsequently committed suicide by throwing herself from the first floor window.

Hope that’s scary enough for you. I’ll be back soon to tell you how I went.