After her husband died in 1910, Elizabeth Crawley allegedly only left the Monte Cristo Homestead in Junee, Australia, twice. Those who have spent time in her house since then, including its current owner, Olive Ryan, believe that Elizabeth may still reside there, despite the fact that she died in 1933. What’s more, many think Christopher Crawley haunts it alongside her.
“I’ve had a hand on my shoulder,” Mrs. Ryan, who has called Monte Cristo home for over 50 years, told Australian TV show The Project in 2015. “I’ve had my name called when I’ve been here by myself. It’s nothing to hear footsteps on the balcony and you go out and there’s no one there.”
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Mrs. Ryan says she was approaching the house on the day she and her late husband moved in. Despite the fact that there was no electricity in the house, Mrs. Ryan claims the entire home was lit up, as if glowing from the inside, but by the time they reached the threshold, every light had gone out.
A series of accidents have plagued the house both during and after the Crawley years. A nanny said a child was grabbed out of her arms and thrown down the stairs. A maid committed suicide, apparently because she had become pregnant by Mr. Crawley. A young stable boy apparently burned to death in the barn, and a caretaker was shot dead in 1961. A more sinister rumor tells of a staff member who kept his mentally ill son in the outhouse for more than 30 years.
Mrs. Ryan’s son, Lawrence, who grew up in the house, feels that these unexplained bouts of bad fortune are “too much of a coincidence” to not be linked to some kind of supernatural activity in the homestead.
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Guests have complained of strange lights, disembodied sounds, like that of a weeping woman, and unexplained animal mutilations around the property. A 2010 episode of Ghost Hunters International captured the sounds of footsteps and disembodied voices on video.
When Elizabeth Crawley retreated into Monte Cristo after her husband’s death, she made the attic a chapel, so she could study the bible day and night. When she died at the age of 92, the house remained in the family until 1948, at which point it fell into disrepair until the Ryans came to the rescue in 1963.
Now, Monte Cristo Homestead has been restored to its original glory, open to the public as a tourist attraction. Those especially curious to experience the paranormal activity can stay overnight. The gracious hosts will even include dinner and breakfast: that is, if you can make it through the night.
[via: dailymail.co.uk; Wikipedia]
