Elliot ODonnell - Ghostly Phenomena

I have, from time to time, witnessed many manifestations which I believeto have been superphysical, both from the peculiarity of theirproperties, and from the effects their presence invariably produced onmean effect I cannot associate with anything physical.

One of the first occult phenomena I remember, appeared to me when Iwas about five years of age. I was then living in a town in the Westof England, and had, according to the usual custom, been put to bed atsix o'clock. I had spent a very happy day, playing with my favouritetoyssoldiersand not being in the least degree tired, was amusingmyself with planning a fresh campaign for the following morning, whenI suddenly noticed that the bedroom door (which I distinctlyremembered my nurse carefully latching) was slowly opening. Thinkingthis was very curious, but without the slightest suspicion of ghosts,I sat up in the bed and watched.

The door continued to open, and at last I caught sight of something soextraordinary that my guilty conscience at once associated it with theDevil, with regard to whom I distinctly recollected to have spoken thatafternoon in a sceptical, and I frankly admit, very disrespectfulmanner. But far from feeling the proximity of that heat which all thosewho profess authority on Satanic matters ascribe to Satan, I feltdecidedly coldso cold, indeed, that my hands grew numb and my teethchattered. At first I only saw two light, glittering eyes that fixedthemselves on me with an expression of diabolical glee, but I was soonable to perceive that they were set in a huge, flat face, covered withfulsome-looking yellow spots about the size of a threepenny bit. I donot remember noticing any of the other features, save the mouth, whichwas large and gaping. The body to which the head was attached was quitenude, and covered all over with spots similar to those on the face. Icannot recall any arms, though I have vivid recollections of two thickand, to all appearances, jointless legs, by the use of which it leftthe doorway, and, gliding noiselessly over the carpet, approached anempty bed, placed in a parallel position to my own. There it halted, andthrusting its misshapen head forward, it fixed its malevolent eyes on mewith a penetrating stare. On this occasion, I was far less frightenedthan on any of my subsequent experiences with the occult. Why, I cannotsay, for the manifestation was certainly one of the most hideous I haveever seen. My curiosity, however, was far greater than my fear, and Ikept asking myself what the Thing was, and why it was there?

It did not seem to me to be composed of ordinary flesh and blood,but rather of some luminous matter that resembled the lightemanating from a glow-worm.

After remaining in the same attitude for what seemed to me anincalculably long time, it gradually receded, and assuming, all of asudden, a horizontal attitude, passed head first through the wallopposite to where I sat. Next day, I made a sketch of the apparition,and showed it to my relatives, who, of course, told me I had beendreaming. About two weeks later I was ill in bed with a painful, if notactually dangerous, disease. I was giving an account of thismanifestation at a lecture I delivered two or three years ago in B., andwhen I had finished speaking was called aside by one of my audience whovery shyly told me that he, too, had had a similar experience. Prior tobeing attacked by diphtheria, he had seen a queer-looking apparitionthat had approached his bedside and leaned over him. He assured me thathe had been fully awake at the time, and had applied tests to prove thatthe phenomenon was entirely objective.

A number of other cases, too, have been reported to me, in which variousspecies of phantasms have been seen before different illnesses. Hence Ibelieve that certain spirits are symbolical of certain diseases, if notthe actual creators of the bacilli from which those diseases arise. Tothese phantasms I have given the name of Morbas. I have seen two othermorbas in addition to the one I have already described. The first casehappened to me when I was in Dublin, reading for the Royal IrishConstabulary at the then well-known Queen's Service Academy, Ely Place.I lodged in Merrion Street, and above my rooms were those of a Mr.Charles Clifford, at that time a briefless barrister, but who afterwardsestablished a big reputation in the West Indies, where he eventuallydied. I became very friendly with Mr. Clifford, whose father had been acontemporary with several of my relationsalso barristersat TrinityCollege. One particularly mild evening,if I remember rightly it was inthe beginning of SeptemberI was chatting away with him in hissitting-room, when he suddenly complained of feeling extremely cold, andasked me if I would mind shutting the window, as I was nearest to it. AsI got up in order to carry out his wishes, I noticed that the curtain onthe near side of the recess (it was a bay window) was rustling in a verypeculiar manner, and I was just going to call my friend's attention toit when I perceived the most odd-looking, yellow hand suddenly emergefrom the drapery. Sick with fear, but urged on by a curiosity I couldnot restrain, I approached the curtain, and, pulling it asidevigorously, found myself confronted by the tall, nude, yellow figure ofsomething utterly indefinable. It seemed to me to be wholly composed ofsome vibrating, luminous matter. Its head was large and round, its eyeslight green, oblique and full of intense hatred. I did not notice anyother features. Its awful expression of malignity so fascinated me thatI could not remove my gaze from its face, and I was standing still andstaring at it helplessly, unable to move or speak, when Clifford askedwhat in the world was the matter. The moment he spoke the phenomenonvanished, and the spell which its appearance had cast over me being thusbroken, I shut the window and returned to my seat.

I did not mention what I had seen to Clifford, as he was of an extremelynervous temperament, and, like the majority of Irishmen, verysuperstitious. I made, however, a note of the occurrence in my diary,and was not surprised when, eight or nine days later, Clifford was illin bed with a malignant disease.

The second instance happened when I was on tour with No. 1 Company of"The Only Way." We were performing in Plymouth, and I was sharing roomswith an actor of the name of Cornelius, who had lately joined us from aDramatic School in Oxford Street. Saturday night, as every one in theprofession knows, is the most tiring night in the week, for apart fromthere being a matine that day, there is packing to be done after theevening performance, and one rarely, if ever, leaves the theatre beforehalf-past twelve or one o'clock. On the Saturday night I am about tospeak of, Cornelius, who did not appear in the last act, had gone homebefore me, and on my leaving the theatre an hour or so later, I foundthe streets in the vicinity of our lodgings silent and deserted. I washastening along, thinking, I admit, of the good things that awaited usat supper, for Cornelius, who arranged the meals, was an excellentcaterer, when, just as I was turning in at our gate, I saw a tall figurecome out of the house and approach me with a peculiar, gliding motion. Acold terror at once ran through me, for I instinctively felt that thefigure was nothing human. Overcoming, with a desperate effort, a suddensensation of helplessness, I moved aside, and, as I did so, the figurehalted; I then perceived that it was exactly like the yellow phantasm Ihad seen in Dublin some nine or ten years previously. It remainedstationary for, perhaps, forty seconds, when it seemed to dissolve intothe mist. I then pushed open the gate and entered the house. I made anote of the vision, and learned some few weeks later that an actor, whowas then in the rooms we had occupied, had fallen a victim there to thesame malady that had attacked Clifford.