Paranormal investigators so freaked out by ‘growling hobgoblin’ they became ordained

Vic Harbord and Christine Townend were in a church graveyard when they saw and heard something that could have been a ‘terrorising’ fey creature from the village’s past

A pair of ghost hunters told of their most terrifying moment on the job when they heard something “inhuman” one frightening night in a churchyard.

Colleagues Vic Harbord, 76, and Christine Townend, in her early 50s, were in St Lawrence church in Atwick village near Hull together with members of an East Yorkshire research group.

Vic said they had a “spirit box” with them, which he likened to “an electronic Ouija board “, while Christine was also carrying a Dictaphone.

He told HullLive : “We said is anyone there we don’t mean you any harm please come forward.

“Then Christine said: ‘Did you hear that growl?’

“I said: ‘What growl?’ and the growl actually moved and I walked towards it which was a silly thing to do and the others heard two big loud bangs and we did a bit of investigating into it and there’s a legend that it’s supposed to be haunted by a goblin.

Vic took a photo of the moment and said there was “a head in the window what looks like a demon to be honest.”

The friends, who both claim to have had paranormal encounters since childhood, were so shaken up by what they had experienced that they became ordained shortly after the incident.

Christine gave more detail on the spooky night in question and said she could immediately sense an “eerie feeling” when they entered the church’s grounds.

She added: “I seem to pick up on things and I turned to Vic and said this tree is really giving me the creeps.

“There’s something about it. We stood next to the tree and started our investigation.”

Christine heard a growling noise four times but initially dismissed them.

She said: “I’m thinking well I can’t have heard a growl and as Vic’s talking away to the rest of the group I’m still thinking well I’ve heard a growl and then I heard it again.

“I heard it three then four times and after the 4th time I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I thought well this is ridiculous.”

Christine said she then looked down at her feet and saw something translucent moving in the grass.

Eventually Vic heard the growling too but as he walked towards the tree the creepy sound stopped – Christine believes something came up from the ground and went back down again.

She added the other six people with her and Vic did not see or hear anything except two loud bangs and that the eight of them said a prayer and then left the churchyard.

Christine began researching to try and find out what it was she had witnessed and discovered that Atwick was once allegedly terrorised by a shape-shifting hobgoblin.

She said: “When you hear a growl it’s a negative energy. It’s inhuman. It’s obviously not very nice.”

“Still to this day we’re not 100% sure what we encountered.

“When you start thinking about all this folklore from years ago you start to think well is it true is there some truth in this folklore.”

Although Vic has long been fascinated by the spirit world, he acknowledged that as paranormal investigators they are sometimes open to being ridiculed.

Still he said: “We don’t force our beliefs onto anybody.

“We usually say judge for yourself. We realise that with most people if it doesn’t happen to them they’re not going to believe you.

“We accept that but a lot of people have come to us now and said it has happened to them and they do believe.”