A ghost hunting team has shared what day-to-day life is like in the spooky profession - and why they look after a haunted doll.
It’s not just Halloween when G.H.O.S.T (ghost hunters of Stoke-on-Trent) deal with ghastly ghouls, it’s an all year round job.
The private paranormal investigators have always had a strong interest in ghosts after founder Craig believed he saw and felt the spirit of his grandfather.
Craig was only 10 at the time, and that’s when his intrigue with the afterlife really began.
He said: “When I was younger, myself and a couple of friends went to locations to try and experience things.
“It kind of escalated from there, we started looking at some of the most haunted locations across the country and around the world.
“I decided to incorporate a team and we built on that from there.”
It’s not just ghost hunting that Craig and his team get up to though, they even have their very own 'haunted museum.'
The museum contains eerie artefacts that visitors can look at for themselves, with many of people experiencing some strange encounters.
Craig continued: “We’ve got a worldwide audience, and over lockdown we’ve had some strange artefacts that were in people's houses originally.
“I’ve thought about doing something like this for 10 to 15 years and over lockdown we got so much stuff that we decided to do it.
“People absolutely love it, it’s great for the city of Stoke-on-Trent.”
Although spooky encounters are all part of the job for Craig, he does recall some particularly creepy moments.
He said: “We went to one location near Liverpool where a woman claimed she was possessed. That was quite daunting.
“The young lady still speaks with us via social media today, she often interacts with us.”
Ghost Hunters of Stoke on Trent/Youtube
Perhaps the creepiest thing from their haunted museum has to be the haunted doll “Mary”, who has made many visitors feel uncomfortable.
Craig said: “Mary is definitely the most haunted doll in the United Kingdom, a lady in Stafford gave us this doll who was given to her by an elderly lady for her children.
“She didn’t feel comfortable with this doll, so gave it to us. It’s been in our possession for about a year now.
“She’s rocked on a chair, she’s thrown herself out of the chair, she’s even moved her eyes from the right to the centre."
The previous owner had even experienced issues with her car on the way to give the doll to G.H.O.S.T, which they believe was all caused by Mary.
“Mary is definitely one of the most haunted artefacts we’ve had, but we also had a couple who saw a Victorian baby walker move in front of them.
“We had two members of a band come to visit us last week and they said they saw the baby walker do the exact same thing."
There is also a Victorian séance room in the museum.
Craig said: “The ladies who we run it with have been doing mediumship for 30 to 40 years plus, they are very experienced.
“We also offer haunted sleepovers from 9pm in the evening, we give you a full tour of the museum and artefacts, an investigation of the museum, seances and table tipping spirit board sessions.”
During the sleepover, visitors get the chance to visit their very own chapel at around 2am, and have the option to sleep over if they want to.
Craig continued: “We’ve had a few sleepovers here, one group almost lasted the whole evening.
“You get to sleep in a body bag if you want to, and there is so much activity - from loud footsteps, moving curtains, and the giggles of a little girl.”