Nationality: China
Primary Language: Mandarin
Other language(s): English, French
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Beijing
Performance Date: Nov.28, 2023
Tags: #legend #england #Hotel #victorianhouses

“Once I stayed England and we decided to spend a night in Manchester. We chose a very famous hotel in the city center. The hotel itself is a historic building, built in the Victorian era and used to be the site of a refugee insurance company. This hotel has an old ballroom, corridors, and guest rooms, all furnished in the Victorian era. The guest room, when we stayed in it, felt too big and spacious for two travelers, giving people a sense of liminal space, which can’t help but feel a little creepy. When we had finished our dinner and were going up the old stairs to our room, we seemed to hear footsteps, and the feeling of being watched appeared, but no one was there. At night, I would lie in bed and listen to the trains passing through the window, and when the trains passed and quieted down, the same feeling that someone was staring at me from somewhere in the room occurred. The next morning, while having breakfast in the dining hall, a local staff told us about the history of the place. One of the staircases is said to be haunted by a grieving war widow who committed suicide by throwing herself down it from the top floor. The staircase in question was only accessible to men at the time. Also, the room 261, the one downstairs from us, is allegedly haunted, with reports of the sound of children playing at night.”

Context: This story, which I personally experienced, was told by a local tour guide in Manchester, where it took place in this haunted hotel. The tour guide tells us the story of the place, which he thinks may be true because Manchester experienced a severe post-Victorian recession and the great bombing of the Second World War. This has made the whole city full of many tragic experiences and legends.

Personal Thought: Given Manchester’s history and the way the tour guide tells it, the story is highly believable. The haunted experience is also my personal experience, so I think this building is indeed haunted. This hotel is a wonderful ghost story location, it includes plenty of history, outdated architecture and decoration, and many liminal spaces. It’s psychologically creepy. But the ghost story is also a reminder of Manchester’s painful, war-torn history